Volunteers
Many thanks to all who have volunteered to help with this year’s anthology. We have
- 1 stylist (Actually, no one volunteered, so Sheila will do this)
- 5 editors (possibly + 1 if Sheila finds time while dog-sitting)
- 4 illustrators (who will upload images to a shared folder, once they’ve seen the document)
- 4 Titlers, playlist creators, and cover designers (we combined these tasks into one – they will work together as a team)
- 1 formatter (Zita) and
- an opening for anyone who’d like to push buttons and upload the files on the day (at November’s meeting)
We Need
More editors and illustrators – the more people volunteer, the less work each will have to undertake! And an uploader (Sheila’s older brother is the least technological person imaginable. If he can do this – and he has done – https://www.amazon.com/Iconic-Elevens-David-Collins-ebook/dp/B0B4BLH2RZ/ – so can you!)
Submissions
We have a total of 43 submissions from 17 authors. We want to publish ALL MEMBERS OF THE WRITER’S MILL, so please send your submissions to anthology @ portlandwritersmill . org before the end of Sunday September 4th:
- no more than 5 submissions per person
- no more than 5,000 words total per person
- any topic, any genre, any style (just don’t offend us)
- There’s no overarching theme, so whatever you feel inspired to write will fit the anthology.
If you’ve entered any of our contests, you have a submission ready to go. If you’ve written something and not entered it, now’s the time to send it in.
Why Get Published in Our Anthology?
By allowing us to include your work, you encourage your fellow writers in the Writers’ Mill. By volunteering to help, you get valuable experience. By purchasing anthologies, you support your local library. And on top of all that, you have a great, personal, inexpensive Christmas gift to share with friends and family.
What if I want to get published elsewhere?
We accept submissions that have been previously published, and we do not claim any rights. This leaves you free to republish at any time. If your work has already been published, just make sure the rights have reverted to you before you send it to us. And if you want to publish the same piece elsewhere, just make sure you tell your new publisher that it was first published with us.
What’s the Timeline?
Great question.
- Submissions must be received by the end of Sunday September 4th.
- Sheila will combine them into one file and do the pre-editing steps (removing tabs and double spaces, replacing straight quotes and apostrophes with curly ones, setting up styles for poetry, replacing strings of periods with ellipses, replacing en-dashes with em-dashes, etc. see https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/help-2/tips-and-tricks-with-word/)
- Sheila will send the file to the editors and illustrators by the end of Sunday September 11th.
- Each editor will be tasked with editing for one or more (other) authors (editors will not edit their own work). They will be given simple editing instructions (see https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/help-2/writers-mill-anthology-style-guide/ for a complete list, though Sheila hopes to fix a lot of these while she creates the file) and they will communicate with the authors to get approval for any changes.
- Meanwhile each illustrator will upload a selection of images appropriate to the entries. (If illustrators have specific images for specific submissions, they will need to let Sheila know.)
- Meanwhile the titlers, playlist creators, and cover creators will consult on ordering the entries to create a smooth flow of text throughout the book, and on choosing a title and cover image.
- All edits need to be approved, all images uploaded, the final order of entries complete, and the title chosen, by the end of Sunday, October 9th (so 4 weeks after September 11th).
- Sheila will recombine the edited files, reorder the entries, add images that belong with specific entries, and send the resulting file to Zita before October 16th.
- Zita will create the pdf and epub files, adding more images to fill any empty spaces and create a pleasing flow.
- The anthology will be uploaded at the November meeting (Nov 20th) and copies will be available at “cost” from Amazon from them until the new year, when we will raise the price.