We are a small publisher so I have a lower threshold towards authors sending in their work incorrectly but fear for them when they later try for one of the bigger boys on the block. I would like to impart on you what I see so that maybe the process of submitting to an anthology becomes less 'overwhelming' and you don't lose your chance at an acceptance letter. Understand, there are no great revelations here, and that is why I find it necessary to reiterate what you probably have seen before but must have forgotten along the way.
1. Follow the directions. I cannot stress this more! Publishers will breakdown what they expect from the author when they are to submit. As an example, file format seems to be one the things a few authors either don't understand or quickly skip over before sending. This could be a quick excuse for an editor to pass on a story, especially when they cannot open the file.
2. Submit a work that fits the theme. Doing your homework is crucial when there is a theme involved. Editors will work diligently to have a tight set of stories that offer the readers what they are expecting to find in their anthology. Having a few outliers can enhance the overall reading experience but too many can be distracting or seem like lazy filler.
3. Spelling and grammar errors. Believe it or not, this one has lesser an impact than you would think - for me that is. I know, I know... are you crazy?! The truth is I find that a well written story with a few stumbles torments me less than a story that has everything nice and tidy but with little heart. Please use spell checkers and honest test readers, it will save you in the long run. If not, you will portray yourself as an unpracticed writer and the story will be quickly added to the rejection list.
4. Plot holes and odd tangents. No one likes to find missing points in narration or to begin the slide down the slippery slope of irrelevance. Readers will become lost in the details or have pertinent questions go unanswered by the time they reach the inevitable 'The End'. This creates a credibility issue for the author. A conflict will now arise between the author and reader, making for a miserable experience. And never forget, a summation at the end of your story with a nice, pink bow to tie up loose ends is also an epic fail.
5. Having relatable characters. A protagonist's sole purpose outside of driving a story forward is to draw in the reader. They must have qualities and experiences that readers can somehow sympathize. But as the cast of characters grows, writers have the potential pitfall of making simplistic archetypes that serve little use other than to progress the story. The easiest example is a villain. A one dimensional bad guy/gal that lacks any humanity is a bad call on the writer's part. Take for instance comic book villains, such as Ant-Man's Darren Cross / Yellowjacket movie interpretation. He was portrayed as a psychopath thanks to his continued exposure to the subatomic particles. The movie spent very little time in making Cross relatable other than focusing on his feelings of betrayal and abandonment.
6. Tight story vs. loose story. Simple... loose story leads to losing the reader.
7. Show, don't tell. This, like many creative writing rules, is a must. There are points when telling is needed but you must limit yourself. A writer's foremost goal is to have their story unfold visually to the reader. If you are constantly telling the reader what they see and how they feel, there is no internal discovery for the reader. They will walk away from the experience without any enrichment.
8. Dialogue without action. When people talk, rarely are they just standing still, transfixed on their conversation. Dialogue can be more than just banter. This is an opportunity as a writer to make the story fluid in places that otherwise would be info dumps, a chance to create character depth with simple gestures or ticks, or draw out emotion with sympathetic body language. And please...
9. Natural dialogue. There is nothing worse than sputtering between "he said" and "she said" or wordy dialogue that has no sense of what an actual conversation is like. You know what I mean. We have all been guilty of this one point or another.
10. The cover letter. A cover letter may or may not be necessary. As with any list of tips about this topic, you are warned that this is your first contact and your first impression on the editor. To me, this quandary of subtle presentation is similar one's need to learn social skills in their earlier years. Schools offer more than textbook education and that is a fact. The decision on whether to home school your child over an extended period of their education is a tough one. Follow me, if you will. One important lesson to learn while in public or private schools is on social skills. If you home school for too long a period, the child will suffer in this regard. Cover letters can be seen in the same perspective. Their presentation and effectiveness lies in the skill of the writer to be graceful in their self-love while selling their talent. A cover letter first should follow the standard format either given by the publisher or have a general presentation that keeps to a clean and concise manner. A clunky letter that blurts out a writer's exploits and lacks a sense of control will only seem narcissistic. Trust me, it will be your writing that will sell you.
It seems odd for me to draft this list and not think writers have already done their due diligence when submitting a story to an anthology but I feel obligated as Tacitus Publishing's goal is to help writers. I covered a number of topics and hope that this helps someone along their journey.
- James S. Austin
(Oh, and as a side note, don't use a colored font with multiple sizes in your correspondence... should I have added an 11?.... because this does happen occasionally... the woes of an editor)
http://www.tacituspublishing.com/anthologies.html
