When Your Framing Device Invades Your Story (The Subtle Brilliance of The Magnus Archives)

A while back I wrote about framing devices in the aptly titled Does Your Story Need A Framing Device? However, I recently came across a particularly clever subversion of expectations in a fictional series regarding turning the framing device (and the cliches that came with it) to really enhance the world building of the series in an interesting, meaningful way.

Mild spoiler warnings ahead for the subtle brilliance of The Magnus Archives.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

When The Frame Is Part of The Picture

For those who didn't listen to the first episode of the show, linked above, The Magnus Archives is an anthology horror podcast that follows the efforts of those employed in the archives of the Magnus Institute. Found in London, England, the institute records and catalogs encounters with the strange and supernatural, and the stories we're hearing are several of the written accounts being put on-tape by employees. This is why the audio has a strangely old-school sound, and why we can hear the day-to-day goings on in many of the recordings.

So far so normal for a horror podcast, right? After all, in a strictly audio format, this kind of framing device plays into the metanarrative quite well. We can keep the voice cast relatively small, because it's the same researchers over and over again, and we can focus on the tension of the tales as they're in (essentially) a journalistic format, with survivors of these events telling their stories to someone who will listen.

Pretty basic stuff, really.

Now, this format isn't perfect. Firstly, there's the way the narrator's voices and cadence alter when they read the stories from witnesses, giving us a more heartfelt performance to listen to. We can write that off, though, as just something that comes with the format. Not only that, but as the plot progresses the narrators get stuck-in with supernatural plots in their own right. They're chased by monsters, they have to make bargains with terrible creatures, and the tape recorder always has to have a contrived reason to be present in order for us to hear what's going on. Maybe it's someone surreptitiously recording a conversation with their boss (who may have ulterior motives what what he's doing), or they want to leave a record in case they disappear... but generally speaking, we overlook the presence of the tape recorder because if it wasn't running, we wouldn't hear the unfolding narrative as the audience.

What The Magnus Archives does, though, is take these things we've largely overlooked because they're a part of the format, and it weaves them into the narrative, and the world building.

This is where the minor spoilers begin, so proceed with caution.

For starters, it's revealed that not all the statements in the archives are recorded in this way... only the stand outs. Only the ones that compel the reader. And reading these statements is more than just an exercise in the strange and bizarre; it changes the one doing the reading. It brings them into the story, and into the person who gave the statement, which provides an organic explanation for what we all previously thought was just a dramatic performance to keep the audience interested. Additionally, while some incidents of the tape recorder being turned on surreptitiously are explained, other times the characters actually point out that they didn't notice it was running until that moment. They wonder where the hell it came from, and how it came to be there. This jars us out of our complacency, as the listeners, and it makes us question all the times the tape recorder's presence was never explained, and it makes us wonder why the mysterious force behind this device (for there certainly is such a force) chose for us to hear that conversation, or that interaction.

This twist sends us reeling, as the audience, because it uses assumptions we had made and ignored, which plays into the themes of the show. After all, so many of the strange and supernatural events aren't seen by most people, and they so often shrug and look away... it's only when something becomes too much for them to write off that they have to acknowledge something out of the ordinary is occurring, and this stab to our sense of structure and the place of the framing device throws so many of our assumptions out the window, and has us questioning everything!

There's no real advice in this week's update... I just wanted to call attention to this bit of sleight of hand because it's one worth hearing, and adding to your own toolbox if you can!

For Fans of Audio Fiction...

If you're a fan of audio fiction, and you are looking for some unique offerings, then I want to remind you to head over to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, as well as to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary. The former has nearly 50 short audio dramas, many of which are interconnected, telling tales in dark fantasy worlds, sci-fi war zones, and noir back alleys. The latter has longer stories that are dramatized versions of several of the tales found in my short story collection The Rejects, which I'd also recommend lovers or short fiction check out!

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Is Audio Fiction Breathing New Life Into Short Stories?

I've said this several times over the years on this blog, but selling short stories is a Herculean task. Whether it's doing digital marketing for titles I've been involved with, or hand-selling books at a convention, it is hard as hell to find people who are willing to check out these books. One of the only successes I've had in this regard is From A Cat's View: An Anthology of Stories Told By Cats, but it's sort of the exception that proves the rule (since everyone loves cats).

However, while my personal experience is that fewer and fewer people are interested in sitting down and reading short fiction, it seems like more and more people are actively seeking short audio stories... which is an interesting opportunity for folks who enjoy creating short stories, but who may be telling them in the wrong format to get the numbers they need.

Because who doesn't want to hear a good story?

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

Listeners Instead of Readers?

Several years ago I put out a short story collection titled The Rejects, which was a gathering of all the short stories I'd written that I felt were quality pieces of work, but which had never gotten picked up by an anthology open call. While I've personally sold several dozen copies by hand, and moved a fair number digitally, the book has only managed to garner 7 reviews (positive reviews, but only 7 of them). It's got a handful of fans who've told me they've enjoyed it, but it hasn't made that much of a splash.

Now consider the audio version of Dead Man's Bluff, one of the stories found in the collection that I've dramatized, which wound up over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files YouTube channel.

Alternatively, consider the below story, Suffer The Children. A dark, modern fantasy tale of an Old Testament bruiser in the City of Angel, Malachi is on a quest to save a child from the fires of Moloch, and to send a message to the brazen bull's followers that there are rules even in a place as corrupt as Los Angeles. While not quite as popular as the weird Western, the two of them combined have amassed hundreds of views (and a few thousand views back when they were hosted on a different platform).

 

Now, it should be mentioned that the audio versions of these stories are free to listen to, while the book itself costs money to buy. However, even with all the giveaways I've done for the collection, I've never had that many people take me up on getting a free copy of the stories. I've shared the links to both in the same venues, and I've put the same marketing behind both of them, and overall people seem far more willing to check out the audio than they are the text version of my short stories.

Why People Listen Instead of Read

Reading a book, whether it's short stories or novels, is an activity that requires one to put their full attention into things. Whether you're sitting on a couch, on your lunch break, or tucked into a spot on a train or a bus, reading a book is something you actively do, and it takes your eyes and hands to do it. However, most people who listen to audio books do so while they're actively working on something else. Whether it's walking on the treadmill, going for a jog, cleaning up around the house, painting miniatures, doing data entry at work, driving somewhere... situations where someone cannot actually use their hands to hold a book, or their eyes to scroll the page.

While some listeners will still prefer novels for these scenarios, there seem to be quite a lot of listeners out there who are looking for something bite-sized to get them through a particular activity. Sometimes listeners just want tales of a particular genre, sometimes they want a series they can pick up at any point and enjoy (such as the various SCP podcasts and freak-of-the-week horror casts where one can come in on nearly any episode), and sometimes they want a full narrative series that plays out in multiple seasons following the same characters through their adventures.  However, whatever format of story folks seem to prefer, and whatever genre it is they like, short fiction seems to be far more enjoyed by the listening crowd than the reading one.

Does that mean you can't still sell short stories in their traditional print format? No, of course not. However, consider the fact that the original short story of mine The Final Lamentation got a few hundred reads, while the audio drama of the story is at 169K views at time of writing.

Something to think about.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (ongoing audio drama series on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Short Stories, Werewolves, And Rolling The Dice on a Book

There are a few things I've learned over the years as an author. Perhaps the biggest thing, and a lesson I learned early on in my career, was that selling the reading public on short stories (much less on short story anthologies) is really damn hard to do. Additionally, while there are a lot of folks who might read an ebook, convincing people to buy something that's ebook exclusive is also one hell of a marketing feat to pull off.

So, of course, my dumb ass proposed a project that was both a short story anthology and an ebook exclusive. And while I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew, I don't regret rolling the dice in the slightest. I might, however, need a little bit of help from all my regular readers out there to really pull out a decisive win on this one.

Seriously, check it out if you haven't yet!

Before I get into talking about this week's topic, remember to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get all of my latest releases fresh in your inbox! And if you have a bit of loose change you'd like to contribute to help keep the blog going, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Every little bit really does help.

Lastly, be sure you're following all of my followables by checking out my Linktree.

The Seed of The Idea

For folks who don't know me, I spent a lot of my teenage years as an avid reader of RPG tie-in fiction. If you're not familiar with the term, it refers to stories that take place in the same world as a roleplaying game, and they're meant to act both as supplemental reading for folks who enjoy the game, but also as a funnel to pull in people who aren't players, but who might consider trying out the game after reading a story they really liked. From Battletech to Greyhawk, and Forgotten Realms to Bloodshadows, these stories were my introduction to so many worlds it's easy to lose track all these years later.

These books were extremely common in the 1980s and 1990s, and even up until a few years ago there were several companies putting out regular novels and short stories meant to keep their existing audience happy while luring in a new audience with tales of adventure and horror alike. I even managed to land one of my own short stories, The Irregulars, with Paizo during the Pathfinder Tales era. It's still available, for those who'd like to check it out!

Come on... you know you want to.

While there are still plenty of these books for sale, they aren't produced with anything near the regularity they once were. Which makes sense, because as many companies shift budgets and adopt different marketing strategies, this method of engaging the public likely wasn't as effective as others. Especially when you consider how much time, energy, and sheer sweat goes into publishing a book, and how easy it is for them to lose money rather than make it.

However, while reading through the rules and limitations on Storyteller's Vault (the community-use platform for White Wolf/Onyx Path RPG properties like Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, etc.), I noted that it expressly allowed fiction to be set in the approved games provided that it was faithful to the published setting. While these stories had to be published on the Storyteller's Vault platform, and they could only be published in electronic format, it was still an option.

And, as they say, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Why An Anthology?

After examining the options available, I decided to propose Tales From The Moot, an anthology of short stories for Werewolf: The Apocalypse that had the framing device of stories told by the various tribes of werewolves around their fires about the great deeds they'd done, horrors they'd witnessed, and so on. I took the idea to High Level Games because I felt that a book of short stories would pair nicely with the 100 Kinfolk project I'd penned for them previously, and that the two could act kind of like companion pieces.

But why an anthology, though?

After some back and forth on precisely what shape the project should take, and how much time and energy I wanted to sink into it, I eventually proposed it as an anthology for several reasons. The biggest among those included:

- Faster Turnaround Time: If you have half a dozen people writing a book, it gets done faster. That's just math.

- Shared Marketing Efforts: I have no illusions about the size of my audience, and I figured it would be easier to market a book with half a dozen other contributors helping out.

- Effort V. Return on Investment: I was more than capable of contributing 1-2 good short stories, but the more I had to put in, the more it would need to earn to be worth that effort.

There were also drawbacks to using this format, of course. For one thing the earnings would be split between contributors, meaning that each of us only gets about .30 per sale (which is less than my affiliate cut for actually selling a copy of the book through one of my links by about .10 for those who are curious). Additionally the more people who are part of a project, the bigger the chance there is for something to go wrong (someone has to duck out, there's delays caused by family or health crises, etc.). And there was definitely a lot of reshuffling, reaching out, and follow-ups that had to be done to finally get this project out in front of the reading public.

At the end of the day, however, I didn't expect this project to be some viral sensation that paid my bills for the rest of the year. What I was hoping to accomplish was that this book would act as a proof of concept that there was an audience out there for tie-in fiction, and that it was a viable product worth pursuing... in no small part because I'd like to write more stories about some of my favorite games.

So Why Am I Telling You All This?

I told you all that story so you would have context for what I'm asking this week. Because the one truth I've tried to drive home in my Business of Writing posts is that financial success and quality of writing are not really connected at all. Books full of great stories and interesting prose will languish in bargain bins unseen and unread, while poorly-written schlock climbs to the #1 slot and makes its creators rich beyond the dreams of mortal men. What decides a project's success isn't the talent or drive of the writers... it's the voice of the readers who scream for more.

Whether you're someone who enjoys RPG tie-in stories, a person who likes werewolves, or just somebody who wants to see me write more fiction in general, I would like to ask you to please check out Tales From The Moot. My goal is to get it to at least Copper sale status (51 sales), though Silver status (101 sales) would be preferred. If we manage the former goal, creators will make about $15. The latter would net us each $30 or so. More to the point, though, even selling that many (or that few, depending on your perspective) copies would mark this out as a success by RPG product terms.

So even if you're somebody who wouldn't usually pick up an ebook, or anthologies are something that is a once-in-a-while thing for you, consider giving this one your time and energy. Especially if you want to help lay the ground work for future projects that might range across the World of Darkness, into Golarion, and other settings with community use platforms that are ripe for new tales to tell!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

In Case You're Wondering, Novels Really Are Easier To Sell

I love reading short stories. I've always enjoyed the art form, and I treated both collections and anthologies as a kind of sampler platter. Which is to say, they were the thing I checked out when I wasn't sure what I liked in a genre, or when I wanted a lot of different flavors by the time I closed the back cover. These books were often how I found new authors, and how I explored new aspects of genres I liked. That was why I started writing short fiction; I figured it would give people a sample of my work so they could decide if they liked it or not.

Then I wrote a novel. And let me tell you, the difference in selling these two very different products is like night and day.

"So this is my fantasy novel-" Great, I'll take two.

People Really Like Novels (While Shorts Remain A Tough Sell)

For folks who haven't been by My Amazon Author Page lately, I've been a part of a lot of short story anthologies over the years. I've also released my own collection of steampunk noir shorts, titled New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam. From fantasy and sci-fi, to horror and romance, short story anthologies have been universally difficult for me to sell. That is not to say that they don't sell, of course, but you really need to have your pitch down perfect to get people to take a bite on a bunch of shorts. And even then, you're more likely to get them to take a card than you are to close a sale.

By contrast, I released a sword and sorcery novel last year titled Crier's Knife. And you know something? It is a lot easier to get people to buy copies of this book than any short story collection with my name in it.

Speaking of, go buy your copy today!

To be clear, I am not selling gangbusters. But in my experience, both online and in-person, novels hook more potential readers (and buyers) than short stories do. Especially because, with an anthology, someone tends to get entire stories with their sample. With a novel you only get a few chapters, which is enough to draw you in, but not enough to satisfy you. When you combine that with the fact that readers seem to enjoy long-form fiction, it's just easier to convince people to check out your book if it tells a single story, and has a bit of heft to it.

I'm not the only author who's noticed this phenomenon. Jason Sanford talked about it on his blog in the post Should Authors Avoid Short Stories if They Desire Literary Success? In this post he brought up something interesting... mainly that we don't consume our fiction the way we used to. Which is to say that in the old days we got our sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc. mainly from magazines. They were all over the place, and they were paying big money to fill their pages. So much so that many writers would use short stories to pay their bills while they completed novels, thus making it seem that you should write short stories to build your audience and start stacking checks, and then release a novel to cash in. Then, as novels began to grow more common in new and burgeoning genres, they became the main meat for readers, and short stories became a kind of side dish.

In today's Internet age, magazines are niche publications. While there are lots of digital places where short stories are more than welcome, collections tend to move minimal copies unless the people in them are already famous, and have a following eager to gobble up any new content from them. And while you can do well with novellas (at least according to some metrics), short stories still tend to fall into the bottom of the barrel most of the time when it comes to sales.

There's A Market For Everything

Now, does that mean you can't make money writing short stories? Of course not! You totally can. Writing for open anthology calls can make you semi-regular paychecks, get your name out there, and help you build both your network and your readership. It pads your archive of work, and helps draw more people to you.

However, if you had the option of spending a year putting together a collection of short stories, or a year working on a novel, you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck out of the novel. Whether you're bringing it to readings, trying to move copies at a convention, or just doing online link sharing, a novel will almost always score higher, all other things being equal.

Just something to think about.

That's all for this week's Business of Writing installment. For more work by yours truly, check out my Vocal archive. Also, I'm on Pinterest now, so come take a look at my boards where you'll be able to find all kinds of fun stuff! To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Lastly, if you want to support me, Buy Me A Ko-Fi, or go to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron today! Every little bit helps, you can trust me on that score!

Sell More Books By Choosing The Right Anthology or Collection Theme

My long-time readers know two things about me; I've got a healthy amount of experience with anthologies, and I like to sell books. Getting into anthologies is a lot easier than selling them though, mostly because you need something unique to get them out of your inventory and into the hands of your readers. Maybe it's a bundle deal with a more popular book, an awesome book cover designed by a famous artist, a Big Name who contributed a short story, or another gimmick entirely.

Holding readers at gunpoint is certainly different, but not in the way you're looking for.

One unique selling point that a lot of writers overlook when it comes to anthologies as well as single-author short story collections is the theme. If you can hook readers with a theme they haven't heard before you'll get them to read your sample. Once they've dipped a toe in you're that much closer to snapping up another sale.

Dare to be Different

Since folks like examples here's one that's hot off the presses.

Seriously, go take a look inside!

What you're looking at is my latest release, and the first book I've never had to share with other contributors. New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam contains 10 steampunk noir stories, each of which is connected by a single theme. Is it romance? Tragedy? The corrupt heart of the clockwork city that drinks the blood and souls of those who dig too deep?

It's all of those things, but specifically the book acts as a guided tour of New Avalon.

From the steam-shrouded souk of the Grates to the concrete bunkers of Cranktown, from the soupy, rotting alleys of the Gutters to the misty quays of Headsman's Wharf every story takes the reader by the hand and leads them on a district-by-district journey. Readers see the possible and the impossible, meet residents of the city, but more than that they see New Avalon's many faces. From the miraculous to the monstrous there's something for every reader in this book.

Assuming of course you aren't a fan of happy endings?

Know What You're Selling (Preferably Before You Write It)

Anthologies and collections are similar to other books in one way; it's easier to sell them if you know your market before you start. If you're writing a horror story for example, who are you appealing to? Will the latest hordes of zombie fans want to devour it? Will it be the latest fad among the vampire sect? Are you appealing to old-style fans of shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt?

While there's no need to pigeonhole your project before you even open up a blank word document, you need to think about what selling points it has. Returning to our above example, New Avalon has several fulcrums I can lever to get it into the hands of fans. Those include:

- Noir Steampunk: While the genre is no stranger to mysteries and detectives something that's more Sam Spade and less Sherlock Holmes is something that turns readers' heads.

- No Happy Endings: It's right there in black and white in the introduction, which I think of as the user-agreement for this book. New Avalon is a place happy endings go to die, so for those who find catharsis in tragedy this is definitely a book for them.

- Guided Tour: As mentioned the book's stories are all separate, but they are used to paint a picture of a single place. This can give it a serialized feel not unlike Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City. While stories may intersect like gears in a watch, none of them know what the others are doing.

- Single Author Collection: One of the big hurdles when you're trying to sell a multi-author collection is that even if someone likes your work they're only getting one of your stories. This book offers multiple tales, but they were all penned by the same hand. If you're putting together an anthology though you'd want to get several well-known authors to make the book feel like a safer bet.

- Free Sample: Not sold yet? Check it out and read the first two stories for free!

Do I Need To Do All That?

That depends, are you selling as many books as you want to?

If you're reading my blog then we both know the answer to that question.

Some authors will get lucky their first time out. If you look at the news it seems like all some authors had to do was get one influential person to see their book and bam! overnight bestseller! Whether it was a viral send off on social media, or just the spirit of the zeitgeist taking hold they happened to write a winning ticket.

For most of us (and even most of the authors who look like they hit it big overnight) that isn't how it works. We write blogs, participate in community forums, guest post, get reviews, find guest slots on podcasts, try to catch the attention of local media, set up signings, and go to tons and tons of events. And because every yutz with a computer and Internet access can become an author that means there are hundreds of thousands more books out there for you to compete with. If you're peddling short stories you're already at something of a disadvantage, which is why you need to try and turn that weakness into a strength by finding a way to sell it.

Also, May is National Short Story Month! Use that as a crowbar if you can, and see how many doors you pry open with it.

If you'd like to support me, but New Avalon doesn't seem like your bag then feel free to stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page and become a patron today! Even as little as $1 a month can make a big difference. If you want to be sure you're getting all of my updates then make sure you're following me on Facebook and Tumblr as well!

What I Learned Writing Short Stories For Two Years

Like most folks in my profession I grew up as an avid (rabid) reader. I wouldn't read any old thing (dramas and young adult books didn't much appeal to me then or now), but chances were good I had one book in hand, and a holdout in an ankle holster just in case. While I loved a good novel just as much as the next kid, one thing I was always up for was a good short story collection. Scary Stories, Bruce Coville's Monsters (and other versions), along with the infamously trashy Fright Time books that would put three horror novellas in a single book were my bread and butter in boring classes and on family road trips. As I got older my love of short stories didn't waver, but I moved on to collections by Stephen King, Clive Barker, and others. I also read a lot of anthologies with different authors in them, but it never occurred to me to ask how those writers got their stories into those books.

Or at least it hadn't, until the summer of 2012 when I stumbled across a call from Jupiter Gardens Press for their Boys of Summer anthology. I stared at my screen, read the page a few times, and a light bulb went off in my head.

"Oh," I thought. "So that's how you get into a short story anthology."

The Experiment

In May 2012 I'd been a freelance writer for four years. I had worked for magazines and newspapers, and I'd completed two novel manuscripts, but I hadn't actually published a piece of fiction in several years. So I wrote the short stories Summer People, Heart of the Myrmidon, and Skin Deep. All three of them were accepted, and I was told they'd become part of anthologies for Jupiter Gardens Press. I realized that I was now officially a published author, and that for every anthology I was part of I would get a small cut of the royalties.

I had a plan: Get into 10 more anthologies, then start work on a novel.

What could possibly go wrong?

What I Expected

The expectations I had going in were pretty low. I wanted to get back into the fiction groove I'd fallen out of, I wanted to shape up my publishing credits, and I wanted to develop a relationship with a variety of publishers. I also had some idea about making money. The younger, less-experienced me figured that if I could get into a dozen or so different anthologies that he could make a decent, regular royalty check that would let him relax and work on a novel.

I know right? I was fucking adorable back then.

The logic went something like this; the publisher wants to sell books, so it will put in a lot of effort to make sales and market the collection. There are between 10 and 20 of us who contributed to this anthology, some of us with bigger followings than others; if we combine our efforts then we can sell a lot more books between us. If I can get into 10 or more collections then average revenues should give me what a middling successful novel should, allowing me to pad my bank account. Additionally I figured I could dip my toe into certain markets and see what was more popular. Would I be better off writing a dystopian sci-fi novel? Is horror making a comeback? Is steampunk still a thing? These were questions I needed answered.

Lastly, and I stress this one, if a publisher turned out to be a lemon all I lost was a few weeks of work on a short story. If I sent a novel to the company then I'd lose months to a year of hard work. I was not anxious to deal with that worst-case-scenario, so I figured I'd put out some shorts as feelers for who was trustworthy, and who just wanted to reap the sweat off my back.

What I Got

I won't regale you with everything I did between the start of this experiment and today (the tab on the right hand side that lists the books my work has appeared in will give you the details if you're curious), but I've gotten around a little bit. I've worked with a dozen publishers, some of which were excellent and some of whose names I cannot speak without spitting and forking the sign of the evil eye. I'm not famous, and the idea of a regular, sizable royalty check is still something I only see in my dreams.

That said though, I don't feel these two years were wasted.

Oh Yeah? How's That?

No, please, regale us.

Well let's begin at the beginning. After two years of constant cranking I've sanded off the rough bits from my voice and style. I've managed to strengthen the muscles that let me work even when I've got a headache, when I'm stressed about rent money, or when there's no caffeine in the house and I haven't slept in a day and a half. I've never missed a deadline, even when I was asked to provide work at the last minute, and I've developed the ability to match the size of my story to the word count it needs to be told in.

In brief, these two years put a fine edge on my professional blade.

There's more beyond the whetstone. I've found fans and friends alike who, when I tell them I have a new piece coming out, will be eager to get their hands on it. I've been recognized as a professional by conventions, and given all of the benefits that comes with that status. I've also figured out which companies are solid, dependable operations, and which ones just want the writers to do all the work while they reap the profits.

It's not a million dollar pay day, but it is a rung or two up the ladder. It's the experience to know a raw deal when I see it, and it's the currency of goodwill that lets me step right over the slush pile to talk to an editor directly. It's the ability to sample some of my ideas to see which ones are big enough for a book of their own, and which ones aren't done growing yet. Lastly, and this shouldn't be written off, it's the confidence to walk into a room and comport myself like someone whose words are worth hard currency.

I'm not rich. I'm not famous. What I am is a professional, and this experiment is what made me that way.


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