In our continuing anthology
series, this week Paula Gail Benson and I interview Anthony Award nominee,
Deborah J. Ledford, anthology coordinator for the Sisters in Crime Desert
Sleuths—the Phoenix Chapter of SinC. The chapter has released five anthologies,
the latest are: SoWest So Wild, SoWest:
Desert Justice and SoWest Crime Time.
Please welcome Deborah to WWK. E. B. Davis
What prompted you to
create an anthology?
DJL: The SinC Desert
Sleuths Board wanted to give their members the opportunity to have their work
appear professionally in print. For some, this was the first opportunity for
their work to appear in print. We’re most proud of the members who received
their first publishing credit from stories featured in our anthologies.
How did you develop a
theme for your anthology?
DJL: Our latest, SoWest,
anthologies adhere to a Southwest theme. Each of the stories take place in the
region where our chapter is located. Our chapter is located in Arizona and most
of our members reside in the Phoenix-metro area.
How long did you give your
writers to submit stories?
DJL: For each of the
SoWest anthologies, we put the call out for submissions in January with a
deadline of mid-March. The editors then begin working with the writers on the
selected stories to provide the most professional work possible to feature in
the publication/s. After the editors and writers are pleased with the final
results, all of the stories go to the lead editor for a final polish. Then the
files are formatted and the electronic galley version is provided to the writer
for final approval. Then the entire galley is formatted for publication. The
end result is released at the annual Desert Sleuths Chapter WriteNow!
conference in August.
Did you adhere to the
guidelines set up for anthologies by SinC?
DJL: For the most part.
The information featured in the SinC Chapter Handbook was very helpful. The
major exception is that the Desert Sleuths formed our own publishing company
rather than searching for one.
What was the response to
your query for stories among your writers?
DJL: Due to the accolades
and great reception of our anthologies, we receive more submissions to consider
each year.
What were the criteria for
selection?
DJL: Each writer submitting a story must be a
national and local chapter member. Requirements for story acceptance for
consideration were that the stories adhere to the theme and maximum word
length.
Were the stories judged
blind? How did you obtain judges?
DJL: All stories were
judged blind. One DS member accepted the stories and kept track of the entries,
as well as deleting any mention of the writer before they were sent to the
editors. The editors didn’t know the writers’ names until the stories were assessed
and then accepted for publication.
Did you hire an editor?
DJL: I was the lead editor
for all three of these anthologies, which was helpful as I’m a professional
content editor. We also had one other professional editor, as well as 2-3
astute and crucial authors who presented their expertise.
Was any thought given as
to the order of the stories in the anthology?
DJL: Twenty stories are
featured in our two most recent titles. The editing team felt it best to present
the story order alphabetically by author name.
How did you find a
publisher, and who published your anthology?
DJL: The Desert Sleuths
are proud to have released 5 anthologies since 2009. The board members at that
time were insightful and decided to form our own publishing company. The entire
series of anthologies are presented as DS Publishing books.
Were you given a choice of
covers?
DJL: We decided to adhere
to an overall theme for our most recent 3 releases. We decided on “SoWest” for
the name branding. DS Member M.L. Roselius designed our fantastic and
eye-popping covers for the series. The title fonts are consistent, and the
southwest visuals for the covers have become branding as well.
How are you promoting your
anthology and do you have a budget to do so?
DJL: The anthologies are
available in print from Amazon and for Kindle. Our most successful promotion
and sales come from our annual WriteNow! conference and the Tucson Festival of
Books.
Do you think that there is
a resurgence of interest in short stories?
DJL: I do. With so little
time to spend reading an entire novel, short fiction allows the reader to
actually finish a complete tale. It’s also a great way to read work by authors
you may have never been exposed to.
Have any of your
anthology’s stories been nominated for awards?
DJL: I’m beyond proud that
SoWest: Desert Justice is the 2012 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Finalist, as
well as selected as a 2012 Top Read by Suspense
Magazine.
Are you planning other anthologies?
DJL: The Desert Sleuths
plan to work on their next anthology in 2015.
2014 Anthony
Award Nominee in the audiobook category, Deborah
J Ledford is the author of the Steven Hawk/Inola Walela Thriller Series,
including: CRESCENDO, STACCATO and SNARE--The Hillerman Sky Award Finalist, and
the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist. She is a member of ITW, MWA
(SoCal), SinC (National, LA-CA) and past-president of SinC Desert Sleuths
Chapter. DeborahJLedford.com
Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Deborah. I found this interview quite interesting as I've been suggesting something similar with our rather new chapter in N.E. Ohio. We've been together for over six years, but only this past year officially became a Sinc chapter. Thanks for all the good advice on creating our own anthology.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the chapter did excellent work.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about the chapter anthologies. What a good way to support members and be actively involved in publishing.
ReplyDeleteI have followed the Desert Sleuths Chapter and its publications for a number of years. Congratulations to the chapter for recognizing and promoting new authors.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the interview, Deborah. I've heard that the authors for the new anthology were recently chosen. Congratulations to them and to your chapter.
ReplyDelete