Sausage Making or the Creation of an Anthology

Sausage Making or the Creation of an Anthology by Debra H. Goldstein

When Anna Castle unexpectedly passed away, it was a loss for the writing community. It was a sorrowful time to say good-bye to a woman who had been an excellent writer and a strong presence in the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. As a member of the steering committee, she ushered the fifth and sixth Guppy anthologies into existence. Without Anna and her institutional knowledge, the Guppies faced a dilemma in whether to put together their bi-annual anthology.

 

Not having an anthology was quickly discounted. The purpose of the Guppy anthology is to offer its members, many of whom have never been published, a safe and educational opportunity to participate in the entire process of the creation of a compilation of short stories. This means that besides simply submitting and hoping for a story to be published, Guppy members are introduced to many of the steps that go into the final work --- but not all of them.

 

I hadn’t been either until I was tapped to keep this project alive. Having been President of the Guppies during the past two anthologies, I observed a lot of what Anna did, despite only negotiating the contracts with our past publisher. Because the Guppy steering committee already had agreed to proceed, picked the title and theme: Hook, Line, and Sinker: tales of grifters, con artists, and their marks, and petitioned and received permission to go forward from national Sisters in Crime, I thought I was off and running.

 

Wrong. I soon realized that although I understood that a calendar was needed to ask for submissions, judge them, notify those who would be in the anthology (and those who wouldn’t), edit them, and publish them, there were many details for which my skill set was lacking. Hence, I asked a pro, Carol L. Wright, an author in her own right and a person very much behind the scenes of the successful Bethlehem Writers Roundtable anthologies to partner with me in putting the Guppy anthology together. (btw, this year’s BWR contest for its Season’s Readings anthology is accepting submissions with the winners to be chosen by guest judge Barb Goffman)

 

Carol graciously said yes. Here’s how the sausage got made:

1)     I did the first draft of the submission rules, we modified them, posted them in the Guppy files and on the list serv.

2)     A limited submission period was open to Guppies who had been members by a date certain. Submissions were sent to Carol who coded them in and made sure they met the submission standards.

3)     Together, we lined up 15 non-Guppy judges to blindly judge the submissions for quality and meeting the theme. Thanks to Carol, we engaged Emily P.W. Murphy as our non-Guppy editor, and I arranged for publication by Wolf’s Echo Press. Because we would be familiar with the judges, the submitted stories, and the submitters, Carol and I prohibited ourselves from submitting stories for consideration.

4)     Stories were submitted.

5)     Stories were sent to the judges who, based upon a standard rubric, read and ranked the stories.

6)     Although we were thrilled with the overwhelming response, only the top twenty-three stories could be included in the anthology. Notices of acceptance and rejection were sent.

7)     Contracts for authors were prepared, sent, and returned. Authors also submitted headshots and bios.

8)     The twenty-three stories were sent to the editor for formal editing. This process could consist of anywhere from one to three detailed exchanges between the editor and the author.

9)     Carol and I drafted the Warnings section required by national for any anthology and asked Guppy President, Susan Van Kirk, to write the book’s introduction. We engaged Emily P.W. Murphy to also do the cover art.

10) The editor determined the proper order of the stories. All were forwarded to the publisher.

11) We reviewed possible cover art. Carol, Susan, the publisher, and I all provided our thoughts. A final cover was created. (note: there was a lot of work done behind the scenes by the cover artist and publisher to finalize the cover art and to make it fit the specifications for trade paperback and e-book).

12) The publisher made additional comments and suggestions which were shared with the authors. Modifications as agreed upon were made by the authors.

13) The publisher prepared a proof copy of the text which Carol and I reviewed. We responded with any errors we found.

14) The publisher prepared a modified proof, which we shared with the authors, asking them to read their story and the one below it looking for errors. Carol and I also read the book again.

15) A final proof was prepared. Carol and I read the book again (she’s a fantastic proofreader – I’m not).

16) A list serv for the authors to communicate and make promotional plans was created.

17) Advance information was shared with Dru Love for the cover reveal that she graciously had on Dru’s Musings for Hook, Line, and Sinker: the Seventh Guppy Anthology on January 8, 2023.

18) The trade paperback and e-book are now available for pre-order via worldwide distribution channels, including the ability to purchase it on Amazon and Wolf’s Echo Press’ websites.

19) The anthology will be physically released on January 27, 2023.

I may have missed some steps, but I’m thrilled to report, on behalf of the Guppies (and Carol and me) that the sausage is made.

Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon by Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch

Corralling 22 authors in four different states to write 18 short stories and 19 articles over the course of ten years and compiling all this into one anthology with only bourbon as the guiding principle is . . . not as simple as it sounds.

In 2008, our Louisville-based writing group, Derby Rotten Scoundrels (DRS), had already published two Kentucky Derby-themed anthologies in quick succession (2004 and 2006, respectively). Feeling confident, maybe even cocky, we decided to jump back into the anthology pool, only this time we would make liquid libation the central theme: bourbon – what’s more Kentucky than that? And the research that would be required for this project appealed to us.

Writers set about creating their stories, the only guiding principle being: it must be a crime story, it must involve bourbon somehow, and it must be 5,000 words or less. Others began research on the non-fiction articles we would use as transitions between each story. These articles would cover historical aspects of bourbon distilling in Kentucky, profiles of distilleries, and a glossary of bourbon terms (angels’ share, devil’s cut, rick house, wort, etc.). We didn’t have to twist any arms to get volunteers to visit distilleries for research. Some of us did our research at home, sampling various brands of Kentucky’s finest spirit to truly immerse ourselves in the topic. The mashing of content began (the gnashing of teeth came later).

As the months progressed, authors brought their work before our group for critique. Stories and articles were reworked and re-critiqued. New stories were submitted. And critiqued. And reworked. New writers joined, eager to participate in the Bourbon Anthology. And so it went, month to month, year to year.

We made progress. Stories and articles were finalized and approved by the group. We had one person who collected all these final versions (in engineering, this is known as a single point of failure). Then life outside our group began to intervene – spouses became ill, some authors became ill, two passed away, and the project fell into a limbo of “one of these days we’ll pick it up again.”

Much research had been consumed when “one of these days” arrived. Slyly, one of our authors invited us (Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch) to lunch, during which lunch we were told “you have a moral obligation to complete this anthology - how can we drop the ball on this project that so many have participated in, sweated over, dreamed about?” Though we weren’t the presumptive leaders of the project, Elaine, being of Catholic disposition where guilt is up there next to Original Sin, agreed to see what we could do. We deemed the first step toward revival would be the purchase of more bourbon, for research.

We then went into detective mode, hunting down a record of who had written what and just where in the world were these hearty souls and where was the final version of their work? Elaine searched the internet, scanning obituaries (we are not a young group). We had to contact every author and ask, somewhat sheepishly, “Hey, remember that bourbon anthology we were working on years ago? Are you still interested in being included, and can you send us your final version if you do want to be included?”

It took another year for us to gather the final stories and articles and to compile all that into one cohesive manuscript.  We breathed a sigh of relief. The next step would be easy, we told ourselves: find a publisher. Because fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

We decided to submit to one publisher at a time. We got good feedback from that first publisher submission, but after waiting two months for a response, the answer was “sorry, this doesn’t fit our catalog at this time.” We tried a second, then a third publisher, and watched as the months dwindled away again.

After our third “No, thank you”, we finally got our “Yes”, from Mystery and Horror, LLC, a small, independent publisher out of Florida. We were ecstatic!

With a publication date set for June 2020, Elaine and I began marketing preparations – where should we have the release party, where can we do signings? We applied to the Kentucky Book Fair. We were very excited.

Then the Publishing Gods stepped in and said, “This has all been too easy for you, so we are going to drop a Global Pandemic on your head.”

So here we sit, self-isolating, our writing group not meeting out of virus fears, large events on hold or cancelled. But our book is published and is available via Amazon or Barnes and Noble. We are still waiting for word from Kentucky Book Fair – were we accepted? We don’t know yet. Will the book fair even take place this year? We aren’t sure. The only thing we know for sure is: we find, through extensive research, that Kentucky bourbon is awesome!

Elaine Munsch grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, but has made Louisville, KY her home for several decades. An avid reader, bookselling seemed to be the ideal profession, which she has practiced for over forty years. She is the author of the Dash Hammond series: The Price of Being Neighborly, The Cost of Kindness and The Expense of Family.

Susan Bell was born in coastal California, then proceeded to travel the country in her role as daughter of a Naval officer. She learned to walk in the Mojave Desert, to swim in Virginia Beach, and to read in Washington State. She fell in love with Dr. Seuss and hasn’t stopped reading since. She combined her love of reading, writing and arithmetic and became a technical writer, working in the defense, aviation, and telecommunications industries. With deep roots in the Bluegrass State, she now calls Louisville home.