Author Resource: Storyville: Tips on Putting Together a Short Story Collection

Reblogged from : LitReactor

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So you’ve gotten some work published, and you’re trying to figure out if you not only have enough writing for a collection, but how to put the damn thing together. Here are some suggestions on how to make it a compelling, balanced, and powerful read.

LENGTH

Well, it turns out it does matter—to a degree. I’ve seen really thin collections of dense prose that were only 100 pages long, and I’ve seen epic tomes that were 300, 400 pages and longer. Really, it depends on what you have, but I’d suggest that you have at least 40,000 words. Where does this number come from, you ask? I’ve seen a lot of presses that have this as the minimum. Plus, I was just looking at the guidelines for submitting my collection, Staring Into the Abyss, for the Bram Stoker Awards, and guess what the minimum is? Yep—it’s 40,000 words. Any idea how long my collection is? Not 40,000 words, unfortunately. So, learn from my mistake there. Or, make it as long as you want and don’t worry about it. Your audience just wants enough material to dig into, time to get to know your voice, and something with a little meat on the bone. I’ll go pick up several collections at random off my shelves right now—Staring Into the Abyss, 135 pages; Lindsay Hunter’s Don’t Kiss Me, 174 pages; Roy Kesey’s All Over, 144 pages; Craig Davidson’s Rust and Bone, 234; Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners, 297; Benjamin Percy’s Refresh, Refresh, 249; Paul Tremblay’s In the Mean Time, 214; Stephen King’s Just After Sunset, 366.

QUALITY

I know this seems obvious, but don’t just stick every story you’ve ever written into the collection. Read through and only choose the work that really resonates with you. If you read a story and aren’t impressed, leave it out. Maybe you’ve grown since then, or maybe you just don’t like it any more. Whatever the case is, put your best work in—because people are going to tear it apart. They won’t love every story, but at least try to make the collection as strong as possible.

PUBLISHED VS. UNPUBLISHED

Most short story collections are going to consist of writing that has already been published. If you pick up any collection off your bookshelf, you’ll find this to be true. Your collection is a body of work, a way for your fans to read more than one story in one place, one sitting, all together. They don’t want to have to scour the internet, or track down and pay for every obscure journal and magazine you’re in. It can get expensive. Imagine if you have twenty stories in a collection, and each journal or magazine costs $3, that’s $60 to get all of those stories. So don’t feel bad that these are essentially reprints. Only your most loyal fans will have read every story you’ve written in the original publications. I’m a huge Stephen King fan, but that doesn’t mean I rush out to buy every copy of The Atlantic or Esquire or Playboy that he’s in. BUT, if you do want to do something nice for your readers, include one or two original stories, totally new and never seen before. They’ll appreciate the fact that there is new work to be read, and it’ll help to generate a little bit of excitement about your collection.

TONE AND THEME

If you write a wide variety of genres, try to focus on one theme, tone or genre with your collection. If you only write horror stories, then make sure that the horror stories you include work together. Maybe you have several new horror stories that are more literary and subtle and don't fit with your older work. When I was putting together Herniated Roots, my first collection, I chose stories that leaned towards noir. When I put togetherStaring Into the Abyss, I chose stories that leaned towards horror. I left out my MFA stories, the literary stories I wrote, because they weren’t published yet, and they didn’t fit the theme and voice. I also left out more recent work that was closer to magical realism because it also didn’t fit. Just keep that in mind.

THE TITLE

The title of your collection is going to be a great way to wrap it all up and clue your audience in to the theme, POV, focus, genre, and voice. The easy thing to do is give it the same title as one of the stories in the collection, usually the “best” story in the book. That’s what Benjamin Percy did with Refresh, Refresh. The first story in the collection is “Refresh, Refresh.” But a title like Magic for Beginners gives you a hint at what’s coming, so when you dig into Link’s work and get surreal, magical realism, you aren’t surprised. Also, check Amazon to make sure that the title isn’t already taken. It doesn't mean you can’t use it, but why not tweak it and make it original? There was no Transubstantiate when I wrote my first book, and there is no book called Exigencies either, an upcoming anthology I’m editing at Dark House Press.

THE ORDER

This may be one of the most important aspects of the collection, but don't sweat it too much, because in the end, your audience may not even notice these subtle choices. And when I say “best” what do I mean? I mean your favorites, I mean the stories that were placed in the best publications, the ones that got nominated (or won) awards, contest winners, the ones your readers kept talking about, all of that.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. First and last. I always try to start with one of the best, and end with one of the best. Why? You want to grab your reader and get their attention. If they read a great story first, they will most likely continue. Also, you want to leave them thinking their hard earned dollars were well spent. If the last story is just average, or ends on a weak note, they’ll leave thinking bad thoughts. Why take the chance? Start strong and end strong.

2. Tent poles. This is a theory that I like as well. If you have 21 stories in a collection, and you’re already starting strong and ending strong, why not break up the rest of the collection with your better stories? So, 1 is strong, and 21 is strong, probably your best, then put your next two at 7 and 14. The idea is that whatever is going on, hopefully the reader will put up with a few weaker stories, or more experimental stories, if they keep getting a fix every so often. I know, I know—all of your stories are brilliant. Then just pick your favorites for 1, 7,14, and 21.

3. Length. Mix up the long stories and the short stories. Try to fill in the blanks around the 1, 7, 14 and 21 with a variety of lengths. I try not to put two really long stories back to back. Bookend the 7,000-word story with two flash fictions, perhaps. Just play around with it. I’ve also heard that you should put you longest story LAST, so keep that in mind as well. It’s the story your readers will spend the most time with, so that’s an option, a way to end with some power, a longer connection, some depth.

4. Tone. If you have some really dark stories, maybe follow them up with lighter fare. If you have some really technical science fiction, follow it up with some softer science. If you have some experimental voices and formats, follow them up with more traditional work. Make sense?

5. Frontload. Another approach is to put your better stories in the front. So if you’ve got first and last as your best, and a couple of tent poles, why not put a couple more of your best stories up front? Don’t let the reader slip away. Hit them hard and hit them often, pummeling them into submission—with your words.

IN CONCLUSION

Try to keep all of these ideas in mind, but in the end, just have fun with it. Try to imagine the journey your reader is taking. Mix it up—short and then long, up and then down, dark and then light, opening strong and ending strong. Your voice is your voice, and if people love your work, they’ll probably enjoy whatever you put together. Here’s one quick example for you. When I put together Staring Into the Abyss, I did worry that some of the shorter, older stories wouldn’t hold up. But I re-read them and still liked them a lot, so I put them in. And strangely enough, whenever I’ve read the reviews of Staring Into the Abyss, I’m always surprised at what they highlight as the best. Whether it’s the guys at Booked, Horror News or Parable Press, there was at least one story they loved that I worried wasn't good enough. So, who knows what your audience will like, just do the best job you can, and let the chips fall where they may. Good luck!

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Intimacy: in Pictures

As writers, one of the most difficult things we can write is intimacy. There's a fine line between intimate, sexy and overboard. Especially when you're writing a sex scene or a really impactful moment that you want to be tender, yet sensual in a way.

Here are some photographers who can say better in one picture, what I could say with a thousand words or more. Click on the image, to be taken to the original site.

Enjoy!

*DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these images, nor claim to. I am purely using them as a reference material and have credited the artist, photographer, model, publication where possible.*

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(Photographer: Ewan Phelan and his wife Brianna)

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(Photographer: Ewan Phelan and his wife Brianna)

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(Photographer: Dawn Hartman)

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(Photographer: Mads Nissen)

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(Photographer: Emmanuelle Bosse)

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(Photographer: Maud Charland)

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(Photographer: Harold Feinstein

Asleep on Board Walk, Coney Island, 1946, Anne Reed Gallery)

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(Photographer: Pleasant Dreams, on Tumblr)

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How to: Thunderclap It

Thunderclap is an awesome platform for advertising your book release, cover reveal, award nominations or a sale.

How do you do it?

First, you have to decide whether you want the free or premium version. What's the difference? It's in the detail. You get more options and more control with a premium account, as well as being able to reach a wider audience. The free account gives you most of what you need, but it depends on how much money you have to spend and how widely spread you want your campaigns.

Free vs Premium

Click here to learn more.

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Start here: Thunderclap.it

Sign up under the Login/Register option and we'll get started.

Here's your homepage, where you'll end up when you sign in/register - 

Here, in the top corner, is where you'll find your Profile. If you're just staring off, you'll want to go here first. If not, you can skip ahead to making your first Thunderclap, further down the page.

At the bottom of the page, you'll see a list of Trending campaigns, campaigns ending soon and you can also select by category, from a drop down menu.

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To start, we'll take a look at your Profile and how to edit it and how it will look - 

This is where you'll link your Twitter and Facebook profiles. The Twitter one is most important, because when your Thunderclap is approved and someone signs up to support you, they're given the option of following you by e-mail and getting updates on your Twitter account. Also, anyone who views your Thunderclap campaign will see your Twitter box on the right, giving you the option of following you that way. I'll show you an example of that later.

For now, make sure you fill out your details appropriately. This isn't for your Thunderclap campaign, but it will save you time when you make every campaign under your profile.

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Next, let's look at what else you can click above. The My Activity box shows you all the campaigns that you've supported, your lifetime stats and how many Thunderclaps have been made in a glance.

Next up is your Thunderclaps page. For newbies, this is what it will look like.

 Then, if you scroll down, you'll see what it will look like once you've run a few campaigns.

This gives you all the information you could want at a glance. Now, if you've got the free version, you'll only get so much information under Stats, as shown below, but if you've got any of the more premium accounts, you'll see so much more.

I'm covering the free version, because it's the most cost-effective for Indie authors who might not have a lot of money to splash around. (Like me. lol.) Most of the stats you'll are shown as above - % supported, social reach and the date. Anything shows up as below.

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Now, let's move on to making your first campaign.

You can take a peek at pre-existing campaigns, to get a view of how it's done, or you can go ahead and get started. I'll talk you through everything here.

Page 1

Most of the pages are self-explanatory, but I'll go through them anyway. This part is all about you, so that your supporters can see who you are and what you do. Keep it short and sweet, so that it's something people can read at a quick glance, without having to spend forever trying to find out what you do.

Here's my usual:

"Elaine White is a Scottish author, who writes paranormal romance, crime and MM romance."

Short, sweet and it lets people see where I'm from, what I write and what my interests are all at once.

Next - about your campaign

This is the important part. See that box on the right, with the Book tag? That follows you, as you scroll down the page to fill out the rest of your information. It gives you an update with each new piece of information, to show you an example of how it will look.

As you can see, your Title has a character limit. 30 characters is NOT a lot, so get to the point. This would normally be where you'd add your tagline, but even that may be too long. I tend to play around with options, until I get it right. Sometimes that takes a while, but it's best to get it right. The one thing you DON'T want is to have your message cut off, because it's over the limit. Since I've never tried this, I can't tell you if it would post or warn you that it's over limit, but it's best not to tempt fate.

Beneath that, you have to select your category. Now, this isn't like an Amazon category, where you can pick 2 or 3 or even pick a sub-genre. If it's a book, say book. If you're a musician, say Music. You don't want to be advertising yourself as the wrong thing, because it will get confusing for supporters. Also, your campaign will show up on Thunderclap's home page, right down the bottom, where the give you a drop down menu to view campaigns by. (see above)

Now, onto the message. As with your Title, this has a character limit, so make it punchy and feel free to add hashtags, if you want. Sometimes they can let you say a lot without many characters. But also make sure that your message looks nice, isn't in text speak and inspires people to click that link.

Your message link is tricky. If you don't have your final buy link, then feel free to add a general link - website, Amazon author page. You can make a SmartURL with a link to all your international Amazon profiles (see here on how to do that) or just insert your US/UK Amazon profile. The key thing here is that once you have your buy link - as long as its before your Thunderclap goes live - you can update it! Which is awesome!

Sometimes Amazon takes a while to load a book, especially if you've had a last minute update before release day, because of edits or whatever else. For this reason, when you reach the End Date option, again try to make it well timed. If you're not sure the book will go live on release day, then make your Thunderclap end a few days later or a week or two.

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So, how does planning your end date work?

Your end date is when your Thunderclap will go live. Your post will NOT repeatedly post between your start date and end date. It will only post ONCE, at the time on the day you specific. So, if you want your post to go live at 12pm on the 1st of December, then choose those options.

When it says "Most campaigns are active for 2-3 weeks", that refers to the time it takes to gather your 100 supporters. But we'll go into that more later.

Now...REALLY important...your Thunderclap will NOT instantly be available to share. Once you've clicked Create and Continue, it will be submitted to Thunderclap for approval. This is generally just to make sure it's nothing obscure or porn related. I've seen a lot of erotica books been passed, so as long as you're sensible, it shouldn't be a problem. It generally takes 1-3 days and some are quicker than others for being approved.

For this reason, try to give yourself AT LEAST 2-3 weeks to gather your 100 supporters. I generally give myself a month. This gives you time to share your link (provided in your confirmation e-mail) to a dozen different social media sites over time, share it in the Thunderclap group on Facebook, which is a great way to get supporters. It's all about sharing Thunderclaps and supporting other people in return.

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Once you've filled out that page, we move onto the next.

Your supporter goal is important. This is how many people you'll need to get your campaign from Active to Completed. Like the message says, Be Realistic, so opt for 100 for your first campaign. If, later, you've consistently reached over 250 supporters on a 100 supporter campaign, then you can move your next campaign up to the 250 supporter limit. If not, you'll generally find that 100 is enough. It's hard for an individual author to get more than the 100 supporters needed for the first level campaign.

Next up, you need a campaign photo. This can be as tricky as the Title. The image is shorter than a FB cover photo, so you might have to play around with a little or go to Picmonkey (how to post here) and use the Create and Custom options to make your canvas 600 x 280. That will give you the image size and you can use layers to get your pictures added onto the canvas.

Now, you get to add the blurb or your story, or a synopsis into the "Edit Your Story" box. This one doesn't have a word/character limit, so go ahead and put in whatever you want. Feel free to add your website and social media links at the very bottom, because there won't be anywhere else to add them.

If you've updated your Profile, the E-mail and Twitter boxes will automatically update.

When you're happy with how your message looks in the box on the right, click the Create and Continue.

Now...REALLY important...your Thunderclap will NOT instantly be available to share. Once you've clicked Create and Continue, it will be submitted to Thunderclap for approval. This is generally just to make sure it's nothing obscure or porn related. I've seen a lot of erotica books been passed, so as long as you're sensible, it shouldn't be a problem. It generally takes 1-3 days and some are quicker than others for being approved.

This is a great reason to give yourself a month to gather your supporters.

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After your Thunderclap has been approved, this is a version of what you'll see.

This is what everyone will see when they click on your link to support you. When they get here, they can choose to support ONLY with Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr, or they can choose a combination of them or all three. That's up to your supporters. I have all three social media sites, so I always support with all 3, but other people might not have a Tumblr or Twitter site etc.

Then, once you've shared this and reached your 100 supporters, this is what you'll see.

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The great thing about Thunderclap is that you get a daily e-mail to tell you how many supporters you've reached overnight/during the day and how many more you need. That way, if you spend a day or two getting no supporters, you know to post it again and ask for more shares.

Then, once you've reached your 100 you get an e-mail to let you know it's "Tipped", in other words, gone live.

Feel free to keep advertising/sharing it after you've reached your 100 supporters. It will not show as Completed until it's gone live. That means you can keep gathering support as long as you haven't reached your post date yet.

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CONGRATULATIONS! You've now completed all the steps for how to use and make the most of Thunderclap.

How to: use SmartURL

SmartURL's can be an incredible tool to use in a million different ways. First off, they can be used on Facebook without causing those dreaded Captcha's. Secondly, they're saved on the SmartURL website, so that you don't have to save them elsewhere. There's a really quick and easy "Copy" button that you can just sign in to access.

Let's take a closer look.

Start here at the SmartURL website.

Here's your homepage.

Now let's sign in/register and take a closer look. You can do the quick and easy option of signing in with your social media account or register to sign up the long way.

This is how your homepage will look, once you've got a few links added.

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Now, click on "Create SmartURL" and we'll go to the page for how to create a link:

This is the most important part that you'll need to keep an eye on. If you're using an Amazon link, then this will be only 1 or 2 parts that you'll need to use.

First, let's look at the top options:

Now, I'd normally say that you should choose Country or Events, because it's a book that you're advertising and promoting to various countries. But, in this case, I've noticed that when you choose the Music tab, Facebook doesn't bother you with Captcha's or Unavailable links. Often, using other options above, you might run into these problems. But, these tabs have never made a difference to how well viewed or advertised the links will be. There is no SmartURL "database" like Thunderclap etc (post coming soon) to show you everything under that tab.

I use Music, because it's the least problematic, but feel free to play around and see which one you prefer to use. There's no set rule here.

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Next, onto creating our link.

I'm using the Amazon link for one of our company's books - Touched by a Vampire. I'll be using the Amazon UK links, to show you how you can make a SmartURL that will enable anyone in the world to click it and then be taken directly to their Amazon site. So, for example, if a person who lives in America clicks your SmartURL they will be taken to Amazon US. If someone from Australia clicks on your link, they'll be taken to Amazon AU.

Here's how.

This is your long link - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touched-Vampire-Eternally-Yours-Book-ebook/dp/B00OFGAWD0/ref=sr_tc_2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444766395&sr=1-2-ent

Now, insert this into the box "Default URL". This is what you'll see. Remember: all I've done is insert this ONE link into ONE box. What SmartURL does next is what makes it so smart.

The list goes on to detail the following countries for this book, on Amazon:

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Unites States, United Kingdom

BUT...there is the option beneath that, where you can add further countries. So, if you click this button, you can add the direct link for Mexico, Australia, China, Brazil. (<- these are the links to the main Amazon site, not the site to the individual book. This is in case you want to save them.) Also, you can find a list of ALL worldwide Amazon links here.

Now, let's name your link. I recommend that, if you're doing your own book, go ahead and give it an individual name. If that name is taken, it will tell you.

 So let's name this Touched, for Touched by a Vampire.

With the name taken, let's try adding in a full stop and put SophieSlade at the end.

With that approved, we can go ahead to the next part. However, this part here ↓ is not something I would suggest messing around with, unless you know what you're doing. I won't pretend that I do, so let's skip onto the next part.

When you're happy with that, click "Save" and you'll see this:

See those three little orange circles? Those are really important. To "EDIT" your link, click the little pencil on the left. In the middle, you've got your "TRY" button, that will take you to your page. On the right, the little clipboard is your "COPY" button.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You can now use your link!

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Every time you sign in from now on, you'll be taken to your SmartURL page (see above). As you can see in that post, you can quickly view how many clicks your link has had in its history. If you want more detail, click on the Stats button.

These are the stats for my book "Decadent", which has the most clicks and therefore the most stats available:

As you can see, you get a heck of a lot of information from one link. This will help show you where to keep sharing your link, where to focus your audience and where you're getting the most results.

Reblog: How to Manage Your Facebook Page Effectively

Here's a handy little post that we could all use, when starting to use a Facebook page. And, if you click on the Print button, it will give you the option to save it as a PDF. Bonus!

You can find the original post here, on Social Media Examiner.

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