Today, Henry Herz talks about something near and dear to my heart: On being an anthologist and all that comes with it.
Sometimes I get asked, “Isn’t editing anthologies a ton of work?” I respond, “Yes, it is,” which typically evokes the follow-up question, “Are you nuts?” “Also, yes.” Of course, what they’re really asking is, “Why do you love speculative fiction anthologies so much that you are willing to put in all the effort required to produce good ones?”
It’s a fair question, and my answer involves several sources of joy. The first involves love of the genres. I’ve loved the escapism of speculative fiction since reading Where the Wild Things Are (technically, urban fantasy) as a wee lad in first grade and The Lord of the Rings (high fantasy) in sixth grade. Classics of science fiction like Dune and the Foundation trilogy soon followed in middle school. I was such a book nerd, I requested autographs from some of these authors. To my everlasting delight, I have one from J.R.R. Tolkien. Later in life, I edged into the dark side (horror) thanks to Stephen King’s works and being friends with Jonathan Maberry.
As a reader, I view anthologies as literary banquets – a way to sample authors’ work without the commitment of reading an entire novel. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Try a little of this, taste a little of that. I savor how the contributing authors offer alternate takes on a theme, as well as their different writing styles. And, of course, reading the work of talented authors only improves my writing skills.
I’ve only been writing fiction since middle age. Prior to that, I earned my living as either a project manager or a process improvement consultant. As it turns out, those professions provide good preparation for editing an anthology. One must manage a project budget, schedule, scope, risks, communications, contractual issues, and so on. It helps to be extremely organized (I am) and able to use the appropriate desktop tools (spreadsheets, Word’s track changes, and Google calendar are your friends). Thus, editing (managing) an anthology merges two of my passions.
As an anthology editor, I love being able to choose who will participate. It’s like picking the pro players you want for a fantasy football team. I invite established authors with experience in the genre. Inclusivity is also important to me. Then I add up-and-coming authors, readers may not yet have discovered. It’s also a personal thrill to know my story will be mingling with those by authors I respect. Of course, that creates pressure to write the best story I can. My secret anxiety is not wanting to have a story of lesser quality.
Building an anthology involves multiple steps. You have to solicit and obtain provisional agreement from the headlining authors. Next, you have to write a proposal and sell the project to a publisher. Third, you have to manage the production schedule, or as I like to call it, herd the cats. Fourth, you have to provide constructive feedback, often to more accomplished authors, without feeling like an imposter. Then, you must track story progress, author payments, and so on. And, of course, in Henry’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law, something will cause an author to drop out in mid-project—writer’s block or a competing project or an unresolvable contractual question. You must adapt.
My latest anthology, Combat Monsters (Blackstone Publishing), is a fantasy/sci-fi/alternative history anthology featuring stories from eight bestselling authors. It’s based on the premise that research has uncovered long-buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis forces used monsters during World War II. Details at https://henryherz.wordpress.com/combat-monsters/
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Henry Herz has written for Daily Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Pseudopod, Metastellar, Titan Books, Highlights for Children, Ladybug Magazine, and anthologies from Albert Whitman, Blackstone Publishing, Third Flatiron, Brigids Gate Press, Air and Nothingness Press, Baen Books, and elsewhere. He’s edited eight anthologies and written fourteen picture books.
