Love of Writing discussion

Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Mystery, Crime, Romance, or a mixture (BASICALLY, anything but erotica)

Plot: your choice. Please include the underlining theme of Halloween, things that scare you the most, and/or supernatural creatures.

Rules and Directions -

* Type in English - between 1,000 to 3,000 words; no erotica and no profanity.

* Post your title, by line, and word count total in the first line of your story posting.

* Upon submitting a short story, authors will provide an Afterword and or bio for their story title with a word count of about 100 words (to fit on one page in the book). You may include a list of previous author publications.

* Each Author will be able to purchase paperbacks “at cost” in addition to shipping cost; Authors are not required to purchase anything. The Author can mark up a book price on their own purchased copies; the Author can sell their own books; the Author can make a profit this way. For regular retail book sales, the Licensee maintains publication profit to use for anthology cost production, promotion, and if sales are enough, for marketing materials.

* Writers are responsible for their own copyright. Authors keep all rights. PRIVACY POLICY IS ENFORCED. COPYRIGHTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BELONG TO INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS. THIS CONTEST DOES NOT GRANT ANY PERSON THE RIGHT OR LICENSE TO COPY OR USE OTHER STORIES. EACH STORY IS PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR.

Timeline: STORY SUBMISSIONS CLOSED AFTER MAY 15TH
*First pass edits by author group/leaders by Jun 30th
*Returns and author acceptance/changes by July 20th
*Line edits by editor(s) and cover design by August 20th
*Final go or no go from authors (no major changes at this stage) by September 1st
*Formatting and up loading complete by September 15th.
*Pre-launch and marketing from September 15th to October 1st.
*Launch, and full on marketing from October 1st to November 5th.

Purpose - The main purpose of this project is some fiction writers are looking to participate in an anthology in addition to sharpen plot and character skills, collect your own short stories, receive good feedback, make a good connection with other writers, and take a short break from your current novel to get a fresh view when you return to it.



Halloween Story Starters
• As I looked at the Jack-O-Lantern, it seemed to look back at me, and then...
• Your child won’t stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. You visit her grave to ask her why.
• There was a low growl from behind the bushes - its eyes glowed red.
• I thought there were no such things as supernatural beings until I met…
• The zombie was walking through my front lawn...
• As I reached into the bag of candy, I thought I heard a voice saying, “Pick me, pick me! (finish the story)
• I was putting my Halloween costume on when I heard something moving in the closet…
• It's been watching me for hours now... Sometimes I catch glimpses of its reflection on the computer screen, but I dare not turn around...
• Write a spooky story to tell around the campfire. Remember, you want to build suspense using onomatopoeia and alliteration. Don’t forget to have a big finale to frighten everyone who is listening.

What Ifs?
• What if you became the monster or character you were dressed as on Halloween night?
• What if there really were monsters under the bed? And one impersonated your child?
• What would you do if you saw a ghost who wanted you to follow him/her?
• What would you do if you heard a scream from an old abandoned house?
• What would happen if you took a walk through the cemetery at night and witnessed the dead rising?
• You just found out that your best friend is a mad scientist. What crazy experiment is she or he working on?

If you would like some writing prompt IMAGES, please go to my Pinterest page where I have saved some images specifically for 31 Days of October (and others). www.pinterest.com/glendagreynolds/amw...

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND – that our goal is to create an October/Halloween anthology. We do not have an editor. We do not have a book cover as of yet. We also do not have a set date of completion or if this project is my sole responsibility to see that it is published. We are still talking about all of this. Suggestions are welcome.

Great idea! I will work on the story within the next month.

Sure, Glenda. Give me the details and deadline. Word requirements, etc. would be appreciated.

Glenda, I eerily agree to participate in your preternaturally conceived tales of phantasmagorical weird happenings - lest you deliver chilling highlights dragging me to more than 2,000 bloody words. LOL

Glenda, I have my story, from one October, that I think will work. Do you have a word limit or Theme in mind?

Mirta, you cracked me up :) At this point I am open to suggestions on topics (?) word count (max 2,000?) I just think that we can come up with some good stories. As for it being only an ebook vs paperback and ebook, again that is something to talk about. I am not an editor and I've only done limited publishing. So if you guys could make some suggestions, I'm all ears.

Yes, Glenda, every once in a while I get like that. As to paperback vs. eBook, I would prefer paperback; however, eBook or both will be all right. Up to you. I mentioned 2000 since that's more or less the level I can deal with witches. (I think I am dragons/Halloween-challenged or perhaps I fear their ire if I write the wrong thing about monsters or witches). For everyone's benefit, you may establish a range below and exceeding 2,000. Again, up to you, or popular vote, or publisher's requirements. I am in for the challenge.

Glenda, I have the October 750 one that I can easily adapt it to your family-oriented theme, adding more words if necessary, or I can start a new one.

Sorry I have MIA for a couple of weeks. The conference was a bit hectic and I ended up getting really sick.

You can count me in. I am not one to write horror but I think I can put something together. I am glad to see the anthologies are coming back to life. I still sell one here and there .

Randall wrote: "Sure, Glenda. Give me the details and deadline. Word requirements, etc. would be appreciated."

I added the requirements tonight. Hope you like the prompts. Please discuss a good deadline date and where to post the stories - see my last comment.

Lynette wrote: "Sorry I have MIA for a couple of weeks. The conference was a bit hectic and I ended up getting really sick.

You can count me in. I am not one to write horror but I think I can put something toget..."

I would rather not label it horror since I envision the project being like bed time stories for adults and pre-teen kids. I must have my head examined for posting this project since I have no experience putting together an anthology. That's why I keep asking for suggestions. I have emailed Heather tonight asking her thoughts.

This might just be what I need. You all know me. Whats your definition of profanity? I haven't written shoot in months. Ok...I'm in.

Gene wrote: "This might just be what I need. You all know me. Whats your definition of profanity? I haven't written shoot in months. Ok...I'm in."

Gene, will it be something along the lines of zombies in the White House? Remember - kid friendly (profanity).

Sounds like fun. Count me in.

I received a reply from Heather. She said that Professor Limn is not doing anthologies at this time. We are on our own with this project. If any of you have connections with people who are editors and / or publishers that we can bring into this project, please tell us about him or her. If not, we are faced with using our own talents and experience. I was not really counting on paperback. There is more to formatting that than there is for an Ebook. For instance there is no page count for an Ebook since the font chosen by the reader effects the page counts. It's also instant in delivery. There is also the subject of who will be in charge to self-publish the paperback / ebook to Amazon? This person will have to bankroll the charges as well as collect royalties (if any). Some people may gripe about not receiving royalties. We were encouraged in the past to buy our own copies and sell them at book signings or give them as gifts. This is what has been on my mind lately. So I welcome your comments on the matter. Please be honest and open. Thanks.

I write for enjoyment, BUT I don't write to spend money. I like to be able to make money, I had been under the impression that we were supposed to receive small royalties on the previous anthologies. I never received a penny. I bought copies to sell but have never been able to recoup my losses on what I spent to buy those copies. This has always left me somewhat "dissatisfied." I am a fixed income person so have to be careful what I spend. I would never be able to bankroll (or even partially bankroll) such a project. Nowadays there seem to be a lot of books being released through Kickstarter financial means. I have been involved in two such projects: "Dance Like a Monkey" from Silence in the Library and the soon to be begun Kickstarter campaign for "Tomato Slices." Sadly, since I was only one of the many writers in both of those anthologies, I have no personal knowledge of how such a Kickstarter gets set up. You set a financial goal (to cover costs of publishing) then offer various financial levels of participation. The more someone contributes the better the rewards they get for doing so. Have you thought of setting up a Kickstarter?

No I have not had experience doing this or Go Fund Me. We need to vote for how many people want paperbacks and then figure out who would benefit the most from having paperbacks made. I would be satisfied with an Ebook edition. We could do the Ebook first and then consider the paperback later - ? Talk to me people.

There is no way to make money from an e-book at all is there?

Randall wrote: "There is no way to make money from an e-book at all is there?"

Tell that to Amanda Hocking who became a millionaire in her 20's. But that was before the book market became glutted with all of these self-published Ebooks.

If you are not satisfied with just an ebook, I will pay to publish it to Createspace. How you get your copies will be up to you after that. I would be willing to order AT COST + shipping. Using my paperback at Amazon as an example for cost - is 228 pages and costs $3.58 per book. Standard shipping is $3.59 (for one book). 20 books are $71.60 with a standard shipping of $13.00.

I will be willing to play with some graphics to be considered for a cover if one is not found by a vendor online. We could even hold a contest to feature someone's work on the cover (solely for bragging rights, credit given in the front matter).

I would also be willing to format it to the best of my ability and under the advisement of others such as Mirta and Heather (or whoever you suggest.)

The ISBN is given for free by Amazon as long as the book is sold AT AMAZON. If sold elsewhere, then you have to pay for a new one.

Does anyone have anything else to add to what I have just said?

Glenda: Remember I am just one potential author and you need to do what YOU want. If you are most comfortable with putting an anthology out as an ebook only, do so. After all, YOU are the one putting it out. You asked for honest responses from people and I gave you mine. It doesn't mean I won't participate if it is done far differently than what I want nor does it mean I will participate if it is done precisely as I want. Stuff happens. So you set the parameters of what you are doing and it is up to the rest of us to go along or not.

Thank you my friends. There is another matter with sharing files. Please submit your emails to me in order for me to send you invitations to share my Dropbox folder. This is for sending your stories in a DOC or PDF form. Thank you!

Sounds like a blast - are we looking at a 2000 word limit as I've seen in several posts and more family friendly/scary VS horror/gory/slasher? When would be the timeframe to have stories in by? I'm game for a good scare!!!

I've done quite well selling paperbacks at various events. So, I would enjoy having them. With that said, however, if we just opt for ebooks, I'm good with that too. Personally, I seldom read anything other than ebooks.

Well, I sent Glenda a private response to Heather's response. I'll share part of it here...

Yes, use Createspace to create the book and then mark the option to have it loaded to Kindle... This allows table of contents as well as go to paging in Kindle. And the formatting is not that hard. Its mostly running through a check list.

I have many friends in my local writers group who have gone indy and publish both kindle and paper back. And yes, they are making a living at it.

That really leaves editing and cover, which as Mirta said, is not that hard to obtain. With a little cooperation, I think a group of writers should have no trouble with getting the book published.

The hard part will be the marketing. I was going to ask some of my published friends if they wanted to add a story and help out. If they do, they have a decent readership, so it would help. The catch here is to make sure potential readers have a book of yours they can purchase if they like your story.

And having lots of people sharing on social media helps too. Not as a "HERE IS MY BOOK, BUY IT", but as a "Here is a great collection of stories you might be interested in. I have one there too."

anyway, I have a cold and am rambling... so there are some of my thoughts. besides the obvious.... YOU GO GLENDA, YEAH!

oh and ps, there is also funding by Indigogo, but all those require perks and lots and lots of social media. but i have ideas and training material for that too if you are interested.

Good ideas, Shae. You're right, a bunch of writers should be able to get it published. Hope you recover from your cold quickly!

I am totally down with submitting a story to another anthology and furthermore, I would be more than happy to volunteer my editorial services to this project. I have no experience self-publishing, though, so I'll leave that up to everyone else to discuss, but I certainly wouldn't mind being a part of a printed book so that I can have a hard copy of it for my shelves. ☺ That's just my two cents.

We will take full advantage of your editing services, Ms. Stephanie. I'm glad you are joining us on this project. Shae is being named"Licensee" since she will be the one who publishes our short stories, and she has also created the Permission Letter that will be used for this project.

Shae sent me a rough outline which we will follow to completion since I didn't have one to begin with. Please go to the first post and review this timeline. Story submissions deadline will be May 15th.

I would like to be a part of your project. I am unreliable due to health problems so can do little other than contribute a story for your approval. If you tell me how, I can help with marketing. Shelly

shll.harris@gmail.com
Shelly Heskett Harris

I see you are burning the midnight oil too. I'm sending you an email, Ms. Shelly. :)

Hi Glenda,
I have been absent for far too long, but would like to help and contribute to the anthology. You can email me at: thedead1@live.ca
Cheers,
Rob.

I've also been out of the loop but would like to contribute to this.
Thanks, Mary

Thanks, Mary. Have you participated in Writers 750 at Linkedin? Can you tell us about yourself? I'm making a list of participants. We're still working on the Permission Letter and details.

I'll be sending one

Hello writers 750 I am very excited to find that you all (ya'll) are here! I sort of lost all my groups on linkedin when they changed the formats.. Thank you Glenda for the email and I would love to participate in this new anthology..

Is there still a short story contest every month?? and is it here of on linkedin?

Hi Glenda,

This sounds great, do you have a working title for the anthology yet and I can help put a cover together for you as a work in progress.

I also might be able to arrange an editor for you as well as helping getting some crowdfunding to get some cash etc to get the anthology printed.

Here's a picture of the cover I put together my fantasy anthology etc.

https://www.facebook.com/chroniclesof...

This is great, I'll be submitting a story as well :)

I am back, Glenda. I plan to use the "New 750 October 2015" Halloween story, if it is all right with you. I will extend it to 1,000-2000 words, depending on how much I can get out of the witches. I did not see any highlights in your guidelines, so I will go by the theme. Right?

J.R. wrote: "Hello writers 750 I am very excited to find that you all (ya'll) are here! I sort of lost all my groups on linkedin when they changed the formats.. Thank you Glenda for the email and I would love t..."

Hi, J.R.! We are continuing the monthly contests here at Goodreads Writers 750. Lynette White is hosting for the month of March www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18036723...

If you don't see your writer friends here, please invite them. Thanks!

I think I've got it! I started a very rough draft of my hair-raising, horrifying story. Umm...

Glenda wrote: "No I have not had experience doing this or Go Fund Me. We need to vote for how many people want paperbacks and then figure out who would benefit the most from having paperbacks made. I would be sat..."

Sadly, I've had little luck selling paperbacks to stores in the tiny, non-English-speaking country where I live, so I would not be taking more than the one for my bookshelf.

Glenda wrote: "



Thank you my friends. There is another matter with sharing files. Please submit your emails to me in order for me to send you invitations to share my Dropbox folder. This is for sending your ..."

Mine's andy@andymckell.com

Great idea! Looking forward to working on this project!

Hi Glenda,

Thanks for the mail that I received. I had been very busy in February so did not participate, either in the February short story contest or access the group.

I would love to participate in the anthology, and go with whatever means of publishing decided, eBook or paperback.

Besides being a writer, I am an editor by profession, so I could offer to edit the anthology.

But do I get paid to do this?

How many writers do you expect to participate and what do you estimate will be the total word count for the book.

Just re-applied for Dropbox; signed for Glenda's shared Dropbox files, and clicked on the link for the cover samples. I loved all three covers!

@ Shae, Cora is asking about word count. I noticed on the Permission Letter that it mentions a word count between 1,000 to 3,000 (?) I've got it posted in the first post a word count of up to 2,000. Which word count are we going for?

I've drafted one. Anyone want to read it? I need to know if it is worthy for submission. :-)

Rebecca, this Writer 750 group is an open group. If you want the public to see your short story, post it here, but that is the purpose of sharing the Dropbox folder. Only those who have invites can view it. You can upload it since you've been invited.

www.dropbox.com/home/Short%20Stories/...

Craig Teal has been kind enough to work up a book cover (for marketing purposes...who knows, maybe more...) and it is excellent. I would like some feedback on it please. I'm sure he would too. Thank you!

Mirta wrote: "Just re-applied for Dropbox; signed for Glenda's shared Dropbox files, and clicked on the link for the cover samples. I loved all three covers!"

Cool. At least I know that sharing works. Speaking of Dropbox, only seven writers in this forum have responded to the invite for Dropbox. There are 7 more people who have not responded as follows:
Andy
Cora (just sent a few minutes ago)
Lynette
Robert
Stephanie
Todd
Walter (Bud)

I may have to send a message directly to them. Writers, please respond to the Dropbox invite I sent you for you to upload your story, your Afterword and the Permission Letter. Thank you!

Rejoice wrote: "Great idea! Looking forward to working on this project!"

Rejoice, I just messaged you for your email. Thanks.