If you are starting out new in the world of literature and you want to leave a permanent mark in the minds and hearts of your readers then one of the best things to do is to publish an anthology.

 

A lot of popular authors start out this way. But before we get to the point of knowing how to publish an anthology, it is important to understand what is an anthology.

 

HERE IS WHAT ANTHOLOGY MEANS

 

Anthology is simple to understand because an anthology is just a collection of anything that you can consider literature.

 

If you make a collection of poems then that is an anthology and if you make a collection of short stories then again that will be an anthology.

 

You can make an anthology on the works of a single author or it can be a collaboration of multiple authors.

 

There are numerous examples of anthologies all over the world and that is because anthology is one of the most popular forms of publication.

 

Anthology can be arranged around a specific time period and it can even be arranged around a single author. Anthology can follow a single theme or it can even follow a single cultural context.

 

It is totally up to you as the author how you want to self-publish an anthology. But when you do decide to publish it, you need to have a good guide for publishing an anthology.

 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY?

 

· For Preservation Purposes

 

One of the most important reasons why people publish anthologies is simply because they want to publish different works together so that they can be preserved.

 

That is why anthologies are not published by the original author most of the time but by a collector or a publishing house that has all the rights to the works of an author.

 

Literature is not just a combination of words but it is actually the preservation of culture and ideas of a place and time or a nation and that is why it is important to get literary works together. Theme selection for any anthology is quite important.

 

You must also understand that authors might have one or two of their poems widely known with most of their other works being lost in the chapters of time but creating an anthology will make sure they are preserved.

 

· For Educational Purposes

 

If you search for the most famous examples of anthologies then you are going to get names like “The Oxford Book of American Short Stories” or something like “The Penguin Book Of Modern Poetry”.

 

While these books can be read for recreational purposes and casual reading but they are mostly published for students and educational purposes.

 

It is much easier for a student to get books of a similar time period or similar style in an anthology than having to go around searching for them.

 

· For Cultural Purposes

 

Before we dive into the steps to publish an anthology, we must understand why anthologies are so important. Anthologies are important because they help in preserving cultures.

 

Anthologies are the only way to make sure different pieces of literature by different poets and authors come together in a single place because of their shared cultural link.

 

This cultural link can be in the form of language and that cultural link can be in the form of a freedom movement or a cultural movement etc.

 

That is why an anthology publication process is very meticulous and important and we always make sure that the publication process is immaculate at our publishing house.

 

HERE ARE THE BENEFITS OF PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY

 

· Excellent For Exposure

 

One of the most effective benefits of publishing an anthology is that you are going to get excellent recognition and exposure.

 

Anthologies are quite popular and editing and curating an anthology is a difficult process and that is why a lot of authors do not do it.

 

So, if you embark on this journey and learn and understand the steps to publish an anthology then you will be counted among the very few authors and curators that do anthology.

 

· Excellent For Collaboration

 

If you are an author then you probably belong to a network of authors and perhaps you even consider those authors in your network as friends and fellow creatives.

 

That is why if you feel like collaborating with authors and contributors then an anthology is the best way to do it.

 

It will be amazing to just create something with your friends and it will also be a great way to respect their talent.

 

But if you do not have an author network then finding contributors for anthology is not very difficult because authors will always be waiting for the opportunity to get their work published.

 

If you take the initiative to publish an anthology then it will be amazing for the entire literary world.

 

However, you must make sure that the proper copyright and permissions for the anthology are maintained so that you do not get into any legal trouble.

 

· Excellent For Portfolio

 

Having a diverse portfolio is excellent for any kind of profession and that is also true for authors and writers.

 

If you manage to create an anthology with the works of other authors as well as yours or if you just create an anthology with all your works then it will be excellent for your portfolio.

 

You will be recognised among the rare few writers in the publishing world to have an anthology.  It will showcase your ability to write on diverse themes and topics.

 

The anthology will prove to the world that you can be diverse but you can be a good author as well.

 

You will be able to reach new readers simply because they might pick up your anthology instead of picking up your works individually.

 

That is excellent for poets because it is impossible to buy a single poem but it is quite practical to buy an anthology of poems.

 

· Excellent For Monetary Benefits

 

In order to understand this, you must think of it like YouTube creators. YouTube creators still earn money from their older videos whenever it gets views.

 

That is also the same case with writers because with an anthology you can make money from your older works that might have been published individually.

 

If you are not an author then you must understand that royalties and monetary gains from publishing are a permanent source of income for authors.

 

Creating an anthology can be very beneficial for them.

 

Now that we know a little bit more about anthologies, let us look at the steps for publishing a collaborative anthology.

 

IMPORTANT STEPS FOR PUBLISHING A COLLABORATIVE ANTHOLOGY

 

· Find The Topic or The Theme

 

The first and most important thing you should do is to find the topic because without the topic you can’t go ahead with the anthology.

 

You can pick a topic that you are familiar with because that will be important later on as you are the one who is bringing everything together.

 

You can pick a topic that is very trendy or you can pick a topic that is rarely covered in literature and it can be a rare genre.

 

· Get A Team of Editors

 

The second step is about getting a good team of editors because you simply cannot do it alone as once you post the anthology request you are going to get a lot of submissions.

 

You will get submissions from all over the world because there are a lot of writers and authors who would love to collaborate with you.

 

That is why you should get together a team of editors with whom you are familiar and they should be people you love working with. They can be your colleagues or your friends.

 

· Finalise The Submission Requirements

 

The third step of the important journey is to set clear submission requirements. Only after you do this you can send out the submission request on different forums and on different platforms.

 

When we talk about submission requirements you must include everything from submission guidelines which should contain the type of content as well as the necessary word limit.

 

You should also make sure to have formatting instructions so that you can receive submissions in the perfect format and most importantly you must have a clear submission deadline.

 

· Promote The Submission Online and Offline

 

You will not have an anthology without proper submissions and that is why you must send out a submission request and promote that online as well as offline.

 

When we talk about promoting it online you can do it everywhere on the internet from popular social media platforms to even YouTube where you can put out a small video and promote it.

 

You can promote it offline in various bookstores and ask the bookstore owners for permission to set up a small placard or a small piece of paper as promotional material.

 

· Do Meticulous Review

 

After you do the promotion, you are going to get a lot of submissions but not all submissions are going to be great and some of them might be average.

 

You must sort out the best ones from the submissions. We would suggest you not to have any criteria for having a certain number of poems or stories.

 

You should never set goals for a certain number of works and you must choose all the ones that you find interesting and good. This is where your editorial team will be very helpful to you.

 

· Send Out Your Book Confirmations

 

After you have done the selection of the works that are going to go in the anthology, you must make sure to contact all the collaborators and tell them that they have been selected.

 

You must make sure to also inform them about the royalty agreements and you must also sort out everything about copyright with them.

 

The primary thing you must understand is that you should be as transparent as possible because you do not want to have misunderstandings with your anthology collaborators later on.

 

· Create And Finalise the Design and Layout

 

After you have sent out the confirmations you must make sure to finalize the design as well as the layout.

 

If you do not have any experience in book cover designing then you can also hire a freelancer to do it for you but you must make sure that it is done properly.

 

The same goes for the layout and you must make sure that the book cover design and layout for the anthology book is perfect because you cannot change that after it has been published.

 

· Do The Editing and Proofreading

 

Now that you are done with most of the work of sending out the confirmations and sorting everything legal and also everything design-related, you can finally focus on the editing.

 

Collaborators do not always send out the perfect manuscript and you must always check the punctuations and all the syntax mistakes and everything else so that the final manuscript is perfect.

 

This is when your editors will be vital for you because they will help you with the entire editing process of editing all the submissions that have been finalized.

 

· Sort out copyrights and ISBN

 

You must never skip on the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) of the book because it is essential for book sales both internationally as well as locally.

 

The same is also true for copyright because having copyright issues with your collaborators will only delay the publication date and result in financial loss.

 

Copyright arrangements can be of two types in the case of an anthology and it can be with a single person holding the copyright or the copyright can be held by all the collaborators.

 

You are now ready to print the book and create physical copies of it. You can also make digital copies of it if you want the anthology to be an eBook or an audiobook. Then you are finally ready for publishing the book.

 

But if you think about it, this entire process is going to be a very difficult, especially if you are someone with little or no experience in publishing an anthology or rather publishing anything.

 

That is why we are here to help you because we are Orange Publishers and we are the fastest-growing and most popular publishing company in India.

 

We have extensive experience and skillset in publishing analogies and we will help you with the entire process and not just the publishing process.

 

We will make sure that your collaboration goes perfectly and we will also take care of everything from the copyright to the cover design and layout for anthology and much more.

 

We welcome you to check out our website as we publish nearly every kind of book from every genre which also includes anthologies.