If anthologies don't sell, why did you buy one?

[deborahjross]

Despite the cry of "Anthologies Don't Sell," readers are still buying them and writers want to submit stories to them. Maybe "Why don't anthologies sell?" is the wrong question and we should be asking, "Who do anthologies sell. Feel free to leave comments, as well.

[Poll #1792977]

Comments

[meirwen.livejournal.com]

I didn't answer the poll because truly there are three equal reasons I buy anthologies (and I do, frequently).

First, I buy the authors--especially if it is a new story set in a world he or she has created that I love and want to revisit. Second is theme--I blame MZB for that, because the first themed anthology series I fell in love with was Sword and Sorceress (I've bought every one and am still devastated that I lost the one with my favorite short story). But I've gone on to all sorts of themed anthologies in multiple genres. And, finally, sometimes I'm just in the mood for short fiction. All too often I only have enough attention for a short story because there's too much going on mentally to sustain the sorts of complex novels I enjoy, in which case the anthology lives by my bed and gives me a few pages of wonder for nights on end.

(Even though there are some authors I admire and enjoy who edit anthologies, for me their names as editors have never been any kind of selling point for me. I may be the exception in that.)

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I think that apart from Marion, the editor's name has very little to do with the attractiveness of the anthology. Which is too bad, as I have glowing memories of discovering short sf through Groff Conklin. I'd love to have met him and thanked him for opening those universes to me.

I could be way off, but I see a disconnect between what readers say -- they love short fiction, it doesn't displace novels in their reading -- and the pessimism about the viability of magazines and anthologies.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Which volume did you lose? Maybe someone online has an extra copy///

[isfdb.livejournal.com]

That "in the last 5 years" and the lack of multiple choices makes it difficult to answer the poll. But not the post.
Overall, "I was in the mood for short fiction" probably comes top. That always applies.
"Award-winning stories" helps, but I do get a bit frustrated by the overlaps. (I'm still not complete on the Nebula Award Anthologies, and may never be if I have most of the contents in something else.)
"One or more writers I love" has applied, rarely - but some of Terry Pratchett's work is only available that way, for instance.
"One or more writers I'm curious about" - no. I'd probably just browse that one in the store.
"The editor" - almost always no. I think I did buy some on the basis of Neil Gaiman's name but that was over 5 years ago.
"The publisher" - no. There may be a pattern in my anthology buying, but it's probably down to "Award-winning stories" series.
"The theme" - occasionally.

The other options not on offer are "because that's the only easy way to find out the contents" - which I did when I had money to spare on stuff that I might not even read but wanted to catalogue - and "because it's a cheap way to get a selection" - more important now I've spent a year out of work.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the poll structure. It's the first time I've tried it, and I still don't know how it works (as the Wizard of Oz said).

Yes, about the overlaps on reprint anthologies. I think that was one of the driving forces behind the explosion of original anthologies (during the 80s?) Alas, there seems to be a trade-off between replication and quality -- that the reprint anthos can pick and choose the best, and even a great author can put out not-so-great stories from time to time. That's the pitfall of "all new stories."

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Not always any of the above. I bought the Lightspeed antho from Prime at WFC because I want to get a grip on what the magazine is doing, and all-the-stories-from-the-first-year's-issues seems like a sufficient way to do that.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

So this comes under "market research" or "keeping up with the field"?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yup, I guess it does.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the editor and the publisher are the only reasons that don't apply for why I buy anthologies.

Sometimes I have a short attention span. Sometimes I only have the appetite for a nibble, not a meal. Sometimes I want a relatively-low-risk way of seeing if I like someone's work, and one short story isn't an off-putting amount of investment. Sometimes I want to see various ways that writers see a particular thing.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Sometimes when I'm tired, I don't want to keep track of all the stuff that happens in a novel, so a short story is just right.

There are some wonderful writers whose natural length is short, and they produce stories like perfectly cut gemstones. The joy in reading those is different from that of novels, like haiku and epic poetry are different.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

One more possibility-- there are stories which are part of series I'm following.

Unfortunately, the only stories of that kind that I've liked were "Winterfair Gifts" and the prequels for A Song of Ice and Fire. Usually, the outtakes are disappointing.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

This is so interesting, the question of whether tie-in and outtake stories are satisfying in the way the original (longer) works are. Sometimes, they're like fanfic written by the author her/himself.

I think there's a pressure to put those out, whether they have good "storyness" in themselves. That is, whether they would work as stand-alones to a reader who didn't know the book/series.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

*Wanders by from Friends-of-Friends*

In addition to stories by authors I love, I've found that short fiction is the perfect complement to my lunch-hour reading.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Hello, so glad to see you here!

Me, too, on keeping a balance between longer and shorter fiction. At bedtime, I read the shorter works first. A well-crafted short story has so many things going on at once, I need to be at least a little awake to appreciate the artistry!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I ticked 'writers I love' but in fact I could have ticked almost any of those apart from the award-winning one, which doesn't bother me. I love anthologies: it's a way to discover new authors and to explore areas of the genre I might not usually look at, to support small presses and new voices. Anthologies were one of my key introduction points into sff, back in my teens. They make great gifts... Love them.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Exploring new genres and styles is one of the reasons I love to write short fiction, too. If I wanted to do a hard-boiled tachno-extravaganza sf novel, my editor would have apoplexy, but no one cares if I do it at a shorter length. That allows me to be interested in and explore all kinds of things, which definitely keeps my curious inner child happy.

[lindaabdavis.livejournal.com]

Anthologies are one of my absolute favorite types of books to buy and read. The theme is what catches my attention first on a bookshelf, but there are other factors that weigh in as well. Trying new authors. Catching a favorite author. A particular story.

I always feel like I get extra "oomph" for my money with an antho. It always feels like a little bit of everything.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I'm so heartened by your comment. I very much would not like to see anthologies disappear, both as a reader and a writer. Like you, I've discovered some wonderful new writers this way. If I buy a novel by an author I don't know and it isn't for me, there goes the whole book. But I always find a gem or ten in an anthology.

[kyryn.livejournal.com]

I ticked off "writers I love," but I sometimes buy anthologies for the theme. If the theme looks good, then I often take a chance on a crop of completely unknown authors. I have often found my way to excellent authors by doing that. The editor will sometimes attract me if I have found that editor to have put together a good previous anthology or have enjoyed the editor's writing.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

It took me a long time to realize that editors have styles and tastes. Now I look back and see how different anthologies can be -- for instance, I would never mistake a Groff Conklin for a Marion Zimmer Bradley for an Ellen Datlow for a Gardner Dozois...

[stellatangdele.livejournal.com]

I can't choose more than one? I'd choose #1, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm new at this poll business and didn't know how to tell it to allow multiple choices.

It sounds like you don't use anthologies to explore the work of writers you've heard about but have not yet read?