The near-future anthology I have in the works right now started out as an invitation-only project. Due to the lack of optimistic stories in the group I received from the invitees, I opened the anthology up to general slush for a period of two weeks.
That isn’t to say that I did not receive any optimistic fiction. I did receive some, but one thing Chris (the publisher) and I discussed was the possibility of producing two volumes, one with an optimistic bent, and the other with a darker tone.
At this point, I located two invited stories I missed in email, and both of those seemed to fit the optimistic model, at least on some level. I also received a good one from a well-established author through slush (with a bit of coaxing).
At this point, I’m encouraged that I may yet be able to pull off a two volume project. I have a few well-established names, a few rising stars, and a lot of promising new writers that will appear in this volume.
Of course, certain stories are pretty much ringers, they will get in with no problem. The difficult part for me will be when I start culling to fit a project word count. There are far more good stories than I can use. It’s fortunate in the sense that I have a lot of material from which to choose, and that should make for a better product for the reader. It’s unfortunate in the sense that I will have to reject some very good stories.
The submission window closes on the 17th and I hope to have the table of contents selected by mid-August. I will need to select the lead story (or stories if we have two volumes) and get those to the artist we plan to use for the cover.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. In some cases the best story is not the best story for cover art. When I edited M-Brane SF volume 12 (also released in trade paperback as Ergosphere), I led off with a story that made a good match with the artist we used.
