# The K. B. Cafe Anthology



## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

HEY!! You should head over to Gennita's thread. She's the new sheriff in town!

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,173210.0.html

My original post has been replaced with Cherise's excellent summation, which we can update over time.

So the idea is an anthology with a ton of KB Authors. Flash fiction. With the idea that we would blow this thing out at a great low price with all of our social media power and see how many "I'm a NYT Bestseller T-Shirt" selfies we can compile.

*(Hugh's ideas in red)*

*Original Stipulations:*

Less than 1,000 words
Proceeds go to charity
Beta read the story of the poster above you

*Some New Thoughts:
*
What if the theme of the stories and a word in the title somehow is "Flash." It's a word that can be used in so many ways, but it gives us a common thread? We use this to expose people to flash fiction, and maybe encourage our readers and other writers to give it a try.

*Common Questions: 
*
Is this for real? Yeah.
When's the deadline? February 28th?.
Who do we send the stories to? We'll create a thread (Yeah, the stories will be public. Think: Perma-Free.
Which charity will proceeds go to? We'll vote. Could be quite a few, divvied up.
Can we have a common theme? If so, it needs to be very broad. The good thing about a theme, is that we could do more of these down the road.
What rights would we be donating? None. You can use your story after 60 days of exclusivity.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? I vote brand new. But I'm cool with reprints.
Target Audience Age Range? I would vote for all-inclusive, but that would mean putting the racy stuff at the end, with warnings.
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) I would vote for links to page of choice, with a very short author bio (50 words).
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each?
Whose account will it publish under? I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.
Can unpublished authors contribute?
Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted?

*Charity Ideas So Far:*

A literary charity that has been vetted? ...an inner city library project for kids? 
KayBratt

I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/
Vivienne Mathews

http://www.girlswritenow.org/
Zoe Cannon

Ronald McDonald House charities are very worthwhile. They're active in over 50 countries worldwide, and provide wonderful services for the families of critically-ill children.
Jena H

*Editor Volunteers:*

Zoe York (10 stories)
Cherise Kelley 
Lydniz
Greg Strandberg
Jennifer Haymore (5-10)
Roz Marshall (5-10)
PeggyI (5-6)
Endi Webb
Lanette Curington
LectorsBooks (5-10)
Scriptland

I will definitely edit any of the stories written by current RAP clients. I will do others as time permits. 
Once you've nailed down the charity, or charities, I will ask if any of my staff would like to donate some editing time.
Lynn McNamee

*Proofreading:*

***If we encourage every participating author to read through [the whole book], looking for typos, that should give us a clean work. 
Hugh Howey

If we contribute the stories by posting them in a KB thread as Hugh suggested earlier, then we can all just PM each other with typo fixes. Each of us would fix our typos in our post. And then the formatter would use the thread as the master document. Those who wish to have editing help should request it before posting in the new thread Hugh would create for this.
Cherise Kelley

*Beta Reader Volunteers*

Shawn Inmon (5-10)
zjoe
Caspar Bogart

*Organizer Volunteers:*

JohnHindmarsh
Joseph Turkot

*Formatter Volunteers:*

Greg Strandberg
catebaylor

*Cover Volunteers* (who suggest only a small committee or one person have approval of the cover):

daringnovelist
Dara England
Victorine

*Theme Ideas So Far:*

...give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different...
Valeriec80

It will have Hugh's name on it. Hugh could sell his grocery list. Don't worry about it. 
Bards and Sages
[Cherise's note: But Hugh plans on publishing under a pen name, so maybe this is not the case.]

Golden retriever puppies
Gretchen Galway

A single object
swolf

Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."
Dee Ernst

Tentacles and Tribulations. 
Dan C. Rinnert

Maybe we could all end on cliffhangers then do KB Anthology 2 - Tentacle Boogaloo
cassidycayman

Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme. The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story. That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions. The KB Caf� Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.
brendajcarlton

Stories about writers and writing. I like this. Leaves it wide open, but gives it a theme that makes sense. Very meta. Everyone could work in a writing protag or another.
daringnovelist

Maybe the stories should all feature wool in some shape or form...
Lisa Scott

The pen is mightier than the sword
Unreasonable expectations
A funny thing happened on the way to the ___
Flash Grimm's fairy tales, reappropriated to our particular genres.
It's always who you least expect
The seven deadly sins
Pick a charity, then use that charity's "theme" as our own.
Lost in ___
7 continents--each section of the anthology could take place on a separate continent. Maybe an eight could be fantasy/space.
Endi Webb

The theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. Some of the top anthologies are themed as a variety of stories based on something like year or nationality or kind of writer, or where the stories first appeared.
Camille

*Title Suggestions:*

Things Go Horribly Wrong... With Tentacles
Vivienne Mathews 
Hahahaha!

If the purpose is to showcase a wide variety of indie writers, a couple of titles come to mind.
(These are self-mocking titles, but could be fun for promo and covers.)
"Monkeys With Typewriters"
"Tsunami of Swell"
These would probably require a subtitle ("100 Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement" or something).
Camille (daringnovelist)

SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.
rachelaukes 
Hilarious, but vetoed! I don't want my name to have any special status on this. It'll go with everyone else's. I think if an editor volunteered their time, they could have prominence and headliner status, as with most anthologies.

2014 KBoards Cafe Anthology
Cherise Kelley

Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by the Author of Wool and Other Independent Publishers
TexasGirl

How about the "Hugh-Ginormous Blue Book of Flash" and then we could do a second called the "H. M RED Ward of Flash" and so on and the Lillian Pink Hart of Flash" taking the biggest authors here, and naming a book for them?
LisaGraceBooks

*Craft Suggestions:*

Oh, and if anyone (like me, ahem) hasn't done much flash fiction, Holly Lisle (author and amazing writing teacher) has a free flash fiction course here: http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/
Zoe Cannon

I like Isaac Asimov's description [of flash fiction] the best. Paraphrasing: A thousand word story or less that leaves the punch line to the last sentence, preferably to the last word. 
LisaGraceBooks

*Book Suggestions:*

I want to be in the same book as Hugh Howey. Otherwise what is the point? 
Victoria Champion

A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set. 
Dara England
[Cherise's note: this summarizes several earlier ideas, which I deleted for ease of reading.]

Perhaps limit each contributor to only one submission. Otherwise the collective (whoever is involved in putting this together) will get overwhelmed.
JohnHindmarsh

If you're going for "Let's see how many authors we can get to be NYT's best sellers" then you'll want to include as many authors as you can. I'd say, go for 400 authors, but limit the word count of the flash fiction. 500 words x 400 authors = 200,000 words. A reasonable book, especially if you link to genre at the beginning. (Not each piece, that would be a massive Table of Contents!)
Victorine 
I like all of this. 
[Cherise's note: I think only novels qualify authors for the bestseller lists, though.]

Also, I vote for 1,000 words, not 500.
Lanette Curington

*Marketing Suggestions*

I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month. Visibility here is what it's all about, even if your story never gets read. 
Greg Strandberg 
We can create a unique KDP account and share the login details. Or at least have 10 or so admins.

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology. It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.
Quiss

It's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely.
Texas Girl

If all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.
Texas Girl

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier. 
Joseph Turkot
LOVE this idea.

*Finance Suggestions*

Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses... 
KayBratt 
I thought something similar, but how would you choose who this goes to? I also thought about a special needs fund, like SFWA does, but then you need a committee to hear the requests and make judgements. It gets messy.

I think everyone contributing announcing it to their mailing list/pages would be a given.
Mimi (was Dalya)

*General Suggestions:*

Hugh Should pick the theme. 
Roz Marshall
Hugh does not want that much responsibility.

Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo? 
Amanda Brice
If not, I'll pay an editor. 1,000 word stories are easy to self-edit, though. There won't be as much work here as a 100K book would require. We'll just ask that every author do 10 or more passes.

Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude. 
Sapphire 
I nominate you. 

Hey, to help Kboards, since we're all sending it to our mailing lists, could we use the kboard affiliate link in those? I know I get some clicks from mine and make a few extra cents that way, and my mailing list is probably minuscule compared to a lot of others.
cassidycayman

For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested. That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at. 
[Cherise's note: Camilla volunteered to start the poll, but like the Google doc thing, I think this will be more confusing than helpful. I suggest we keep it all in this thread.]


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

Well, I nominate YOU to be the editor.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

The list of authors participating and their genres has been moved to the beginning of this thread:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,173210.msg2459480.html#msg2459480


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## dkgould (Feb 18, 2013)

or the proceeds could go back to support kb . . .


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

Why not? (I'm in a why-not-mood).


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

I'm in


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## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

1,000 words...I'm IN. Second nomination for Hugh to edit. *evil laugh*


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## Faye Hunter (Jun 5, 2013)

Sounds like fun. Make it happen Captain!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I'm in, out, and in again! I'm double-in!


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

Heck, yeah! Count me for the asylum.


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## Geoff North (Apr 2, 2011)

I have dozens of 1,000 +/- word stories, and charity is nice too! Let's do this! Why not have our own imprint name? K-Books? Different genre editions?


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I'm IN!

When can I flash?



p/s Hugh to edit.


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## OliviaF (Feb 3, 2013)

Let's do it!

I'm in!


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## Blerch (Oct 17, 2013)

I'm game, I've got some flash fiction lying around.

And Hugh for president of something! He can't do worse than anyone else at whatever he's elected for!


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## Elliott Garber (Apr 8, 2013)

This is an awesome idea! 

I think having Hugh behind it would also turn it into a "story" that will be covered far and wide in the media and interwebs... and even create some interesting discussion on the use of the term "New York Times Bestselling Author."

The question is, would everyone's fans get behind a 99 cent e-book enough to actually make it happen?


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

When's the deadline? I don't have anything suitable so I'd have to write it from scratch.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

I'm in.  Great idea, and Hugh as editor.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

YOU KNOW I AM IN! I AM SO IN.

I will write about a quilted crusader and a naughty billionaire, of course.


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## Kristy Tate (Apr 24, 2012)

Oh pick me! Pick me! 

Do we want a subject, theme or genre? Or just a do whatever 1000 words? How about a word range--800 to 1500?


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## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

I'm in.


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## Paul Kohler (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm in as well.  I have participated in two other charity anthologies, with the second just going out last week.  A third is planned for March I think that might have a lot of interest already.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

I'm in too! Great idea.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Oooh, writing for charity would be brilliant. I've never been overly talented at flash fiction, but I'd be game to give it a go. As others have mentioned, it'd be grand to have a theme!


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

I won't be submitting a story because I don't want to drag you guys down, but I'll be the first to buy the thing.

Edit: Okay, I'll submit something. (And I mean that enthusiastically, which is strange for me.) I'm assuming romance, fantasy, and erotica will be well represented, so I'd like to stick to sci-fi. I can beta read/critique about 10 stories, preferably sci-fi, fantasy or romance. Let me know if you're interested, and we'll work out the details, once/if the macro on this thing get's off the ground.

If there's to be a theme, I'd make it broad enough to cover all genres:
A bucket list
Betrayal
First love
Panties

Edit II The Sequel: I just noticed unpublished authors may not be allowed in. Ah well. Que sera sera. (I would actually vote to NOT allow unpublished authors in) Good luck, guys. Have fun.

Edit III The Gruesome Sequel: And just to save you some anguish, if there comes a day when I'm rich and famous, and 4th consecutive summer blockbuster movie is based on one of my novels, and you guys call me for a favor, and I D/k you _(The long legged blonde with the perky [owls] to suit the tastes of a Christian Grey comes in Fred's office. "Mr. Pasek, it's that group of authors from KBoards again on line two." Fred looks at his folded hands thoughtfully and bites his trembling lips. "I don't know who that is. Tell them I'm not here.") _it definitely will not be because of this. I would've done that to you anyway, so don't beat yourselves up about it.

Edit IV The Birth of Fred's Inferno: As I sit here, watching those I once called friends making plans, strolling hand-in-hand in a shared experience they'll cherish for life, I plot my revenge. swolf, my supposed one-time friend assembling the list of merry names that'll be contributing, already forsaking me as a non-contributor. Oh, how I yearn to walk arm-in-arm with my KBoard compatriots, only to be shunned like a dog. No, dog's are loved. Shunned like a weasel. No, wait, those are loved as well. Shunned like a blob of festering blubber. I thought of attacking pets, but could never bring myself to harm an animal. Then I thought of harming spouses, but too many on here would revel in the demise of their "loved one." No, I'll have to think of some better torture for you all, if you don't let me submit a story. Perhaps a virus. Yes, one that crashes your computers and fries the backup. Yes. Yes. I'm off to find someone who knows something about computers. My thirteen year-old nephew. Yes, he's a little terrorist in the making. He'll teach all of you what pain is.

Edit V The Bleeding: As I squat here, stabbing my razor sharp buck knife into the wooden floor with a thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, madness has taken me. It holds me close and whispers in my ear. Go ahead and select Gennita to run the thing. Mock me, all you published authors to whom writing seems to come so easy it's as if you're taking dictation frm God. Mock me. Laugh. Laugh. But know that I will hinder His creatures. We are enemies, you and I. Whenever someone mentions this anthology in public, I will fart. And soon this book will be associated with the stench of my bowels. So laugh. Go ahead. Mock me. Exclude me for not having published yet.

Edit VI Release the Houds: Oohhh, I've got it. Yes. Yes. This is how I'll exact my revenge if unpublished authors aren't allowed, I'll tell my "fans" that I wrote one of the stories under a pseudonym. I've had hundreds of political articles published in places like the Baltimore Sun. That's right, political. The p-word. And I've accumulated a rabid following of stalkers who leave comments like "Is it too late for this author's mother to abort?" and "I'll gladly pay for an emergecy labotomy for this guy.We have to fix him before he gets loose." Oh, yeah. And don't think I won't do it. Don't test me, people.

Edit VII Acceptance: Sigh. Okay, still not on swolf's list. So much for the Pittsburgh connection, eh buddy? I bet he's not even a Penguins fan. Anyway, even if you guys don't allow unpublished authors, I can beta/crit about 10 stories. I promise to be brutally honest. Very, very, very, very, very, brutally...honest.

Edit VIII A Chat With the Writing Gods: Oh, how hypocritical of a group that rails against the notion of gatekeepers to put the the prerequisite on inclusion that an author has met some criteria to be included. And a petty criteria at that. Is the criteria that the story be legible? No. Is it that the story can't be one word repeated a thousand times? No. Simply that it be written by someone who has published something in the past, as if that guarantees quality, akin to a story passing the eye of an agent and publisher's purchasing agent, no? Oh, you fools. The writing gods have seen your pride and arrogance. You will be visited by the seven deadly plagues of writing: venereal disease, hemorrhoids, droopy boobs, erectile disfunction, a widening butt, a cyclopse zit, and nothing but country and western on your radio on your next road trip. Repent.

Edit IX The Swoosh: That's it. I've given up all hope of ever convincing you people to let me submit a story. Go ahead, see if I care. I'm onto my next project. It's gonna make me millions. The internet enema. That's right, just push a button while you're at your computer and a hose periscopes out from under your desk. It's all hooked up to the facilities, so you don't have to worry about a mess. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the pleasant cleansing that comes with that enema we all need without missing a single keystroke. That's right, you'll continue to write your story, while The Fred Machine relaxes you.

Edit X The Silence: Another night in the unpublished author prairie with the howling doves, the crying wolves, and the hooking hookers for company. Happily the children select their genres like frogs on the road or eels in a toilet. Gathering. Festive. Little do they know that evil lurks in the prairie. Evil like they've never seen. Something more sinister than a dangling participle. It stalks them to the drumbeat of a broken heart, licking its fangs, the stench of it's breath knocking the comma off the list. It paces on the far shore, waiting for the day it meets one of them at a convention so it can unleash its fury in a blinding wedgie.

Edit XI Painful Memories: This reminds me of when I was a kid and the other kids wouldn't let me play. They just pointed and laughed and called me Mr. Scratchbutt Fingers. I still don't know why. They'd never even shake my hand.

Edit XII Musings: Is there any more secluded place than a page 2 post of a 30 page thread? Terrorists could come here and conduct their planning. It would register with the NSA computers, but the agent investigating it would frown and wave dismissively. I'm not reading through all that crap. Espescially that long, rambling post on page 2. Hey, I bet I could even say nasty stuff about Ann and Betsy here and not get in trouble. Yes, let me think up something juicy for them.


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## NicWilson (Apr 16, 2011)

I'll happily contribute. I've been doing some shorter fictions as palette cleansers between my long-form publishing schedule.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Great idea.

(I learned a long time ago to beware of making suggestions that could come back to bite you in the way of a lot of hard work. Title, cover, blurb, account  )


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## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm in! Great idea Hugh.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Great! Please pass your papers to the right and edit your neighbor's work.


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## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

I'm in - and by the way, great idea, Hugh.  I have some flash fiction I would like to contribute.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

I'm in! 

I Do wonder if anyone will buy this if it doesn't have some kind of cohesive hook. Maybe everything should be about some theme or something?

Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, and I'd always thought it would be a cool thing to do. And that's to give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different, because everyone's different. Just throwing that out there.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

I'm in. 

I tried passing to the right and there's no one there. Can I pass to the left?

Hugh - are you really sure you want to do this - I can see tons of work ahead. Let me know if I can assist...

I said assist, darn it...


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

I have one that's short enough and ready to go.


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

valeriec80 said:


> I'm in!
> 
> I Do wonder if anyone will buy this if it doesn't have some kind of cohesive hook. Maybe everything should be about some theme or something?


It will have Hugh's name on it. Hugh could sell his grocery list. Don't worry about it.

Oh, and I think the person on my right IS Hugh *hands him the story and runs off laughing"


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## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

Count me in too!


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

Way cool. Count me aboard


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

You people are crazy.

I'm in.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I can probably dig something up.


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## quiet chick writes (Oct 19, 2012)

Oooh! Pick me! Pick me! I've got plenty of flash fiction I don't know what else to do with!


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## ScriptLand (Feb 9, 2013)

I'd do it.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Assuming this is serious, I'm in. Who do we send the stories to? What is the deadline?


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm in, too! Sounds fun!


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## elalond (May 11, 2011)

If you are really doing this, I'm in.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

I'll do it happily if it's for real.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

If you're actually doing this, I'm in.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

valeriec80 said:


> Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, and I'd always thought it would be a cool thing to do. And that's to give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different, because everyone's different.


That's clever!


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## Cate Rowan (Jun 11, 2010)

Ooh, this sounds like fun! I have several flash fic pieces on hand...or I could easily write new stuff. The lovely thing about flash is that's it's not a 100K-word novel.


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## Kay Bratt (Dec 28, 2011)

For media purposes, it would be great to do it for a charity project. Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses, then the rest to a charity project that we'd all vote on. Something to do with reading, maybe? A literary charity that has been vetted? Or even to put any profits toward an inner city library project for kids?

And I love the following idea:



valeriec80 said:


> I'm in!
> 
> I Do wonder if anyone will buy this if it doesn't have some kind of cohesive hook. Maybe everything should be about some theme or something?
> 
> Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, and I'd always thought it would be a cool thing to do. And that's to give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different, because everyone's different. Just throwing that out there.


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Victoria Champion said:


> I'll do it happily if it's for real. However, I think Hugh is just having a laugh.  Amirite?


Hugh's going to have a great laugh when all our stories start landing in his mailbox.


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## Joseph Turkot (Nov 9, 2012)

I love it. Count me in. Sorted by genre would be great. Also like the common theme idea. I'd be willing to sink time into helping if needed.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

I love Valerie's idea of the same story...just told 400 different ways.

I agree that we'd need some kind of cohesive hook or theme. And I vote for proceeds going to a literacy charity.

(But yes! We need editing. Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo? It would obviously need to be several editors due to the sheer scope of the project.)


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

Skeptical but hopeful, just like on my wedding day.

If we have a theme, I vote for golden retriever puppies. I've got a little one here at my house and he's quite the furry little muse. Imagine the cross-genre possibilities--romance, paranormal, horror...

Golden retriever puppy horror. See what I'm saying? ------> Breakout. #1. Bestseller.


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## c__f (Jan 29, 2013)

I would love to be part of this!

I also think Joseph's idea of sorting the stories by genre is a really good one.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

I'm in!  

I have decent editing chops, and would be willing to copy edit a number of the stories. Maybe 10?


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## emilyryandavis (Dec 30, 2013)

Me! I even have something ready for this...editor and "actually happening" provided.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Amanda Brice said:


> I love Valerie's idea of the same story...just told 400 different ways.
> 
> I agree that we'd need some kind of cohesive hook or theme. And I vote for proceeds going to a literacy charity.


My writing group did something similar, and it was tied together with a single object - the ten of clubs. Each story worked in the ten of clubs somehow.


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## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

Count me in!


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I don't make anybody's list of possible contributors. I'd still like to participate if the deadline fits into my currently crazy life. The charity aspect is pretty cool.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I could do a bit of editing too.

I reckon Hugh is hiding in his bathroom right now, rocking and sobbing.


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

I'll volunteer some editing and formatting (anyone want to make that TOC?) even if my story isn't picked.


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## Jennifer Lewis (Dec 12, 2013)

I'd love to join. Sounds like fun


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## momilp (Jan 11, 2010)

I'd love to be part of this project!!!


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## CEMartin2 (May 26, 2012)

Not sure I can restrain my long-winded self to 1000 words, but I'll throw my name in the ring as well.


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## Danielle Monsch (Aug 21, 2011)

I'd like to part of this

And I love the idea of a literacy charity


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

vrabinec said:


> I won't be submitting a story because I don't want to drag you guys down, but I'll be the first to buy the thing.


Don't be silly. You'd rock. I have something ready so I'm in. C'mon Fred...join me.


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

Amanda Brice said:


> I love Valerie's idea of the same story...just told 400 different ways.
> 
> I agree that we'd need some kind of cohesive hook or theme. And I vote for proceeds going to a literacy charity.


I agree. Visibility on this is enough and if you put charity stuff in there you've got a greater chance of it going viral to some extent. Visibility here is what it's all about, even if your story never gets read. I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month. We all know where he lives.


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## Jennifer Haymore (Dec 30, 2013)

I'd love to join. I can edit a few, too. 5-10.  

Jennifer


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

Marketing idea:

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology.

It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.


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## Dan Fiorella (Oct 14, 2012)

so, what's the status on this thing?


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

Amanda Brice said:


> I love Valerie's idea of the same story...just told 400 different ways.
> 
> I agree that we'd need some kind of cohesive hook or theme. And I vote for proceeds going to a literacy charity.
> 
> (But yes! We need editing. Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo? It would obviously need to be several editors due to the sheer scope of the project.)


I don't have anything short enough, but I love the idea of writing to a theme, so count me in too 

I guess Hugh should pick the theme? 
I did think of 'Valentine' as a theme, as we could market around that too, but I think the timing might be too tight for 14 Feb.

I'll ping my Editor to see if I can get her to volunteer to do some, and I will volunteer to edit 5-10 (perhaps British authors, since I'm a Brit?) as long as the deadlines aren't too tight (I think I'd need a couple of weeks to be safe), with the proviso that I am picky but not normally an Editor.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Anyone available to donate some smashing cover art?


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

I don't think we necessarily need volunteers to edit... though it would be great fun to swap and beta for each other. The cover/formatting/proofreading could be hired out to professionals, plus the coordination/project management, and those costs would be recouped from the first sales. No need to be too thrifty... this thing will sell some copies, I'm sure.

I think everyone contributing announcing it to their mailing list/pages would be a given.


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Hmm, sounds like fun.

Flash isn't usually my thing, but I have a 1,000 word piece that's part love story, part ghost story that might be suitable.  

I have questions, though - what rights would we be donating? Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff?


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

This sounds fun, theme or no theme.

Amazon WILL add more than ten authors if you email them and give them the list, but I'm not sure of the upper limit. On other compilations I've done, it's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely. 

Also, if all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.

This sounds like a good job for a Google Spread sheet for signing up, and also saying if you are willing to edit perhaps one, two, or more other stories so the work could be spread out.

I don't know if a theme is necessary, but you can divide the compilation into sections by genre -- Sci Fi section, Romance section, etc.

Organization is the hardest part.


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## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

Love this! I'm in. Like the idea of one story told from different points of view. Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."


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## PeggyI (Jan 9, 2011)

I'm tied up with working and going to University at nights, but can copy edit 5 or 6.


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

I think the flash stories should just be separated into different genres so there is something for everyone.  I think all one theme would be limiting. But Hugh hasn't come back so maybe he was only joking.

As a matter of fact, it is already getting complicated with so many ideas and suggestions, many of which I don't like, so I think I'll pass on this. Have fun, though.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

A chance to be published in the same anthology as the great Hugh Howley? �I'm so in �


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## Joseph Turkot (Nov 9, 2012)

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier.


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## 41413 (Apr 4, 2011)

I'd donate a piece of flash fiction for this.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

I think the last thread to rack up so many replies in such a short amount of time had something about "tentacles" in the title...


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Vivienne Mathews said:


> I think the last thread to rack up so many replies in such a short amount of time had something about "tentacles" in the title...


...and there we have our theme, ladies and gentlemen.


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Great idea! But I can't write flash fiction. I'm perpetually verbose... Why use one word when ten will do?


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## Usedtopostheretoo! (Feb 27, 2011)

In.


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## Danielle Monsch (Aug 21, 2011)

Vivienne Mathews said:


> I think the last thread to rack up so many replies in such a short amount of time had something about "tentacles" in the title...


I'm an anime fan - tentacles don't scare me


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> ... truly ridiculous *box set *


Re: themes and tentacles - Well, I do have to confess that the first time I read this, I thought he said "bot sex."

Dyslexic bondage writers of the world - UNTIE!!


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

It sounds fun. I'd be willing to participate.  But someone needs to define what charity, word count range, theme, deadlines, target audience age range, etc....

As a thought, if to keep the author list from getting too long, there could always be a mini-series of anthologies (w/ different acquisition editors, perhaps)--or a serialized anthology! 

(Throw me in the ring of liking Valerie's idea of the "same premise, different stories" thing. I've been kicking that idea around, myself.)


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Sounds like fun. Short stories are always a fun challenge.


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## Deena Ward (Jun 20, 2013)

I'd love to be part of this -- and I can keep it tame.  I like Valerie's idea, too.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Count me in!


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

Is this open only to those who actually sell books or anyone who has books to sell that people don't even want to "buy" when they're free?

If the latter, I'd be willing to be in.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Carradee said:


> It sounds fun. I'd be willing to participate.  But someone needs to define what charity...


Thinking I'd be helpful, I tried a search for reputable literacy charities on charitywatch.org. It responded with zero results. Only after several long, embarrassing minutes did I realize I'd typed "litaracy."

So... yeah... I'm probably not the person for that particular job.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Vivienne Mathews said:


> I think the last thread to rack up so many replies in such a short amount of time had something about "tentacles" in the title...


So that's the theme?


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Greg Strandberg said:


> I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month.�


+1

That would get our anthology the most visibility, I agree. Also a good idea posted by Texas Girl (I think?) to list the 10 bestselling contributors on the Amazon page, for also-bought purposes.

I'll volunteer to copy edit the whole thing in exchange for cross promo of one of my books in all the other authors' books, heck yeah!


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

JohnHindmarsh said:


> So that's the theme?


Tentacles and Tribulations.  Works for multiple genres. Could be scifi where scientists have engineered humans with tentacles to explore the deep sea and something goes horribly wrong. Could be horror where a strange tentacled creature living in the forest encounters modern civilization due to deforestation and things go horribly wrong. Could be romance where a man falls in love with a woman that studies octopi and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be historical fiction where pirates battle the Royal Navy and a huge squid comes between them and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be literary fiction where the tentacles are a metaphor for all the people interfering with the protagonist's daily routine during his mid-life crisis where his life goes horribly wrong.


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## Doril (Nov 2, 2013)

Fun fun. I'm in. I'm in. 

When is the deadline.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm always interested in doing Flash Fiction. (I might have something, but if there is a little time I'll write something.)  I really enjoyed doing the Pink Snowbunnies collection.

The "theme" can be an inclusive one ("KB Cafe Pot Luck") or something date related like "2014 KB Anthology" or a reference to the Year of the Fire Horse.

I would be happy to do a cover on spec.  (And would not be in the least offended at rejections -- I have other uses for any artwork I create.)  But I'd rather have an idea of title and blurb before I start, or at least have some other person be art director to consider concepts.

Camille


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## Nicholas Andrews (Sep 8, 2011)

I'm not sure I'm capable of writing a story under 1000 words, but I'd be willing to give it a try. At the very least, it shouldn't take that long.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Dan C. Rinnert said:


> Tentacles and Tribulations.  Works for multiple genres. Could be scifi where scientists have engineered humans with tentacles to explore the deep sea and something goes horribly wrong. Could be horror where a strange tentacled creature living in the forest encounters modern civilization due to deforestation and things go horribly wrong. Could be romance where a man falls in love with a woman that studies octopi and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be historical fiction where pirates battle the Royal Navy and a huge squid comes between them and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be literary fiction where the tentacles are a metaphor for all the people interfering with the protagonist's daily routine during his mid-life crisis where his life goes horribly wrong.


Lol, as long as things go horribly wrong, right? In fact, that makes for a rather lovely title, too: _Things Go Horribly Wrong_... _With Tentacles_.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm in!

Short, short fiction isn't my strength, but I'm happy to give it a go!


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## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

Can anyone take part? If so, I'd love to contribute.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I see lots of good ideas here (along with some not so good  ). Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Cool idea. I'm in too.


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## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

.


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## Nick Endi Webb (Mar 25, 2012)

Every time I step away from kboards for a few hours I nearly miss something.

I can contribute something. That is, if we're not limiting the contributors to people who actually *sell* books.

I'm also willing to proofread.


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## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

Sure. Why not? I think I have something gathering dust that I could scrub down!


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

I don't know if I could write something with a beg., middle and end and have it be a thousand words since I can't seem to end without a cliffhanger to save my life, but I would definitely try. Maybe we could all end on cliffhangers then do KB Anthology 2 - Tentacle Boogaloo


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## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

ooh, I wanna play! Count me in!


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## brendajcarlton (Sep 29, 2012)

I'd like to participate.  I've never published flash fiction, but I think I could write something interesting.  Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme.  The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story.  That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions.  The KB Café Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.  Wadda y'all think?


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

I'm willing. 

I think having a theme is important. Something really specific even. Seems it would be a lot easier to have a great blurb/cover if you came up with something that drew readers in. Starting with the same line seems a decent idea. Or some object that appears across all the stories, but in many different ways. Or every story involved snow or valentine's day. Dividing it up in genres sounds good too. A list of 100 stories with no guideposts about what to expect would be intimidating.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Given that this is proposed to be a very large antho, and therefore I assume you want as many people as possible to participate (and people may want to submit their best work, and some people don't write that many flash stories):

Are reprints acceptable?

Camille


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## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

This interests me too. Just tell me when, where etc. Details, please.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm fine with no theme, however, I'm going to suggest one:

Stories about writers and writing.


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## mariehallwrites (Mar 14, 2013)

I'm a romance/UF writer and the only 1k or less thoughts coming to me are purely horror.   What is the theme here?


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Wow, we've already got around 80 authors. This thing is going to be rather large, even if we are only writing flash fiction.

We may have to do a follow up anthology at this rate....or a whole series of them.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

I'd love to be included if this is happening.  Maybe the stories should all feature wool in some shape or form....


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

My earlier silliness aside, I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

Great idea, Hugh!

Count me in.

ETA: I can do some proofreading.


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## Nick Endi Webb (Mar 25, 2012)

If we're doing a theme it ought to be broad enough to permit most genres (I'm good at stating the obvious).

Some throwaway brainstorm ideas:

The pen is mightier than the sword
Unreasonable expectations
A funny thing happened on the way to the ___
Flash Grimm's fairy tales, reappropriated to our particular genres.
It's always who you least expect
The seven deadly sins
Pick a charity, then use that charity's "theme" as our own.
Lost in ___
7 continents--each section of the anthology could take place on a separate continent. Maybe an eight could be fantasy/space.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

If the purpose is to showcase a wide variety of indie writers, a couple of titles come to mind.

(These are self-mocking titles, but could be fun for promo and covers.)

"Monkeys With Typewriters"

"Tsunami of Swell"

These would probably require a subtitle ("100 Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement" or something).

Camille


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

Re literacy charities: I helped put together a charity anthology earlier this year that supports Girls Write Now.

We would probably get more readers with a theme. The trick is finding something specific enough that potential readers would be able to get an idea of whether they'd like the stories, but open enough that we'd all be interested in writing to it.


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## S. Elliot Brandis (Dec 9, 2013)

I'm only new here, but I would definitely do it.


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

How about SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I might be interested, depending on theme. I like TexasGirl's suggestion of everyone writing whatever they want and separating the compilations by genre. Or if readers could use the TOC to jump to the Romance or Sci-Fi section or whatever, they wouldn't have to page through genres that don't interest them. 

I might also be available to donate a cover design, if we can narrow it down to only one person or a small committee I've got to please with my mockups. Running design ideas past a hundred authors would be an exercise in frustration.


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## Dean Murray (Jan 13, 2011)

If there are still spots open I'd love to be included too!

Dean


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

One thought about a theme:

For marketing purposes, the theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. �Some of the top anthologies are themed as a variety of stories based on something like year or nationality or kind of writer, or where the stories first appeared.

Story subject themes are great when all the stories are the same genre or tone, but it backfires when the stories are all different. �Audiences expect a themed anthology to all be the same, and they get really upset when they find stories outside their comfort zone.

And this can be true even within genres.

So I'd recommend that the theme be based on who we are. �Or we split the antho up by genre. �Or if we can come up with a magic subject theme that really does indicate a wide variety.

Camille


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## Nicholas Andrews (Sep 8, 2011)

A. S. Warwick said:


> Wow, we've already got around 80 authors. This thing is going to be rather large, even if we are only writing flash fiction.
> 
> We may have to do a follow up anthology at this rate....or a whole series of them.


There are always going to be those who don't follow through, or don't make the deadline in time. You may have 100 authors sign on, but if 40% don't end up submitting, that's only a 60,000 word book.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

I'm in, if there's still a place.


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## Nick Endi Webb (Mar 25, 2012)

Regardless of the theme, it's got to be divided up by genre. As a reader, I don't want to have to wade through all the boring genres to get to the tentacles.


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## Pamela (Oct 6, 2010)

Enormous enterprise. I'd love to contribute.

Cover? Theme or separate genres? I like Endi's ideas



Endi Webb said:


> If we're doing a theme it ought to be broad enough to permit most genres (I'm good at stating the obvious).
> 
> Some throwaway brainstorm ideas:
> 
> ...


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Summarizing to try and help Hugh Organize this 

*Hugh's Stipulations:
*
Less than 1,000 words
Proceeds go to charity
Beta read the story of the poster above you

*Common Questions:*

Is this for real?
When's the deadline?
Who do we send the stories to?
Which charity will proceeds go to?
Can we have a common theme?
What rights would we be donating? 
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff?
Target Audience Age Range?
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?)

*Charity* Ideas So Far:

Something to do with reading, maybe? A literary charity that has been vetted? Or even to put any profits toward an inner city library project for kids? 
KayBratt

I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/
Vivienne Mathews

http://www.girlswritenow.org/
Zoe Cannon

*Proofreader / Editor Volunteers:*

Zoe York (10 stories)
Cherise Kelley (whole thing in exchange for cross promo of one of my books in everyone else's)
Lydniz
Greg Strandberg
Jennifer Haymore (5-10)
Roz Marshall (5-10)
PeggyI (5-6)
Endi Webb
Lanette Curington
Shawn Inmon (5-10)

*Organizer Volunteers:*

JohnHindmarsh
Joseph Turkot

*Formatter Volunteers:*

Greg Strandberg

*Cover Volunteers* (who both suggest only a small committee or one person have approval of the cover):

daringnovelist
Dara England

*Theme Ideas So Far:*

Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, and I'd always thought it would be a cool thing to do. And that's to give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different, because everyone's different. Just throwing that out there.
Valeriec80

It will have Hugh's name on it. Hugh could sell his grocery list. Don't worry about it.
Bards and Sages

golden retriever puppies
Gretchen Galway

A single object
swolf

I did think of 'Valentine' as a theme, as we could market around that too, but I think the timing might be too tight for 14 Feb.
Roz Marshall

Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."
Dee Ernst

Tentacles and Tribulations. Wink Works for multiple genres. Could be scifi where scientists have engineered humans with tentacles to explore the deep sea and something goes horribly wrong. Could be horror where a strange tentacled creature living in the forest encounters modern civilization due to deforestation and things go horribly wrong. Could be romance where a man falls in love with a woman that studies octopi and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be historical fiction where pirates battle the Royal Navy and a huge squid comes between them and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be literary fiction where the tentacles are a metaphor for all the people interfering with the protagonist's daily routine during his mid-life crisis where his life goes horribly wrong.
Dan C. Rinnert

Maybe we could all end on cliffhangers then do KB Anthology 2 - Tentacle Boogaloo
cassidycayman

The "theme" can be an inclusive one ("KB Cafe Pot Luck") or something date related like "2014 KB Anthology" or a reference to the Year of the Fire Horse.
daringnovelist

Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme. The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story. That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions. The KB Caf� Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.
brendajcarlton

Stories about writers and writing.
daringnovelist

Maybe the stories should all feature wool in some shape or form...
Lisa Scott

The pen is mightier than the sword
Unreasonable expectations
A funny thing happened on the way to the ___
Flash Grimm's fairy tales, reappropriated to our particular genres.
It's always who you least expect
The seven deadly sins
Pick a charity, then use that charity's "theme" as our own.
Lost in ___
7 continents--each section of the anthology could take place on a separate continent. Maybe an eight could be fantasy/space.
Endi Webb

For marketing purposes, the theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. �Some of the top anthologies are themed as a variety of stories based on something like year or nationality or kind of writer, or where the stories first appeared.
Story subject themes are great when all the stories are the same genre or tone, but it backfires when the stories are all different. �Audiences expect a themed anthology to all be the same, and they get really upset when they find stories outside their comfort zone.
And this can be true even within genres.
So I'd recommend that the theme be based on who we are. �Or we split the antho up by genre. �Or if we can come up with a magic subject theme that really does indicate a wide variety.
Camille

*Title Suggestions:*

Things Go Horribly Wrong... With Tentacles
Vivienne Mathews

If the purpose is to showcase a wide variety of indie writers, a couple of titles come to mind.
(These are self-mocking titles, but could be fun for promo and covers.)
"Monkeys With Typewriters"
"Tsunami of Swell"
These would probably require a subtitle ("100 Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement" or something).
Camille (daringnovelist)

SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.
rachelaukes

*General Suggestions:*

Hugh Should pick the theme.
Roz Marshall

Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses...
KayBratt

Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo?
Amanda Brice

Sort the stories by genre
Joseph Turkot

Visibility on this is enough and if you put charity stuff in there you've got a greater chance of it going viral to some extent. Visibility here is what it's all about, even if your story never gets read. I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month. We all know where he lives. 
Greg Strandberg

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology. It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.
Quiss

The cover/formatting/proofreading could be hired out to professionals, plus the coordination/project management, and those costs would be recouped from the first sales. No need to be too thrifty... this thing will sell some copies, I'm sure. I think everyone contributing announcing it to their mailing list/pages would be a given.
Mimi (was Dalya)

Amazon WILL add more than ten authors if you email them and give them the list, but I'm not sure of the upper limit. On other compilations I've done, it's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely.
Also, if all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.
This sounds like a good job for a Google Spread sheet for signing up, and also saying if you are willing to edit perhaps one, two, or more other stories so the work could be spread out.
I don't know if a theme is necessary, but you can divide the compilation into sections by genre -- Sci Fi section, Romance section, etc.
Texas Girl

I think the flash stories should just be separated into different genres so there is something for everyone. I think all one theme would be limiting.
JeanneM

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier. 
Joseph Turkot

Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude. 
Sapphire

Seems it would be a lot easier to have a great blurb/cover if you came up with something that drew readers in. Starting with the same line seems a decent idea. Or some object that appears across all the stories, but in many different ways. Or every story involved snow or valentine's day. Dividing it up in genres sounds good too. A list of 100 stories with no guideposts about what to expect would be intimidating.
David Normoyle

Or if readers could use the TOC to jump to the Romance or Sci-Fi section or whatever, they wouldn't have to page through genres that don't interest them. 
Dara England


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

If there's room, please consider me in. I wrote flash fiction for a number of years and would love to do this.


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

I'd love to be included in this if there's room. Thanks!


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Sound neat. I'm in, depending on the theme. I'm not good with writing to themes.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

I just have to say that I LOVE this title suggestion!

*SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club*
rachelaukes

That ties in with what Julie said about how the anthology will have Hugh's name on it and Hugh could sell his grocery list, as well as what Camille said about the theme could be who we are as indie writers, rather than what the stories are about.


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## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

I'd love to contribute. I'm happy to beta 5-10 of these as well.


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## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I want to join too!


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

I would love to be considered for this no matter what the theme is. I enjoy the challenge of making a good story with fewer words. I'd also like to help in any way that I can. The authors who have volunteered already are probably more qualified than I am, but I could definitely do some beta reading or anything else that I'm able to do.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Cherise Kelley wins the internet today.


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Vivienne Mathews said:


> Cherise Kelley wins the internet today.


Wait til Hugh comes back and sees what we've done to his idea.


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## Katherine Pine (Apr 18, 2011)

I'm in! I love flash fiction


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

I like the title Synthetics.

I also like
*
Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by the Author of Wool and Other Independent Publishers*


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## L.M. Pfalz (Aug 31, 2012)

Had to come out of hiding to say, I'd love to contribute a story to this as well. Not sure if Hugh was seriously suggesting doing this though or if it was just hypothetical, but it's an awesome idea and I'm in if it happens


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

Rejean said:


> Wait til Hugh comes back and sees what we've done to his idea.


I'm not sure he's going to come back. If I were him, I'd lay low until we all figure it out between ourselves. That's what I do when my kids start big projects like that. Hide in the bathroom and ignore the screaming.

ps: thank you to Cherise for an awesome summary! That must've taken serious time. (I should note I was kidding about the puppies.)


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Hey! I want in! I actually publish flash fiction. How did I not rate an invite on the list? ï¿½  (Notice 30 Minutes of Flash Fiction in my sig.) 

Date and whom do we submit to? I'd love to do a short about the evil angel in my series, Judas. 

I'm not so hot at proofing, but will if I must. I can certainly do two or three shorts. And I will help out on the marketing end. My hubby has 17k followers on Twitter, and I can stickey on Kindle Deals Daily, plus put mentions out on a few member only professional groups, Â and do a few press releases.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

LisaGraceBooks said:


> Hey! I want in! I actually publish flash fiction. How did I not rate an invite on the list?


I think the list is just comprised of anybody who pops onto the thread to volunteer.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

I'm in too! I have the time now that I don't have a full-time job to keep.  It just took me a while to read to the end of the thread to see if there were any new developments I should be aware of before jumping in!


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## Eclair Books (Dec 31, 2013)

Coming out of lurking because I'd love to be involved in something like this! My author name is Erica Clair.


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## Rufus Beerman (May 11, 2013)

Do I need to have published anything to get on this list with these awesome writers?


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## Cleo (Jan 11, 2013)

Oooh, I'm in!! One of my joys in life is selling flash to magazines (not under this name).

Of course would write something PG-13 or R. Or even G (and I don't mean -string or -spot).


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## catebaylor (Sep 23, 2013)

I'd love to contribute--been waiting for an opportunity to jump in the fray. 

I noticed from the wrap-up post that there's only one volunteer so far for formatting. I'd be happy to volunteer assistance with that!


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## 16205 (Jun 8, 2010)

I'm in!


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I figured out the actual meaning after thinking about it for a while, but if I saw an anthology titled _Synthetics_, I would immediately assume all the stories were about robots.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

Vivienne Mathews said:


> Cherise Kelley wins the internet today. �


*Heaven's yes*. �And swolf for keeping the running list. I wish Cherise's post could get put to the top with swolf's so it would be easy for people to find all the compiled info.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Hugh - stay in hiding - this is a runaway - an avalanche - did you really understand the monster you would be releasing?

I think this has appealed to KBoarders at an unprecedented rate.

It will be interesting to see where it goes.


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## C.F. (Jan 6, 2011)

I'm in. I can't believe this thread grew so fast!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

I'm in too! Awesome idea.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Oh, man, is this happening? Sounds like this is happening.

Why don't we limit the entries in each "book" to 100 authors, and each story to 1,000 words, giving us a 100,000 word max read. If we can get 400 or 500 people to participate, that'll give us a box set of 4 or 5 books with 100 authors each.

Managing the files will be a chore. Any ideas? A Google Doc folder? Be nice to have a few editors go through and make suggestions, with the author having final say on what's accepted. And if we encourage every participating author to read through, looking for typos, that should give us a clean work.

I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.

Alternatively, we could group the stories by genre and have a TOC to get people to the sorts of stories they want to read. I'm cool either way.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

I'm ready to pre-order. Where's the button? Â


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## Craig Halloran (May 15, 2012)

Great idea!

Count me in!


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Hey, I want in too! Do we have a theme/etc yet? I can not edit though, I am horrible beyond words at it.   I can beta read tame stuff though. 

That will give me 2 shorts to write in Jan... should be fun. 

With the number of responses, if everyone donated $2, we could buy a reasonably good cover.


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## JamieCampbell (May 29, 2013)

Oh, my hand is up! I want in too! Â


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

I'm in.

How's this?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RR7_gGQSrRqMv_ulZnoZIi-W33rk8y7eo052wK5tlfg/viewform


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

The cover artist needs to be a KB member, like Humblenations or some other. Have them draw lots? (see what I did there, a pun.)


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

I love google docs. Easy to use and share stuff.  

I vote for toc linking to genre then alpha after that?


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

cassidycayman said:


> I love google docs. Easy to use and share stuff.
> 
> I vote for toc linking to genre then alpha after that?


Definitely Group by genre and then alpha by author (even though that puts me at the bottom).


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

cassidycayman said:


> *Heaven's yes*. �And swolf for keeping the running list. I wish Cherise's post could get put to the top with swolf's so it would be easy for people to find all the compiled info.


I PM'd my summary to Hugh.


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## Lloyd MacRae (Nov 18, 2012)

I'm in...

although I really don't know what flash fiction is


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

If we use a theme, I say we make it something simple (a single word, even) and non-genre-specific, and possibly something that is a play on "wool." Any ideas?


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

And also, I want to be in the first 100 (1st book).


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

The link I posted is a simple Google form for collecting info, anyone can see the results and edit their entries. Is it something people would be interested in using? Did I miss anything? Should I shut it and drink a beer?

Beer? Ok.

**edit**
Here's the link to the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RR7_gGQSrRqMv_ulZnoZIi-W33rk8y7eo052wK5tlfg/viewform
And here's the link to the spreadsheet created by the form:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqtiRUXa-oxmdGV3UUh4X0V6QVAwbl9uVzM0Y0M2dkE&usp=sharing


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

Oh, and if anyone (like me, ahem) hasn't done much flash fiction, Holly Lisle (author and amazing writing teacher) has a free flash fiction course here: http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/

I haven't gone through it yet, but probably will in preparation for writing something for this.


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## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

How about...yes a theme.  Each book by genre, (available separately?) then the whole boxed set of all genres? Is this getting too complicated?


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

cassidycayman said:


> *Heaven's yes*. �And swolf for keeping the running list. I wish Cherise's post could get put to the top with swolf's so it would be easy for people to find all the compiled info.


Anyone who has posted on the front page is welcome to quote my summary there and update it from time to time, as I plan on doing.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

I like Isaac Asimov's description the best. Paraphrasing: A thousand word story or less that leaves the punch line to the last sentence, preferably to the last word.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

If we're going to do several books, I vote for the color theme that someone mentioned. Each one a different color and each story having something to do with that color.. (The Blue Kboards Flash Fiction Anthology, The Red... etc.) And I want to be in the red book.  Or maybe the purple one. Or the black one. Or...


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Anyone who has posted on the front page is welcome to quote my summary there and update it from time to time, as I plan on doing.


I updated the original post with your data. If you make a big update, feel free to PM me. I saw we mull this over and iron out the wrinkles by the end of February. I put a ridiculous date of August 1st for a deadline, but that's probably too far out. Maybe have all stories submitted by the end of May?


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

valeriec80 said:


> If we're going to do several books, I vote for the color theme that someone mentioned. Each one a different color and each story having something to do with that color.. (The Blue Kboards Flash Fiction Anthology, The Red... etc.) And I want to be in the red book.  Or maybe the purple one. Or the black one. Or...


Oh, that's a neat idea


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

chrisanthropic said:


> The link I posted is a simple Google form for collecting info, anyone can see the results and edit their entries. Â Is it something people would be interested in using? Â Did I miss anything? Â Should I shut it and drink a beer? Â
> 
> Beer? Â Ok.
> 
> ...


Just filled it out. Seems to work fine.


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## WG McCabe (Oct 13, 2012)

Count me in. Sounds like a blast.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> I saw we mull this over and iron out the wrinkles by the end of February.


That works



Hugh Howey said:


> I put a ridiculous date of August 1st for a deadline, but that's probably too far out. Maybe have all stories submitted by the end of May?


End of May gives plenty of time.


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## Kristy Tate (Apr 24, 2012)

TexasGirl said:


> I like the title Synthetics.
> 
> I also like
> *
> Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by the Author of Wool and Other Independent Publishers*


Since my story takes place in a clothes closet, this works for me.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

JohnHindmarsh said:


> That works
> 
> End of May gives plenty of time.


A PS - perhaps limit each contributor to only one submission. Otherwise the collective [whoever is involved in putting this together] will get overwhelmed.


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## WG McCabe (Oct 13, 2012)

I just filled out the Google form and chose both story and proofreading.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Hugh Howey said:


> I saw we mull this over and iron out the wrinkles by the end of February. I put a ridiculous date of August 1st for a deadline, but that's probably too far out. Maybe have all stories submitted by the end of May?


Sounds good to me.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Oh, man, is this happening? Sounds like this is happening.
> 
> Why don't we limit the entries in each "book" to 100 authors, and each story to 1,000 words, giving us a 100,000 word max read. If we can get 400 or 500 people to participate, that'll give us a box set of 4 or 5 books with 100 authors each.


Looks like Book 1 is fully enrolled, so count me in for Book 2. What a great idea.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

> SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.
> rachelaukes Hilarious, but vetoed! I don't want my name to have any special status on this. It'll go with everyone else's. I think if an editor volunteered their time, they could have prominence and headliner status, as with most anthologies.


Hugh - totally unavoidable - your name WILL be associated with this, even if your involvement ceased now. So you will need to manage how it is involved... Just saying.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Let's do end of February for the first one for those who want to get the rock rolling. I think we could have a hundred of us easily ready within the next week, let alone a whole month. Â


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

I also think we should include a prominent link to the front page of the readers' section of KB. We need to support KB in some way for bringing us all together in the first place.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

I see people using the gdocs form but we may want to hold off until a consensus is reached on if it's going to be a central thing that's used or not.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

How about the "Hugh-Ginormous Blue Book of Flash" and then we could do a second called the "H. M RED Ward of Flash" and so on and the Lillian Pink Hart of Flash" Â taking the biggest authors here, and naming a book for them?


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Victoria Champion said:


> I also think we should include a prominent link to the front page of the readers' section of KB. We need to support KB in some way for bringing us all together in the first place.


Yeah, we all owe Harvey (and Ann & Betsey) an awful lot. I'm all for anything we can do for Kboards.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

chrisanthropic said:


> Did I miss anything? Should I shut it and drink a beer?


*Hands you a pint*

Genre?


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## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

I propose Hugh should be the formal editor on the spine of the book(s) - Hugh, you came out with the idea anyway, so I think this is only fair.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

Hey, to help Kboards, since we're all sending it to our mailing lists, could we use the kboard affiliate link in those? I know I get some clicks from mine and make a few extra cents that way, and my mailing list is probably minuscule compared to a lot of others.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


Maybe do it sets/volumes. [i.e., 100 for the first volume].

There'll be some drop outs along the way, as well.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Hugh Howey said:


> Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


400 authors times 1,000 words makes 400,000 words.

To give you an idea: the complete Lord of the Rings is approximately 560,000 words.

Should be doable.


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## mariehallwrites (Mar 14, 2013)

I think 100 author limit is really umm� kind.   I don't think there are many readers out there with the stamina to read 100 different stories straight. I'm imagining that there will be a lot of buys based on 'favorite' authors in the set. Keeping the list smaller (if you can call 100 small�lol) gives some the chance of getting discovered. Going up to 400 would likely mean there'd be a lot of flash unread. 

Of course I could be totally off my rocker here. But it's just a thought.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


I suspect at least 20 % of volunteers won't come through in the end, due to unexpected health problems, busy schedules, forgetfulness, loss of interest. So I'd keep that in mind when choosing a number.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I love how this is coming to life. I want to know the theme so I can get started! I'm not writing any of my novels for the rest of the year (okay, one more day) and I would love to do this then if I can.

I love the idea of 100 authors per book. That will be a great selling point!

Every time I try to post, I can't because there's a new reply. Popular thread!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

This is an awesome idea. I'll donate a story.

Has anyone volunteered to do the cover yet? I'll do it, if you still need one.


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


How unmanageable would 400 be for the reader? I think the idea of volumes of 100 might work a little better for them


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## Thisiswhywecan&#039;thavenicethings (May 3, 2013)

Count me in!


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## S. Elliot Brandis (Dec 9, 2013)

Hugh Howey said:


> Does anyone think the 100 authors limit is a bad idea? What with the interest? Should we go back to the idea of 400 or so authors? Or is that unmanageable?


A good idea would be to release separate books, by genre.

It would be less jarring having science fiction separate from romance, for example.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Dara England said:


> I suspect at least 20 % of volunteers won't come through in the end, due to unexpected health problems, busy schedules, forgetfulness, loss of interest. So I'd keep that in mind when choosing a number.


Yeah, I agree. We only have 108 at this time. I think we could easily cap it at say Midnight tonight for Volume I, and then if we get 70-80 out of that it would make a good anthology. Then anyone after that would be in volume 2.


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## WG McCabe (Oct 13, 2012)

I wouldn't have anything to do with trying to make sense of the whole thing so I really can't say what it would be like to manage it. The big selfish part of my lizard brain wants it to be more than 100 authors because I would love to be in it, but if you cut it off at 100 (and I think I hit at #109, woe is me) it's totally understandable. If you wanted to go with you 400 number, what about 4 seasonal volumes?


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

S Elliot Brandis said:


> A good idea would be to release separate books, by genre.
> 
> It would be less jarring having science fiction separate from romance, for example.


I like this too. Like Romance, Spec Fic, and so on. Hit the major branches of genre.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

If it stopped right where it is now, according to the list, which may not be fully updated, the anthology should be right around the wool omnibus size, right? 100 to 125 authors?


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## FMH (May 18, 2013)

I would like to add myself to the list and hope against hope that the 100 limit ain't gonna stick... because that would mean I missed the boat. Which isn't possible, because you should see me swim.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

VydorScope - there's more than 108 if you count the list Swolf had and the 25 or so folks who've used the gdoc form I made.  (Though I'm sure there's some overlap there)

*Which is why I wanted feedback on that form before people started using it


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Gabriela Popa said:


> I propose Hugh should be the formal editor on the spine of the book(s) - Hugh, you came out with the idea anyway, so I think this is only fair.


This.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

chrisanthropic said:


> VydorScope - there's more than 108 if you count the list Swolf had and the 25 or so folks who've used the gdoc form I made. (Though I'm sure there's some overlap there)


Yeah, well 5 posts went up while I was typing that! LOL hard to keep up!


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## LectorsBooks (Apr 30, 2013)

I can volunteer proofreading for 5-10 of the stories!


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## MGalloway (Jun 21, 2011)

I'll submit something, too. Volume I or II...


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I'd love to be included, if there's still room, and also entered my info into the Google docs form.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

S Elliot Brandis said:


> A good idea would be to release separate books, by genre.
> 
> It would be less jarring having science fiction separate from romance, for example.


No please. Otherwise there won't be enough authors to do a Horror anthology. Let us just use the TOC to separate genres.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

If you're going for "Let's see how many authors we can get to be NYT's best sellers" then you'll want to include as many authors as you can.

I'd say, go for 400 authors, but limit the word count of the flash fiction. 500 words x 400 authors = 200,000 words. A reasonable book, especially if you link to genre at the beginning. (Not each piece, that would be a massive Table of Contents!)


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Victorine said:


> If you're going for "Let's see how many authors we can get to be NYT's best sellers" then you'll want to include as many authors as you can.
> 
> I'd say, go for 400 authors, but limit the word count of the flash fiction. 500 words x 400 authors = 200,000 words. A reasonable book, especially if you link to genre at the beginning. (Not each piece, that would be a massive Table of Contents!)


I like all of this.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

500 words! WOW     I thought 1,000 was tough!


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## S. Elliot Brandis (Dec 9, 2013)

Victoria Champion said:


> No please. Otherwise there won't be enough authors to do a Horror anthology. Let us just use the TOC to separate genres.


We could do as VydorScope suggested, with books bundled in into the major branches. So there could be a speculative fiction anthology, with sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.

I'm sure there's a way you could make it work, and keep it inclusive.


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## Quinn Richardson (Apr 20, 2012)

Sounds like great fun, a good challenge, and a good cause.  Count me in if there's room, or line me up for Vol II or III.


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## momilp (Jan 11, 2010)

500 words is a great challenge! I like it


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

My thoughts on the latest points:

Let's see how many people we have sign up first, before deciding on format.

I'd prefer not to break out volumes by genre, but make them as large as is possible, and if we split into multiple volumes (which we may need to do), then we'll want to evenly split authors by genre, clout with readers, etc. And Hugh Aaron maybe should be convinced to do a piece for each volume.


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Victoria Champion said:


> No please. Otherwise there won't be enough authors to do a Horror anthology. Let us just use the TOC to separate genres.


Using the TOC to separate genres also gives readers an introduction to genres they might not otherwise think of investigating.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

deleted


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## Nick Endi Webb (Mar 25, 2012)

I think 500 is too short. As a reader I like to get a little more invested in a story than what the author can accomplish in 500. I thought 1000 was pretty short too, but considering how many authors are interested 1000 might be a good compromise. 1500?


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## Rejean (Mar 31, 2011)

Victoria Champion said:


> No, because I want to be in the same book as Hugh Howey otherwise what is the point? The point is to gain discoverability. Do you know how many underperforming speculative fiction anthologies there are? Tons! No one will give it a second glance unless it's got big names attached.


We have some other big name writers who hang around here. Should they be invited to participate too?


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

I know it's all going fast, but Hugh (being the first one to push this snowball downhill) or Swolf - any word on the gdocs form?  I just don't want to confuse people since some are using it but a lot of the early ones aren't.  If it makes it easier I'll leave it up but if it's just confusing things then I'll lock it (but keep it viewable for Swolf to update his post)


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

Rejean said:


> Using the TOC to separate genres also gives readers an introduction to genres they might not otherwise think of investigating.


Yes. I wouldn't buy a horror anthology because it isn't my greatest interest, BUT I would def read whatever horror shorts were in a larger compilation I had bought. So, yeah, massive anthology or bust!!


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

Victoria Champion said:


> No, because I want to be in the same book as Hugh Howey otherwise what is the point?


Exactly.

Break it into volumes (by genre, alpha, whatever) for ease of formatting, but keep it as a box set and not sell individual volumes.

Also, I vote for 1,000 words, not 500.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

cassidycayman said:


> Yes. I wouldn't buy a horror anthology because it isn't my greatest interest, BUT I would def read whatever horror shorts were in a larger compilation I had bought. So, yeah, massive anthology or bust!!


This. Except for other genres. Because I love horror.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

cassidycayman said:


> Yes. I wouldn't buy a horror anthology because it isn't my greatest interest, BUT I would def read whatever horror shorts were in a larger compilation I had bought. So, yeah, massive anthology or bust!!


I agree. I used to by large anthologies back before the was an Amazon, Nook, or WWW. I loved them and ate them up. I would do the same here....


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Here's one thought. A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

I didn't want it to sound like I was bagging on horror, but it would get a lot of readers an opportunity to read outside their main genres. Everybody gets in their own ruts!


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## AmberDa1 (Jul 23, 2012)

Count me in! I think this is a great idea, Hugh.
Wow, this is a big thread.


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## GM Barlean (Oct 12, 2011)

I would really like to participate in this. If there's room. It would be an honor.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Dara England said:


> Here's one thought. A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set.


I like this idea too!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested.

That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Dara England said:


> Here's one thought. A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set.


I also like this idea, and vote for 1000 words. This would also allow us to feature multiple cover artists and freelance editors.


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## pjchasesports (Nov 27, 2013)

Count me in.


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

*deleted*


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I love writing micro-fiction (stories below 500 words) but I agree that it's a tough genre to master -- and we would like people to have a chance at presenting their best work.

(However, if anyone wants a hint at how to write uber-short fiction: think of it as a joke. �Three beats - set up, develop, twist.)

ALSO, if we go with a multi-volume set -- those who like to write flash fiction and can do it more quickly could potentially write several stories and we choose the one that fills out the volume which needs more stories.

Camille


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

If there's still room, I'm in.


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## AmberDa1 (Jul 23, 2012)

Victorine said:


> For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested.
> 
> That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at.


Good idea.


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

Good grief. I went to the supermarket and this appears to have sprung out of nowhere.  

I'd be keen to give it a go too!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Victorine said:


> For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested.
> 
> That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at.


I will set up a poll if no one has done in the time I'm typing this.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> I will set up a poll if no one has done in the time I'm typing this.


We already have SWolf's list, and a google doc... we do not need a poll too.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

To elaborate on my above post... (Bear with me 'cause this is the only 3D graphic on my hard drive right now.) Imagine something like the below, except with the front cover showing our antho title and cover. Each individual book in the set holds a separate genre. Niche genres share a sort of Mics label maybe?



The whole boxed set of "big books" would be released at once, rather than each big book separately, so everybody would get an equal share of poor Hugh.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Victoria Champion said:


> No please. Otherwise there won't be enough authors to do a Horror anthology. *Let us just use the TOC to separate genres.*


I like this idea.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I volunteered in the first page. Now I have to sign up somewhere?

So I've lost my place?


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

It's certainly an exciting Monday.  Nice to see so much excitement about this!


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> I volunteered in the first page. Now I have to sign up somewhere?
> 
> So I've lost my place?


No. You're fine.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

Gennita Low said:


> I volunteered in the first page. Now I have to sign up somewhere?
> 
> So I've lost my place?


Hardly.

I created the gdocs form before I saw Swolf's updated post - as a way to keep track of who's volunteering and what they're doing. We could simply tack it on the end of Swolf's list. Still no word on if it's even "officially" endorsed though.


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## thomaskcarpenter (May 17, 2011)

Count me in!


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

chrisanthropic said:


> Hardly.
> 
> I created the gdocs form before I saw Swolf's updated post - as a way to keep track of who's volunteering and what they're doing. We could simply tack it on the end of Swolf's list. Still no word on if it's even "officially" endorsed though.


Whew! Thanks for replying. I'm requesting an end of March deadline, if possible! I can volunteer proofreading for a couple of entries too.


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## laceysilks (Mar 11, 2013)

I leave for a few hours and this is the thread I come back to  
Wow! I'm definitely in, for both names and now I'm going to the beginning to read the whole thread!
What a great idea!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Summarizing to try and help Hugh Organize this 

*Original Stipulations:*

Less than 1,000 words [Now perhaps less than 500]
Proceeds go to charity
Beta read the story of the poster above you

*Common Questions: (Hugh's ideas in red)
*
Is this for real? Yeah.
When's the deadline? August 1st.
Who do we send the stories to? We'll create a thread (Yeah, the stories will be public. Think: Perma-Free.
Which charity will proceeds go to? We'll vote. Could be quite a few, divvied up.
Can we have a common theme? If so, it needs to be very broad. The good thing about a theme, is that we could do more of these down the road.
What rights would we be donating? None. You can use your story after 60 days of exclusivity.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? I vote brand new. But I'm cool with reprints.
Target Audience Age Range? I would vote for all-inclusive, but that would mean putting the racy stuff at the end, with warnings.
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) I would vote for links to page of choice, with a very short author bio (50 words).
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each?
Whose account will it publish under? I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.
Can unpublished authors contribute?
Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted?

*Charity Ideas So Far:*

Something to do with reading, maybe? A literary charity that has been vetted? Or even to put any profits toward an inner city library project for kids? 
KayBratt

I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/
Vivienne Mathews

http://www.girlswritenow.org/
Zoe Cannon

*Proofreader / Editor Volunteers:*

Zoe York (10 stories)
Cherise Kelley (whole thing in exchange for cross promo of one of my books in everyone else's)
Lydniz
Greg Strandberg
Jennifer Haymore (5-10)
Roz Marshall (5-10)
PeggyI (5-6)
Endi Webb
Lanette Curington
LectorsBooks (5-10)
***If we encourage every participating author to read through [the whole book], looking for typos, that should give us a clean work. ~Hugh Howey

*Beta Reader Volunteers*

Shawn Inmon (5-10)
zjoe

*Organizer Volunteers:*

JohnHindmarsh
Joseph Turkot

*Formatter Volunteers:*

Greg Strandberg
catebaylor

*Cover Volunteers* (who suggest only a small committee or one person have approval of the cover):

daringnovelist
Dara England
Victorine

*Theme Ideas So Far:*

Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, and I'd always thought it would be a cool thing to do. And that's to give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different, because everyone's different. Just throwing that out there.
Valeriec80

It will have Hugh's name on it. Hugh could sell his grocery list. Don't worry about it. [Cherise's note: But Hugh plans on publishing under a pen name, so maybe this is not the case.]
Bards and Sages

Golden retriever puppies
Gretchen Galway

A single object
swolf

I did think of 'Valentine' as a theme, as we could market around that too, but I think the timing might be too tight for 14 Feb.
Roz Marshall

Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."
Dee Ernst

Tentacles and Tribulations. Wink Works for multiple genres. Could be scifi where scientists have engineered humans with tentacles to explore the deep sea and something goes horribly wrong. Could be horror where a strange tentacled creature living in the forest encounters modern civilization due to deforestation and things go horribly wrong. Could be romance where a man falls in love with a woman that studies octopi and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be historical fiction where pirates battle the Royal Navy and a huge squid comes between them and things go horribly wrong. Or it could be literary fiction where the tentacles are a metaphor for all the people interfering with the protagonist's daily routine during his mid-life crisis where his life goes horribly wrong.
Dan C. Rinnert

Maybe we could all end on cliffhangers then do KB Anthology 2 - Tentacle Boogaloo
cassidycayman

The "theme" can be an inclusive one ("KB Cafe Pot Luck") or something date related like "2014 KB Anthology" or a reference to the Year of the Fire Horse.
daringnovelist

Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme. The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story. That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions. The KB Caf� Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.
brendajcarlton

Stories about writers and writing. I like this. Leaves it wide open, but gives it a theme that makes sense. Very meta. Everyone could work in a writing protag or another.
daringnovelist

Maybe the stories should all feature wool in some shape or form...
Lisa Scott

The pen is mightier than the sword
Unreasonable expectations
A funny thing happened on the way to the ___
Flash Grimm's fairy tales, reappropriated to our particular genres.
It's always who you least expect
The seven deadly sins
Pick a charity, then use that charity's "theme" as our own.
Lost in ___
7 continents--each section of the anthology could take place on a separate continent. Maybe an eight could be fantasy/space.
Endi Webb

For marketing purposes, the theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. �Some of the top anthologies are themed as a variety of stories based on something like year or nationality or kind of writer, or where the stories first appeared.
Story subject themes are great when all the stories are the same genre or tone, but it backfires when the stories are all different. �Audiences expect a themed anthology to all be the same, and they get really upset when they find stories outside their comfort zone.
And this can be true even within genres.
So I'd recommend that the theme be based on who we are. �Or we split the antho up by genre. �Or if we can come up with a magic subject theme that really does indicate a wide variety.
Camille

*Title Suggestions:*

Things Go Horribly Wrong... With Tentacles
Vivienne Mathews Hahahaha!

If the purpose is to showcase a wide variety of indie writers, a couple of titles come to mind.
(These are self-mocking titles, but could be fun for promo and covers.)
"Monkeys With Typewriters"
"Tsunami of Swell"
These would probably require a subtitle ("100 Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement" or something).
Camille (daringnovelist)

SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.
rachelaukes Hilarious, but vetoed! I don't want my name to have any special status on this. It'll go with everyone else's. I think if an editor volunteered their time, they could have prominence and headliner status, as with most anthologies.

2014 KBoards Cafe Anthology
Cherise Kelley

Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by the Author of Wool and Other Independent Publishers
TexasGirl

How about the "Hugh-Ginormous Blue Book of Flash" and then we could do a second called the "H. M RED Ward of Flash" and so on and the Lillian Pink Hart of Flash" � taking the biggest authors here, and naming a book for them?
LisaGraceBooks

*Craft Suggestions:*

Oh, and if anyone (like me, ahem) hasn't done much flash fiction, Holly Lisle (author and amazing writing teacher) has a free flash fiction course here: http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/
Zoe Cannon

I like Isaac Asimov's description [of flash fiction] the best. Paraphrasing: A thousand word story or less that leaves the punch line to the last sentence, preferably to the last word. 
LisaGraceBooks

*Book Suggestions:*

I want to be in the same book as Hugh Howey otherwise what is the point? 
Victoria Champion

Here's one thought. A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set. [Cherise's note: this summarizes several earlier ideas, which I deleted for ease of reading.]
Dara England

Perhaps limit each contributor to only one submission. Otherwise the collective [whoever is involved in putting this together] will get overwhelmed.
JohnHindmarsh

If you're going for "Let's see how many authors we can get to be NYT's best sellers" then you'll want to include as many authors as you can. I'd say, go for 400 authors, but limit the word count of the flash fiction. 500 words x 400 authors = 200,000 words. A reasonable book, especially if you link to genre at the beginning. (Not each piece, that would be a massive Table of Contents!)
Victorine I like all of this.

Also, I vote for 1,000 words, not 500.
Lanette Curington

*Marketing Suggestions*

Visibility on this is enough and if you put charity stuff in there you've got a greater chance of it going viral to some extent. Visibility here is what it's all about, even if your story never gets read. I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month. We all know where he lives. We can create a unique KDP account and share the login details. Or at least have 10 or so admins.
Greg Strandberg

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology. It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.
Quiss

Amazon WILL add more than ten authors if you email them and give them the list, but I'm not sure of the upper limit. On other compilations I've done, it's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely.
Also, if all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.
This sounds like a good job for a Google Spread sheet for signing up, and also saying if you are willing to edit perhaps one, two, or more other stories so the work could be spread out.
I don't know if a theme is necessary, but you can divide the compilation into sections by genre -- Sci Fi section, Romance section, etc.
Texas Girl

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier. LOVE this idea.
Joseph Turkot

Seems it would be a lot easier to have a great blurb/cover if you came up with something that drew readers in. Starting with the same line seems a decent idea. Or some object that appears across all the stories, but in many different ways. Or every story involved snow or valentine's day. Dividing it up in genres sounds good too. A list of 100 stories with no guideposts about what to expect would be intimidating.
David Normoyle

*Finance Suggestions*

Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses... I thought something similar, but how would you choose who this goes to? I also thought about a special needs fund, like SFWA does, but then you need a committee to hear the requests and make judgements. It gets messy.
KayBratt

The cover/formatting/proofreading could be hired out to professionals, plus the coordination/project management, and those costs would be recouped from the first sales. No need to be too thrifty... this thing will sell some copies, I'm sure. I think everyone contributing announcing it to their mailing list/pages would be a given.
Mimi (was Dalya)

*General Suggestions:*

Hugh Should pick the theme. Hugh does not want that much responsibility.
Roz Marshall

Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo? If not, I'll pay an editor. 1,000 word stories are easy to self-edit, though. There won't be as much work here as a 100K book would require. We'll just ask that every author do 10 or more passes.
Amanda Brice

Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude. 
Sapphire I nominate you. 

Hey, to help Kboards, since we're all sending it to our mailing lists, could we use the kboard affiliate link in those? I know I get some clicks from mine and make a few extra cents that way, and my mailing list is probably minuscule compared to a lot of others.
cassidycayman

For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested. That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at. [Cherise's note: Camilla volunteered to start the poll, but like the Google doc thing, I think this will be more confusing than helpful. I suggest we keep it all in this thread.]


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## AngelicaBoone (Oct 22, 2013)

I would really enjoy being a part of this as well. Sounds like a great project. I'd like to contribute a story, please.


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## kwest (Mar 16, 2013)

I love this idea. I would LOVE to participate only it's been YEARS since I've written any short of flash fiction.

Now to think of an awesome story idea...

We really should work around a theme of some sort. Things that are too open-ended have a weird way of stifling creativity sometime. I'm game for anything.


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm in.


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## Suzan Butler (Apr 6, 2013)

I love this idea! It might be a fun exercise to get within that 1k limit.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Wow, I too have been absent for a few hours and seem to have missed a world-shaking thread. � 

I have zero experience with planning or formatting or any of that, but I'd be glad to take a stab at a flash story. �(I did a Christmas story challenge on Wattpad that was pretty fun.)


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Cherise Kelley said:


> For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested. That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at. [Cherise's note: Camilla volunteered to start the poll, but like the Google doc thing, I think this will be more confusing than helpful. I suggest we keep it all in this thread.]


Yeah, that's why I went back and added the note that voting in the poll did NOT constitute volunteering, it was just for a quick count.

We have lots of time to sort out an official process. I think swolf's list is a great foundation.

Camille


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

I would love to write a story for this! Just let me know what I need to do. I'd be writing under the name Adam Blethyn.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Add me to the list of editors, please. 

I don't know at this time how many I can edit, but I will help as much as I can.  

I will definitely edit any of the stories written by current RAP clients. I will do others as time permits.

Once you've nailed down the charity, or charities, I will ask if any of my staff would like to donate some editing time.


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## SLFleming (Sep 25, 2013)

A bit late here (You don't check KBoards for five hours and look what happens!), but I'd love to be included if there's still room. Great idea!
-Sarah


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## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

momilp said:


> 500 words is a great challenge! I like it


I like the idea of a stretch goal as opposed to just being in the comfort zone. If Hemingway could do it, what stops us?


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## 57280 (Feb 20, 2012)

Well, of course I'm in. I love short fiction. Happy to beta read as well, if needed.

I'm happy to participate in any way--in volume one or, if you do it this way, volume 21!

My random thoughts:

I think a HUGE book with hundreds of stories captures attention, imagination, and we could price it to do real good. I really don't care if it takes 20 years for a reader to get to my story, as long as folks buy the the book and it raises money for a good cause. I worry that multiple volumes will never get done. Why not a huge, single volume?

I agree on arranging it by genre.

I love the idea of a theme--but with so many stories, something very general, like AUTUMN. or RED. Or WOOL. 

I nominate Hugh as king of the world, and will abide by any of his decisions, even if he tells me to go away, because he seems like a great guy and his book is next to Ray Bradbury's on an end shelf here at Powell's Books.

Lovely idea!


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

I'm In!!


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## quiet chick writes (Oct 19, 2012)

Endi Webb said:


> I think 500 is too short. As a reader I like to get a little more invested in a story than what the author can accomplish in 500. I thought 1000 was pretty short too, but considering how many authors are interested 1000 might be a good compromise. 1500?


I understand we're trying to keep the word count down and overall inclusion up, but I have to agree with this. ^^^

Getting readers interested in 1000-word flash stories will be hard enough, but getting readers to read a bunch of 500 word flash will be like getting them to read poetry.


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## LBrent (Jul 1, 2013)

Rufus Beerman said:


> Do I need to have published anything to get on this list with these awesome writers?


I wondered this too. If it's for all KBoard writers I'd love to participate.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Another thought....    If there will be choosing what charity (or multiple charities) to benefit, I've always thought the Ronald McDonald House charities are very worthwhile.  They're active in over 50 countries worldwide, and provide wonderful services for the families of critically-ill children.

Also, I do love the idea of a reading-based charity.


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## ScriptLand (Feb 9, 2013)

I volunteer to help with editing.


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## KevinH (Jun 29, 2013)

Count me in.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

Casper Bogart said:


> his book is next to Ray Bradbury's on an end shelf here at Powell's Books.


Portland!


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## S.K. Falls (Jun 17, 2013)

I would absolutely love to join! *Assuming thread stalker status*


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## 57280 (Feb 20, 2012)

chrisanthropic said:


> Portland!


Yep. I live here and even consider it home--and that's coming from a New Yorker.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

Oh! I know I just posted a few minutes ago saying I want to submit a story, but I forgot to mention that I already have TONS of flash fiction ready to submit. Depending on what genres the anthology will call for, I have several pieces that are close to my heart and would love to submit one of them. I can also write something fresh if needed.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Jena H said:


> Another thought.... � �If there will be choosing what charity (or multiple charities) to benefit, I've always thought the Ronald McDonald House charities are very worthwhile. �They're active in over 50 countries worldwide, and provide wonderful services for the families of critically-ill children.
> 
> Also, I do love the idea of a reading-based charity. �


I stayed in one of those for a year while my brother was sick. They are beyond wonderful.


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

Would it be allowable to add a website link to the end of the story? I'm not sure I could write anything that short, I'm a bit of a windbag.


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

removed


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Victoria Champion said:


> No please. Otherwise there won't be enough authors to do a Horror anthology. Let us just use the TOC to separate genres.


I think a whole book of stories of one genre would really limit interest and sales. A mix, grouped by genre within the book, has far more commercial possibilities.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

I also think a good mixture is best. While I usually write horror, the piece I want to submit is actually a sad, "tug on your heartstrings" kind of story.


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## Nicole Ciacchella (May 21, 2012)

This sounds like so much fun! It's a seriously awesome idea, and I'd be thrilled to participate.


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## kea (Jun 13, 2011)

Phenomenal idea! Please count me in!


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I have an idea for a theme (assuming we even want a theme). How about 'author' as a theme? Every story would have to have an author in it. That could be fun!


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## BlankPage (Sep 23, 2012)

_Comment removed due to VS TOS 24/9/2018_


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## Susan Kaye Quinn (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm in! I just need to know when and where to send it!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Summarizing to try and help Hugh Organize this 

*(Hugh's ideas in red)*

*Original Stipulations:*

Less than 1,000 words
Proceeds go to charity
Beta read the story of the poster above you

*Common Questions: 
*
Is this for real? Yeah.
When's the deadline? August 1st (or maybe May 1st).
Who do we send the stories to? We'll create a thread (Yeah, the stories will be public. Think: Perma-Free.
Which charity will proceeds go to? We'll vote. Could be quite a few, divvied up.
Can we have a common theme? If so, it needs to be very broad. The good thing about a theme, is that we could do more of these down the road.
What rights would we be donating? None. You can use your story after 60 days of exclusivity.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? I vote brand new. But I'm cool with reprints.
Target Audience Age Range? I would vote for all-inclusive, but that would mean putting the racy stuff at the end, with warnings.
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) I would vote for links to page of choice, with a very short author bio (50 words).
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each?
Whose account will it publish under? I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.
Can unpublished authors contribute?
Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted?

*Charity Ideas So Far:*

A literary charity that has been vetted? ...an inner city library project for kids? 
KayBratt

I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/
Vivienne Mathews

http://www.girlswritenow.org/
Zoe Cannon

Ronald McDonald House charities are very worthwhile. They're active in over 50 countries worldwide, and provide wonderful services for the families of critically-ill children.
Jena H

*Editor Volunteers:*

Zoe York (10 stories)
Cherise Kelley 
Lydniz
Greg Strandberg
Jennifer Haymore (5-10)
Roz Marshall (5-10)
PeggyI (5-6)
Endi Webb
Lanette Curington
LectorsBooks (5-10)
Scriptland

I will definitely edit any of the stories written by current RAP clients. I will do others as time permits. 
Once you've nailed down the charity, or charities, I will ask if any of my staff would like to donate some editing time.
Lynn McNamee

*Proofreading:*

***If we encourage every participating author to read through [the whole book], looking for typos, that should give us a clean work. 
Hugh Howey

If we contribute the stories by posting them in a KB thread as Hugh suggested earlier, then we can all just PM each other with typo fixes. Each of us would fix our typos in our post. And then the formatter would use the thread as the master document. Those who wish to have editing help should request it before posting in the new thread Hugh would create for this.
Cherise Kelley

*Beta Reader Volunteers*

Shawn Inmon (5-10)
zjoe
Caspar Bogart

*Organizer Volunteers:*

JohnHindmarsh
Joseph Turkot

*Formatter Volunteers:*

Greg Strandberg
catebaylor

*Cover Volunteers* (who suggest only a small committee or one person have approval of the cover):

daringnovelist
Dara England
Victorine

*Theme Ideas So Far:*

...give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different...
Valeriec80

It will have Hugh's name on it. Hugh could sell his grocery list. Don't worry about it. 
Bards and Sages
[Cherise's note: But Hugh plans on publishing under a pen name, so maybe this is not the case.]

Golden retriever puppies
Gretchen Galway

A single object
swolf

Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."
Dee Ernst

Tentacles and Tribulations. 
Dan C. Rinnert

Maybe we could all end on cliffhangers then do KB Anthology 2 - Tentacle Boogaloo
cassidycayman

Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme. The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story. That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions. The KB Caf� Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.
brendajcarlton

Stories about writers and writing. I like this. Leaves it wide open, but gives it a theme that makes sense. Very meta. Everyone could work in a writing protag or another.
daringnovelist

Maybe the stories should all feature wool in some shape or form...
Lisa Scott

The pen is mightier than the sword
Unreasonable expectations
A funny thing happened on the way to the ___
Flash Grimm's fairy tales, reappropriated to our particular genres.
It's always who you least expect
The seven deadly sins
Pick a charity, then use that charity's "theme" as our own.
Lost in ___
7 continents--each section of the anthology could take place on a separate continent. Maybe an eight could be fantasy/space.
Endi Webb

The theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. Some of the top anthologies are themed as a variety of stories based on something like year or nationality or kind of writer, or where the stories first appeared.
Camille

*Title Suggestions:*

Things Go Horribly Wrong... With Tentacles
Vivienne Mathews 
Hahahaha!

If the purpose is to showcase a wide variety of indie writers, a couple of titles come to mind.
(These are self-mocking titles, but could be fun for promo and covers.)
"Monkeys With Typewriters"
"Tsunami of Swell"
These would probably require a subtitle ("100 Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement" or something).
Camille (daringnovelist)

SYNTHETICS, Tales by Hugh Howey and the Wool Scarf Club.
rachelaukes 
Hilarious, but vetoed! I don't want my name to have any special status on this. It'll go with everyone else's. I think if an editor volunteered their time, they could have prominence and headliner status, as with most anthologies.

2014 KBoards Cafe Anthology
Cherise Kelley

Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by the Author of Wool and Other Independent Publishers
TexasGirl

How about the "Hugh-Ginormous Blue Book of Flash" and then we could do a second called the "H. M RED Ward of Flash" and so on and the Lillian Pink Hart of Flash" taking the biggest authors here, and naming a book for them?
LisaGraceBooks

*Craft Suggestions:*

Oh, and if anyone (like me, ahem) hasn't done much flash fiction, Holly Lisle (author and amazing writing teacher) has a free flash fiction course here: http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/
Zoe Cannon

I like Isaac Asimov's description [of flash fiction] the best. Paraphrasing: A thousand word story or less that leaves the punch line to the last sentence, preferably to the last word. 
LisaGraceBooks

*Book Suggestions:*

I want to be in the same book as Hugh Howey. Otherwise what is the point? 
Victoria Champion

A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc. Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set. 
Dara England
[Cherise's note: this summarizes several earlier ideas, which I deleted for ease of reading.]

Perhaps limit each contributor to only one submission. Otherwise the collective (whoever is involved in putting this together) will get overwhelmed.
JohnHindmarsh

If you're going for "Let's see how many authors we can get to be NYT's best sellers" then you'll want to include as many authors as you can. I'd say, go for 400 authors, but limit the word count of the flash fiction. 500 words x 400 authors = 200,000 words. A reasonable book, especially if you link to genre at the beginning. (Not each piece, that would be a massive Table of Contents!)
Victorine 
I like all of this. 
[Cherise's note: I think only novels qualify authors for the bestseller lists, though.]

Also, I vote for 1,000 words, not 500.
Lanette Curington

*Marketing Suggestions*

I'd say just put it under Hugh's account and let him make the donations once a month. Visibility here is what it's all about, even if your story never gets read. 
Greg Strandberg 
We can create a unique KDP account and share the login details. Or at least have 10 or so admins.

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology. It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.
Quiss

It's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely.
Texas Girl

If all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.
Texas Girl

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier. 
Joseph Turkot
LOVE this idea.

*Finance Suggestions*

Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses... 
KayBratt 
I thought something similar, but how would you choose who this goes to? I also thought about a special needs fund, like SFWA does, but then you need a committee to hear the requests and make judgements. It gets messy.

I think everyone contributing announcing it to their mailing list/pages would be a given.
Mimi (was Dalya)

*General Suggestions:*

Hugh Should pick the theme. 
Roz Marshall
Hugh does not want that much responsibility.

Are there editors who would volunteer their services in exchange for promo? 
Amanda Brice
If not, I'll pay an editor. 1,000 word stories are easy to self-edit, though. There won't be as much work here as a 100K book would require. We'll just ask that every author do 10 or more passes.

Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude. 
Sapphire 
I nominate you. 

Hey, to help Kboards, since we're all sending it to our mailing lists, could we use the kboard affiliate link in those? I know I get some clicks from mine and make a few extra cents that way, and my mailing list is probably minuscule compared to a lot of others.
cassidycayman

For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested. That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at. 
[Cherise's note: Camilla volunteered to start the poll, but like the Google doc thing, I think this will be more confusing than helpful. I suggest we keep it all in this thread.]


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## missmyrah (Jun 6, 2013)

Awesome idea! Please count me in as a writer, editor, and proofreader.


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## NRWick (Mar 22, 2011)

Am I too late to join? I'd like to if there is still room for one more.


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## JV (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm in. I'll submit a story.


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## Melisse (Jun 3, 2012)

Sounds like fun, I'm in!


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## Oscar Arias (Dec 17, 2013)

I'd love to participate in this as well!!
So count me in as a contributor.  (If there is space!)



Even at only 1000 words per author, this is going to be a huge tome!


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

I'm in.


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## Lisa Kovanda (Mar 23, 2013)

Would love to participate in this!


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

If the limit is 1,000 words, I'm in. But 500? �Not so much. If I do it, I want to showcase my best work, and under 500 is definitely not my metier. If the hive mind decides 500 words is the way to go, more power to you, but I'll quietly bow out if that's the case.


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## Victoria J (Jul 5, 2011)

I'm in.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I'm two pages behind, but wanted to say that I would prefer 1000 words rather than 500. I'm used to a single chapter being 2-5k words. 1000 words is challenging enough to encompass an entire story. If some people want to do 500, they can. 

Maybe we could say a story between 500-1000 words.


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## R M Rowan (Jul 13, 2011)

Me, too!!!!


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## JezStrider (Jun 19, 2012)

I'd like to participate!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Those of us who come up with good 500 word fiction can always prepare for a second "Half-Pint" volume.


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## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Cherise's note: I think only novels qualify authors for the bestseller lists, though


Yes, I believe this is the case. I see realistic positives of this project being:

* fun experiment
* KB spirit and all that
* Contributing to charity
* Possibility of flash piece being read

I don't mean to dampen anyone's hopes for picking up new readers for their other works from the exposure. But in my experience it's challenging to lead readers from one non-series novel to another, let alone from one piece of flash fiction in an antho to the author's other titles.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Dara England said:


> Yes, I believe this is the case. I see realistic positives of this project being:
> 
> * fun experiment
> * KB spirit and all that
> ...


Yes. It should be stated that this will almost certainly do nothing for anyone's career in a direct, monetary way.

And sad to hear I'll have to cancel the order of all the NYT Bestseller t-shirts. Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.


I'd actually enjoy taking part in that, to be honest.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.


THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD DO!!!!!!!!!


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

I'll join in.

If you are still looking for possible charities, I would nominate the Wounded Warrior Project especially if this has a May publishing date.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Hugh Howey said:


> Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.


Oh my gosh, YES!

Um, but it would need to make sense. Dang.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.


I consider this Page One of the new project. I am IN! Ha!


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## JV (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm bookmarking this. PM when everything is decided and I will start writing.


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## . (Sep 19, 2013)

I'm in if you'll have me. (I don't have anything published yet.)

Also, volunteering to proofread.


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## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

If someone will edit the story, I'll write one.


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## OliviaF (Feb 3, 2013)

Wow. Respond on the first page, go do stuff around the house for a while, come back, and thread has blown up!

I'm really excited about this! Just need to know length, timeline, etc.

This will be a very fun challenge!


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Is it too late to get in? It figures the one day I barely look at wc, this thread is posted. Lol.


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## Ryan Sullivan (Jul 9, 2011)

I'd like to write a story for it!


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## jeffaaronmiller (Jul 17, 2012)

This is such a great idea. I think it will help build a real sense of community here. I'm in! And I'm open to any topic, but what will the decision-making process be?


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## GGKeets (Jan 2, 2012)

Saw this thread earlier at work when it was a only a couple pages. 

I'm in!


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Wow - this thread's on steroids.

I would add to the caveat about exposure - if there are 100 - 400 authors, there will be very little in the way of individual marketing leverage. It's going to be a fun thing to do, a challenge to write within the 1,000 words, and ditto for the theme when determined.

It's for the fun of the chase, Watson...


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

If each person does one page of a novel that would be a great Idea, but it would have to be edited and that's a large book. Costly.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

The list has been updated to here.  If I missed anyone, let me know.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

If there's still room, I'm in. Are we doing reprints, or have we not decided? I could do either.


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## lewaters (Jun 25, 2011)

I hope it's not too late to join in! What a great idea!


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## Lisa5 (Oct 23, 2012)

Lisa Whitefern


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

I would love to do this for charity. Count me in (as long as my story can get weird and/or deadly).


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

What a wonderful idea... and what an astounding response. 
A couple of quick thoughts:

*Title:* While we all know and love the KB Writer's Cafe, and I'm deeply grateful for the thought of having that in the title... I wonder if it would be puzzling to readers that haven't heard of "K.B." 
Perhaps "The Indie Flash Anthology" or "Shorts from the Writer's Cafe" (without the K.B.) or "Shorts: 100 Stories" or "100 3-Minute Stories" or... something better you all come up with. 

*Affiliate links:* If we do use the KB affiliate code in the various links to the anthology, we'll donate 100% of proceeds from that to the designated charities. We could set up a special affiliate tag for it.


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## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Sign me up as well


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## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

I'm interested as an author.  I write short fiction among other things.

However...

You need an executive editor with the final authority to say Yes and No.  Otherwise, this is another beat-your-gums-into-the-next-century thread.  You need to think, trad, baby.  Hierarchy.  Warrior king sitting on an iron throne who can order your death from a thousand leagues away.  You might think of this paragraph as boot camp.

Otherwise, more good-natured flapping and yearning.

The guidelines need to be few in number, clearly posted and strictly upheld.

It looks like writers have pledged at least 100k of stories already.  That's becoming long for an anthology like this.

As you know, a book has a shape to it, a theme to it, visually and intellectually.  It's not like everyone bringing pot luck to the picnic table.  You know this, but you need to hear it.

Once, I had material slated to be included in an anthology for shared profit.  The authors got to squabbling among themselves.  Finally, the long suffering editors gave up and cancelled the book, so that everyone lost.

You may consider this a cautionary tale.

I think donating any profits to charity is a good idea.

I'll be watching and listening.


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## MeiLinMiranda (Feb 17, 2011)

Oh no, I go have a life, whatever that means, and I miss all this stuff! Am I too late? Exposure, whatever,mi just wanna be in an anthology with Hugh!


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## heidi_g (Nov 14, 2013)

If it's not too late, I'm in


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

Harvey said:


> What a wonderful idea... and what an astounding response.
> A couple of quick thoughts:
> 
> *Title:* While we all know and love the KB Writer's Cafe, and I'm deeply grateful for the thought of having that in the title... I wonder if it would be puzzling to readers that haven't heard of "K.B."
> ...


I like Shorts from the Writer's Cafe a lot. Or maybe it's just that I'm craving a latte...


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

Q: How many clowns can one fit into a VW Bug?
A: One more. I'm in!


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Whatever the title of the book, I think it should have 'K.B.' somewhere in it...


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## KA Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

I would be very happy to participate, as well


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## . (Sep 19, 2013)

ElleChambers said:


> I like Shorts from the Writer's Cafe a lot. Or maybe it's just that I'm craving a latte...


Maybe "caffeine" should be our unifying theme!  Or things found in a cafe...


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

I think we should call this anthology a story potluck. Has a nice ring to it!


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Earlier Hugh said he liked the idea of writing about writers. Being as this is a showcase of a community of Indie Authors, I think that the theme of having a writer as the main protagonist (or villain!) would be spot-on. It would give gravitas and cohesiveness to the anthology, while still allowing freedom of creativity. It would be something meta (as Hugh suggested) for readers and those in the industry, including bloggers, to talk about.


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

I haven't been here all day and yikes!!! I'm probably too late to the Writer's Cafe party.

If there's still a slot, I'm in.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

One theme could make it boring, why not add a few different ones to add a little spice and variety for the readers. We have writers here that hit on every genre, myself dystopian, contemporary lit. We have romance, sci fi, historical and many others.

I agree with others on this one, we need one chief or it will fall apart before it starts. To many boss's will cause it to run in a lot of different directions. Hugh's idea, why not give him the crown of the kingdom of the yet decided.


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Just me, personally, I'm not down with writers writing about writers. It seems a little self-obsessed, you know? I hear a lot of stories from editors about just how many stories they reject where writers are writing about writers.  

If this is what the group wants, so be it. Just thought I'd offer a dissenting voice.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

KaryE said:


> Just me, personally, I'm not down with writers writing about writers. It seems a little self-obsessed, you know? I hear a lot of stories from editors about just how many stories they reject where writers are writing about writers.�
> 
> If this is what the group wants, so be it. Just thought I'd offer a dissenting voice.�


I am not into writing about other writers either, what's the point?


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## legion (Mar 1, 2013)

KaryE said:


> Just me, personally, I'm not down with writers writing about writers. It seems a little self-obsessed, you know?...


I completely agree with you Kary. I imagine the cover with such a theme being some guy gazing at his navel.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

My favorite short stories have a twist at the end. I would vote for that as a theme. It could go with any genre.

I think it could sell well too. I think lots of people would enjoy a bunch of shorts with a twist at the end.

Just thinking out loud.


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## Michael Kingswood (Feb 18, 2011)

What the heck.  I'll play.  

Of course I'd love to submit a story, but I'll be glad to help with proofing/beta reading as need be.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I can provide a website for our anthology(ies) where we could give credit, talk about the charity, etc.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm late but I'd like to be included, please.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

EelKat said:


> I don't really care which theme we do (though I admit, I like the 100 authors per book and each book using a different color for the theme....I love colors (says the girl wearing a bright orange kimono and a neon pink scarf and looking at the screen through dayglow purple framed glasses, while living in a lime green motorhome  ). I'm open to doing whatever theme turns out to be the final one.
> 
> I'm used to writing stories using THIS: http://www.chaoticshiny.com/wegen.php (OMG! It just told me to write a story about a betrayal, Santa Claus and a politician!  ...yesterday it told me to write about a flirtation, a pink unicorn, and a detective  ....weird stuff this thing throws at you!)
> 
> ...


Color books are a nice idea with matching genres per the book color. I would not put romance together with horror books with a shinning theme and Jack Nickolas running around with an axe.


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

If you want to get some inspiration, this site has a feature called Flash Fiction at Five. I have one on there and the link goes to my story page, but there are lots of other flash stories there to read. I hope you all have fun with this and get good response.

http://flurriesofwords.blogspot.com/2013/01/flash-fiction-at-five-waiting-by-jeanne.html


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Summarizing to try and help Hugh Organize this 

[Cherise's note: Hugh's original post said we should compile a KB flash fiction anthology to get us all on the New York Times Bestseller list, but only novels qualify authors for the bestseller lists.]



Hugh Howey said:


> Yes. It should be stated that this will almost certainly do nothing for anyone's career in a direct, monetary way.
> 
> And sad to hear I'll have to cancel the order of all the NYT Bestseller t-shirts.
> 
> Maybe a future project will entail a 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.





Cherise Kelley said:


> THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD DO!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ETA: This is totally doable. We brainstorm a story idea, then a list of scenes, put them in logical order, and then assign pages of scenes in the order that swolf put our names in the list in reply #2 in this thread.
> 
> I want the original dream of getting us all on the NYT Bestseller list, dang it!


*(Hugh's ideas in red)*

*Original Stipulations:*

Less than 1,000 words per author (flash fiction)
Proceeds go to charity
Beta read the story of the poster above you

*Common Questions to be worked out by the end of February:*

Is this for real? Yeah.
When's the deadline? August 1st (or maybe May 1st).
Who do we send the stories to? We'll create a thread (Yeah, the stories will be public. Think: Perma-Free.)
Which charity will proceeds go to? We'll vote. Could be quite a few, divvied up.
Can we have a common theme? If so, it needs to be very broad. The good thing about a theme is that we could do more of these down the road.
What rights would we be donating? None. You can use your story after 60 days of exclusivity.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? I vote brand new. But I'm cool with reprints.
Target Audience Age Range? I would vote for all-inclusive, but that would mean putting the racy stuff at the end, with warnings.
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) I would vote for links to page of choice, with a very short author bio (50 words).
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each?
Whose account will it publish under? I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.
Can unpublished authors contribute?
Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted?

*Charity Ideas So Far:*

A literary charity that has been vetted? ...an inner city library project for kids? 
KayBratt

I'd love to suggest Room to Read as a charity candidate. They work globally and have received a solid four star rating from Charity Navigator for the last seven years. (They also make their financials as easily accessible as possible, which earns them a favorable point or two.) http://www.roomtoread.org/
Vivienne Mathews

http://www.girlswritenow.org/
Zoe Cannon

Ronald McDonald House charities are very worthwhile. They're active in over 50 countries worldwide, and provide wonderful services for the families of critically-ill children.
Jena H

*Most Popular Book Suggestions:*

A 400-page novel written one page each by KB members.
Hugh Howey

A boxed set (imagine those 3D box set graphics that show like, five books inside). 
One book in the set is labeled Romance, another Speculative Fiction (encompassing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), etc.
Each book within the boxed set gets at least one big name author in it (Hugh, Genita, etc). Those big names are listed on the box set cover, description, etc. That way there's equal (sorta) draw for each book within the set. 
We could allow hundreds of authors to participate by divvying them up into each big book and releasing all the big books together as a set. 
Dara England
[Cherise's note: this summarizes several earlier ideas, which I deleted for ease of reading.]

Perhaps limit each contributor to only one submission. Otherwise the collective (whoever is involved in putting this together) will get overwhelmed.
JohnHindmarsh

*Popular Theme Ideas for an Anthology of Flash Fiction Book:*

...give a bunch of writers one story idea, and then have them all write the "same" story, only of course, they'd all end up being different...
Valeriec80

Maybe give everyone the same first line. "A man walks into a bar."
Dee Ernst

Maybe a color, say red, could be a theme. The stories could then be any genre, as long as the color appears somewhere in the story. That way, if it took off, we could use other colors for future editions. The KB Cafe Red Anthology, Blue Anthology, etc.
brendajcarlton

Stories about writers and writing. 
daringnovelist
I like this. Leaves it wide open, but gives it a theme that makes sense. Very meta. Everyone could work in a writing protag or another.

The theme doesn't have to be what the stories are about. Some of the top anthologies are themed... on something like kind of writer...
daringnovelist

My favorite short stories have a twist at the end. I would vote for that as a theme. It could go with any genre.
Victorine

*Editor Volunteers:*

Zoe York (10 stories)
Cherise Kelley 
Lydniz
Greg Strandberg
Jennifer Haymore (5-10)
Roz Marshall (5-10)
PeggyI (5-6)
Endi Webb
Lanette Curington
LectorsBooks (5-10)
Scriptland
missmyrah

I will definitely edit any of the stories written by current RAP clients. I will do others as time permits. 
Once you've nailed down the charity, or charities, I will ask if any of my staff would like to donate some editing time.
Lynn McNamee

*Proofreading:*

***If we encourage every participating author to read through [the whole book], looking for typos, that should give us a clean work. 
Hugh Howey

If we contribute the stories by posting them in a KB thread as Hugh suggested earlier, then we can all just PM each other with typo fixes. Each of us would fix our typos in our post. And then the formatter would use the thread as the master document. Those who wish to have editing help should request it before posting in the new thread Hugh would create for this.
Cherise Kelley

*Beta Reader Volunteers*

Shawn Inmon (5-10)
zjoe
Caspar Bogart

*Organizer Volunteers:*

JohnHindmarsh
Joseph Turkot

*Formatter Volunteers:*

Greg Strandberg
catebaylor

*Cover Volunteers* (who suggest only a small committee or one person have approval of the cover):

daringnovelist
Dara England
Victorine
C.C. Kelly

*Craft Suggestions:*

Oh, and if anyone (like me, ahem) hasn't done much flash fiction, Holly Lisle (author and amazing writing teacher) has a free flash fiction course here: http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/
Zoe Cannon

I like Isaac Asimov's description [of flash fiction] the best. Paraphrasing: A thousand word story or less that leaves the punch line to the last sentence, preferably to the last word. 
LisaGraceBooks

*Title Suggestions that Hugh didn't veto based on his using a pen name for the project:*

Things Go Horribly Wrong... With Tentacles

KBoards Cafe Anthology 2014

Monkeys With Typewriters: Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement

Tsunami of Swell: Voices of the Indie Publishing Movement

Story Threads: Creative Flash Fiction by Independent Publishers

*Marketing Suggestions*

I can provide a website for our anthology(ies) where we could give credit, talk about the charity, etc.
Nathalie Ayni

Maybe we do a contest the month after the release and the first 50 or so people to submit the correct theme get prizes, free books, or maybe a physical book or autographed stuff - something, just to keep the buzz alive. 
So obviously the theme would have to be a secret.
C.C. Kelly

When launch approaches, we could each send our contribution to our own mailing list as a gift and include a link to the complete anthology. It'll give us a reason to do an extra no-spam mailing, so win-win.
Quiss

It's very very wise to have any USA/NYT bestselling authors listed by name as that helps with also-bots immensely.
Texas Girl

If all the authors are willing to use their mailing lists, we can create a schedule and then divvy it up over five or so days to get the word out, which is a good time frame to help get momentum. It works best if authors will tell us an approximate number of subscribers so we can divide it up evenly.
Texas Girl

I just had a vision for a Youtube trailer for this book: We each film ourselves saying, "I'm (insert name here), and I'm an author." And then it cuts, that fast, to the next author. And it goes through everybody. I'd be glad to edit the trailer if we decide to do this. I'm somewhat crafty with Adobe Premier. 
Joseph Turkot
LOVE this idea.

*Finance Suggestions*

Perhaps we'd allocate a percentage to a Kboards fund for editing and other expenses... 
KayBratt 
I thought something similar, but how would you choose who this goes to? I also thought about a special needs fund, like SFWA does, but then you need a committee to hear the requests and make judgements. It gets messy.

*General Suggestions:*

Hugh Should pick the theme. 
Roz Marshall
Hugh does not want that much responsibility.

Everything I've ever learned about group activities tells me that one person has to, ultimately, be the one in charge. Hugh, is it you? That one person needs to set all the guidelines. There's no way to please this many people, so all must agree to abide by the leader's guidelines. Oh, edit that to read abide by the leader's guidelines with a smile and the right attitude. 
Sapphire 
I nominate you. 

Hey, to help Kboards, since we're all sending it to our mailing lists, could we use the kboard affiliate link in those? I know I get some clicks from mine and make a few extra cents that way, and my mailing list is probably minuscule compared to a lot of others.
cassidycayman

For a quicky count of who is interested in this thing, someone might want to start a poll on here, and have people just vote YES I'm interested. That way we can get a bit of an idea how many stories we're dealing with, and what word count we're looking at. 
[Cherise's note: Camilla volunteered to start the poll, but like the Google doc thing, I think this will be more confusing than helpful. I suggest we keep it all in this thread.]


----------



## MitchHogan (May 17, 2013)

I'm a bit late to this party but if there's a spot count me in!


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## jacklusted (Nov 29, 2012)

I'd love to be part of something like this. I could definitely contribute a story, and maybe beta/proof reading depending on when it happens.

I also love the monkeys with typewriters name suggestion.


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## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Saw this MUCH earlier but it looked like a closed list. Guess not, so I'd love to sign up if there's still room.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

The authors names are listed alphabetically and if they were given a page number and a word count, it's feasible to create a novel. Editors depending on the number involved would have to communicate together in the editing process.

If the novel is about dogs and on page 25 the author says the cat crawled along. Should be a dog an the editors working together could handle that I am sure. The editors could communicate with the person in charge of the project.

Beta readers could check the book before it goes to the editors. All the authors would get a copy for a final read to make any needed corrections which could be brought before the editors. Each page could have a page number and the author's name. Use authors' names instead of chapters. I will shut up now, it's my old job stepping in.


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

I'd definitely be interested.  But based on the level of interest it seems like I might be included in vol. 5?


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## J Bridger (Jan 29, 2013)

I'm interested whatever anthology issue I might make it into


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## AmberDa1 (Jul 23, 2012)

swolf said:


> The list has been updated to here. If I missed anyone, let me know.


Yes, I would like to stay on the list. Amber Dane
Hope I replied correctly.
Thank you.
This is so exciting!


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## Sarah Stimson (Oct 9, 2013)

I'm in if you'll take someone who hasn't yet published fiction (it's my goal for 2014 to finish my novel!)

I haven't read the whole thread as it's epic, but in case it hasn't already been suggested:

As there are so many volunteers to submit and it has been discussed about having more than volume, maybe it makes sense for those volumes to be split by genre.  So it would be "Erotica from the Writers' Cafe", "Romance from the Writers' Cafe". "Sci-Fi from the Writer's' Cafe" and so on?


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## O (Jul 15, 2013)

Count me in for submitting a story, and I'll proof/beta, and help with organisation if more help is wanted.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Count me in.


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## Lindy Moone (Oct 19, 2012)

I'm in, too! Happy to submit a story. Also to beta, proofread, and promote.  

I'm already compiling stories for my own charity anthology this year, about trolls. All kinds of trolls. 
So please, no troll theme for this one!

I like Hugh's idea for the stories to just have "Flash" in common. If, for example, all the stories were known to have O. Henry style surprise endings, they wouldn't be a surprise, anymore.


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## micki (Oct 8, 2010)

Please count me in to submit a story--I will also proof read.  Thanks


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## A. Rosaria (Sep 12, 2010)

I'm game.


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## 48306 (Jul 6, 2011)

Count me in!


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

So there's now three ways of signing up (this thread, google docs, poll in other thread) and 16 pages of posts. Getting pretty chaotic. I think you need some people to take charge.

How about forming a committee to drive this thing (e.g. Hugh, Cherise, Swolf, Dara, Harvey etc. if they are willing). They discuss offline, take the best ideas from this thread, formulate them into a few solid suggestions and set up a poll for members to vote on. Then form a plan with deadlines, master lists of those involved, ways to submit etc.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Some thoughts based on discussions to date:

- I think that giving access to the Amazon account to more than a handful of trusted admins is a bad idea.  I'll live with not being able to see the sales data in return for knowing that someone can't pull the whole anthology because they get an insecure phase and don't want their work out there, or replace the file with their latest novel, etc.  I'm not saying that anyone involved would do that - just that, with no limitations on involvement, it's possible that someone could sign up with a view to doing something like that.  

- I prefer 1,000 words to 500.

- I think it would be wise to wait until you have the submissions before deciding on how many stories to have in each anthology.  With something like this, I imagine that there will be a large drop off between the initial desire to be involved and the practicality of writing and submitting a story by a deadline.  I'm sure Julie has plenty of stories about this sort of thing!  Obviously, it makes sense to split the bestsellers between the different anthologies so that they all have some pull to them.  

- With the population turnover of a forum, I think August is too far in the future, you'd see a lot of drop-offs.  Personally, I'd like to see two to three months from the announcement of a theme and a deadline.  Also, make it a hard deadline, or you'll be chasing submissions for another couple of months!


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## 60865 (Jun 11, 2012)

Yes I'm interested.


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm definitely interested in being involved! What a great idea.


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## Jean E (Aug 29, 2011)

I've come late to the thread but would love to have a go.  

Happy New Year to all.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Man, this thing is becoming a monster event.
As many of you know, I am hosting a question/answer thread on my blog www.whatbrickwall.blogspot.com/
for Stella Wilkinson's anthology project.

This KB Cafe project is still in transition with the enthusiastic initial rush of offers but I am throwing my blog on the table to help. When this book comes out any participating authors who want to be interviewed ( see my blog to get an idea of the format- easy stuff, five questions and out and I avg 600 world wide hits a month-- which is sure to go up when THIS project gets wider attention)_ can contact me.

*But not now!! *We're ramping up for Stella's third book in March. We wouldn't want to confuse readers.

So please add me to the marketing list.


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

Victorine said:


> My favorite short stories have a twist at the end. I would vote for that as a theme. It could go with any genre.
> 
> I think it could sell well too. I think lots of people would enjoy a bunch of shorts with a twist at the end.
> 
> Just thinking out loud.


I love O. Henry style endings - I use them a lot, so I vote for this as a theme.


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## Nicole5102 (Mar 12, 2012)

I'm coming to the thread late, but I'm in. Love the idea.


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

Rocket J. Williams said:


> Maybe "caffeine" should be our unifying theme! � �Or things found in a cafe...


I know it's _my_ writing fuel of choice. And as soon as I saw that title suggestion, I saw the cover in my head of someone sitting in a cafe, steaming cup of coffee in front of him, reading a book.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

List updated to here.  If I missed you, let me know.   Amber Dane, you're already on.

This list is getting impressive.  I like it!


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Some thoughts based on discussions to date:
> 
> - I think that giving access to the Amazon account to more than a handful of trusted admins is a bad idea. I'll live with not being able to see the sales data in return for knowing that someone can't pull the whole anthology because they get an insecure phase and don't want their work out there, or replace the file with their latest novel, etc. I'm not saying that anyone involved would do that - just that, with no limitations on involvement, it's possible that someone could sign up with a view to doing something like that.
> 
> ...


I agree with all of this, especially the suggestion not to give everyone the password.

This could potentially raise a lot of money, and whoever does do it is going to have to deal with the tax issues. Because it's for charity, we probably won't end up owning any, but you still have to jump through the legal hoops.


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## Doril (Nov 2, 2013)

ElleChambers said:


> I know it's _my_ writing fuel of choice. And as soon as I saw that title suggestion, I saw the cover in my head of someone sitting in a cafe, steaming cup of coffee in front of him, reading a book.


I love this. When I think of anthologies, that's the exact picture that comes to mind.

I also vote for 1000 words instead of 500.

Wow, this thread is exploding.

Okay, I'm off to take the course on writing flash fiction.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I've always wanted to be in an anthology. If you'll have me, I'd love to play! Two Aprils ago, I created a blog streak where I wrote a flash piece every day for a different blog in the genre they wrote in. i LOVE writing flash


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

David J Normoyle said:


> So there's now three ways of signing up (this thread, google docs, poll in other thread) and 16 pages of posts. Getting pretty chaotic. I think you need some people to take charge.
> 
> How about forming a committee to drive this thing (e.g. Hugh, Cherise, Swolf, Dara, Harvey etc. if they are willing). They discuss offline, take the best ideas from this thread, formulate them into a few solid suggestions and set up a poll for members to vote on. Then form a plan with deadlines, master lists of those involved, ways to submit etc.


This. This. This.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

How about for a common theme they all start cafe' - since the  book itself got started in a cafe


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## Kenosha Kid (Jun 23, 2011)

Man, miss a day of Kb'ing, and anthologies start happening...

Would love to participate! Have a short work of literary fiction that needs a good home.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

We need a boarder collie to heard all the leaders in a group, get organized and go from there. One king and a few subordinates.


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## Miranda Hardy (Dec 31, 2013)

Please sign me up to submit a story. I'd love to a part of this as well. Thank you, 

Miranda


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

I'd like to participate in this worthy project.

As mentioned earlier, 'Room to Read' would be an appropriate, global literacy charity to support with the proceeds.

http://www.roomtoread.org/


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## AinsleyShay (Dec 31, 2013)

I would love to be a part of this project!


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Here is a list of charities I think most could get behind:

http://wellreadchild.blogspot.com/2007/11/charities-that-promote-literacy.html


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Michael Buckley said:


> We need a boarder collie to heard all the leaders in a group, get organized and go from there. One king and a few subordinates.


Agreed. And I don't want to be the king! I'd prefer a queen, anyway. How about Betsy? She's never doing anything around here!



But seriously, if someone wants to step up and say, "I'm in charge," please do. I'm committed to this anthology, have already figured out what I want to write, and would be happy to go through and do an editing pass (along with the other volunteers, if I'm even needed). I really don't want this to be in my name or about me. When we refer to this, it should be the KB Flash Anthology. Or something.


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## DJ Edwardson (Mar 15, 2013)

I'll sign up to submit one as well. I also vote 1000 words.

Of the themes suggested, I like "red" or some other color (black might also work) and I also like "flash". Something really broad, really basic. I also vote that the title of the anthology be the theme. So the book could be called "Flash: an anthology of short fiction". That might be a little too generic, though. Here are some synonyms for flash. I marked the ones I like best in bold.

blaze 
flare 
gleam 
*glint* 
reflection 
*vision* 
dazzle
glisten 
illumination 
imprint
luster 
*phosphorescence*
shine 
stream 
twinkling

Or how about a theme from this line in Hamlet:

"The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind."


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Wow, I missed this yesterday! I'd love to be included in the anthology, it sounds like a great idea. I'd be willing to proofread, if another pair of eyes are needed.

I already wrote a story, before I even finished the first post. As soon as I saw the suggestion of having "flash" in it, I got an idea and stopped reading to write the story. It's 638 words, horror, and is called "Flashlight".

Don't know if it would work for the anthology, if a different theme is chosen, but heck, at least I wrote that much today. I love writing short stories!



Zelah Meyer said:


> Some thoughts based on discussions to date:
> 
> - I think that giving access to the Amazon account to more than a handful of trusted admins is a bad idea. I'll live with not being able to see the sales data in return for knowing that someone can't pull the whole anthology because they get an insecure phase and don't want their work out there, or replace the file with their latest novel, etc. I'm not saying that anyone involved would do that - just that, with no limitations on involvement, it's possible that someone could sign up with a view to doing something like that.
> 
> ...


^^^I agree with Zelah's thoughts.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Agreed. And I don't want to be the king! I'd prefer a queen, anyway. How about Betsy? She's never doing anything around here!
> 
> 
> 
> But seriously, if someone wants to step up and say, "I'm in charge," please do. I'm committed to this anthology, have already figured out what I want to write, and would be happy to go through and do an editing pass (along with the other volunteers, if I'm even needed). I really don't want this to be in my name or about me. When we refer to this, it should be the KB Flash Anthology. Or something.


Cherise and Camille have been doing a good job keeping everything organized so far. I dunno if they're willing to handle all of it, but they would get my vote.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

LynnBlackmar said:


> Cherise and Camille have been doing a good job keeping everything organized so far. I dunno if they're willing to handle all of it, but they would get my vote.


Sounds good to me.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Oooh, I like the name *Glint: A flash fiction mega-anthology*


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## Christopher Gray (Feb 27, 2013)

I'd like to contribute but it looks like you already have a ton of contributors. The multi-volume idea?


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Title suggestion: Slushpile  

For themes, I love the idea of everyone using the same prompt. My whole series came about due to a story prompt to have our characters wake up in a padded cell. Come up with some situation that could go in dozens of directions. For instance, everyone starts with their characters stuck in traffic. Lots of possibilities with that. Killers could be three cars back, asteroid could be heading for city and everyone is fleeing. Woman could be having baby, couple could be fighting, or making out


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Hugh Howey said:


> I really don't want this to be in my name or about me. When we refer to this, it should be the KB Flash Anthology. Or something.


If that's the case, I'd suggest just including your name and names of two or three other well-known indies in the blurb below the book title and as part of the book description. Something like: "With Contributions by ________, ________, ________ and ________."

Could you go for that?


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Harvey said:


> What a wonderful idea... and what an astounding response.
> A couple of quick thoughts:
> 
> *Title:* While we all know and love the KB Writer's Cafe, and I'm deeply grateful for the thought of having that in the title... I wonder if it would be puzzling to readers that haven't heard of "K.B."
> ...


Thank you for your common sense insert here (title) and your generous offer (charity).


----------



## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Late here, but interested in participating. Working on catching up with the thread.

(Edited to add) Still trying to catch up. Would like to add that I think the idea for multiple volumes is a good one.
If there is one person keeping track, please add me to the list to contribute.  I also have a decent FB following and will spread the word & I plan to use my own funds to promote. Working as an RN gives me ways to get lots of interest in a charity endeavor, so I will start looking into that as well.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hugh Howey said:


> Agreed. And I don't want to be the king! I'd prefer a queen, anyway. How about Betsy? She's never doing anything around here!
> 
> 
> 
> But seriously, if someone wants to step up and say, "I'm in charge," please do. I'm committed to this anthology, have already figured out what I want to write, and would be happy to go through and do an editing pass (along with the other volunteers, if I'm even needed). I really don't want this to be in my name or about me. When we refer to this, it should be the KB Flash Anthology. Or something.


----------



## DJ Edwardson (Mar 15, 2013)

Zoe York said:


> Oooh, I like the name *Glint: A flash fiction mega-anthology*


+1

This certainly looks like it will be a mega-anthology.


----------



## Jude Hardin (Feb 5, 2011)

Very cool! I would love to be part of this.


----------



## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

Love how this is evolving, and I'll be happy to help out whoever wears the crown. 

One quick idea to add: It'd be nice to have Hugh write the introduction, since it's his brainchild.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Let's not derail the anthology with discussion of a book written a page at a time by various authors. If that interests you, set it aside for now and bring it back after this is done.

I also vote for a 1000 word limit rather than 500.

I would hate to see genres separated into different books; sections within a book makes a good arrangement.

Theme is good if very broad: a word, an object, a color, even a non-specific place like a café.

The sooner this all happens, the better. Enthusiasm can wane swiftly.


----------



## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

Yes! I'd love to do this!


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

I'm currently on (my first ever) holiday, using a crappy non-smart phone, and haven't managed to read the entire thread but I am definitely interested in participating in this book!

Happy Hogmanay, folks!


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## ER Pierce (Jun 4, 2013)

I'm in. I love Flash Fiction.


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## Lindy Moone (Oct 19, 2012)

I like "Shorts from the Writers' Cafe" -- mostly because I'm picturing a cover with (comic) underpants on it.  

"The Indie Flash Anthology" is good, too. Picturing a flasher, now -- right before the flash.

So how about both, with "Shorts from the Writer's Cafe" as the subtitle? I'm picturing the cover as a flasher, ready to flash, with the title "The Indie Flash Anthology -- then you open the book to see the comic underpants and subtitle, "Shorts from the Writer's Cafe".

(*reluctantly takes mind out of gutter*)


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

Hugh Howey said:


> But seriously, if someone wants to step up and say, "I'm in charge," please do. I'm committed to this anthology, have already figured out what I want to write, and would be happy to go through and do an editing pass (along with the other volunteers, if I'm even needed). I really don't want this to be in my name or about me. When we refer to this, it should be the KB Flash Anthology. Or something.


Hugh, whether you want to accept it or not, your name sort of NEEDS to be involved since you are the primary news motivation. And technically, since you are responsible for collecting the stories, that makes you the Editor. Not "copy editor" Not "proofreader" but "Editor" of the anthology. If anyone thinks Ellen Datlow proofreads and line edits her anthologies, they don't know the actual role of an anthology editor. Your job is to decide which stories go in and in what order. That puts your name on the spine as Editor. 

People who are just line editing and proofreading wouldn't be the "editor" of the anthology. They would be line editors and proofreaders.

So, yeah, it's ALL ABOUT YOU!


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

I'm in.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

OK, this thread is like 17 pages long now. Has anyone actually asked Harvey if he is fine with using the forum's name in promotion?


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Philip Gibson said:


> If that's the case, I'd suggest just including your name and names of two or three other well-known indies in the blurb below the book title and as part of the book description. Something like: "With Contributions by ________, ________, ________ and ________."
> 
> Could you go for that?


I agree. If we want to raise the most money possible for charity, it would be in the charity's best interest to highlight a few key players who are likely to have a lot of draw.


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> OK, this thread is like 17 pages long now. Has anyone actually asked Harvey if he is fine with using the forum's name in promotion?


Harvey posted a while back that it would be better not to use KB because no one would know what we're talking about. The Cafe Writers Flash Fiction (or something like that) was his suggestion.


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> OK, this thread is like 17 pages long now. Has anyone actually asked Harvey if he is fine with using the forum's name in promotion?


Yes...



Harvey said:


> What a wonderful idea... and what an astounding response.
> A couple of quick thoughts:
> 
> *Title:* While we all know and love the KB Writer's Cafe, and I'm deeply grateful for the thought of having that in the title... I wonder if it would be puzzling to readers that haven't heard of "K.B."
> ...


----------



## BokkenRecord (Nov 17, 2013)

I would like to contribute


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

...AND MY AXE.

I lean towards a preference for 500 words, just because I think it'll lead to higher quality submissions. Writing short is difficult! But 1000 is good, too.


----------



## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

KaryE said:


> Just me, personally, I'm not down with writers writing about writers. It seems a little self-obsessed, you know? I hear a lot of stories from editors about just how many stories they reject where writers are writing about writers.
> 
> If this is what the group wants, so be it. Just thought I'd offer a dissenting voice.


I'll add my voice - writers are boring... well, a hundred stories about them would be.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

The proposal is that you get a 50 word bio. Stick whatever links you want into that.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

EelKat said:


> I agree with this as well. I wouldn't want or need access to a project like this. With the sales going to charity, rather than % going to each contributor, I don't really see any reason why contributors would need to keep track of sales. I can see having 4 or 5 people having access to it (say the folks in charge of the project, who ever they turn out to be) so that all the responsibility doesn't fall with one person, but I don't see why every contributor would need access.


Yeah - though I would like to see a thread here with the sales numbers reported occasionally - just to know how it is doing.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Love "Shorts from the Writer's Cafe" as the subtitle. Carry on.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

EelKat said:


> I got thinking about it and I started thinking the books may need to be even smaller than 100 authors per volume in order for them to have any effect in driving traffic to each author's page, because it will only drive traffic to the pages of the authors who are linked to via the contributor links under the title, and everyone else in the volume will see no increase in traffic/sales at all (hard fact is, readers rarely look up short story authors after reading their story in print, and clicking on the author name link to the Amazon author page, is the only way this anthology will increase sales for any one in the set.)


The anthologies I've been in have placed the 10 most popular authors in those slots. The reason being you want more people to read it, and the internal links will allow the readers to further explore the authors of the stories they've enjoyed.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

LynnBlackmar said:


> Cherise and Camille have been doing a good job keeping everything organized so far. I dunno if they're willing to handle all of it, but they would get my vote.


It's someone else's turn. I still want to be on the list of contributors, but I am no longer motivated to spend my writing time trying to lead the project.

I was really excited about the potential for getting on the New York Times Bestseller list with this anthology, the way Hugh initially proposed it. He was responding to a joke I made about 9 of us bundling novels and splitting the $4500 fee that some scammer someone was charging for NYT Bestseller list promo.

Now that I realize short fiction won't qualify us for the NYT bestseller list, 
and it has sunk in that Hugh is determined to not have his name on this, 
and I see that Hugh is not keen on the 400 contributor novel idea which WOULD qualify us for the NYT list,
my enthusiasm for the project has waned. 
I suspect this will be true for many of us.


----------



## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Hugh, whether you want to accept it or not, your name sort of NEEDS to be involved since you are the primary news motivation. And technically, since you are responsible for collecting the stories, that makes you the Editor. Not "copy editor" Not "proofreader" but "Editor" of the anthology. If anyone thinks Ellen Datlow proofreads and line edits her anthologies, they don't know the actual role of an anthology editor. Your job is to decide which stories go in and in what order. That puts your name on the spine as Editor.
> 
> People who are just line editing and proofreading wouldn't be the "editor" of the anthology. They would be line editors and proofreaders.
> 
> So, yeah, it's ALL ABOUT YOU!


I'm with Julie on this.

At the same time - if I were in Hugh's shoes, with my name as editor on the spine, the topic of excellence/quality would come to mind. So Hugh would need to be *quite comfortable * with the quality of the product, I would think. I am sure we can put in place a process to insure that.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I understand, respect, and admire Hugh's desire to avoid having this project rest upon his shoulders.  

He's not a marketing gimmick. He's Hugh. The quirky guy next door. A regular dude.

As for me? I don't care about the NYT list. I just love the chance to collaborate on a project with other self-publishers from the Cafe for a good cause. That's what this is about, so let's not muddy the waters.

We're writers. Let's write.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

This is going to be a lot of work, and I understand why no one wants to take it all on themselves.  I see it working out best if we can feature several of the better-known writers here, with something in the blurb (as Philip mentioned) like:  "Featuring the work of ____, ____, _____" and so on, with Hugh's name leading that list.  I don't think he needs to be named as editor, unless he wants that title, since that implies that he's 'approved' all the stories. 

We would have to decide which 10 authors get hooked up to it through KDP, and I still think the most problematic issue is the taxes.  Someone is going to have to deal with them.

I'm willing to join a small group to organize this.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I believe Hugh has stated that he will be contributing under a pen-name. But yeah, I agree with what you're saying otherwise.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Mcoorlim said:


> I believe Hugh has stated that he will be contributing under a pen-name.


Maybe he's going to transpose the first letters from his first and last names.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

Howard Hughes. Wait, I think that one's taken.

So who is going to autocrat-up and take control of dictating what needs to be answered before we can start writing?

(Hint: Not me. I am just plain awful.)


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## Tony Bertauski (May 18, 2012)

+1. As in, please include me.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

What? I wrote a poll and now I'm nominated to run the show?

I am up for jumping in and doing spot tasks (such as the poll) but not coordinating it.  (And the truth is, distributed efforts like this do depend on ALL of us jumping in and doing things we see need doing.)

And.... we should not be nominating other people.  What we should do is identify the tasks that need to be done, and people who have the time, energy and inclination should step forward.  If nobody steps forward, it's not going to get done, period.


In the meantime -- Shorts, hmmm?

Cover image could be like an old time tenement clothesline picture - lots of lines crossing between highrise buildings, covered with shorts of all kinds.

Camille


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

By the way, I think the pen name remark from Hugh was just a joke.



Hugh Howey said:


> Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.


Perhaps he'll clarify.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Well, I'm taking part for fun, for the community spirit - and for the challenge of trying my hand at telling a story in 1,000 words.  I've never done that, and it will be an interesting experiment!

I know that I will be able to find the time to write a story and submit it, already edited, to an anthology (I know my husband will be happy to run over it to check for errors that Serenity and I miss.)

I wish that I were in a position to offer to take on more than that, but with my son & his night terrors, I don't think it would be realistic.  I might be able to proof read half a dozen non-scary entries, but it will depend on what life has in store for me at that point in time, so I don't want to make any promises at this stage.

I appreciate that this undertaking is a lot of work - so I'm very grateful to whoever winds up taking it on!

One thing I'll say is - if we DO find someone who is willing to take this on, then (unless there's a major issue) we should let them get on with it without arguing with them about theme/submission date/document format/story order/etc.  If you want control over those things - volunteer to organise them!


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

This thread is moving so fast....   I've already voiced my willingness to take part, but I'm afraid I can't keep up with this thread.  Hope I don't miss anything, and I hope I'll be notified (or there will be a separate thread) when things are decided.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

swolf said:


> By the way, I think the pen name remark from Hugh was just a joke.
> 
> Perhaps he'll clarify.


Entirely possible. I'd assumed that the name itself might have been a joke (maybe), but that he was serious about using a pen name. Could be wrong.


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

Going over the themes we have so far, I think the only theme that will keep everyone happy is "Woolly Tentacled Writers with Puppies Hanging at the Edge of the Red Cliff."

That theme also works as a title.  You're welcome.  My work here is done.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Well, I'm taking part for fun, for the community spirit - and for the challenge of trying my hand at telling a story in 1,000 words.� I've never done that, and it will be an interesting experiment!
> ......
> One thing I'll say is - if we DO find someone who is willing to take this on, then (unless there's a major issue) we should let them get on with it without arguing with them about theme/submission date/document format/story order/etc.� If you want control over those things - volunteer to organise them!� �


I also think that it could get exposure for a lot of us, which is more important to me than some bestseller title. I think the title would have been funny, but there are other potential advantages.

I volunteered for formatting, in which I'm not an expert, but I'm decent at it, and much better at than editing. And very few people seem to want to help with that. I don't feel strong with short stories at all, so I'm a bit out of my comfort zone there.

I agree that either we need a person or a small committee to make these other decisions. There's been plenty of suggestions, and there are volunteers, just not overall organizers.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

We need a cold-hearted dictator to wrangle us.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Yes. It should be stated that this will almost certainly do nothing for anyone's career in a direct, monetary way.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Not sure I have time to read through all these pages of responses but I read through Hugh's edits on the first page. 

I am definitely in to contribute a story. I'm willing to help proofread 5-10 stories. 

Are we set on a theme? I liked Hugh's "flash" idea and might already have something that would work for that.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

Mcoorlim said:


> We need a cold-hearted dictator to wrangle us.


I fit the part of the cold hearted dictator, not as tough as I once was and the young could put me in my place pretty fast without adequate firepower on my part. i hate how fast people can change, a year ago my headaches started, before that I could go into a bar and throw someone over the bar if they gave me a hard time. I was 225 lbs and strong, a year later I can barely lift a glass and I am only 55. I should not be getting arthritis in my shoulders at this age.

We have a lot of ladies here that would do a great job, they're shy and polite and they do not want to step on anyones toes, I can understand that. The forum has a lot of great people here and I would suggest to get a list of four or five and set up a poll and vote for the new leader, it would be fair and there should not be any hard feelings on the outcome.

I was a supervisor in the middle east for a long time and they paid me well to step on peoples toes, they wanted Air conditioning even when there was none available, SF helped me a few times there, after hours recons of the camp, when the SF need an A/C unit some poor soul will do without.

I think a poll would be politically correct and just might get the ball rolling here. So far we have all mentioned what we need,everyone has walked in circles, it's easy to get it done. Vote. Pick four or five names and go for it, a computer savvy person can set up the poll and there you are.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Cherise, I think Hugh was stating the obvious. Proceeds are going to charity. Of course it's not going to benefit any of us in a direct monetary way. 

Putting aside the charity aspect (and helping people) for a moment, it's a great marketing opportunity.  I believe this is going to find its way in front of many readers' eyes.  So there may be plenty of individual indirect benefits if we can write something that makes the readers interested in reading more.

Then there's the fun factor. We all hang out here together talking about writing.  It's kind of cool to actually do it together.


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## 9thChapter (May 6, 2013)

I'm interested in joining... if there's still room? Sounds like a great idea! 

I tried reading through most of the forum pages and things have definitely moved quickly (and have flipped back and forth between purpose and responsibility).  Sort of feels like the idea started off as a small bird jumping off a tree branch and has since turned into a jumbo jet trying to get off the runway.


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## MeiLinMiranda (Feb 17, 2011)

My two centavos:

- Limited to 1,000 words.

- Divided by genre into "books" BUT SOLD AS A BUNDLE--basically it's just organizing the stories by genre into sections but call 'em books. Connotes value and breaks things down into a less-overwhelming read.

- Themed, so we can do it again with a different theme. In fact, *my suggestion is we theme it around the charity we're writing for.* So if we choose a reading charity, write about books and reading. If we choose a food charity, write about food and/or hunger. And so on.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

swolf said:


> Cherise, I think Hugh was stating the obvious. Proceeds are going to charity. Of course it's not going to benefit any of us in a direct monetary way.
> 
> Putting aside the charity aspect (and helping people) for a moment, it's a great marketing opportunity. �I believe this is going to find its way in front of many readers' eyes. �So there may be plenty of individual indirect benefits if we can write something that makes the readers interested in reading more.
> 
> Then there's the fun factor. We all hang out here together talking about writing. �It's kind of cool to actually do it together.


I second the cool factor and the eyes on from the readers should more than cover any monetary lost. If the book is well laid out to interest readers with the proper genre. Someone who loves horror might not get into romance.

And it's just right to give back something to the less fortunate, donating a few stories won't hurt anyone, I am not volunteering to proofread or edit because that could hurt everyone.


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## 9thChapter (May 6, 2013)

[quote author=MeiLinMiranda]
- Themed, so we can do it again with a different theme. In fact, *my suggestion is we theme it around the charity we're writing for.* So if we choose a reading charity, write about books and reading. If we choose a food charity, write about food and/or hunger. And so on.
[/quote]

Great idea.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Writer's Cafe in the Flash: An Anthology
Foreword by: Hugh How E

Quick blurb:
"Get flashed by 200 writers at once!"

 Happy New Year!


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

Gennita Low said:


> Writer's Cafe in the Flash: An Anthology
> Foreword by: Hugh How E
> 
> Quick blurb:
> ...


Love it. And for the record, if Hugh is serious about wanting his name off of the project, I'm still in. I think his voice sparked the huge response, but it doesn't have to be the one to carry it over the published finish line. The WC has been a huge part of my life since 2010, though I don't post much, and I want to be a part of whatever it is.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

My only concern about having a theme is that some folks are saying they already have stories ready to go.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

swolf said:


> My only concern about having a theme is that some folks are saying they already have stories ready to go.


I kinda liked the color theme ideas, because that's something you can probably edit in pretty easily.


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

swolf said:


> Then there's the fun factor. We all hang out here together talking about writing. It's kind of cool to actually do it together.


+1, I think this is the main reason to do it.

However, I'm in disagreement with those who want to include writing, cafes, caffeine or any of the things that draw us together. Sure, it's a unifying theme, but is it something that will get readers interested? Although we are doing it for fun, I think the marketing hat should be put on for deciding the title/theme/cover etc. Might as well put effort into making the concept appealing to readers.

How about love as a theme, or nostalgia? Something universal like that. Be interesting to see the difference in how say science fiction writers and thriller writers and romance writers deal with it.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I like the idea of stories about books and reading. That would probably have wider appeal than stories about writers and writing.


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## 9thChapter (May 6, 2013)

Running with the theme idea, what do you think of this?

1. Break the anthlogy into "sections" or "genres" that authors can chose to submit stories to (ie, a SciFi, romance, thriller, etc)

2. Have those stories submitted to each "genre" reflect the theme of the overall anthology (ie, if we are going for "food", the stories are related to food).  You get the picture.

I think this organization will benefit in a few ways:

- it will make organizing the work MUCH easier

- it will allow readers to quickly determine where they want to start/focus/avoid/etc

- it will allow the organizers to balance the number of submissions so we aren't tipping the scales in any one genre

Just my two bits.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

David J Normoyle said:


> However, I'm in disagreement with those who want to include writing, cafes, caffeine or any of the things that draw us together. Sure, it's a unifying theme, but is it something that will get readers interested. Although we are doing it for fun, I think the marketing hat should be put on for deciding the title/theme/cover etc. Might as well put effort into making the concept appealing to readers.
> 
> How about love as a theme, or nostalgia? Something universal like that. Be interesting to see the difference in how say science fiction writers and thriller writers and romance writers deal with it.


That's a very good point. And I agree that perhaps a strongly marketable theme might be best.


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

I have an idea. How about writing a murder mystery. The first person could set the scene with three suspects, then the others could write gossip about the victim or one of the three suspects, that convinces them which is guilty. That way the readers would read the whole thing to find out who actually committed the crime. If not a murder, then the theft of a valuable object.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I like the idea of an abstract, easily interpreted theme, like a color or flash or whatever.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I still like the theme of "twist at the end."

Make the reader think one thing for the first 900 words, then blow their mind in the last 100.

Easily the best marketable theme, and could go with any genre. (But harder to write than just sticking a cup of coffee or a color in somewhere.)


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

I'm in if there is still room. Sorry I'm late to the party; I've been away for some time.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I just had an idea that would incorporate flash fiction and colors in the title.

One Flash

Two Flash

Red Flash

Blue Flash


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I still like the theme of "twist at the end."


My favorite too, but I'm biased, because I love those kinds of stories.

As the British say, "A twist in the tale." (or is it 'tail'?)


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Wow! Seven new pages. I read through the last two. I like the idea of a general theme that everyone in different genres will be able to take in different directions. Would love to see a zombie book with the topic of nostalgia.  I hope we can get some of the bigger named folks on there, that would be a great selling point.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I joined for the fun of it, and have no illusions about donating a story for a charity making me rich somehow. I think it will hurt the proceeds for the charity is we do not have some big names (like Hugh) on it so I hope he sticks it out.

I like best so far...


Title: "Shorts from the Writer's Cafe'" <-- generic enough that even if they never heard of KB-WC, it will make sense. 
Top Author List like: Including works by Hugh Howey, BIGNAME1, BIGNAME2, ..., and BIGNAME#" (5-7 big names)
Bundle of book broken out by major genre branches (Spec Fic, Romance, etc)
1000 words per story
Each story has a short blurb at the end with a link to their Amazon page or website


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Martitalbott said:


> I have an idea. How about writing a murder mystery. The first person could set the scene with three suspects, then the others could write gossip about the victim or one of the three suspects, that convinces them which is guilty. That way the readers would read the whole thing to find out who actually committed the crime. If not a murder, then the theft of a valuable object.


Love it, but WAY too complicated to corral 200+ people to do. Actually would be quite complicated even with a small group of 4 or 5.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Mcoorlim said:


> We need a cold-hearted dictator to wrangle us.


I will be the one to lead! Follow me!










Never mind.


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

Amanda Brice said:


> Love it, but WAY too complicated to corral 200+ people to do.


Tougher than this?


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I think half the proceeds should go to charity, and the other half should be kept by the person who decides to be in charge. (Because it's a LOT of work to pull something like this off. And no one is jumping up and down to do it. Some financial gain would be incentive.)


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Victorine said:


> I think half the proceeds should go to charity, and the other half should be kept by the person who decides to be in charge. (Because it's a LOT of work to pull something like this off. And no one is jumping up and down to do it. Some financial gain would be incentive.)


I second this.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

If you believe that the organizer mandates compensation above and beyond what the rest of us get, then I would suggest they are treated like a contracted freelancer and be paid a flat rate by the rest of us. Whatever you think is "fair" based on the effort put in; everyone chips in $5.

That's what... $1000? Comparable to what you'd pay an editor or cover designer.

That way their effort is rewarded, but isn't tied to the project's financial success or failure, and we're not taking money away from charity to do it.

If you don't think that their efforts are worth $5 or $10 from your wallet, of course, then there's no need to compensate them at all. So make it voluntary. Set up a paypal.

As to who I think it should be: Whomever doesn't demand half of a charity fund's profits for their involvement. Bonus if they don't want to be compensated at all.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Dan C. Rinnert said:


> Tougher than this?


That cat-herding video is hilarious. Love the ball of twine, the lint-roller, the various scrapes and scratches. Too funny! (not to mention true. 
<----------And I know whereof I speak; I have inflicted such damage, and enjoyed such pleasures.


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## Rich Walls (Feb 4, 2012)

In like flint.


Also, for a recommendation. You have 200+ authors. Which to me sounds a heck of a lot like 365 that can be rounded up.

Post a story a day, let people follow along all year long, giving each author a moment in the sun. Publish the anthology end of year rather than dumping it early. This will also tee you up really well for a following if you want a Year Two.

I can help help post on weekdays since I'm already doing this for another project. But yes, self proof-reading needs to be done thoroughly. I would also limit that word count to a hard 500 words. In my experience, 200 words is a beautiful average length.

Regarding theme -- one word theme. Love. Joy. Revenge. Wool, wait what....


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Rich Walls said:


> Regarding theme -- one word theme. Love. Joy. Revenge. Wool, wait what....


Actually, a collection of Wool flash fiction is not a bad idea.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I am not at all liking the talk of 500 words... lets stick with 1,000 which is already way shorter than I like to read, never mind write!


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

VydorScope said:


> I am not at all liking the talk of 500 words... lets stick with 1,000 which is already way shorter than I like to read, never mind write!


I agree. I've written 1000-word stories for my writer's group, and it was a struggle to get down to that limit. 500 would prevent me from even trying.


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## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

C.C. Kelly said:


> Flash fiction doesn't rule the NYT's bestsellers list for a reason. I think we are pushing it at 1k words as it is - the 'book' can be as long as we want, (no pages, right?). And I still think we should write new stories that are exclusive to the anthology - it's for Charity after all, and no one would lose any IP rights.


Agree.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

And here I was all ready to donate the handmade Synthetic Scarf to wrap it up in.  
I will be in line to buy a copy too.


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

*deleted*


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

Time for a cup of coffee, the rest is not important.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

At ease, Michael.  It's been just over a day since the idea was suggested.  People are thinking about it and offering suggestions.  We have time.

I don't think any of us want one person to pay for something we can all pitch in together and do ourselves.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

It's also a holiday, and many people are celebrating.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

LynnBlackmar said:


> It's also a holiday, and many people are celebrating.


Yes that's true, new year. I just wanted to make sure people were still awake, dropped my pencil on the floor and handed the mic back over to Swolf. 

Sometimes I forget things like people actually have family and lives they attend to. First time in my life I lost the calluses on my hands and grew them on my butt. It's rough being a full time writer who does not sell anything.


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Here are my thoughts...

1) Sub-sections by genre - good idea, hopefully with a coordinator / cat-herder for each section. This also goes for beta reading. There was a suggestion earlier that people beta read the work of the three writers above them in the queue, and I think that would only work within-genre. I'm not sure the average hard SF or thriller writer would make a good beta reader for the average rom-com piece, and vice-versa. Proofreading? Not all of us are great proofreaders, either. (e.g. me. I'm dyslexic.)

2) Twist - I can do that, but mostly 'cuz I already have one. Other themes? It depends. I have a love story/ghost story flash piece that takes place in an airport. If that fits, I'll probably send it in. If not, I might opt out.

3) Writing new work because "no one would lose any IP rights" - gotta disagree with that. If new work goes into the antho, that burns first rights, which are the most valuable. The author would retain non-exclusive digital rights (presumably, haven't seen guidelines) and reprint rights (again, presumably), but yes, they would be donating the story's first rights. Note that I'm not disagreeing with _asking_ for new work, or with _submitting_ new work - only with the assertion that the author gives up no rights that way.

I'm snowed under with deadlines for the next few weeks, so I can't follow this thread too closely. I'm in, tentatively speaking, pending the finalization of things like length, theme, reprints, etc.


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## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

C.C. Kelly said:


> Flash fiction doesn't rule the NYT's bestsellers list for a reason. I think we are pushing it at 1k words as it is - the 'book' can be as long as we want, (no pages, right?). And I still think we should write new stories that are exclusive to the anthology - it's for Charity after all, and no one would lose any IP rights.


I like the cafe stories idea. It could have a great cover like 'An Order of Coffee and Tears' by our very own Kboards. I don't necessarily think we're looking for NYT quality here, it's just something fun. We'll probably end up on USAT/NYT just for sheer value of having 500 authors or so. Anyway, there's is the delivery cost from Amazon to be considered. Whoever uploads this needs to be aware of what Amazon will charge and the fact that we'll have to make the anthology above a certain price point because Amazon limits the data beyond a certain amount at different price points.

(If all this has been said before forgive me - I didn't read the 10 pages)


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

If we're talking about possibly rejecting some stories, then we either need an editor to take it on the chin, or a committee to cull the submissions. It would have to be on a volunteer basis, unless folks are willing/able to donate some sort of fee. Some of us are broke, so what does that do to us and our participation? Do we get left out?

As for getting the editing gig, I'd do it, but I don't know if my name would be of any benefit. It's not like I've got any sales mojo behind me.

I'd like to see some sort of unifying idea behind the anthology, just not sure how limited it should be. "Stories from the Flash Cafe"? Cafe Flash?

Keep the ideas coming, I'm enjoying watching the planning process!


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

emilycantore said:


> I like the idea.
> 
> However, I've seen this idea come up in other writing forums and inevitably it crashed and burned for any of a few reasons. First and foremost being a massive difference in quality.
> 
> ...


 I like the Redditch idea. It could also drum up publicity in advance.


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## JamieCampbell (May 29, 2013)

My fingers are already itching to start. This is going to be... wait for it... epic


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

emilycantore said:


> I like the idea.
> 
> However, I've seen this idea come up in other writing forums and inevitably it crashed and burned for any of a few reasons. First and foremost being a massive difference in quality.
> 
> ...


I'm not a fan of a panel judging content and excluding any of our authors. The readers can be the ultimate judges of what stories they like.

I write erotica too, and I don't think it belongs in something like this. Just my opinion, but lots of readers are going to be upset if they find it in there.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

swolf said:


> I'm not a fan of a panel judging content and excluding any of our authors. The readers can be the ultimate judges of what stories they like.
> 
> I write erotica too, and I don't think it belongs in something like this. Just my opinion, but lots of readers are going to be upset if they find it in there.


I agree completely!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

swolf said:


> I'm not a fan of a panel judging content and excluding any of our authors. The readers can be the ultimate judges of what stories they like.
> 
> I write erotica too, and I don't think it belongs in something like this. Just my opinion, but lots of readers are going to be upset if they find it in there.


Agreed. I think with a smaller antho you can use a rejection/acceptance process, but this is a kind of "kitchen sink" antho -- it's intentionally a _group_ project. It's also supposed to be representative of indie publishing, not pseudo-traditional publishing.

At the same time I also agree that erotica probably needs it's own antho -- or perhaps erotica and other ultra intense kinds of fiction. (Some horror these days really is not for all audiences.) I hate to exclude anything (and I would go along if people wanted to include everything) but that fact is, we are all capable of writing all different kinds of things. And I think it's reasonable to leave out political/religious hot buttons too.

We should respect the kind of mixed company we are in.

Camille


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I write YA, so even though I probably wouldn't be writing a YA story for this anthology, if the anthology includes erotica I'm not sure I'd be able to promote it to my readers.

I'm not really feeling the cafe theme, but if that's what most people want to do I'll see if I can come up with something.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I'm agreeing with whomever said not to theme it around writing, writers, cafes, KBoards, or anything else super meta self-referential. We're not marketing to ourselves.

With this many authors involved the project is only going to appeal to people who like self-published work for its own sake. Work the indie angle in the marketing instead of any kind of theme.


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## Guest (Jan 1, 2014)

Mcoorlim said:


> I'm agreeing with whomever said not to theme it around writing, writers, cafes, KBoards, or anything else super meta self-referential. We're not marketing to ourselves.
> 
> With this many authors involved the project is only going to appeal to people who like self-published work for its own sake. Work the indie angle in the marketing instead of any kind of theme.


Absolutely agree. Readers will burn out after 5 - 10 stories about a specific 'thing', let alone make it through a hundred. Better to have as much variety as possible.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Victorine said:


> I still like the theme of "twist at the end."
> 
> Make the reader think one thing for the first 900 words, then blow their mind in the last 100.
> 
> Easily the best marketable theme, and could go with any genre. (But harder to write than just sticking a cup of coffee or a color in somewhere.)


This is technically how Isaac Asimov described the genre of flash fiction as I mentioned much earlier in the thread. The stories are supposed to have a twist or punch line revealed in the last sentence, or even down to the last word.


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

The Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler Vol. 1


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## BokkenRecord (Nov 17, 2013)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Absolutely agree. Readers will burn out after 5 - 10 stories about a specific 'thing', let alone make it through a hundred. Better to have as much variety as possible.


This. As a reader part of the value in an anthology like this is as a taster for hundreds of writers. And if some of the writing is sub-par what does it matter? I've read many pro publications with stories which were  

FWIW I'd vote to keep it broadly YA suitable, but otherwise no constraints. There's plenty of world class talent here, why not see what people can do?


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Help! This thread has mushroomed beyond all readability since I last checked in. Given the shortish deadline and in the interests of keeping things manageable, I won't submit a story, although I'm still happy to do a bit of editing (say, 5 stories? Maybe more if I have time).

ETA: I edited and proof-read the story in my signature myself, in case anyone wants to know if I'm any good.


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

swolf said:


> I'm not a fan of a panel judging content and excluding any of our authors. The readers can be the ultimate judges of what stories they like.
> 
> I write erotica too, and I don't think it belongs in something like this. Just my opinion, but lots of readers are going to be upset if they find it in there.


I agree with both of these. I imagine Hugh didn't have a traditional style anthology with a reject/accept editor in mind for this. More the indie version, where the readers decide which stories they like.

Don't think there should be any erotica unless in a separate title.



ShaneJeffery said:


> Absolutely agree. Readers will burn out after 5 - 10 stories about a specific 'thing', let alone make it through a hundred. Better to have as much variety as possible.


Disagree. Having a common theme/object won't or shouldn't reduce variety at all, it will just be something to tie the stories together. Also, readers don't especially like having no idea what to expect.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

swolf said:


> I'm not a fan of a panel judging content and excluding any of our authors. The readers can be the ultimate judges of what stories they like.


Yep. No gatekeepers, please.



swolf said:


> I write erotica too, and I don't think it belongs in something like this. Just my opinion, but lots of readers are going to be upset if they find it in there.


SRS (Shocked Reader Syndrome) can easily be prevented by introducing each story on a separate page. I'd like to know not only the heat factor but also the genre, more or less, of the story. I have no prblem with explicit sex, but that doesn't mean there aren't some things I'd rather not read.

While we're at it: why not give the reader a very short idea who the writer is with a link to his/her Amazon Author page?

All this should be kept very concise.

As for the theme: I vote for "Gatekeepers."


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

Andrew Ashling said:


> While we're at it: why not give the reader a very short idea who the writer is with a link to his/her Amazon Author page?


Everyone gets a 50 word bio, possibly including links to whatever page they want.

Tentative Title: Fresh Faces: Indie Author Flash Fiction.

It's a variety pack of short fiction. We're going to have to market to people who like short/flash fiction (a niche crowd), and those who like independent/self-pub. A small niche's niche.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Allow anyone who wants to contribute. Edit for spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., otherwise, no quality controls. We'll end up with a mix, but that's ok.

There's a good argument for excluding erotica, but where does the next line get drawn. Maybe place erotica last with a LARGE PRINT FULL PAGE warning that clicking to the next page takes the reader into erotica.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

zjoe said:


> The Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler Vol. 1


I love this title!


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Sapphire said:


> Allow anyone who wants to contribute. Edit for spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., otherwise, no quality controls. We'll end up with a mix, but that's ok.
> 
> There's a good argument for excluding erotica, but where does the next line get drawn. Maybe place erotica last with a LARGE PRINT FULL PAGE warning that clicking to the next page takes the reader into erotica.


Love every bit of this as well.


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## Tony Bertauski (May 18, 2012)

The Aristocrats movie was the same joke told by over 100 comedians. I think this idea has already been thrown around for the anthology and I like it. Since everyone comes from different genres, each story would unique. The first line would be the same for every author, something that would lend itself to horror, sci-fi, erotica, romance, etc. Something like...

"The box arrived on a Tuesday..."


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi all
If I may....... this is a stupendous idea (I should know, I'm helping market another anthology down the street)

But gee this project *needs someone with a bit of time on their hands to step up *and say "Hey guys here is my email and here is the theme and what the page count is and I think we should do a series of 50 stories ( which should come out to a roughly 150 page book) and when we get enough books out there we can always chunk them into trilogy bundles and here's the deadline. >>>>>>GO!"

I mean the energy so far ( and the heartwarming spirit of it all) just in the past few days - while amazing- has so far ( in my opinion) been a waste because the project itself has no cohesion yet. A number of people seem to be dancing around the issue.

I mean, Stella Wilkinson thought up her books, asked for volunteers and dug in. Now, I really don't know her more than just from the boards and some emails but she has a family and a day job and taking on three books for a charity ( since September ) I'm sure eats up a huge chunk of time.

I myself have been spending a great deal of time tweeting our books as well as being on 
face book. 
MY marriage is kind of shaky these days because I spend so much time not only promoting the anthologies but also doing my own books. Worse....I'm BEHIND on a number of personal projects because I'm focusing on the anthologies but I want them to succeed and since I suspect it would be tough for a great deal of the rest of the writers to volunteer--- and I know that without marketing the books don't have a prayer----I stepped in and told Stella I would market the books.

So I also wanted to jump in and remind everyone that there is a charity out there willing to accept the money that will come from an e-book we'll think up and donate our stories to.

*What say we get our act together a little bit and prove to the traditional naysayers that we ARE a force of nature here and we CAN do a great deal of good with the words and ideas that spring from our time and keyboards.*

Its 2014 folks.
Lets get out there and help some needy people.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

I like that "Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler" title as well.

My experience has been that the inclusion of erotica would cause some readers to react negatively, and possibly leave poor reviews to warn others away. The charity might even feel uncomfortable if the material is too racy; I would go as far as to suggest that the New Adult writers avoid getting too explicit for this type of anthology. I hate to disenfranchise the erotica authors but I think it's a valid concern.

Perhaps there could be a separate edition, purchased separately, for an erotica flash anthology. (That might sell even better than the other anthology!)


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Love "Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler" for a title.  I vote for either the same opening sentence for all or the same ending sentence for all, and a twist at the end.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler

And if they become- as I suggest- a whole series of books ( like maybe over time we'll have nine 150 page books) we can always bundle three at a time - in sequential order- and call them Ultimate Indie Flash Bundles ( Volume One, Two, and Three)

Unless this is strictly an ebook and then the sky is the limit on number of stories
I suggest a 8.99 price since it'll be way over the size of a normal 400 page novel and also pricing it below the standard 9.99 makes it a bit more attractive ( and the charity still gets at least 7.80 of that with each sale.)

And if we DO get a full out erotica ebook finished we can have fun with the title there as well as the marketing..... like the old ads where an old man is on the street corner with his raincoat on "Pssst, hey buddy, wanna see some stories?"


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

> Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler Vol. 1


Not sure about Sampler--kinda suggests that they aren't complete stories, but samples of previous work.

Also, instead of Vol 1, I suggest using the theme. So if we go for the twist endings, could be:
Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler With a Twist


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

Tbert204 said:


> The Aristocrats movie was the same joke told by over 100 comedians. I think this idea has already been thrown around for the anthology and I like it. Since everyone comes from different genres, each story would unique. The first line would be the same for every author, something that would lend itself to horror, sci-fi, erotica, romance, etc. Something like...
> 
> "The box arrived on a Tuesday..."


Love this idea.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

I would think that not all the stories need a twist at the end since it is difficult to think up a full story in 3 pages. (1,000 words) Flash fiction in and of itself is very unique format and not everyone can write to it, let alone make sure there is a twist ending. SOME can to be sure. But not everyone. We don't really want to leave a number of the ones willing to submit out of the loop by dictating what kind of ending it should have.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Caddy said:


> Love "Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler" for a title. I vote for either the same opening sentence for all or the same ending sentence for all, and a twist at the end.


The same ending sentence? A lot of people writing toward the same ending sentence could get incredibly boring.


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## Oscar Arias (Dec 17, 2013)

Tbert204 said:


> The Aristocrats movie was the same joke told by over 100 comedians. I think this idea has already been thrown around for the anthology and I like it. Since everyone comes from different genres, each story would unique. The first line would be the same for every author, something that would lend itself to horror, sci-fi, erotica, romance, etc. Something like...
> 
> "The box arrived on a Tuesday..."


I like this!

There definitely has to be SOME sort of cohesiveness to all the stories, or it will just be 200 some odd random stories..

I mean it could be that, but the way suggested about the first line being the same is awesome!

Oscar


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Speaking as a reader:

I would never buy "just a bunch of short stories by random authors." An anthology really needs a theme.

I also would avoid "Sampler" in the title. To me, that says samples of larger works.


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## karencantwell (Jun 17, 2010)

If you're still looking for authors, I'm in - I love writing flash fiction!

I agree with Lynn on theme. And since the proceeds go to charity, maybe charity could be part of the theme?

The beauty of flash fiction is that it needs little to no story editing. Really just line editing, so if each participating author was required to line edit and proof one other story, that should handle it.

I'm willing to take on some part of organization if needed.

Karen


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## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

I love your covers, Karen.


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## karencantwell (Jun 17, 2010)

Thank you, Elle!!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Wow, this thread keeps moving really fast! I can't keep up!

Just to say, I'm still interested in donating a story. Flash fiction sounds fab. I like the idea of a flexible theme (not one about writers, writing or cafes) and grouping boxsets by genre. 

I totally understand Hugh not wanting to be the star, but the reality is that we'll need a couple of well-known names to get it off the ground. I'm not sure who has said they would like to take part, but we have lots of awesome people posting in the Cafe. If one or two would be willing to donate a story per box set it would be nice to do what Swolf mentioned a few pages back: featuring work by.... (insert big name) and spread them out through the box sets. 

I'd be willing to help with cover art. I've got an account with deposit photos so can grab a few stock photos if needed. But I think I will be too busy with my own stuff to be an organiser.


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## SBJones (Jun 13, 2011)

I think someone is going to have to step up and simply take charge.  Lay out the rules, the deadlines and get everything lined up or there will be too much chaos and the project will fall short of what it could really be.

If there are too many then break it down.  Have more than one anthology.  A romance one.  Sci-fi/Fantasy.  Horror/Thriller, Erotica or whatever related combo of that gets a relative same number of stories.  This lets everyone participate if they want, it lets customers choose a general theme they are interested in and lets us create a combined set that has them all for those customers who place priority on price.

It's nice to have a general theme, but at the same time we should want to be promoting ourselves and the indie community.  Putting out a short flash anthology that showcases us as authors.  If it works out well, we can do it again next year.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Just something to point out:

Super-big anthologies have a very different hook than those highly selective little themed anthologies.  We'll shoot ourselves in the foot if we try to market it as something it's not.

The audience which will buy a 150 story flash anthology is looking for variety and quantity, and expect a huge variation in quality.  They tend to browse them over time, and keep them around.  And no, they don't expect to read every story, and they don't read from beginning to end. They tend to pick stories by title and length.  Those kinds of anthos tend to be a hodge-podge of clunking forgotten public domain stories and new and whatever the editor could get rights to.

Also, people who buy these tend to be people who are curious, and actually ARE looking for a sampler of sorts.

So the Ultimate Indie Sampler really would be a hook title and binding theme for this sort of anthology.

However I agree with those who think "Sampler" will imply it's just samples from larger works.  The audience might not mind, but we should actually sell it on what it is.

What about something like this:

The Ultimate Indie Collection

200 Flashes: A Glimpse into the New Wave of Independent Publishing

The Indie Tsunami: 150 Flash Stories from the Next Wave of Publishing

Camille


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

SBJones said:


> I think someone is going to have to step up and simply take charge. Lay out the rules, the deadlines and get everything lined up or there will be too much chaos and the project will fall short of what it could really be.
> 
> If there are too many then break it down. Have more than one anthology. A romance one. Sci-fi/Fantasy. Horror/Thriller, Erotica or whatever related combo of that gets a relative same number of stories. This lets everyone participate if they want, it lets customers choose a general theme they are interested in and lets us create a combined set that has them all for those customers who place priority on price.
> 
> It's nice to have a general theme, but at the same time we should want to be promoting ourselves and the indie community. Putting out a short flash anthology that showcases us as authors. If it works out well, we can do it again next year.


Yeah, someone grab the wheel!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Hugh: You proposed it. Do you want it or not?

Remember, you don't have to do all the work.  You don't even have to decide.  You just have to declare how the decisions are made.  Be the arbiter, as it were.

Camille


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Titles....??

No Flash In The Pan
200 flash fiction stories from the e-writers of e-publishing

E Fiction in a Flash

Electric E Writing

Not From Paper ( though this might be problematic if it goes to paperback)

Flash Off The Grid
20 flash fiction stories from e-writers
The newest work from the next generation of writers


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Another title while I'm here thinking

STUFFED!

The largest e-collection of flash fiction

Now this is if this is gonna be strictly ebook format because in theory we could go hundreds of pages.

Tricky part is- truthfully- nobody is gonna read all of it. We're just promoting "a" book on kindle where the money will benefit a charity.
So we need to price it pretty cheap so it raises a huge amount ( because the huge content won't really matter to most-- its the charity)

Maybe 4.99 for a huge ultimate collection


And then the following year we do it again so its an annual event.

STUFFED II
The return of the largest ever e-book flash fiction collection on the planet

or something to that effect
So the charity gets money and each reader who buys the book is getting far, far more than they would ever expect for the money ( and far more than they could ever read in one sitting)

Plus if a decent portion of writers were to help market it online it would add to the bottom line

anyway just throwing more gasoline on the fire until someone picks up the fireman's outfit and wades in there and picks this up


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## Jarrett Rush (Jun 19, 2010)

I'm in if it's not too late. Think this could be a great thing if it comes together.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

.....what if we all had to use some sort of flash in our flash fiction...a flash of lightning, the flash of a camera, a flash of inspiration, flash gordon......

100 Flashes
Short Works from the Indie Movement

If no one is willing/able to oversee this, what if all participants kicked in $5 to pay the person in charge, and all sales proceeds still go to a charity?


And now, back to pretending I'm going to once and for all organize my house, spurred on by the inspiration of a fresh start on this first day of the new year.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

At first we were giving ourselves until the end of February to iron out all these details, but I see that now Hugh has edited the OP to say the stories are due then. 

Hugh, you are effectively in charge of this project, being that you control the OP of the thread and we are deferring to your decisions on things. *I suggest that you give us a limited amount of time to make suggestions in this thread and tell us when the suggestion deadline is (Jan 10?). I then suggest that you make the tough decisions that need to be made so that we can all get started on writing our stories. *The tough decisions are currently laid out in your OP, with your current thoughts on them:

When's the deadline? February 28th?.
Who do we send the stories to? We'll create a thread (Yeah, the stories will be public. Think: Perma-Free.
Which charity will proceeds go to? We'll vote. Could be quite a few, divvied up.
Can we have a common theme? If so, it needs to be very broad. The good thing about a theme, is that we could do more of these down the road.
What rights would we be donating? None. You can use your story after 60 days of exclusivity.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? I vote brand new. But I'm cool with reprints.
Target Audience Age Range? I would vote for all-inclusive, but that would mean putting the racy stuff at the end, with warnings.
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) I would vote for links to page of choice, with a very short author bio (50 words).
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each?
Whose account will it publish under? I suggest we set up a separate KDP account for the works (Amazon has informed me that this is okay to do). We could even share the login info across the group, so everyone has access to the sales data. Authors are listed alphabetically, for fairness. I'll be writing under the name Aaron Abner, which has been a lifelong dream.
Can unpublished authors contribute? [Cherise hopes yes.]
Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted? [Cherise hopes all stories are accepted.]

Hugh, *I further strongly suggest that you hire someone to organize this into a book* and let us submit our stories to that person or organization for editing, compiling, proofreading, formatting, and publishing into a finished product. It will be a better book if done this way. Perhaps Red Adept Publishing is most suited for this, if they wish to take on the project.

-------------------------------------------
My less meta suggestions:

Most readers don't know what flash fiction is. I'm in the camp that thinks variety should be the spice and it should be one huge anthology where the TOC links to genre but all the stories are vastly different (but limited to 1,000 words each). How about calling it:

400 of the Shortest Short Stories by Independent Publishers of 2014

About Erotica...

Like other authors have said up thread, I also feel like I couldn't market to my readers any anthology which included erotica, and might even have to withdraw from contributing to such a volume. Erotica writers could write something else for this anthology and also create their own erotica anthology, though, right?


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Hugh, you are effectively in charge of this project, being that you control the OP of the thread and we are deferring to your decisions on things. *I suggest that you give us a limited amount of time to make suggestions in this thread and tell us when the suggestion deadline is (Jan 10?). I then suggest that you make the tough decisions that need to be made so that we can all get started on writing our stories. *The tough decisions are currently laid out in your OP, with your current thoughts on them:
> About Erotica...
> 
> (... snip ...)
> ...


I agree completely with this.


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## karencantwell (Jun 17, 2010)

I agree with Camille that variety is a good thing with Flash Fiction. 1000 words is a max - some flash can be as short as 500 words or even shorter.

I also love Camille's title ideas.

My readers will not be happy about erotica. For that reason, I wouldn't participate if erotica was included.

Karen


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I love the idea of no theme also. If a reader doesn't like one story, they page forward and get something totally different. Sectioning it within genre just makes sense.

And I don't like the idea of volumes. Make it one big book, with as many KB authors as we can get. Looks like we are in the range of 200-300 interested authors. We'll have some drop out. That's the nature of the beast. I think we can manage to put it together in one book.

I also agree with leaving erotica out. Erotica authors are free to write some romantic flash fiction to be included, right? If they want?

Okay, who wants to step up and take charge? This headless chicken needs some direction.


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

Hugh Howey said:


> I love this title!


I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this.

Thanks Hugh, that means a lot coming from you 

Btw, I just finished I Zombie a few days ago. Excellent job as always.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I write sweet romance, but I'm worried about the erotica authors feeling pushed out here.

If you're going to leave out erotica, then it should be part of a general age certificate rule.  You can't say that you're not including erotica and then have graphic sex in other genres, or prolific swearing, or gratuitous violence, or horror that would take a film over that age certificate.

I'm fine being in an anthology with erotica.  But if you leave it out, please do it fairly and apply the same types of rules to all the genres.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Victorine said:


> Okay, who wants to step up and take charge? This headless chicken needs some direction.


Haha, this is what happens when you ask for leadership volunteers in a field packed with introverts. 

I have the time and would be more than willing, but am so far from qualified that it isn't even funny. I vote for Mimi to boss it up. She'd make a smashing organizer. And also, she's got that crazy photogenic thing going on. If her gorgeous mug doesn't move copies, nothing will.


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

I will be more than happy to be included in an anthology with any of the authors here, whether erotica or any other genre. I have respect and admiration for everyone here. This is just a suggestion, but maybe we could have an "After Dark" edition. Just a thought really.

My opinion is to keep us all under one title, but separated by genres.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

If we're separated by genres thats okay but when the book gets formatted the PIC (person in charge) needs to be sure it gets an active contents list so a reader, at any time during their read, can click ahead several stories until hey reach a new genre section.

But then again suppose there's 34 horror stories and the reader - who already read their fill of the romance section- wants to skip ahead to the humor section.

NOw they could do a few clicks and find themselves back in the contents and get to humor THAT way but then again....does every reader know about that trick?
Also-- SHOULD a reader need to go through that trouble?
If we have a different genre with every click with a brief story descript before each story someone could easily decide on reading any number of stories with no more than 3 clicks to get there.

While the genre sep is a good idea it may not be practical for this book. ( my 2 cents)

See, with the anthologies Stella and I are doing its click-horror-click-humor-click-drama-clcik horror again- click-vampires.......
while we haven't sold a lot of books as yet the ones we have sold seem to be doing well out there unless nobody who bought one has read it yet. I know I read mine.


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Victorine said:


> Okay, who wants to step up and take charge? This headless chicken needs some direction.


Show of hands, who thinks Julie should volunteer?


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I can take charge, no problem, but the deadline is stopping me. I'm thoroughly booked until end of April. By booked, I mean, two books, two anthologies, my roofing biz taxes and a short story. Plus the flash fiction pieces . And then I'm running panels for Romantic Times Convention in May too, but should be able to start on the project.

But if y'all don't mind a later deadline and a later pub date, I can do most of everything:

1) Get account started
2) Get Federal ID #
3) Find out about laws regarding charitable contributions
4) Organize different deadlines to different email addresses for different genres
5) Find someone in charge to be responsible for sending out each entry to different readers for copy-editing
6) Requires one format from everyone after fixes to be sent back
7) Put together into manuscript
8.) Upload
9) Reading up on tax law on how to report income given to charity (non-profit organization, whatever)

Some people have to be charge of
1) Cover
2) Talking/communication with charities
3) media and promotions
4) Set up of thread here or yahoogroup for BUSINESS TALK among all participants. Not themes or characters or whatnot, but price, outgoing expenses if there are any, any people we need to contact for promo, etc.
5) Someone in charge of each group of stories and designating the pages to different authors for line-editing, with cutoff date.

The above "some people" will have to get back to ME to update me. I have a roofing business to run too so might skip a number of posts or updates by mistake.

The success of this enterprise will rest on how #9 of Section 1. If I find out a LOT of paperwork is entailed, then I'll need someone else to take over that part. The people running the other anthology-for-charity might be able to advise me on this since they have done this successfully, or maybe one of them can volunteer to be the Federal ID buyer and do the paperwork.

Now, if you all want it sooner, I can't do it but whoever who wants to now has a list of things above with which to start!

Good luck!


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

Gennita Low said:


> I can take charge, no problem, but the deadline is stopping me. I'm thoroughly booked until end of April. By booked, I mean, two books, two anthologies, my roofing biz taxes and a short story. Plus the flash fiction pieces . And then I'm running panels for Romantic Times Convention in May too, but should be able to start on the project.
> 
> But if y'all don't mind a later deadline and a later pub date, I can do most of everything:
> 
> ...


  Changing my vote to Gennita.


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## lewaters (Jun 25, 2011)

I vote for later deadline and Gennita too! As far as incentive goes couldn't she possibly take the contributions to charity as a tax right off? Might as well have someone get the benefit of it and why not the leader of this project?


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

Yay for Gennita! 

As for themes, etc... In my mind, flash fiction is already a theme. Anything beyond that seems to over-complicate things. IMO, 1k word stories is enough for reader expectations. 

Someone mentioned setting an overall rating, and I think that's needed. Say, let's shoot for PG or PG-13 to work for all readers, then every genre can be included as long as the story aligns to the rating. 

This will be a lot of work, a lot of herding, and a lot of fun.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Unless someone volunteers to do it sooner, I vote for pushing back the deadline and having Gennita take the helm.

Of course, other folks could help her hit the ground running by doing some preliminary work on various of those tasks. 

I would be willing to deal with the cover - either create it, or coordinate the process or be the art director -- however, I have a quirky, not-particularly-commercial sensibility. (Still, my sensibility might be fine for something so very cross-genre.)

I'm going to suggest that, if we're pushing off the deadlines so Gennita can coordinate the book, that those of us interested in dealing with the cover can play with ideas and concepts, and then after the TOC starts taking shape, we knuckle down and decide whether we need an art director, or just a file wrangler, or a whole committee.

Camille


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

What VydorScope said, and also yes to later deadline. Also, don't care what the theme is.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm very happy to wait if Gennita is happy to take charge of it.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks to Gennita for offering to do this.


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## Romantique (Dec 31, 2013)

I'm definitely in for this, can't wait.


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## sarracannon (Apr 19, 2011)

Ooh, just saw this thread. I love it! Great idea! I'm in .


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## John Hartness (Aug 3, 2009)

I'll be happy to contribute a story, whether it's in my Bubba universe, my Black Knight universe, or something altogether different. I love the idea of a later deadline, since I'm currently editing an anthology and working on a pair of novels. 

But I'm in. I probably best categorize in the horror/humor or urban fantasy/humor slots.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I may not be understanding this because I rarely read short fiction - but do readers really buy anthologies that are a mishmash of all genres and topics? If I'm buying an anthology, I want to know what I'm getting, so I would be very reluctant to buy one that isn't limited to a particular genre or theme. Do fans of flash fiction tend to operate differently in this regard?


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

Thank you Gennita for volunteering. I think that you will do a great job. Considering the huge number of authors, I think the later deadline is completely appropriate. I still want to help in any way that I'm qualified to.


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

Thanks, Gennita. You're a hero for volunteering!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

If yall want an overly-critical critic to proofread, I can do that.


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

I think the title for this should be _Flashers_. Or _Consider Yourself Flashed_. Something playful and intriguing enough to be doubletake-worthy.


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## S.K. Falls (Jun 17, 2013)

I'm down for a later release date. Thank you, Gennita!

Zoe, I'm not sure about the "typical flash fiction reader," but as someone who loves flash fiction, what appeals to me is the big collection/varied authors aspect rather than the genre or type of story. I read pretty much any flash fiction and don't restrict that to genre.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

Gennita and the later date make perfect sense.


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## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

Yay Gennita!
I'm still in favor of a unifying idea - the same first line or same title for all.  Not only would it give everyone a jumping off point, but it will be fun for the reader to see what different writers in different genres can do with the same line.  It can be something simple and universal - 
The cat yawned.
The music was playing way too loud.
His fingers hurt.

Just a thought.


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## PeggyI (Jan 9, 2011)

Gennita - I'm also tied up until the end of this next semester, but am willing to offer a hand wherever you can use one. Divvy up the tasks and assign me a portion.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Let's wait till the others come back from New Year's . I'm getting PMs with suggestions and applications and I'm not yet in charge or anything, folks!

I'm thinking some writers would want it sooner (momentum, etc.) and will just pick at my list of things needed done and take charge. I know many who are away may have experience with group management, more so than me .

But I wrote my post to let you guys know what need to be done besides all the more interesting stuff like themes and titles. Let's say I do get nominated in a few days (LMAO, are you sure? Hee). Then everyone can start by:

1) check your names against swolf's list. Is it there? If not, tell him. Swolf is in charge of who is in and who is out. Let him know what genre you're intending to write the piece in.

2) tell me how many genres there are for this volume

3) When this is decided, we can start from there.

4) Forget this discussion with length and titles. You can decide after you pick a THEME (or starting line). Or do you want me to do that too, LOL?

5) Once we have a definite tentative number of participants (I realize some will bow out or more will join), we can then have an idea how big this book/books will be. Swolf is the dude to check your name, okay? I can't look at three things--polls and here and docs...it's confusing!

6) Eat black-eyed peas, be merry, and ummm...I'd ask for a deadline for people wanting to participate in this volume soon too.

And for fun, I'm tossing in my title: Hugh Howie & Friends: Flash Fiction 2014

And uh, don't PM me with suggestions yet!!! Someone else who can do everything quickly might be Head Chicken (instead of headless chicken, as someone described our thread!).


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> Let's wait till the others come back from New Year's . I'm getting PMs with suggestions and applications and I'm not yet in charge or anything, folks!
> 
> I'm thinking some writers would want it sooner (momentum, etc.) and will just pick at my list of things needed done and take charge. I know many who are away may have experience with group management, more so than me .
> 
> ...


I'd rather not pick a genre until we have a theme (unless I can just call it "spec fic"). Will we be able to change our genre later?


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Nope. You won Gennita! Run with it now!  

Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita!


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Zoe,
I'm sure you can change your genre later. It was just a suggestion as a way to streamline swolf's work--he can see immediately how many genres there are for the anthology. This will help with getting the copy-editors into the right groups, that's all.

As for those who intend to write erotica, swolf would know too and then there will be the problem of those dropping out because of that.

For myself, PG-13 is the best way to go for charity. Remember, the charities are also going to be telling people on their Twitter feeds or whatever about this anthology, people who might not necessarily be readers familiar with GENRES. They're just buying it for the cause.

But I leave this decision to whoever you decide will be in charge .


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

VydorScope said:


> Nope. You won Gennita! Run with it now!
> 
> Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita!


You are totally cracking me up.  We'll see. I know from experience that assuming one's in charge when everyone's away does not make people happy!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

zjoe said:


> The Ultimate Indie Flash Sampler Vol. 1


Love this. Only I would call it a collection.

This is what I have in my head:










Just a quicky - don't feel obligated to use it or anything.


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

Victorine said:


> Love this. Only I would call it a collection.
> 
> This is what I have in my head:
> 
> ...


Very nice

I think that calling it a collection looks better to.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Victorine said:


> Love this. Only I would call it a collection.
> 
> This is what I have in my head:
> 
> ...


Oh, this is great. I would have to stop and read the description.


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## micki (Oct 8, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Love this. Only I would call it a collection.
> 
> This is what I have in my head:
> 
> ...


This definitely was my morning chuckle. Just loved it!!!


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Progress!


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## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Can't wait! Very excited about contributing a story.


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## O (Jul 15, 2013)

Just to add another huge Thanks! to Gennita, and to volunteer to help out however I can.

Another point (not sure if someone's already thought of this, I'm getting lost on this thread now) – if the stories are submitted on a thread and made public as the first post by Hugh says, would Amazon consider them 'freely available' and *really* set the book to perma-free (meaning the charity gets no money) or might even block publication entirely? 

Would it be better to set up a free, password-protected wordpress.com blog for people to submit stories and proofread them on, or maybe ask Harvey if the submission thread on KB could be password-protected so it's not publically accessible?


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

I personally don't think we should post them here, unless it's password protected. We also need to think about the censors. With a pg or pg-13 rating, there won't be any 'f' bombs flying around, but there will be some other, more pleasant words.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Ormolu said:


> Another point (not sure if someone's already thought of this, I'm getting lost on this thread now) - if the stories are submitted on a thread and made public as the first post by Hugh says, would Amazon consider them 'freely available' and *really* set the book to perma-free (meaning the charity gets no money) or might even block publication entirely?


No, Amazon does not match the price of blog posted stories or stories that are available on Project Gutenberg. They have to actually be for SALE at a retailer for free. However, if stories are posted in such places they cannot be enrolled in Prime.

Camille


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## O (Jul 15, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> No, Amazon does not match the price of blog posted stories or stories that are available on Project Gutenberg. They have to actually be for SALE at a retailer for free. However, if stories are posted in such places they cannot be enrolled in Prime.
> 
> Camille


Cheers Camille! I don't understand why they'd make a distinction betwwen 'free on a blog' and 'free at, say, Smashwords', but it's good to know.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Wouldn't having them posted for free make it very difficult to get readers to buy them? Even for a charity, people don't want to 'buy the cow if they can get the milk for free.'


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I hate to be a downer here, but I think quite a lot of people (especially women) will not find that cover funny at all.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

VydorScope said:


> Nope. You won Gennita! Run with it now!
> 
> Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita! Gennita!


I just spent like fifteen minutes trying to figure out how you did this.  Then i hit quote, so I could ask you how you did it. And VOI-friggin-LA, I see how you did nit now.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

Lydniz said:


> I hate to be a downer here, but I think quite a lot of people (especially women) will not find that cover funny at all.


It's better than a picture of a man's pec's.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Lydniz said:


> I hate to be a downer here, but I think quite a lot of people (especially women) will not find that cover funny at all.


I am not fond of the cover either - but I figured it was just me - so thanks


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

K.B. Nelson/Parker said:


> I just spent like fifteen minutes trying to figure out how you did this.  Then i hit quote, so I could ask you how you did it. And VOI-friggin-LA, I see how you did nit now.


Hehe - Yep. Been there....


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Wow, I've been on vacation and totally missed this thread. I would love to participate, and I'm willing to format, as well, if that is needed.


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## Paul Kohler (Aug 14, 2013)

Lydniz said:


> I hate to be a downer here, but I think quite a lot of people (especially women) will not find that cover funny at all.


Although I love the cover, and do not find it offensive in any way, I don't think it is right for a charity anthology. "Some" people do in fact get caught up in every thing "risque". Showing a flasher (man or woman) might be sending the wrong message on what is inside the book. I love the double entendre, but because of the charity aspect, I think it is best kept on the straight and narrow.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

For reasons already stated by others, I wouldn't recommend the flasher image or use the word in the title/sub-title. I also question if flash fiction is not a word better recognized by writers than by readers. Let's be certain we don't title this anthology with a name that has meaning only to us. That's not creating commercial appeal.


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## 60865 (Jun 11, 2012)

Help!!!!!!
I'm drowning in that thread. 
Can someone tell me what are we doing and when should we be doing it for?
Thanks


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## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

> It's better than a picture of a man's pec's


Don't you mean ABS and pec's? But looking at some of the top 100 sellers gratuitous abs and pecs (maybe even with tats) may be a good idea.


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## DJ Edwardson (Mar 15, 2013)

I don't like that cover either, but I think it was just one person's suggestion, right? I don't think it was put forth as something that was a serious attempt at a cover.

I also really like the phrase "Ultimate Independent __________ Collection", but think that Flash is not a great term. As Sapphire said, it sounds like something a writer would use, but not all readers would be familiar with. When you do a search for "flash" on Amazon you'll get a lot of comic books. Something like "short fiction" would be much more helpful, but it sounds more like a subtitle when you put it that way.

I think a synonym for flash like "glint" might work or whatever the theme ends up being.


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## Lindy Moone (Oct 19, 2012)

Please, folks, don't blame Victorine for that cover! I think I started it, but I wasn't really serious. 
At any rate, she gave (most of) us a good laugh!



Lindy Moone said:


> I like "Shorts from the Writers' Cafe" -- mostly because I'm picturing a cover with (comic) underpants on it.
> 
> "The Indie Flash Anthology" is good, too. Picturing a flasher, now -- right before the flash.
> 
> ...


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Lindy Moone said:


> Please, folks, don't blame Victorine for that cover! I think I started it, but I wasn't really serious.
> At any rate, she gave (most of) us a good laugh!


Oh, I assumed it was a joke, and did smile at it, but then it started getting legs like it was a real suggestion and that is where people started to get concerned I think. No harm


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Lindy Moone said:


> Please, folks, don't blame Victorine for that cover! I think I started it, but I wasn't really serious.
> At any rate, she gave (most of) us a good laugh!


I didn't mean to start off a blame game - I just wanted to point out that we have to think of what is likely to sell.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Regardless, I found that cover very funny, and I'm a woman. The only way it would have been better is if he had on high heels.  

Seriously, I'm not saying we need to do risque, but we do need something quirky and different; something that says "Indie Cool". The last thing we want to do is blend in to the woodwork. Get people to look twice, maybe smile or laugh, and read the description.

For instance, I love the IFC (Indie Film Channel) tagline: Always on. Slightly Off.  

Quirky, witty, saying "hey, we're different".


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## ER Pierce (Jun 4, 2013)

I loved the cover, made me grin. But I hear everyone. Also, "flash fiction" - I'm pretty sure is recognized by both authors and readers. I don't think we should over think the use of 'Flash' for the title or to describe the collection.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

I thought the cover was funny and liked it, saw it as a joke and nothing more, other's took it a little more serious I guess, anything but man pec's and abs work for me.  You cannot go anywhere without seeing a guy without a shirt when you come here.  Anyway a nice cover for all ages to include kids would be best. I saw the cover as a joke to cheer things up.

The books 6 months out, plenty of time for a cover to be made.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

VydorScope said:


> Oh, I assumed it was a joke, and did smile at it, but then it started getting legs like it was a real suggestion and that is where people started to get concerned I think. No harm


+1 (but it did give me a chuckle)


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2014)

About the charity, Harvey brought up the point. You will HAVE to communicate with the charity FIRST to make sure they want their name associated with this. I publish anthologies regularly and I have done charity programs. You can't just say "all proceeds will go to the United Way" without first getting the charity's consent. Charities spend a great deal of time cultivating their images and don't want what may be seen as questionable content being associated with them. There was an issue several years ago with a major gaming convention holding a charity auction for a children's charity and the charity refused to accept the money because it was a Christian charity and they felt the convention was counter to their message. I also know of a situation where a women's shelter refused money from an erotica author's fundraiser because they felt the content of the book distracted from their message.

Further, there are legal issues involved. When I held the fundraiser a couple of years ago for Volunteers of America (which many of you gracious participated in) I had to get a signed contract with VA to spell out exactly what was being donated and how the donation would be calculated, because ************* has anti-fraud laws to prevent people from claiming they are donating to charity when they are not. The contract was then registered with the state of ************* to make sure that the donation was made.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I've updated the list and removed the numbers.  It's now sorted alphabetically and grouped by genre.

I think it would be best if we didn't wait a few months to pick a theme, if any.  Once we decide on that, we can begin writing (or at least think about beginning to write). 

If Gennita is busy, perhaps some of us can form a subcommittee and make the theme decision?  I'd be willing to organize it.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> About the charity, Harvey brought up the point. You will HAVE to communicate with the charity FIRST to make sure they want their name associated with this.


I think we should give the money to the Human Fund. I can take care of it.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2014)

swolf said:


> I think we should give the money to the Human Fund. I can take care of it.


Maybe before moving forward this should be settled first. The nature of the charity may end up dictating the type of content that CAN be included. The charity may have certain requirements content-wise before they would want their names associated with it. Volunteers of America, for example, required that no erotica be included in the promotion I did. Maybe before this thing goes any further we should hammer out the charity FIRST. Then contact the charity and determine what, if anything, they require.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I would rather we decide what we want to write, then find a charity willing to take our money.


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## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

And don't forget that whoever is in charge will need to draft a contract for each author to sign. This protects the person in charge and spells out exactly what both parties agree to.


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Maybe before moving forward this should be settled first. The nature of the charity may end up dictating the type of content that CAN be included. The charity may have certain requirements content-wise before they would want their names associated with it. Volunteers of America, for example, required that no erotica be included in the promotion I did. Maybe before this thing goes any further we should hammer out the charity FIRST. Then contact the charity and determine what, if anything, they require.


10 charities that promote literacy. Book aid international looks interesting:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/10-charities-that-promote-literacy_b42231


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## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

swolf said:


> I've updated the list and removed the numbers. It's now sorted alphabetically and grouped by genre.
> 
> I think it would be best if we didn't wait a few months to pick a theme, if any. Once we decide on that, we can begin writing (or at least think about beginning to write).
> 
> If Gennita is busy, perhaps some of us can form a subcommittee and make the theme decision? I'd be willing to organize it.


+1 on a Swolf subcommittee to get things rolling.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Sorry to be brief, but I'm taking a break from roofing-->

Who's in charge?

Is it me? 

If it is, I'll start with a few emails to some pub people I know regarding charity contribution through anthology proceeds. Did one in 2011, earned bookoo for war veterans.

If it is, I have a standard contract ready for sign up, but wait till I get a FEIN (Federal ID #) and name so it can be official. This shouldn't take long but the FEIN site at IRS.com is down today and umm...I'm not in charge, LOL, but was trying to set up a FEIN ID for another anthology this morning.

If it is, and if people want to get started with writing (wow, you are eager, eager writers!), I'll ask for the authority to set page length.

Swolf's committee to choose theme sounds great .

Yay, progress!


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Are we supposed to list our genre? If so, New Adult Romance here.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Whoa! I don't check KBoards for a few days and come back to see this wonderful but really long thread?
Is it too late to join? Where do I sign up?


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm on the list with my KB name. That's ok, but I want to publish under my real name that appears on all my works. (All? That's humorous! Two novels and a short story are my current published portfolio.) Anyway, I assume I can take care of that when I submit.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I suggest for cover that we wait until swolf's committee comes up with a theme.  Then we can start proposing cover concepts. (I too, considered Victorine's cover to be a funny joke - and possible concept - but too racy for such a broad collection.)

As for my genre: put me under mystery/crime for now. (I'm fine with "daringnovelist" or "Camille LaGuire" for the list)

I write under and across all genres, especially at the flash length. Once we see if some genres are overloaded and others need more entries, I'll switch if necessary.

Flash also lends itself to jokes and snarky parables, which will be hard to categorize. ("A duck walks into a bar, and says to the bartender..."  is that fantasy?)

Camille


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## CMTheAuthor (Dec 6, 2012)

What hs said.

I am interested.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

No problem about the cover - just was what popped into my head and I thought it was funny. Good idea to see if you guys want a theme or not before going ahead with more cover ideas.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

My genre: I'll be doing some variety of spec fic (science fiction/fantasy). I'll be able to narrow it down more once we have a theme.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Victorine said:


> No problem about the cover - just was what popped into my head and I thought it was funny. Good idea to see if you guys want a theme or not before going ahead with more cover ideas.


On the other hand, a cool cover idea can generate a great theme. (And it was funny.) I suppose what I was really saying is "Let's not pick a cover before we're ready" but if people have an idea that comes out visual, nothing wrong with putting it out there.

Another thought about "Flash" -- an old fashioned photographer's flash could also make a nice visual, or a lightening flash. Those actually tie in to why flash fiction is called what it is. There are a lot of different takes we can have on any theme that comes up.

Camille


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

I write under V. J. Chambers. (I'm listed as valeriec80.)

And I don't know what genre I plan to do either, so I'll wait until the theme is narrowed down to declare as well.


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## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

will children's stories fit in with all the adult material people are volunteering for? I know I'm not the only children's author here - will there be a special section for children's material?


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

> Another thought about "Flash" -- an old fashioned photographer's flash could also make a nice visual, or a lightening flash. Those actually tie in to why flash fiction is called what it is. There are a lot of different takes we can have on any theme that comes up.


I was thinking retro with an old fasioned phtographer's flash, done in the old pulp fiction style of cover. Whatever we do, it needs to be edgy or else we look traditional. I 'get' that we don't want to be too over the top. But, truly, if we try to make sure we offend nobody we will end up boring everybody. A less than kick-ass cover just blends into the slushpile. (And I actually liked Victorine's, are there really that many readers that need to loosen up?)


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

As Harvey and others have suggested, can we all agree this anthology will be appropriate for all ages?

And I hope the committee comes up with a broad theme in the next week or so. 

Those two things are what the rest of us need in order to start writing.




I, too, am undecided on genre until I know the theme.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I don't want to potentially offend readers, or make authors uncomfortable.

Someone upthread mentioned perhaps doing a clothesline with some shorts on it - so I did a quicky cover with that idea.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

What's the word count range for submissions?


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Cherise Kelley said:


> As Harvey and others have suggested, can we all agree this anthology will be appropriate for all ages?
> 
> And I hope the committee comes up with a broad theme in the next week or so.
> 
> ...


I write R/NC-17 scenes in my work, but I think we should keep this project PG-13.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Monique said:


> What's the word count range for submissions?


I think everyone settled on no more than 1,000 words.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I think everyone settled on no more than 1,000 words.


Ok. And a minimum?


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I was going to compromise with 750 words instead of those wanting 500 and others wanting 1000.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

lol For me, the underwear says "Romance" and "Erotic Romance" way more than the trenchcoat. The trenchcoat was just plain funny.   But perhaps shorts on the clothesline instead of undershorts would work? Like maybe some funky shorts that someone arty might wear?


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Caddy said:


> (And I actually liked Victorine's, are there really that many readers that need to loosen up?)


I suggest you ask all those people who have experienced the sight of a man indecently exposing himself in public. Not everybody has the presence of mind to point and laugh. There are some people who are genuinely upset by such behaviour.

Please note: I am not talking about my particular view of the matter. I'm merely pointing out that some people would find it offensive and perhaps disturbing.

Anyway, I'll stop derailing now.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Monique said:


> Ok. And a minimum?


No minimum, that I know of.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Monique said:


> What's the word count range for submissions?


Less than 1,000 words


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Has this already started then? We can start submitting stuff? Is there a theme yet? or do we write anything as long as it's <= 1k words?


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I liked Victorine's flasher cover and found it funny (and I am a woman), but it might upset some people. Like the shorts on the clothesline as well.

As for genre, I write multiple genres and I don't really know until I start writing what I'll come up with, particularly for flash.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

Still advocating no theme. As it has been mentioned, the market for mammoth collections of short fiction is one that lends itself to variety. Shorter collections need a theme, yes, but not one with hundreds of authors telling hundreds of stories.

In shorter anthologies, the theme is the hook. In longer ones it's stuff like "2013's Best Short Stories" or "the mammoth book of short fiction" or whatever. The value is in the volume. Here, our hook is 1) charity and 2) we're indie.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Caddy said:


> I was thinking retro with an old fasioned phtographer's flash, done in the old pulp fiction style of cover. Whatever we do, it needs to be edgy or else we look traditional. I 'get' that we don't want to be too over the top. But, truly, if we try to make sure we offend nobody we will end up boring everybody. A less than kick-*ss cover just blends into the slushpile. (And I actually liked Victorine's, are there really that many readers that need to loosen up?)


Yeah, I think the pulp art style is the most common for the genre -- even when it's not pulp fiction. (That is grpahic arts and illustration, or manipulated photos, not stock photo style. The right stock photo might work, though.)

I think that is part of the reaction to Victorine's cover -- not so much the content, but the implication of the style. So, even though people may not be offended by the cover, they assume it will be full of somewhat adolescent humor stories -- no children's stories, certainly no literary or inspirational. Probably not any serious horror or crime. No high fantasy.

The shorts motif could work, but I think the emphasis should be on the number -- lots and lots of shorts of all kinds. (I have an idea for a drawn version, but I'm interested in seeing what photo-manip people might do with it.)

Personally, I think the message should be that we will have hundreds of stories, and anybody should be able to find at least a few of interest.

Camille


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> I was going to compromise with 750 words instead of those wanting 500 and others wanting 1000.


No one really wanted 500. That was a suggestion to keep the page count down in order to include more writers.

750 is still too short, in my opinion.

Fewer than 1,000 words is some sort of standard, I think?


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I suggest 500-1000 as a word count range. No shorter than 500, no longer than 1000. And yes, let's keep it PG-13.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

One time I was peeping in the neighbor's window, and she spotted me.  So I quickly ran away, and ran smack-dab into her clothesline, and almost strangled myself. 

So we can't have a clothesline on the cover.




Sorry, I'll get back to the list.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Zoe Cannon said:


> I suggest 500-1000 as a word count range. No shorter than 500, no longer than 1000.


Because of concerns over length, we have a reason to limit on the high end. But I don't see the need to arbitrarily set a lower limit. If someone thinks they can tell a story in 100 words, they should be able to give it a go.


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## Paul Kohler (Aug 14, 2013)

I'll probably go in the genre of sci-fi/action/adventure/romance/thriller/horror/mystery, but I will most likely change that once/if we come up with a theme.   

I also vote to keep it between 500 and 1,000 words.  Throttling back to 750 might make it tuff for some writers (including me sometimes).  The last flash fiction I wrote came in at 850, and I thought it was jsut perfect for what I was telling.  I would be under the 1,000 but over on the 750.  Just my .02.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

swolf said:


> Because of concerns over length, we have a reason to limit on the high end. But I don't see the need to arbitrarily set a lower limit. If someone thinks they can tell a story in 100 words, they should be able to give it a go.


There are some great microfiction stories in the 300-450 range. So I agree, no minimum. No reason to limit other people's options just because we don't want to write something like it.

Camille


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

Love these cover samples. So much fun. I'm wholly support everything Gennita (and her crew) decides, and that includes the cover. It's a perk for taking on a lion's share of work. 

If we have 100+ people deciding what's going to go on a cover, the theme, etc., this whole thing is going to die a slow painful death by committee. Though, I still love seeing these covers. We've got some very talented designers here!


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## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

You can add my name for Science Fiction. Thanks! I'm looking forward to participating in this. It will be the first anthology for me.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

swolf said:


> Because of concerns over length, we have a reason to limit on the high end. But I don't see the need to arbitrarily set a lower limit. If someone thinks they can tell a story in 100 words, they should be able to give it a go.


It sounded like some people wanted a limit, which was why I suggested one. I don't personally have a problem with stories shorter than 500 words.


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

Does the cover or title or subtitle _have_ to use the word "Indie"? What about hybrid authors or those that prefer not to label themselves?


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Gennita Low said:


> Sorry to be brief, but I'm taking a break from roofing-->
> 
> Who's in charge?
> 
> Is it me?


Yes with SWolf subcomittee to help you out. So go there for and lead!


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## writingbookworm (Nov 30, 2013)

I'm interested, and I'd contribute as Sarah Sylvania.  I just started reading the thread today, so I only read page 1, and then I skipped to page 26 and 27.  So what I've gathered is this - the theme is flash, limit is 1000 words.  You want to know our genre - I'd go with New Adult / Romance / Supernatural (just a small element of magic).  That's assuming I'm correct with flash being the theme.

Sarah


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

daringnovelist said:


> There are some great microfiction stories in the 300-450 range. So I agree, no minimum. No reason to limit other people's options just because we don't want to write something like it.
> 
> Camille


I agree - maximum of 1000 words should be the only limit.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

deleted


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

You can add me (as Annie Bellet) for a fantasy flash story.


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## lewaters (Jun 25, 2011)

Just an idea for the cover to throw into the pot if we go with flash in the title. How about a cover of a flash mob with superimposed faces of some of the better known indie authors in the front (or those that give their permission), maybe Hugh leading the dance (haha in his tutu)...or even everyone's avatars that we've grown so used to on here? Thought it works on a few levels: the number of writers involved, it's edgy and, though they will be brief, we've put in a lot work into entertaining everyone. Also, I don't think it will offend anyone and will work for most charities. This is the image that comes to mind when I think about us all pulling this together.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Dan C. Rinnert said:


> Does the cover or title or subtitle _have_ to use the word "Indie"? What about hybrid authors or those that prefer not to label themselves?


Before I object to this, I'll propose an alternate title because I think it might be just as good:

What about "Open Sourced Anthology" (or "Crowd Sourced")?

Now on to my objection:

A lot of us (if not most) are hybrid authors. The "indie" movement isn't a separate thing. I think if you looked at the field at large you'd find most traditionally published authors are self-publishing something these days. (And frankly, the first wave of indie publishing was mainly made up of established pros.)

It's a movement, and I think we should take advantage of that. And I think it's kinda the point of this antho that we're promoting our self-published work. And showing off what non-traditional authors do. This is going to be a snapshot of what's going on in the field whether we want it to be or not.

So while I don't insist on using the word "Indie" I think it's a missed opportunity (and possibly dishonest) if we try to make it look like anything but what it is. However, if better titles and descriptors come along, I don't object to going for what is best for the book.

Camille


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

I love the cover design from earlier (the flasher), but I understand the sensitivity to it. What one person thinks is funny, another is offended. You can't please everyone and I don't think it's in the best interest of the anthology to have everyone chiming in with a approvals or dissaprovals. I would vote no for the cover, because of what Victoria posted. But I think we should 'outsource' the design to a few posters here who will have the final say. This thing will never get done if we insist on running it like a democracy. 

Let our voices be heard, but don't let us stampede. If that makes any sense. 

Just my 92 cents.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> Before I object to this, I'll propose an alternate title because I think it might be just as good:
> 
> What about "Open Sourced Anthology" (or "Crowd Sourced")?
> 
> ...


''AUTHORS UNITE FOR (insert charity here)."
Ad copy: Over (insert number of authors here) come together with a collection of their own short stories. Everyone is sure to find an author they like. There is something for everyone. There is romance and spy thrillers. Dramas and comedies. Sci-fi to horror. Even something for the kid or kid at heart. We have everyone from Hugh Howey to (pick someone else known).

Hope this helps a bit.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

lewaters said:


> Just an idea for the cover to throw into the pot if we go with flash in the title. How about a cover of a flash mob with superimposed faces of some of the better known indie authors in the front (or those that give their permission), maybe Hugh leading the dance (haha in his tutu)...or even everyone's avatars that we've grown so used to on here? Thought it works on a few levels: the number of writers involved, it's edgy and, though they will be brief, we've put in a lot work into entertaining everyone. Also, I don't think it will offend anyone and will work for most charities. This is the image that comes to mind when I think about us all pulling this together.


TWO THUMBS UP!


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Cherise Kelley said:


> As Harvey and others have suggested, can we all agree this anthology will be appropriate for all ages?


That would of course depend on your definition of appropriate for all ages.



daringnovelist said:


> And I think it's kinda the point of this antho that we're promoting our self-published work. And *showing off what non-traditional authors do*. This is going to be a snapshot of what's going on in the field whether we want it to be or not.


Except some seem to think this snapshot should be "cleaned" up. Isn't that being dishonest?


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Except some seem to think this snapshot should be "cleaned" up. Isn't that being dishonest?


If you're talking about the desire to exclude erotica, I think that has more to do with the fact that some of us normally write for younger audiences and want to be able to feel comfortable with our existing fans picking up the book.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Zoe Cannon said:


> If you're talking about the desire to exclude erotica, I think that has more to do with the fact that some of us normally write for younger audiences and want to be able to feel comfortable with our existing fans picking up the book.


Shouldn't you consider a separate edition for younger audiences then?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Except some seem to think this snapshot should be "cleaned" up. Isn't that being dishonest?


No more dishonest than limiting it to flash fiction.

Camille


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> No more dishonest than limiting it to flash fiction.
> 
> Camille


Of course it is more dishonest. You're confusing form with substance.

Some actually want to exclude what trade publishers exclude, yet maintain this is an honest sample of what non-traditional authors do.

Look, I've got no horse in this race. I don't write porn. But I find it dishonest and hypocritical in principle. And already we're on a slippery-slope. If some have to be ostracized for others to merely feel comfortable we're a long, long way off what being an indie, in my opinion, really means.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

Let's be cold-hearted capitalists and make it marketable to the maximum possible audience. Steamy is probably fine. Erotic probably isn't as universally appealing. Cover that doesn't turn anyone off or trigger anyone's trauma.

What's our unique selling point? There are tons of erotica collections. Has there been a general indie/hybrid/self published short fiction collection? Because that's what we're doing.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

I knew there was a reason I was avoiding KBoards lately. Now I've got another item on my to-do list!  
Please count me in, probably for paranormal or fantasy genre. 
If there's any need for illustration on the cover (I personally think a typographical cover would be best, however), I can volunteer some time.


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## Doril (Nov 2, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> The shorts motif could work, but I think the emphasis should be on the number -- lots and lots of shorts of all kinds. (I have an idea for a drawn version, but I'm interested in seeing what photo-manip people might do with it.)
> 
> Personally, I think the message should be that we will have hundreds of stories, and anybody should be able to find at least a few of interest.
> 
> Camille


I agree completely--Lots of shorts (different colors and sizes). Something for everybody.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

PG-13, please.

If you can write erotica in a PG-13 way, submit the fiction.

What is PG-13 (for non-US writers) -- a movie rating, advising content of the movie is not suitable for children under 13. It may have violence, sex, drug use, illegal activities that don't cross the line into the next rating, which is R.

This is not because we want to limit ourselves as indie writers. Or being pretentious.

We're coming together to give to charities. We have to compromise so as many people will buy this book as possible FOR CHARITY. Offending groups or making the charities look bad after they've agreed to work with us will make us look bad.

Yeah, we're independent authors doing it our way. Unfortunately, in an anthology for charity, there is going to be some loss of independence because hundreds of people are involved (their time and dedication toward getting the charity/links/media/paperwork to be in order) and we stand to affect thousands of lives (if the antho is successful and makes money).

Your submissions will be going to the committee. I really don't want to put them in the position of telling one of our KB friends that their "tentacle-dinosaurpornus sexxoring human slaves" story has no home in the charity anthology. Just use some basic common sense about who will be buying these books, besides YOUR readers.


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## lewaters (Jun 25, 2011)

Gennita Low said:


> TWO THUMBS UP!


Yay! You'll have to be right in the front too, Gennita.


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## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

Am I too late to be included? Am I too much a KBoards newbie to be included? 

If not, please count me in! 

If you need a genre - science fiction. (Can I do a hybrid?)

Thanks!


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Samuel Peralta said:


> Am I too late to be included? Am I too much a KBoards newbie to be included?
> 
> If not, please count me in!
> 
> ...


Ohmygosh so happy to see you here. I am a big fan. Welcome!


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

To the people who commented that I "should talk to people who have had men expose themselves to them", well, excuse me, but I've had it done to me. I've been the victim of a man exposing himself, I've been almost raped by a friend's brother at age 13(someone came home or I would have been), I've been mugged, and at age 14 a friend of mine discovered she was a lesbian and used me for "research" when she came from out of town to stay over. I'm not lesbian, I was 14 and I was scared. I simply laid there frozen and in the morning asked my mom to come up with a reason to take her back home, as I didn't want it to happen again that night.

Now, I get that some people have triggers. Some of us find a way to overcome these experiences and don't have triggers. Those of us who do aren't superior, better, stronger. We're just different from those who don't. 

But certainly we can't spend every second wondering who we are going to offend. I happen to see a cartoon of a flasher as funny for flash fiction. So what? I've paid my dues as far as abuse goes and don't try to allow things to remind me or be offended is all. For me, it was "Geez, the dumb shmuck. What a loser." You're not wrong, I'm not wrong. We just see things differently after having had the same experience.  (I told the guy if I was a man and had a d*ck that small I'd keep it in my pants. I was 19.) Different personalities, different ways of looking at life.

Ditch the guy with the trench coat, but if we're going to eliminate anything that might offend anyone, be it content, covers, blurbs, the word "indie", then this is turning into a very traditional, mainstream endeavor. It doesn't embrace the energy and edginess that some indies DO strive for. 

EDIT: And certainly I do understand that there will be a charity involved and we don't want to damage their reputation. I'm not saying we should write as dirty or as violent as possible, but I would hate to see this a watered-down book that in no way shows the edginess of some indies.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

For discussion purposes, here's the MPAA explanation for PG-13:

PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13. A PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture, as some material might not be suited for them. A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A motion picture's single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.

http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means


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## OEGaudio (Jul 26, 2012)

I'd like to be included, if it's not past that point.

Writing as Emma Keene. Thanks.


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## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

Victoria Champion said:


> Ohmygosh so happy to see you here. I am a big fan. Welcome!


Gosh, Victoria, I don't know what to say... but thanks! </blush>

Guess I should have joined earlier.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Everyone can debate as much as they want. I know you all can go for pages . Some of you would dissect frogs hair for days and still see...frogs hair.

But it's going to be PG-13.

Let that be your guide.

There is always going to be someone who will want to argue for PG-14 or PG-12. It is just a guide. No one here is restricting you but yourself. You can be edgy without going overboard, right?

Pretty please, with vanilla ice cream on top?

Thanks.

And now I'm going to put my author hat back on and go write my pages. Let swolf/Shawn know your genres (or maybe-genres)! Looking at all your suggestions, I'm sure the committee will pick a great theme.

Thank you for the opportunity to guide everyone into a cohesive team.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

Throwing another theme suggestion out there for the committee, if they decide to use a specific theme: Independence, to go along with the whole indie angle. Then maybe release it on Independence Day.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I'll be wtiting some kind of speculative fiction. Maybe. Possibly. I'll know when it's done.


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## shel (May 14, 2011)

Ooh, ooh! I want to contribute.


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## Fast Typist (May 9, 2013)

I'm in.  Romance.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Caddy said:


> Now, I get that some people have triggers. Some of us find a way to overcome these experiences and don't have triggers. Those of us who do aren't superior, better, stronger. We're just different from those who don't.
> 
> But certainly we can't spend every second wondering who we are going to offend. I happen to see a cartoon of a flasher as funny for flash fiction. So what?
> 
> ...


Caddy, you are my hero.

I think the flasher guy is really funny too.

I guess in terms of practicality, though, I'm willing to roll over and go with whatever makes it easier to get things rolling.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Mcoorlim said:


> Let's be cold-hearted capitalists and make it marketable to the maximum possible audience. Steamy is probably fine. Erotic probably isn't as universally appealing. Cover that doesn't turn anyone off or trigger anyone's trauma.
> 
> What's our unique selling point? There are tons of erotica collections. Has there been a general indie/hybrid/self published short fiction collection? Because that's what we're doing.


Steamy is fine, yes.

Erotica isn't just explicitness. Just as horror isn't just shock and gore. And hard-boiled mystery isn't just the gritty detail of a nasty world. Flash fiction takes a facet and raises it to a story -- that facet will never cover the whole of a genre, and it can be a window into the genre for a general audience.

(EDIT: Gennita has spoken. I'll edit out my question about whether this is just theoretical posturing, or if there are people who actually want to submit material rated above PG-13.)

Camille


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## Matt Ryan (Nov 16, 2012)

You can count me in as well.

Sounds fun, and if we can get some money to charity, all the better.

Thanks in advance to the organizers, sounds daunting.


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

I'll also be writing speculative fiction as well, but I haven't written it yet, so I'll adapt to whatever theme is chosen.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

LynnBlackmar said:


> I'll also be writing speculative fiction as well, but I haven't written it yet, so I'll adapt to whatever theme is chosen.


Same here, and I will wait on the theme to actually write anything.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm in for literary fiction.


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## Midnight Writer (Jan 4, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> I'm in for literary fiction.


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## Joel Ansel (Oct 17, 2013)

In for horror


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

> Throwing another theme suggestion out there for the committee, if they decide to use a specific theme: Independence, to go along with the whole indie angle. Then maybe release it on Independence Day.


I like independence as a theme, too.


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## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

Count me in, too. Literary fiction.

Also, love the independence theme.


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## L.M. Pfalz (Aug 31, 2012)

swolf, you can put me down for horror please  

I know it's still early to discuss titles, but I really liked the suggested "Shorts From the Writer's Cafe", maybe even with the number of shorts at the beginning like "200 Shorts From the Writer's Cafe" or whatever amount is chosen upon. I think the title shows how a community of writers came together for a cause. Does the title really need to specify that we're indie? I would think this would probably come up enough through our promotional efforts, without it being right there in title. 

I'm also a fan of doing one HUGE volume, rather than several smaller ones. I think it would have much more of an impact, and we could charge more for it (more money for charity! ). I wasn't sure if there was any firm decision made on that front, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Also, big thanks to Gennita for stepping up to lead this thing. You are awesome!


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

L.M. Pfalz said:


> I really liked the suggested "Shorts From the Writer's Cafe", maybe even with the number of shorts at the beginning like "200 Shorts From the Writer's Cafe" or whatever amount is chosen upon.


I agree this is still the best title suggested.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

I'm personally against using KB or Writers Cafe in the title. I don't want to put the name of our evil lair out there; where we writers plot and scheme promotions, price points and assassinations.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

K.B. Nelson/Parker said:


> I'm personally against using KB or Writers Cafe in the title. I don't want to put the name of our evil lair out there; where we writers plot and scheme promotions, price points and assassinations.


What about "Shorts from the Cafe'" Then?


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## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

> What about "Shorts from the Cafe'" Then?


(Makes me think of Daisy Dukes...) Which could be funny.... ?

*Edit*:

This image with a pink daisy from the pocket might be cute for the cover for that title
http://us.fotolia.com/id/56912796

Or something like that... Just a thought.


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## Sophrosyne (Mar 27, 2011)

I just saw this. Is it too late to get in?


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

VydorScope said:


> What about "Shorts from the Cafe'" Then?


Much better.

Though, I'm one of the minions who gets called in by the masterminds when somebody needs alerted that the shark tank needs cleaned. In simple terms, I have absolutely no role in the decision making.

Edit: And by 'called in', I mean butt in.


----------



## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

Contemporary Literature.


----------



## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

In for romance.


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

VydorScope said:


> What about "Shorts from the Cafe'" Then?


----------



## Writer1000 (Jul 28, 2013)

It's not too late to join, is it? I'm in for romance.


----------



## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

Hi swolf, 

please put my name under literary fiction    Many thanks,
Gabriela


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

SWolf-- literary fiction for me. thanx


----------



## Deena Ward (Jun 20, 2013)

swolf said:


>


LMAO. Reminds me of some of the stuff I've seen on that site where they pics of people at Wal-Mart.


----------



## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

Gabriela Popa said:


> Hi swolf,
> 
> please put my name under literary fiction  Many thanks,
> Gabriela


Boy, are you fast!! Thanks!


----------



## NRWick (Mar 22, 2011)

Since we're separating into genres, now, I thought I would pipe in and say that I would like to do horror under my pen name, Cole Knightly rather than NRWick. Thank you!


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I'd rather keep the names in the list as our usernames here.  Otherwise I'm going to be going nuts trying to keep track of who's who.

When you submit your story, you can put your pen name on it.


----------



## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

In terms of official editors, you can always bill co-editors as "edited by Hugh Howey and John Smith" (or whoever is doing a lot of heavy lifting), in the same way some well-known authors (James Patterson, Tom Clancy?) work with co-authors nowadays.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

swolf said:


> I'd rather keep the names in the list as our usernames here. Otherwise I'm going to be going nuts trying to keep track of who's who.
> 
> When you submit your story, you can put your pen name on it.


BTW - you asked on the list if we want to keep mystery/thriller/suspense/crime together. My instinct would say yes. These are shelved together in bookstores, and share the same organizations and conventions for the most part.

If we were to get an unwieldy number of stories in any genre, we can break them up as makes sense.

Camille


----------



## NRWick (Mar 22, 2011)

swolf said:


> I'd rather keep the names in the list as our usernames here. Otherwise I'm going to be going nuts trying to keep track of who's who.
> 
> When you submit your story, you can put your pen name on it.


That makes sense!


----------



## Suzan Butler (Apr 6, 2013)

Oh, updating my genre... I'm doing New Adult Romance.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Given the talent and the marketing expertise here, I feel sure that this project is going to be mega-successful and earn significant donations to the selected worthy charities. 

Good job there!

I liked the 'flasher' cover a lot and, while I agree it is not suitable for this PG-13 anthology, feel it is too good to be just binned. If this one works (as I'm sure it will) there will be scope for erotica writers to learn from it and put out an anthology in a similar vein using that cover with donations going to . . . who?

My contribution to the anthology will be in the form of a 1,000-word piece of 'epistolary fiction'. That's largely because I have only recently learned the term, what it describes, and spent time practicing pronouncing it.


----------



## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

Sign me up for women's fiction.


----------



## AmberDa1 (Jul 23, 2012)

historical rom for me.

Thank you so much


----------



## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

in for science fiction


----------



## S. Elliot Brandis (Dec 9, 2013)

Swolf -- please but me under Speculative Fiction.

(also - perhaps you should bundle together your lists for science-fiction/fantasy and speculative fiction, as they're basically the same thing)


----------



## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

I know what I want to write. I'm just not sure if it's too risque... So I'm going to submit two stories (if the first one passes the pg13 test, then the second one doesn't even need to be read).


----------



## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

Specfic for me, too.


----------



## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

There was a separate thread on this.  So, is this a second click?  Anyway, I'm in for lit fic/general fic.  Thousand words, tops?  What's the latest?


----------



## Guest (Jan 3, 2014)

Horror for me.


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## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

I would like to contribute. 

The shorts on the line idea is used by Writer's Digest. I don't like the flasher cover - too sleezy.

I'm not sure what the rules, deadlines etc. are. There are 29 pages of suggestions.

Not sure what genre until I've written something.


----------



## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

I will be writing romance, probably with a sci-fi or fantasy setting.


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

What is the faffing theme already?


----------



## MitchHogan (May 17, 2013)

Please put my under Sci-Fi/Fantasy!!!


----------



## Guest (Jan 3, 2014)

Just FYI, this thread has exploded so much that from now on, I'm only going to check the OP.


----------



## Elliott Garber (Apr 8, 2013)

You can put me into the Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Crime genre. 

Thanks!


----------



## Paul Hardy (Mar 11, 2011)

Can I be part of this thing? I promise I'll be quiet and sit at the back and not bother anyone.  

(SF/Fantasy for me!)


----------



## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Are we separating out YA? If so YA sci-fi/fantasy. 

If not, just science fiction/fantasy. 

I'm all for the PG-13 so as to appeal to the most people, and agree with Zoe. I couldn't market erotica to my readers. But that doesn't mean erotica writers couldn't do their own anthology, which would be pretty cool.


----------



## jacklusted (Nov 29, 2012)

I'm in for science fiction.


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Swolf whats the list looking like so far? At three pages per writer we're gonna be the size of King's IT pretty soon, eh?


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

FrankZubek said:


> Swolf whats the list looking like so far? At three pages per writer we're gonna be the size of King's IT pretty soon, eh?


Its on the first page of this thread - it is a whole gaggle of authors.


----------



## J Bridger (Jan 29, 2013)

If ya fantasy can involve paranormal/urban fantasy too then that's my first choice

If not then new adult romance


----------



## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I won't know the genre until I write the story!  

So, I'll stay in undecided & wait for the theme before I start writing.


----------



## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm thinking Women's Fiction here, but I reserve the right to change my mind as I start writing. My subject material is bouncing all over the place in my head, but I may get a surprise brainstorm when I hear the theme.


----------



## David J Normoyle (Jun 22, 2012)

J Bridger said:


> If ya fantasy can involve paranormal/urban fantasy too then that's my first choice
> 
> If not then new adult romance


I don't think there's going to be any genre police. Write whatever you like.



> I'm thinking *Women's Fiction* here, but I *reserve the right to change my mind* as I start writing. My subject material is bouncing all over the place in my head, but I may get a surprise brainstorm when I hear the theme.


I think that goes without saying .


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

David J Normoyle said:


> I think that goes without saying .


        You sir win the thread!


----------



## MGalloway (Jun 21, 2011)

You can mark me down for science fiction. Although I might slip some elements of literary fiction in there...


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I think the tome will be in a few main general sections to make it more concise. Not in any order:

Thriller
Horror
Romance
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Children
(maybe more, it's early, and I'm nursing a migraine)

That way, readers who want to just browse one kind of flash fiction know where to go to.

In each section, the top line can be,

Title, a young adult fantasy,  by Author  or
Title, a romantic suspense, by Author   or
Title, a historical horror, by Author or
Title, a children's pet fairy (ed.)TALE (apparently, all pet fairies have tails), by Author
Title, a paranormal romance, by Author

Your committing to one genre helps sWolf to organize you into those sections. Then, your story will let the reader know in what specific sub-genre you are writing (many who aren't avid readers don't even know there are so many, so this will be a way to let them know how varied indie writing is).

Some niche writers will have to be creative. Here are some suggestions: post-apocalyptic (is it a romance, thriller, horror, what?), cyber punk futuristic (is it a romance, thriller, horror, what?), etc. You can look in your Amazon categories.

Here's a challenge. How short can you write? The limit is 1000 words, yes, but if you can be write 750 or 500, that would be helpful in making our tome less intimidating.

*****

I think, on my side, my first responsibility is get hold of the publisher friend who published that charity anthology in which I participated and check with her about tax matters, especially with so many writers involved.

1) I'll get back with you all about this totally boring part .

2) Please PM me if you know about 1) taxes and General Partnerships FEIN.

3) Please PM me if you have any questions that can't be dealt with here. Don't ask me about themes, though. That's coming from the Committee ;-P. Maybe they'll set up a poll, I don't know.

4) Once a theme is agreed on, I think we can have deadlines and who to send your pages to for the genre file.

Thanks!


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

I accept the challenge on writing something with 700 words
Should prove interesting


----------



## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm romance - Sally Clements


----------



## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


----------



## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

So are things finalized? Wordcount and such? And who do we submit our entries to? If the deadline is February, then I want to get a head start on this and make sure my work is polished to a shine before I submit anything. February will be here before we know it.

If we can pick a genre, then I'll be doing something in Fantasy.


----------



## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

I feel a hankering to write a fantasy piece. Sign me up!


----------



## LinaG (Jun 18, 2012)

I'm in! Probably a romance.  We'll see what comes out of the old brain1  Marvelous idea!

LinaG.


----------



## Magda Alexander (Aug 13, 2011)

Put me down in the romance category, please. Thank you for doing this to everyone who volunteered.


----------



## Faye Hunter (Jun 5, 2013)

Romance for me please. 
Faye Hunter


----------



## c__f (Jan 29, 2013)

Sci-fi for me. Thanks.


----------



## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Science Fiction, of course.


----------



## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

The flash fiction piece I wanted to submit is only around 350 words, so let me see what else I can come up with before I commit to a genre. I'll let you know by next Friday at the latest. I want to see how the story shapes up first.


----------



## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

I already added myself to the spreadsheet, but if you want it added it here, too, I'm shooting for spec fic (likely sci fi)


----------



## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

1000 is the max, there is no minimum. 350 words is fine.

I still vote for no theme, and using the variety and sheer size as its unique selling points. 

No reference to writers or cafes or anything in the title. We care about that. Our readers will not. Title is marketing, nothing more, so let's make it the most effective we can. Look at how other ginormous short story collections are titled and use that as a template. Look at what their covers are and make it like that, only different. 

/2 cents.


----------



## A. Rosaria (Sep 12, 2010)

Put me down for Horror.  (A story is already building up in my mind, it's about a guy, a gun, and a lawyer.)


----------



## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

Quick questions:

Is the anthology going to be exclusive to the Kindle or will there be a broader distribution?

What charity will we be giving to?


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

T.K. Richardson said:


> What charity will we be giving to?


I vote for the "Help VydorScope get a new SUV" Charity personally.


----------



## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Put me in for Romance.


----------



## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

I think Room to Read has been nominated. Here's the link.

Thoughts?

http://www.roomtoread.org/


----------



## quiet chick writes (Oct 19, 2012)

If in the end, contemporary/literary/women's fiction end up lumped together (which they probably will), you can put me down for that.


----------



## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> I think the tome will be in a few main general sections to make it more concise. Not in any order:
> 
> Thriller
> Horror
> ...


What about Humor?


----------



## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Wowza, I go away and come back and the thread is 31 pages long.  

I'm trying to skim, but it seems we're doing up to 1000 words, broad generic theme, and we need to state our genres. Put me down for Contemporary Romance.

Is Feb 28 still the submission deadline?


----------



## Keri Knutson (Apr 10, 2011)

Put me down for horror. Although it could end up crime. 

And I'm willing to beta and/or proofread.


----------



## OliviaF (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm not exactly sure what genre mine will be yet. Probably literary or romance but that may change...


----------



## NicWilson (Apr 16, 2011)

Man, I've gotten lost in this thread. Maybe we should provide our emails, so that once a week or so, we can compile an update of the forward momentum for participating authors? I'm worried I'll miss the theme announcement or deadline.


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Do you guys want me to start a thread of just me posting my posts here as we go along so you know the bare skin and bones?

Swolf can update there too if he needs. When we have a Big Question, Swolf/Committee member or I can ask there so everyone sees it. You would need to bookmark the page or ask to be notified of updates, though.

Then everyone can discuss the ongoing topics and concerns here.

 Just thinking of a way to make it easier for you.


----------



## H. S. St. Ours (Mar 24, 2012)

Me too, please. Can I play? I'll help wherever needed.

Genre: Apocapunk (OK, OK. SciFi. Happy now?)


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm currently putting together a committee to decide things like theme, length, submission dates, etc. - things that will allow people to decide if they want to participate, and what they want to write.  Gennita is on the committee, and I'm waiting to hear back from others.  *stares into the crowd - you know who you are*  

Once we reach any kind of decision, we'll post it in a KB Anthology news thread, and maybe ask the mods to pin it to the top.  I'm hoping that will happen by the middle of next week.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Can we get Hugh to update the first post with the info about Gennita coodinating, and swolf dealing with the committee?  (Also with the info that the database isn't where you volunteer -- the official list is the one that swolf is keeping.)

That way when people say "What's going on?" we can send them to the top of the thread.


(I wouldn't mind if Gennita started a new thread -- it might make sense to start that so she has control of the first post, and then we lock this one with a link to the new thread?)

Camille


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> Do you guys want me to start a thread of just me posting my posts here as we go along so you know the bare skin and bones?
> 
> Swolf can update there too if he needs. When we have a Big Question, Swolf/Committee member or I can ask there so everyone sees it. You would need to bookmark the page or ask to be notified of updates, though.
> 
> ...


Yes, please. 
Gennita should start a new thread.
Ask Hugh to post a link to the new thread in the OP of this thread.
Ask the mods to lock this thread once that is done.
Gennita should keep the OP in the new thread updated with current info, so we can just refer people to the OP.
SWolf should control the second post in the new thread, so that he can keep the list of contributors and genres there.

It would be awesome if Hugh's OP could be updated with the most current info, too:

Gennita Low is in charge.

Less than 1,000 words, but we challenge you to tell a story in 500 or 750 words
When's the deadline? Mayish
Who do we send the stories to? TBD, but will be a committee
Which charity will proceeds go to? TBD
Can we have a common theme? SWolf's Committee is on this.
What rights would we be donating? Gennita is looking into the legal and tax aspects. Contact her if you can help.
Are reprints OK, or only brand new, never published stuff? TBD
Target Audience Age Range? G, PG, or PG-13 http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means 
Submission formatting guidelines (links allowed? to where?) Your byline includes your sub-genre and you get 50 words of a bio at the end, including whichever link you put.
Will this be one huge book or several books of 100 authors each? One huge book
Whose account will it publish under? Maybe the charity's TBD
Can unpublished authors contribute? Yes
Will there be a story selection process? The committee will decide if each story fits the guidelines.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

daringnovelist said:


> (I wouldn't mind if Gennita started a new thread -- it might make sense to start that so she has control of the first post, and then we lock this one with a link to the new thread?)


I like this idea best.


----------



## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Just a couple of questions...


Cherise Kelley said:


> Target Audience Age Range? PG-13 http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means
> 
> Will there be a story selection process, or are all stories accepted? The committee will decide if each story is PG-13


Does this mean that you must write a PG-13 story, per se? Or is PG-13 the upward limit (and a G-rated or PG-rated story would be acceptable as well)?


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

PG-13 is the upward limit, Amanda. G rated and PG are fine. We needed an upward limit because we need to be able to have our money accepted by a charity.

I've updated my above post to reflect this.


----------



## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

I just read the PG-13 description and just based on what it says, it basically sounds like you need to be writing for kids or young adults to fit into that. My work would be R-rated, not because it has strong explicit sex scenes, but because my work is really  not appropriate for youths  under 16 years old. I write for adults and my work deals with many dark, adult issues. Is this PG-13 label a hard and fast requirement? Can we be a little more detailed in what is excluded? I really would like participate in the anthology, but I know that labeling my work PG13 would probably not be accurate. Or, maybe I can write something that would fit that? I don't know. Please clarify. 

ETA: Ah, I just reread Cherise's post about the need for an upward limit of PG13 to accept money for charity. I understand. Well, I'll try to write something appropriate. If it's rejected, I'll understand the reasoning.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> Everyone can debate as much as they want. I know you all can go for pages . Some of you would dissect frogs hair for days and still see...frogs hair.
> 
> But it's going to be PG-13.
> 
> ...


----------



## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

Okay I got, PG13 it is.


----------



## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

Maybe have two sections for the book: PG-13 for the first, and R for the second, so the people who tend to write noir-ish or dark, grittier stuff won't have to stiffle their natural style quite so much. All sex off-stage, no naughty language, though.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

That's all been hashed over, and Gennita has decided the upper limit is PG-13.

There aren't many charities who want their names associated with R or X rated material, was the deciding factor, I think.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Can unpublished authors contribute? Yes


Uh, then I take back everything I said about you guys.

Put me down for an Urban Fantasy


----------



## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Cherise Kelley said:


> There aren't many charities who want their names associated with R or X rated material, was the deciding factor, I think.


A very important deciding factor.


----------



## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

I'm probably going fantasy.  Subject to theme, if we get one.


----------



## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

I mentioned this to a non-writer friend of mine, and her first question was "Is there going to be a paperback version?" So, I present the question, paperback or hardback? Createspace version? 

She said she'd buy it either way, just preferred a paperback.


----------



## J Bridger (Jan 29, 2013)

Oh also if you need beta reading help with some of the anthologies, let me know.


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

LynnBlackmar said:


> I mentioned this to a non-writer friend of mine, and her first question was "Is there going to be a paperback version?" So, I present the question, paperback or hardback? Createspace version?
> 
> She said she'd buy it either way, just preferred a paperback.


Do you know how much this tome is going to cost your friend through Createspace? 

Joking aside, I have no idea. I'm just concentrating on getting the ebook part for now. Creating a trade paperback that weighs less than a bar of gold will be the next project...for Hugh! Hee.

On starting a new thread for those lost in the sea of 30+ pgs, I will do so as soon as I get home from work. It will just sum up where we are now and what have been decided, etc.

Thanks for your patience!


----------



## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Gennita Low said:


> Do you know how much this tome is going to cost your friend through Createspace?
> 
> Joking aside, I have no idea. I'm just concentrating on getting the ebook part for now. Creating a trade paperback that weighs less than a bar of gold will be the next project...for Hugh! Hee.


I was thinking it'd probably be as big as some of the fantasy books I have laying around. Thought about turning them into a nightstand, and if a burglar comes I can just throw my nightstand at them. As for price, she still might go for it, I dunno.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Let's be careful not to misinterpret the MPAA guidelines. Take a look at PG-13 movies and you'll see that they can get pretty darned dark and gritty.  They include mildly bad language, sexual innuendo, and definitely dark subject matter (mature themes).  (It's less restrictive than the Production Code, under which all the classics of Noir film were produced, after all.)

What's on limit is the graphic depiction of things that could disturb "sensitive viewers" and I think that's really what we're looking for in terms of limiting the rating of the stories.  (And with a 1000 word story, you don't have room to dwell on those disturbing details anyway.)

IMHO, for Dark Themes and things like that, well labeled by genre should cover us: Noir, Dark Fantasy, Horror, even Hot Romance -- we're not expecting Disney with those, even if we expect them to behave with a little more decorum than when they're at home.


As for paperback -- you know that a large format book is the same price per page as a smaller one.  An 8x10, or even 8.5 x 11 book shouldn't be too hard to bring in at a reasonable price. (You could fit a flash story on two sides of page with those.)   The question is how much work to format.

Camille


----------



## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

I created this cover using The Great Pulp-O-Mizer

What do you think?


----------



## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

I quite like the sound of this project. Thanks to all the organizers!

Please count me in for mystery.

Not sure if a title has been chosen, but I’ve been playing around with ‘flash’ as in a brief and bright flash of light:

Shooting Stars: Indie Writers Flash Their Fiction
Shooting Stars: 400* Flash Fictions from the Indie World

...or some such.

*whatever the number


----------



## Doril (Nov 2, 2013)

I'm in for contemporary romance.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Samuel Peralta said:


> I created this cover using The Great Pulp-O-Mizer
> 
> What do you think?


Very nice. I love how the hooters are accentuated.


----------



## Joseph Turkot (Nov 9, 2012)

Put me under literary fiction


----------



## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

vrabinec said:


> Very nice. I love how the [owls] are accentuated.


Unintentional on my part, I assure you! The Pulp-O-Matic site lets you choose from standard illustrations, and only 2-3 have women in them, pretty similar because of the era they're parodying.


----------



## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Okay, I seem to have missed a few posts, but I think I've gotten the gist of it. In my defense, I've spent all day at the hospital with my father, and my brain is fried.

Gennita, you should post a "business" thread that answers all the points/details. This one is getting very long. You can update it as needed. Thank you for taking this on. For a while there, I was afraid I was going to have to, and I know nothing about stuff like this

I don't seem to be on the list, though I've already gotten a story done, it's horror, 638 words (so far, I may flesh it out a tad, as I write fairly lean). I think it falls within PG-13.

Well, I'm going to crash now. Maybe the thread won't be 100 pages by morning!


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Sheila_Guthrie said:


> Gennita, you should post a "business" thread that answers all the points/details.


Gennita has done so!

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,173210.0.html


----------



## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

We should probably keep discussion here, and leave the other thread to transcribe decisions, perhaps?


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Yes, keep the requests to join and which genre you're writing in either here or PM me.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

swolf said:


> Yes, keep the requests to join and which genre you're writing in either here or PM me.


Your post in the other thread should probably say that, with a link to here.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Even though I usually write thrillers, for flash fiction, I think I'll go with romance.


----------



## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

Sounds pretty cool!  Count me in for humor!  Or, 17th century British romance. 

John


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Mcoorlim said:


> We should probably keep discussion here, and leave the other thread to transcribe decisions, perhaps?


Yes, please!

Unless it's to sing praises of me. Then you can do it anywhere .

We want this thread to be your spring board to the decisions posted on the other page.

Thanks!


----------



## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

swolf, I'll be writing a PG-13 Contemporary Romance piece. (I think I post this here, still, right?)


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm not ready to do any list wrangling right now (so if anybody else wants to do this first, please, be my guest), however, if this hasn't been done by anybody else by then....

Next week I intend to comb through this thread (and the other threads) to gather every suggestion for theme, titles and cover ideas. (Including the jokes -- good ideas often spring from jokes.)  Text and image. I'll compile them and post them here.

I'm doing this because I'm interested in helping with the cover (because even if the stories themselves don't have a theme, the cover and title will), and also because I figure it will help others who volunteer for other tasks.  Also, it might help to pick a theme or title if we have some cover concepts to give us an idea of what it could look like.

Also -- if we decide to go without a theme, the authors who really want to write to a theme for creative reasons can pick one at random.

Camille


----------



## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I think it'd also be helpful to do a survey of other books of this sort (massive short story collections) and see what sort of covers/titles sell well for them.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Mcoorlim said:


> I think it'd also be helpful to do a survey of other books of this sort (massive short story collections) and see what sort of covers/titles sell well for them.


Yeah, since I'm a fan of those sorts of anthos, I keep an eye on them. They tend to have very generic covers. The established ones count on their brand and focus on the stories. The less well-known ones seem to count on the "Bazillions of Stories!" to sell. They seem to be mostly positioned as bargain books -- a big fat book of items that people don't mind spending a few bucks on because something is bound to be interesting. Kind of like joke books and quote books and recipe books.

However, that marketing technique is specific to brick and mortar - I don't know if any of them are doing something different for the Kindle market.

Camille


----------



## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

I will help with formatting. I can beta read, but editing isn't my strong point.


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## JezStrider (Jun 19, 2012)

You can toss me in the paranormal category. Thanks!


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## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

I see I[m on SWolf's list as undecided.  It'll definitely be a fairy tale, but if the one I'm working on comes out at 1000 words, it'll have a more adult theme.  If this one works out too long, I'll go with a children's story.


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Add me to Time Travel Romance  TY


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Since we're looking at a May deadline what about a Summer theme? Or fall if we're thinking actual release will be later. After all,these stories would be perfect to read while relaxing at the beach or poolside. Flash can easily be incorporated since flash can be used so many ways. Flash of light, flash of inspiration flash forward, etc.


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## sabrinasumsion (Jun 19, 2010)

From reading the summary, it looks like you're wanting a "yes" for interested.

*YES!!!*

I like the flash idea. When and where should we post these?

Like others, I'm willing to help beta read and edit to the best of my abilities.

One thought might be a website dedicated to this project and possibly others. One where each person who wants to submit, does through an account then all the submissions are posted in one place. Then there's a place to submit comments to the author by only double opted in people. (Control the trolls easier that way.) When submitting, the author marks the genre and "rating". If you had too many submissions, there could be a way for admins to choose which stories are included and which aren't. Or you could go by popular vote, but that becomes a "who has more followers" popularity contest -also open to abuse by robots and puppet masters.

In the end the website can dump all of the chosen stories into a file by genre. I bet it would make the alphabetical list of author names as well.  Anyways, just a thought. I *might* be able to talk a programmer into building this for free as long as he got to put his name in prominent places as advertising. Let me know if there is interest to pursue things that way or if you want to stick to a forum.


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## Indecisive (Jun 17, 2013)

If it's not too late, sign me up in the F/SF category, probably YA.


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## KerryT2012 (Dec 18, 2012)

Signing up for Chick- Lit please


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## TRGoodman (Jul 9, 2012)

Please add me to steampunk fantasy.


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## Gee Greenslade (Jan 3, 2014)

Id love to be added in! I guess my stuff is Dystopian fantasy Oh lord!

I am also a digital artist for a living - Id be happy to volunteer to help with a cover (my site is http://www.geegreenslade.com if you want to know what my work is and looks like...)

Cheers
Gee


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## Allan Korbes (Sep 9, 2013)

Hi! I'm in for science fiction. Thanks.


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## Bruce Rousseau (Mar 3, 2012)

SWolf, please add me to the paranormal list. Thanks!


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## elalond (May 11, 2011)

I'll have to stay undecided until I learn about the theme, since my muse can be a fickle thing and I don't know in which direction she will lead me. 
I like the glint/flash idea.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Go on and put me in thriller, I guess.


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

I'd love to write a story for this. I don't know yet whether it will be science fiction or fantasy, but it looks like on The List they're all thrown together anyway. 

I like the idea of the fiction not only being flash, but flash also being an element of the story, if not necessarily the "theme".


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I have updated the Anthology BUSINESS thread. Please read the first message (edited new info on top).

Thank you for discussing and suggesting your ideas here. The Committee is listening and getting things together based on all your chitchat.

Hope you like the "theme." ;-/


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Copying this post here since this is the thread for discussion and Gennita said to... 



brendajcarlton said:


> Can this be the cover? Please, please, pretty please with sprinkles on top?


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

VydorScope said:


> Copying this post here since this is the thread for discussion and Gennita said to...


 

Wha the

No. VydorScope, I did NOT say that!!!

Everyone, please ignore above post. Grrrrrrrr.


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Gennita Low said:


> Wha the
> 
> No. VydorScope, I did NOT say that!!!
> 
> Everyone, please ignore above post. Grrrrrrrr.


Huh? I thought you said move cover discussions to this thread?? Sorry if I misunderstood you.


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

VydorScope said:


> Huh? I thought you said move cover discussions to this thread?? Sorry if I misunderstood you.


Where is the squinty-eye icon?

Yes, cover discussion on this thread.

Not that cover you posted. *still looking at you squinty-eyed.

***********

Someone mentioned a cover with all the writer's little faces and avatars on it would be "edgy," and I thought it merited discussion since the suggestion was buried in the middle of this humongous thread.

Vydorscope is just trying to make a meme out of that roofing pic.


----------



## Guest (Jan 6, 2014)

For people who worry about the PG-13 rating, the following movies last year were rated PG-13:

World War Z
Iron Man 3
Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Man of Steel
Gravity
Fast and Furious 6
Star Trek Into the Darkness
Thor: Dark World
Anchorman 2
Pacific Rim
Mama
Warm Bodies
Red 2
Lincoln

I can go on, but the point is that PG-13 is pretty much the baseline "General Audiences" rating these days.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> For people who worry about the PG-13 rating, the following movies last year were rated PG-13:
> 
> World War Z
> Iron Man 3
> ...


Soo, PG13 is mostly plotless crap. Got it. I'm on it.


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## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

Interested. Paranormal Romance.


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## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

sabrinasumsion said:


> From reading the summary, it looks like you're wanting a "yes" for interested.
> 
> *YES!!!*
> 
> ...


This is a good idea. That way we would could submit to the assigned genre group, and beta read each others' stories. I would be glad to help in the Paranormal/Paranormal Romance section. IF there was one editor for each group, they could direct the stories to the Committee set of editors.  I have to say, this is helping me go off to my first day back from break with a big smile on my face. You all have a good week!


----------



## Guest (Jan 6, 2014)

Swolf,

I was just looking at the genre breakdown. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for horror, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. It doesn't actually make sense to have a separate speculative fiction category AND have horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. 

I also think that, given the size of the anthology, it would be less problematic for READERS to just negate the descriptors. Instead of "New Adult Fantasy" it should just be "fantasy." I think it is just going to get cumbersome if you don't scale down those genre lists a little. I know you said you would leave it to the people putting it together, but I just wanted to stress that this is going to get out of hand quickly if people "insist" on their sub-sub-sub genres getting separate billing. To whomever is doing this, it needs to be grouped based on how it will make sense to the readers, not just force-feeding a ridiculously unwieldy list into the mix to keep everyone happy.


----------



## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

Decision made... finally. Chick-lit, please.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Gennita said pretty much this up thread. The anthology TOC will have the major categories: Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, and each story will be subtitled with the sub genre.



Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Swolf,
> 
> I was just looking at the genre breakdown. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for horror, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. It doesn't actually make sense to have a separate speculative fiction category AND have horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
> 
> I also think that, given the size of the anthology, it would be less problematic for READERS to just negate the descriptors. Instead of "New Adult Fantasy" it should just be "fantasy." I think it is just going to get cumbersome if you don't scale down those genre lists a little. I know you said you would leave it to the people putting it together, but I just wanted to stress that this is going to get out of hand quickly if people "insist" on their sub-sub-sub genres getting separate billing. To whomever is doing this, it needs to be grouped based on how it will make sense to the readers, not just force-feeding a ridiculously unwieldy list into the mix to keep everyone happy.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Honestly, the easiest way to stay on top of this project is to read Gennita's recent posts off her profile:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?action=profile;u=65894;sa=showPosts


----------



## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

If you're going to just have a general Fantasy category, you can put my story in there rather than a separate Fairy 
Tale category - if I can keep the story I have inn mind under 1000 words, it'll have a more adult theme than most of my fairy tales do.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Swolf,
> 
> I was just looking at the genre breakdown. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for horror, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. It doesn't actually make sense to have a separate speculative fiction category AND have horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
> 
> I also think that, given the size of the anthology, it would be less problematic for READERS to just negate the descriptors. Instead of "New Adult Fantasy" it should just be "fantasy." I think it is just going to get cumbersome if you don't scale down those genre lists a little. I know you said you would leave it to the people putting it together, but I just wanted to stress that this is going to get out of hand quickly if people "insist" on their sub-sub-sub genres getting separate billing. To whomever is doing this, it needs to be grouped based on how it will make sense to the readers, not just force-feeding a ridiculously unwieldy list into the mix to keep everyone happy.


Ew, I don't want epic fantasy getting their peanut butter all over my urban fantasy chocolate.


----------



## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Gennita said pretty much this up thread. The anthology TOC will have the major categories: Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, and each story will be subtitled with the sub genre.


Where is the Literary Fiction category, the poor redhead orphan of literature?


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Yeah, I'm going to revise the list soon to match the basic genres Gennita mentioned, and slot them as best I can.  (I'm not really up on some of the nuanced differences.)  Then the authors can let me know if I made a mistake.

I would expect the genre list to change if anything glaring was left out.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Found it:



Gennita Low said:


> I think the tome will be in a few main general sections to make it more concise. Not in any order:
> 
> Thriller
> Horror
> ...


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

swolf said:


> Yeah, I'm going to revise the list soon to match the basic genres Gennita mentioned, and slot them as best I can. (I'm not really up on some of nuanced differences.) Then the authors can let me know if I made a mistake.
> 
> I would expect the genre list to change if anything glaring was left out.


I think it's perfectly reasonable to put things down as people tell you, and then decide how to lump them.

As for literary: there should be a literary/mainstream/cross-genre/non-genre sort of category. But that can wait until we see what we get.

Camille


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Gabriela Popa said:


> Where is the Literary Fiction category, the poor redhead orphan of literature?


I thought literary was the stuffy uncle Chadwick pulling his pocket watch out of his herring bone 3 pice, checking it with his monacle, and telling the driver to hurry because the panhandler's making him uncomfortable?


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

swolf said:


> Yeah, I'm going to revise the list soon to match the basic genres Gennita mentioned, and slot them as best I can. (I'm not really up on some of nuanced differences.) Then the authors can let me know if I made a mistake.
> 
> I would expect the genre list to change if anything glaring was left out.


When you do you can move me into Science Fiction/Fantasy


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## Gabriela Popa (Apr 7, 2010)

vrabinec said:


> I thought literary was the stuffy uncle Chadwick pulling his pocket watch out of his herring bone 3 pice, checking it with his monacle, and telling the driver to hurry because the panhandler's making him uncomfortable?


Yes, dear vrabinec, it's uncle Chadwick all right, and how much I love his stuffy ways!


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

vrabinec said:


> I thought literary was the stuffy uncle Chadwick pulling his pocket watch out of his herring bone 3 pice, checking it with his monacle, and telling the driver to hurry because the panhandler's making him uncomfortable?


Mostly it IS the panhandler. (And I'm speaking on many levels here -- no money for writing, and many of the writers are more the literal outcast types, and that's what they write about.)

Literary as a genre has a whole lot of sub-genres. Only one of which makes any money at all ("Literary Accessible" which is polished up and dumbed down so that the Uncle Chadwicks of the world will buy it). Others are anything from Women's Fiction (which is a literary sub-genre) to Gonzo Journalism.

But, just in general, be careful about making snide remarks about other people in the group here. Okay?

Camille


----------



## Nick Endi Webb (Mar 25, 2012)

Put me in as SciFi.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

daringnovelist said:


> Mostly it IS the panhandler. (And I'm speaking on many levels here -- no money for writing, and many of the writers are more the literal outcast types, and that's what they write about.)
> 
> Literary as a genre has a whole lot of sub-genres. Only one of which makes any money at all ("Literary Accessible" which is polished up and dumbed down so that the Uncle Chadwicks of the world will buy it). Others are anything from Women's Fiction (which is a literary sub-genre) to Gonzo Journalism.
> 
> ...


Aw, man, this isn't gonna be any fun if we can't trash talk. That kinda stuff should inspire people into writing a better story. Works in football. (p.s. One of my WIPs is literary)


----------



## Nicole Ciacchella (May 21, 2012)

I think I'll go for sci fi for this anthology, though if things look really unbalanced, I would volunteer to move to a different category. I have novels out in women's fiction, fantasy, and sci fi, and I wouldn't mind writing for any of the three.


----------



## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Hi, folks,

In reading some of the assorted posts, I think I saw where the rating for the antho is PG-13, but use of the f-bomb is OK?  Is that official?  If so, I'm going to bow out while wishing wonderful success for everyone involved.

Cheers,

Kary


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Slot me in under fantasy, please.


----------



## JV (Nov 12, 2013)

Stick me in at post-apocalyptic horror. I've already got the story written in my head. I just need the green light.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

KaryE said:


> Hi, folks,
> 
> In reading some of the assorted posts, I think I saw where the rating for the antho is PG-13, but use of the f-bomb is OK? Is that official? If so, I'm going to bow out while wishing wonderful success for everyone involved.
> 
> ...


I finished mine without a single profanity. I should start writing fucking children's books.


----------



## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

MarenHayes said:


> Hey--I resemble that remark. Lit fic is daring, not stuffy, when it's any good--as I would expect it to be from the writers on Kboards. Just sayin'...


That's the spirit. Here, here, for lit fic that's not stuffy!


----------



## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

KaryE said:


> Hi, folks,
> 
> In reading some of the assorted posts, I think I saw where the rating for the antho is PG-13, but use of the f-bomb is OK? Is that official? If so, I'm going to bow out while wishing wonderful success for everyone involved.
> 
> ...


I have to say I would prefer to see the word eliminated, too. No, I'm not a prude, but this is a big group project for a big group audience. That needs to be kept in mind. If a writer can't write without a word that is offensive to so many people, perhaps there's something lacking in the creative ability. The big group thing is also the reason I truly feel erotica should be a separate volume even though I can accept it being included if it's very well labeled and placed at the end.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I believe that the MPAA standard for PG-13 is that the f-word can be used once in a feature movie. Once gets you pushed up to PG-13 if you were otherwise G or PG, and twice gets you pushed up to R. (Although I expect they also take it case by case.)

I expect the reason is the same reason the Production Code board allowed the d-word to be used in Gone With the Wind.  A single use comes off as an extreme situation in which a boundary broke.  More than one moves it inside the boundary.

(Not that this is how we should think of it; it's just an example of the way ratings are handled in the world outside.)

Camille


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Well, if you're going to follow the general genres that Julie suggested, where in the world does historical fiction go? I've got mine written. It is plain old historical fiction. It isn't romance, horror, fantasty, etc. I can see grouping historical romance under historical fiction with romance as a sub-category, but historical fiction is a pretty major category of books, even if no one else is writing it here. Where do you want me then? Lit fic? That's fine, but it's really HF...

And, by the way, if the lif fic you've read is stuffy, you're picking the wrong lit fic. Some lit fic goes places and takes chances that other genres won't.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

vrabinec said:


> I finished mine without a single profanity. I should start writing [expletive] children's books.


It's been done. Haven't you read ?


----------



## R M Rowan (Jul 13, 2011)

Sci-Fi/Fantasy for me, please!


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

JVRoberts said:


> Stick me in at post-apocalyptic horror. I've already got the story written in my head. I just need the green light.


Green.
Light.
On.
Go!


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Caddy said:


> Well, if you're going to follow the general genres that Julie suggested, where in the world does historical fiction go? I've got mine written. It is plain old historical fiction. It isn't romance, horror, fantasty, etc. I can see grouping historical romance under historical fiction with romance as a sub-category, but historical fiction is a pretty major category of books, even if no one else is writing it here. Where do you want me then? Lit fic? That's fine, but it's really HF...
> 
> And, by the way, if the lif fic you've read is stuffy, you're picking the wrong lit fic.


Historical, when it's not in another genre, is usually considered a subcategory in literary/mainstream. It's really a descriptor, not a genre. (It doesn't have conventions of its own.)

IMHO, authors should be really specific in labeling the story itself. (For instance, not just historical fiction, but by era and country.) However, the BOOK should be divided into a minimum number of major categories.

If we have one major category that turns out to contain way more stories than the rest, THEN we consider breaking it up.

But no matter what, "literary/mainstream/non-genre" should be a category.

Camille


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I have read all 35 pages and multiple threads and I am confused. What do we write under what theme for when?


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I have read all 35 pages and multiple threads and I am confused. What do we write under what theme for when?


As I understand it..

No Theme
Less than 1,000 words
You pick genera and let SWolf know
put in fun KB WC easter egg(s) in - like a wool scarf

Deadline is some time in May


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I have read all 35 pages and multiple threads and I am confused. What do we write under what theme for when?


Nathalie,
Here is the link to the post where all updates are done in the FIRST post. The date of the topic will change every time I update. Bookmark topic? Hope that helps!

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,173210.0.html


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Thanks!   

And are those the FINAL rules? I can start writing now?


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

I'd love to sign-up if you've got a little more room in there. Put me down for Fantasy. Thanks.


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Becca Mills said:


> It's been done. Haven't you read ?


Hey, that's the lullaby I used to sing to my girls.


----------



## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

My understanding is that it's once in the non-sexual sense, so "Heck, yeah!" or "What the heck?" - even "Heck you!" if it's just once. But if it's the sexual sense, as in "She needed a good *&%$ing," that's R.

This is a brand decision for me, not a personal one. The protagonist in my main novel series is 8 years old. In my princess-bodyguard short, it's a big deal when the characters _hold hands_. If people click my name, buy this and find f-bombs, steamy situations or a section of erotica, it just won't go over well well a large segment of my target audience.



daringnovelist said:


> I believe that the MPAA standard for PG-13 is that the f-word can be used once in a feature movie. Once gets you pushed up to PG-13 if you were otherwise G or PG, and twice gets you pushed up to R. (Although I expect they also take it case by case.)
> 
> I expect the reason is the same reason the Production Code board allowed the d-word to be used in Gone With the Wind. A single use comes off as an extreme situation in which a boundary broke. More than one moves it inside the boundary.
> 
> ...


----------



## Samuel Peralta (Dec 31, 2013)

Okay, mine is done, it is PG-13, I use the word "flash" in it (in a G-rated sense), and it clocks in at exactly 1000 words!

Just tell me where to send it


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Personally, I think the exclusion of erotica was an appropriate compromise to make the anthology more reader-friendly.  However, I don't think it's appropriate to completely cleanse everything.  I think most readers won't be offended if the stories have an edge to them. 

Just my two cents.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

swolf said:


> Personally, I think the exclusion of erotica was an appropriate compromise to make the anthology more reader-friendly. However, I don't think it's appropriate to completely cleanse everything. I think most readers won't be offended if the stories have an edge to them.
> 
> Just my two cents.


Agreed. The point isn't to make every story in the collection completely "safe" for everyone. It's to make it generally safe for charities to let their name be associated, and to make it reasonably safe for browsing through to find the things you want. There is a difference between accidentally stumbling across a bad word, and accidentally stumbling across a detailed depiction of either sex or violence.

Camille


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

> Historical, when it's not in another genre, is usually considered a subcategory in literary/mainstream. It's really a descriptor, not a genre. (It doesn't have conventions of its own.)


If that's true, then put me in Lit Fic with sub category Historical.

Was interesting to see this, as many historical fiction novels seem like lit fic at the same time (which to me is a good thing. Some on here love to bash lit fic, but I guess they've only read stuffy lit fic. A lot of it takes chances other types of books won't.)


----------



## H. S. St. Ours (Mar 24, 2012)

swolf said:


> I think most readers won't be offended if the stories have an edge to them.


Honing that edge now.


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Yeah, I know this is probably a stupid question, but I've never written flash fiction or had a word limit so: Is the title of the story part of the 1,000 words? (I'm blonde, give me a break.)


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Caddy said:


> Yeah, I know this is probably a stupid question, but I've never written flash fiction or had a word limit so: Is the title of the story part of the 1,000 words? (I'm blonde, give me a break.)


No, the title isn't part of the 1,000 words.


----------



## H. S. St. Ours (Mar 24, 2012)

swolf said:


> No, the title isn't part of the 1,000 words.


That's good to know. So, can we have a 200 word title?


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Thanks for letting me know.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

EelKat said:


> Sci-fi, horror, and fantasy are not sub-genres of SF. SF is used when horror, sci-fi, and/or fantasy cross over and you can't neatly call is one or the other. So Horror In Space is SF, as is Space Fantasy, but Gothic Horror is not SF, nor is Space Opera.
> 
> Bizarro, Weird Tales, and Absurdist Fiction are the sub-genres of SF. SF is used when the story can NOT be called horror, sci-fi, or fantasy because it doesn't fall neatly into any one genre.


I'm not sure where you got this.

On the one hand, yes, unclassifiable fantastic fiction is often called Speculative Fiction -- but that is precisely because it's the parent category. That's what you do when you have something that's not classifiable as a particular sub-category.

The genre used to be all under the umbrella of "fantasy" because it is the best descriptive word (and before that, all of these were originally listed as "romance" -- along with any other kind of heightened reality type story, including adventure).

However, if it's controversial I'd be willing to see SF-F-H (Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror) because pretty much everybody understands that grouping. If you write something so off-genre, you put it in literary. There's a lot of fantastical literary fiction too.

Camille


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

H. S. St. Ours said:


> That's good to know. So, can we have a 200 word title?


 

Any title over six words cuts into the Bio.


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

We're supposed to include a bio? I can't keep track of all this!


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> I'm not sure where you got this.
> 
> On the one hand, yes, unclassifiable fantastic fiction is often called Speculative Fiction -- but that is precisely because it's the parent category. That's what you do when you have something that's not classifiable as a particular sub-category.
> 
> ...


I agree my understanding is that popular grouping is:

SPECULATIVE FICTION -> FANTASY
SPECULATIVE FICTION -> FANTASY -> Epic
SPECULATIVE FICTION -> SCI FI
SPECULATIVE FICTION -> SCI FI -> Space Opera

PERSONALLY I do not like that grouping, but that is how I understand it to be popularly accepted (as in that is how they would be shelved in a store).


----------



## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Caddy said:


> We're supposed to include a bio? I can't keep track of all this!


All right. I guess I will have to think of a standard format for everyone and update the BUSINESS thread so everyone knows.

Sorry I've been absent. Deadline on my arse.


----------



## Kate McKinley (Sep 6, 2013)

Can I be added to the Historical list? Mine will be a Regency. :c)


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Note to Swolf

I still plan to submit a contemporary literature fiction piece and keep it under 1000 words

I am also letting you know I am withdrawing my offer of having a big Q&A session on my blog. With the writing schedule I am planning for myself....... juggling an interview blog- no matter how great the book might be- is not going to fit into that schedule. Sorry. Doing a similar campaign for Stella with the charity books is beginning to wear on me and this book with all of you looks to be double the size and scope.

Perhaps someone else can handle the marketing chores.
I'll of course tweet/face book about the book using my own name every week once its released in a cheerleader kind of way on the sidelines but to be in it in an official capacity, such as having the responsibilities of getting the word out there so it gets seen and sold, well, I'm sorry but I don't think so. Too much on my plate this year.


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

We should get the crit/beta exchange thing up and running soon. Those things take time. Maybe put a post on the other thread with list of authors who've indicated a willingness to do that with a count of how many they're willing to do and in what genres. If you guys want, I can go back through the 35 pages of this thing and tally up those who offered and put the post over on the other thread this weekend.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

vrabinec said:


> We should get the crit/beta exchange thing up and running soon. Those things take time. Maybe put a post on the other thread with list of authors who've indicated a willingness to do that with a count of how many they're willing to do and in what genres. If you guys want, I can go back through the 35 pages of this thing and tally up those who offered and put the post over on the other thread this weekend.


Ding Ding Ding. You got a job. Then send to swolf. Thank you!!!


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## wiccanhot (Aug 19, 2011)

I want to submit a story and I also want to be a beta reader.


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

FrankZubek said:


> Note to Swolf
> 
> I still plan to submit a contemporary literature fiction piece and keep it under 1000 words
> 
> ...


I can do author Q&A as a part of the roll out - I used to do this every Friday - however - considering the number I'll set it up daily and only do a subset of my normal author Q&A. I'll do 2 interesting general questions - one asking what genre flash you have in the anthology and then a "Flash Five" I'll need links to books/websites/facebook/twitter, etc along with the answers to the questions.

Assuming folks want to do this....

You can email me the answers/links (JET75 @ JETaylor75 . com) and I'll start lining these up - now the question is - do we want to start at the release date and go forward or start some period of time prior to launch (if we have preorder options) and go from there?

Q: Of all the novels and stories you've written - which one is your favorite and why? (provide Amazon Link and I'll pull cover from there)
Q: What's the craziest thing you've done in the name of book research? 
Q: In (Name of Anthology), what's the title of your story and what genre does it fall into?

Flash 5: (Pick 5)
Beach or Mountains? 
Country or Rock-n-Roll? 
Zombies or Demons?
Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?
Vamps or Wolves?
Zombies or Demons?
Horror or Comedy?
Salty or Sweet?
Cat or Dog?
Spring or Fall?
Top 10 best seller or Unknown Back Shelf Find?
Audio books or E-books?
Kick-ass name-taker or Scream for help?
Sword wielding ninja or Gun toting momma?
Chocolate candy bar or Ice cream?

I will want a smaller version of the anthology cover as well to highlight it in the blog. If it's live - I'll have links to this as well.

You all can start sending these to me with Subject line of Anthology Blog post and I'll put them up in the order I receive them unless we all decide otherwise.

JET


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Just resurrecting this thread to let people who are subscribed here know that a few of us are still working on publishing a KBoards flash anthology. Stop by our new thread and read the updates here- http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=186701.0 
We've got 30+ stories submitted and ready to go already, but we want to hit big numbers like the 200+ that were putting their hands up in the early days! Come and join us! You know you want to.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

It's alive!

And free!

Get your copy now!


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## mojomikey (Apr 9, 2014)

Count me in =it's a great idea


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

Excellent news! Just grabbed my copy.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

#247 in the store! Congrats guys. Hope it does really well.


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## Andrew Broderick (Aug 6, 2014)

I'm very much looking forward to reading this showcase of the spectrum of lush talent we have here.


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