The Sorry State of the Anthology Market

An•THOL•o•gy--noun, English. A collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music. (Merriam Webster)

Do you have a shelf for them? A section for them?
No?
Well they aren’t just for English class, you know!

This is why we love them:
• Sample many authors for the price of one book
• You are bound to like at least one story in the collection
• Read many stories about your favorite topics/subjects
• In a one-author anthology, find many doses of your favorite authors talent
• One book, with many quick, one-sit reads-perfect for the busy person
• Short stories: Complete meaningful story in one compact telling
• You can support many authors at the same time by buying one book :)
• A lot of new talent emerges in anthologies featuring other big names
• Year’s Best compilations contain the cream of the annual crop in one genre

Anthologies, single and multiple author, do seem to be a dying breed. Yet, they are a magnificent creature in the menagerie of the bookshelf (virtual or no).

Last year thousands of Anthologies were published. A quick search on Amazon showed that few had a full 5 star rating, and most had fewer than 20 reviews (A book needs to have 25 reviews on Amazon to begin getting pushed automatically.). Sad times in book land.

Most of anthologies were romance/erotica and horror collections. I am led to believe that these genres simply have an audience for anthologies. So these readers get it, why only them? I don’t think that these are the only readers who will like anthologies. Many readers don’t give anthologies a chance, and are missing out.

Here’s an example. The actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt edited an anthology last year. At the time of writing this, fewer than 83 people “like” it on Amazon and there were 27 reviews. It’s only available in hardcover though... The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1. Even so, this anthology is not doing so well compared to other books “written” by celebrities about their own lives.

So, go check out an anthology already.

Here are the GPS picks if you need some suggestions:

Cindy’s Recommendations
Way of the Wizard ed. John Joseph Adams
Tales before Tolkien ed. Douglas A. Anderson
The Fairy Reel eds. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

Scribings Vol. 1 Wait, how’d that get in there? Ooops. Oh well...

Jamie’s Recommendations

The Ultimate Cyberpunk ed. Pat Cadigan
And all six books in the Dragonlance Tales series

Chris’ Recommendations

Women of Wonder: The Contemporary Years, Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s Edited by Pamela Sargent

If you still can’t find something you like, you can search Wikipedia for your favorite author and see what anthologies he/she is published in. You may get to read a story you never knew existed, and possibly discover new authors at the same time.

Be it Known!

Grit City EmotoSingle Lingering in the Woods is now available

from GPS Author Cynthia Ravinski

Check out the store at Cafe Press.

In the untamed wilds of ancient Finland, Chrigle is a young new shaman with a demanding chieftain. He is charged to provide safety over his tribe’s hunters and has much to prove. With only his Spirit Guide to consult, Chrigle must protect the hunters from the ravages of the forest and lead his chieftain and tribe across unfamiliar land, which brims with unknown dangers.

His burden grows as a witch with her own motives plies him with a curse and an aggrieved demon seeks his demise. Using spiritual powers, Chrigle must find a way to protect his people, save a tortured soul, and survive the onslaught of a demonic attack, but the price of righteousness may be too high.

In this EmotoSingle fantasy of Finnish lore, what begins as a journey for Chrigle to win his place among the tribe quickly turns into a test of will and sacrifice. Can a Chrigle save the soul of a demon’s spawn in order to protect his tribe and save himself from exile?

Advance Praise for Lingering in the Woods:

In a world of dark, Finnish-inflected magic, Ravinski conjures up a story of persistent evil and of grim duties. Some of those duties are evaded while others are bravely met, but either way, the consequences endure. And the story, too, has a way of staying with you after you’ve finished it.

–Rudi Dornemann Book Reviewer and Author

I found this story to be a great one. Filled with action and surprises it’s the perfect book to spend an evening with. It also had a moral to the story if you will. Be strong and face your fears. I think the writer captured the scene in perfect detail and made me want to keep turning pages to the end. I believe you will be as excited by this one as I am and be waiting for more books like this from the author.

I gave this one 5 out of 5 books because the detail placed you in the story so easily.

–Have you Heard Book Review

What’s an Emotobook?

The term emotobook was conceived by Grit City Publications founder, Ron Gavalik, in 2011 to label Grit City Publications’ first exclusive tablet fiction medium, which heightens emotional awareness in stories with the use of abstract art.

Grit City Emotobooks are all fast-paced, imagery-heavy short stories or serial novels. But they are much more than that. Emotobooks have a unique style and structure, unlike any other entertainment form. Abstract, emotionally provocative illustrations are tied into each story to depict what characters feel during peak moments of tension. These expressionistic elements provide both a cerebral and visual stimulation, which enhance the impact of the experience. This is what really makes the EmotoBook a revolutionary form of modern fiction.

GCP designed EmotoSerials and EmotoSingles to deliver their vision of fast, exhilarating story experiences in 30 to 60 minutes.

Emotobooks are sold through major retailers, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple iBooks. You can find those links in the Catalog of Titles. With these sources, just about any device with internet access will allow you to take part in the experience. Our fans are known to experience emotobooks on smartphones, iPods, and tablet devices. Some fans have also been known to read Emotobooks on their Laptop or desktop computers by using ereader applications. You can choose the free Kindle for Mac and Kindle for PC. Barnes & Noble offers the free Nook for Mac or PC.

Visit the author's book page for additional information on where to buy and sneak peeks at abstract artwork by Loran Skinkis.