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26 October 2005
Marketing Anthologies: An Interview with Ellen Datlow
Sue Lange's writing has been published in Astounding Tales (Editor's Choice for SF), RockRGrl, Nth Degree, Fool's Motley, and Contemporary Songwriter. Her story, The Meat Eaters, will be published in the Fall 2005 issue of Apex Science Fiction & Horror. Her novel of sf satire, Tritcheon Hash, was published by Metropolis Ink in 2003. She is a proud member of Broad Universe.
As fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, Ellen Datlow published such talents as William Gibson, Pat Cadigan, Dan Simmons, K.W. Jeter, Clive Barker, Stephen King, William Burroughs, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jonathan Carroll, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub and Jack Cady, among many others. She edited the short-lived Event Horizon: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror from September 1998 to December 1999, and currently edits the fiction section of SCIFI.COM. In addition to her magazine work, she has edited over 30 anthologies. A complete list appears at the end of this article. During a recent sf event in NYC, I watched Ellen hawking a couple of her anthologies. I was surprised to see her doing what I thought only authors were expected to do: get her books into the stores. It had never occurred to me before that the same pressure put on an author to sell her books would be put on an editor. I was impressed by Ellen's efforts and asked if I could speak with her on the subject of marketing anthologies. What follows is our discussion. SUE LANGE: First, who buys anthologies? ELLEN DATLOW: People who like short stories buy anthologies, and anyone interested in the subject of the anthology. For a series like the Year's Best, it's the people who follow the anthology who buy it. SUE: Your fan base? ELLEN: Sure. I started doing anthologies at Omni so the readers of those anthologies were naturally the Omni readers, and people who liked science fiction stories in general. Actually a lot of people didn't want to purchase the magazine just for one or two stories—Omni was mostly non-fiction—but when the anthology came out, they'd buy it since it was all fiction. But even the first anthologies I edited, not associated with Omni, such as Alien Sex, did well, although that particular one was probably popular because of the title. Certain topics always sell well—vampires come to mind. Adult fairy tales really took off. Snow White, Blood Red keeps selling, for instance. If an anthology hits a popular vein it will sell. SUE: Are anthologies more difficult to sell than other forms? ELLEN: Compared to a novel by an unknown author, no. Compared to a novel by a known author, yes. Compared to sf magazines, yes and no. The digests have declined. There are so many magazines competing for attention on the newsstands, that the little digests get lost on the racks. Anthologies are not marketed on newsstands, though. They are sold where books are sold, (sometimes even in airports), so they have an advantage there. In the end, many factors go into determining how the anthology will sell: the expectations and marketing abilities of the publisher, the anthology itself, who's reading short fiction, and who the editor is. There are a lot of anthologies from small presses that are awful in terms of editing. Inconsistencies aren't caught and the material is second rate. There seems to be a lack of concept of what editing means. The editors think that all they have to do is buy a number of stories and send the collection off to the printer. They don't have a feeling for the natural process of working with an author. As a result stories are printed without being edited. The quality of the anthology ends up being much lower. This in turn hurts the marketing efforts, and anthologies in general because a perception develops that there is a lack of quality in the form. That's unfortunate because as the digest form declines, we need the anthology as a vehicle for the short story. For instance, there are very few horror magazines so we need the horror anthologies. SUE: Why are editors expected to sell their anthologies? ELLEN: A publisher rarely does publicity other than sending out review copies. They should, but they don't, so it has become the job of the editor and author. SUE: Does the publisher do anything for marketing? ELLEN: They'll get the book into the right hands if you're lucky. Review copies have to go to the major outlets: Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, NY Times Book Review, trade publications like Locus. Genre websites can be important, such as Hellnotes for horror, Emerald City for sf and fantasy. Non-genre specific websites, such as January, Rain Taxi, and Greenman Review can be helpful as well. SUE: How many copies get sent out from a publisher? ELLEN: I don't know exactly, probably 20 to 25 galleys. Then when the book is finished, more copies go out. SUE: Do you ever suggest to your publisher that they contact a specific bookseller to get them to carry your books? Are they willing to do that sort of thing? ELLEN: I'll suggest specific reviewers who may not be on their general review list. I know a few bookstore owners but those stores would get books automatically. If you develop a positive personal relationship with a bookstore owner or book buyer that can help, but you can't force it. If a specific bookseller that doesn't usually carry your type of book is interested, you can certainly put her in touch with your publisher. SUE: Do the authors that contribute to an anthology help with marketing? ELLEN: Not often. I don't know how a bookstore would react to an author signing a story in an anthology. You can ask, but don't assume it's OK. Readings with the authors are great, but it's difficult to organize since usually the authors live all over and it's hard to schedule them all in one place at the same time. Other than that, the contributors don't do much in the way of marketing an anthology. SUE: As you choose stories for your anthologies, do you keep the marketing of the finished product in the back of your mind? In other words, do you choose stories that will help sell the anthology? ELLEN: Yes and no. I try not to buy something based simply on the author's name. Stephen King's name does help sell the Year's Best. My former editor at St. Martin's mentioned this the other day--I had assumed it didn't matter. But the book is going to sell a minimum amount with or without his name. For an original anthology, a name is more of a consideration. Some publishers insist you only publish big names so the book will sell more, but you can't get a quality anthology by worrying about names. What I really consider, as far as marketing is concerned, is variety. I want variety. One year while editing the Year's Best, I noticed that I had already bought several stories about children. Near the close of my reading period, I found a couple of stories that I really liked, but the subject was again children, and I felt that I couldn't buy more stories on that subject. Every anthology is more open at the beginning of the process when all kinds of stories can get in. At the end I'm trying to round out the book and I get choosier. Longer stories are very difficult to fit in at the end. SUE: So what are some of the things you do to sell your anthologies? ELLEN: I have my own list of connections to people who seem sympathetic to what I'm doing. I keep it up to date and have the publisher send copies out for review. Women's and men's magazines don't review anthologies much, but I send to anybody I think might do a review. I have to get galleys sent out way ahead of time because of a magazine's lead time. I work with the publisher on this. Another thing I do is go into bookstores that carry my anthologies and sign any books they have on hand. They are usually quite happy to have me do it. SUE: When you appear at conventions, do you do marketing there as well? ELLEN: I don't plan on doing it ahead of time. In fact I don't even carry the books around anymore. But I do go to the dealer's room to sign the books that are there, but that's about it. SUE: What's the most effective thing you do to promote and sell your anthologies? ELLEN: I don't know. There's no one thing that I do that stands out and I'm not sure if any particular thing is more effective than any other thing. It's an ongoing effort and so I continue to do everything I can. But going to conventions and meeting with readers certainly can't hurt and getting books out for review is crucial. SUE: Is it worth it for you? ELLEN: I can't support myself on my anthologies alone, but I enjoy doing the editing part so I guess yes, the effort is worth it. If it wasn't I wouldn't do it. SUE: What's your next anthology coming out and when will we see it? ELLEN: The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection (co-edited with Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link) comes out in August. The Faery Reel (with Terri Windling) comes out in trade paperback from Viking this fall, I believe. And our trickster anthology, The Coyote Road, comes out from Viking in 2006. Thanks Ellen from all the Broads and Broad Universe and good luck with these books.
Ellen Datlow's Anthologies Omni Book of Science Fiction, Volumes One through Seven, Zebra Blood Is Not Enough, William Morrow, 1989 Alien Sex, Dutton, 1990 A Whisper of Blood, William Morrow, 1991 Omni Best Science Fiction One, Omni Books, 1991 Omni Best Science Fiction Two, Omni Books, 1992 Omni Best Science Fiction Three, Omni Books, 1993 Snow White, Blood Red, with Terri Windling, Morrow/Avon, 1993 OmniVisions One, Omni Books, 1993 OmniVisions Two, Omni Books, 1994 Black Thorn, White Rose, with Terri Windling, Morrow/Avon, 1994 Little Deaths, Millennium (UK), Dell (US), 1994 Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears, with Terri Windling, AvoNova/Morrow, 1995 Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex, St. Martin's Press, 1996 Twists of the Tale: Stories of Cat Horror, Dell, 1996 Lethal Kisses — Revenge and Vengeance, Orion (UK), 1996 Black Swan, White Raven, with Terri Windling, Avon Books, 1997 Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers, with Terri Windling, HarperPrism, 1998 Silver Birch, Blood Moon, with Terri Windling, Avon Books, 1999 Black Heart, Ivory Bones, with Terri Windling, Avon Books, 2000 Vanishing Acts, Tor Books, 2000 A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales, with Terri Windling, Simon & Schuster, 2000 The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest, with Terri Windling, Viking, 2002 The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, with Terri Windling, St. Martin's Press, fourteen annual volumes, 1988-2001 |
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