Co-editors of Weird Little Worlds Press’ newest anthology, Mother: Tales of Love and Terror, were recently featured guests on the UK-based Fantasy Writer’s Toolshed hosted by Richie Billing. Sharing their experiences with publishing and writing horror, they focused their comments on using Kickstarter as a way to fund anthology publishing projects, giving a handful of actionable strategies for authors interested in pursing this means of crowdfunding.
Speaking of the two Kickstarted anthologies that the press has successfully funded, CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Willow Becker said, “Our first Kickstarter, Humans are the Problem: A Monster’s Anthology, funded in 36 hours. Our current project funded in the allotted time and we were able to meet and exceed our goal. It was a fantastic ride. Two projects, two different experiences.”
Richie asked a number of fantastic questions about the processes surrounding the anthology including the slush reading process, with a focus on the anonymous reading process that is unique to Weird Little Worlds Press. Willow and Christi describe the process in detail, outlining the numbers of submissions that WLW Press receives for each call and how each story or poem is filtered down to the top 1-2%.
Christi Nogle, who is taking on a lot of the editorial responsibilities for the anthology, was able to share some insight on how authors can grab one of those elusive open submissions slots. “It’s skills and being in the right place at the right time. It’s a matter of having a piece that is polished, but also being lucky in getting into a slot that an editor was keeping open. It’s different enough from the other pieces, but it still fits in.”
Another topic that Christi and Willow discussed briefly is the concept of inclusion when developing an anthology, especially one in which anonymous submissions are a key element. The Mother anthology includes featured authors of diverse backgrounds, which is very important for the co-editors.
“When we’re putting together and anthology we want to make sure we’re representing as much perspective as we can,” Willow said. “I just feel like it’s important when we’re taking submissions that are anonymous that we front-load with perspective. It would be great if we had lots of different perspectives from our slush pile, but we can’t promise that. The odds are changing, though.”
Finally, Richie asked about the secrets a person should know in order to successfully fund an anthology on Kickstarter. A few points that are discussed include:
- Network
- Social Media and Marketing
- Having a Good Product
- Good Video
- Working the Algorithm
If you’d like to know more about funding a project with Kickstarter, join our mailing list for our upcoming FREE EBOOK all about Kickstarting your publishing project! You can also listen to the full podcast here.
The Weird Team is comprised of several unhinged individuals that have a love of life and a lust for adventure. They scour the world to find the strangest, scariest, and most wonderful news in the universe.
