Anthologies

Hi there,

I have a few questions I'm hoping you might feel inclined to answer. I've put together a group of popular LDS mommy bloggers who would like to create a humorous, uplifting book for LDS women. Each of our blogs have relatively high traffic (in the realm of 1,000 - 10,000 hits per day, per blogger), and between the ten of us we have thousands and thousands of dedicated readers. The women we've assembled are funny, touching and very talented.

Is the query process different for an anthology than it would be for a work of fiction?

No, not really. If the publisher asks for sample chapters or pages, send several of the essays.

Do we need to have the book one hundred percent completed before we shop it around?

No, but you should have a very clear idea of theme, topics, contributors, AND marketing plan because anthologies are harder to sell.

My understanding is that anthologies are typically more like non-fiction books— you prepare a proposal and then write the book. Is that correct?

Yes, but you'll want some sample chapters/essays and you'd need to be able to complete the book quickly.

With Mommy blogs becoming so popular, I think an anthology has potential. One of the most popular Mommy bloggers, Heather Armstrong at dooce.com, just released an anthology of blogger essays. I'm not sure how it's doing but it got a lot of buzz. Bloggers have a pre-existing audience which could potentially generate more sales right off the bat than would an unknown author.