Writing Short Fiction For Anthologies

by Lee Masterson

One of the best ways to get your creative ideas flowing is tosearch through calls for submissions into anthologies. Anthologies are generally collections of short stories based around a central theme.

While the pay rate for fiction published in anthologies is generally not high, there are many advantages to writing for these compilation markets.

1. You have a new published credit to add to your portfolio.

2. You can stimulate your own creativity by reading through the submission guidelines of anthologies that interest you.

3. You have the opportunity to break out of writer's block bywriting something short on a topic created by someone else.

4. You can learn to hone your writing skills by mastering the shortstory.

5. You are able to show a future novel editor that you're able to write.

6. You get that unique warm-fuzzy-proud feeling of being able to hold the completed book in your hand once it's published.

7. You might actually receive a check for a few extra dollars!

There are plenty more reasons why writing for anthologies can behugely beneficial for all writers, but these are the main ones that came to mind. Now we've looked into why writing and submittingshort fiction to these markets can be a good thing, what happens ifthe story you write isn't accepted?

Potentially, any anthology editor is going to receive severalhundred submissions for a book that can only hold 20 or 25 stories.

How can you increase your chances of getting your story accepted?

Let's look into some things you should remember when you're dealingwith anthology editors.

Theme
The object of most anthology collections is to compile severalstories that revolve around a central theme or genre. Most editorsare very thorough about telling writers exactly what kind of storythey want to see. They usually make a huge mention of the thingsthey don't like or things they won't accept too. Keep those limitations in mind when it comes time to write.When you're browsing through lists of anthology markets, try tostick to themes or genres that you enjoy or that you feel you couldwork for you.

Light a Spark
As you read through each set of guidelines, you'll notice that somejust won't appeal to you, however there will be others that light abit of a spark within the creative part of your mind. Write downthe first idea that comes to you surrounding those particularguidelines and then see if there's room to expand on that idea.

Think Outside the Box
Always keep in mind that the most obvious idea that pops into yourhead is very likely to be the similar to every other submissionthat editor will receive. Take a careful look at your original ideaand see where you can add a unique twist or if you can approach thesituation from a fresh angle.The more unusual or unexpected your story line is, the more chanceyou have of making your tale stick in the editor's mind.

Submit Early
Most anthology listings have a clear deadline by which yoursubmission needs to reach the editor's desk. Many writers tend toleave their submissions until the last possible moment. If youimagine several hundred submissions landing on that editor's deskwithin a couple of days, how focused do you think that poor editoris going to be after reading through them all?

If you can get your story submitted early then you have a much bigger chance of the editor reading it with fresh eyes without the distraction of all those other submissions.

Submit!
It's surprising how many writers create beautiful stories and thencan't find the courage to submit them to a market. Be brave andsend your story out the door!

Finding Anthology Markets
There are plenty of sites offering anthology listings. One of thebiggest genre anthology listings is www.ralan.com/antho/index.htm .

Do a simple search on any search engine and you'll be sure to findplenty of places offering submission guidelines for these under-rated markets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lee Masterson is a freelance writer from South Australia. She isalso the editor of Fiction Factor - an online magazine for writers, offering tips and advice on getting published, articles to improveyour writing skills, heaps of writer's resources and much more.http://www.fictionfactor.com

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