How We Hit the USA Today Bestseller List with a Multi-Author Anthology

“Planning and writing the anthology

Everyone plotted their own stories, and we hired a single developmental editor (Sabrina Darby) for consistency. We decided that the anthology would have a short shelf life, allowing each of us to publish our stories separately after unpublishing the anthology. This seemed the best way to handle the logistics, as there had to be one person overseeing the accounting and payments, and it didn’t seem fair to leave that one person responsible in perpetuity.

We also knew we had to follow through on the promise of the premise. We think this is essential to an anthology’s success, since an anthology isn’t only competing alongside other anthologies, but alongside standalone, solo-authored books as well. And unlike a standalone novel, an anthology can scratch the same reading itch repeatedly, while also highlighting the vision and voice of each author.”