I want to edit an anthology... HELP!!!

Hi, Alanna. Sorry I don't have any answers, but I felt sorry for your lone post sitting there, so I thought I'd keep you company.

Do I still qualify for cookies?

Good luck with your project!

You get cake for that. I hate unanswered threads, especially when I don't know the answer.

I'll take a crack at 'em but be forewarned - I've no direct experience aside from contributing to one.

1) Compensation is entirely up to you. Some anthologies offer nothing more than a complimentary copy and a two or three-line bio. Others offer a flat payment. Still others a share of the advance and/or royalties (if any). As to legalities, I assume you'd have to have contributors sign a release, or at least affirm that their contributions are their own and they are assigning rights to you as per whatever agreement you work out with them.

2) I'm a little confused by this one because you said in your intro that you know to whom you want to submit the concept. Did you mean a specific agent? In any case, you could try to pitch the idea based on a proposal but if you're an unknown quantity, I'd recommend having at least a handful of contributions ready to submit if an agent/pub's interest is piqued.

Good luck.

Four cakes for you eraser.

Hi,
Just found your thread today. You should be able to find some useful tips here http://www.anthologiesonline.com/index.html

You might also look at the submission guidelines for the Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort series which will give you a model as to pay and rights. I also would not draw up a contract on your own. If you can't afford a literary attorney, I'd imagine they would at least point you toward some other resources.

Actually, there's standard release forms around which can be adapted to nearly any situation. You could use a variation of that for your contributors to sign until/if you land a publisher. At that point, the publisher might decide yours are fine, or supply their own.

2) Do I submit my proposal to agents before or after the anthology has been compiled?

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BEFORE. Have sample pages (maybe you wrote 'em yourself) ready to send with your proposal. The names of confirmed contributors and short bios that justify why they're qualified to trib is also a good thing to assemble.

But asking 50 people to contribute blind with no hope of payment unless it sells is not a good way to do it.

I've been contacted time and again to trib to collections, and said yes--but I didn't write a single word until I got a contract in hand with the payment details in print.

The first thing all pros ask is how many words, how much, and what's the deadline? It's embarrassing when you can't answer those questions.

GET TO THE LIBRARY, hit the 808 section, and find books on how to submit non-fiction collections.

I have a list of people to ask to contribute, I have the idea, I even know where I will submit this.

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Work up a proposal and submit it to the house or to an agent who represents similar works.

If the people you're asking to submit are in any sense "names" then you might get some interest. If not, be prepared to try, try again.

Be sure to work on another book or proposal or whatever while you wait to hear back from them so your head doesn't explode.

IF a house accepts your proposal, you may be working with another editor who may want to bring in a Name or two to contribute. A non-fiction uplift book with a single paragraph by Oprah is going to sell better than the same book with whole chapters written by unknowns.

If it sells, then the house and/or the agent will look after the business side of things.