Activist anthologies

What happens when traditionally published writers turn the tables and produce their own book? Alongside LJ Ross, who edited the Everyday Kindness short story anthology to raise money for Shelter, and Tania Hershman, whose Fuel flash fiction anthology is donating proceeds to fuel poverty charities, the d20 authors (a group of authors first published in 2020) gave it a whirl after having seen how many people were suffering from the cost-of-living crisis.

Going about self-publishing a short story anthology wasn’t easy, with pros and cons in choosing formats and concerns about whether the book would earn enough money to make the effort worthwhile. Thriller author Philippa East led the project and she explained how an initial idea in a group zoom chat turned into a physical reality.

Feedback

As a first step, I asked people to submit short stories, just to see how many we had in total. We ended up with a really good number, and then we arrange to do a peer-editing process, where we teamed up in pairs to review and give editorial feedback on each other’s pieces," she says. "The general consensus was that we had a set of stories that we would be proud to publish."

A key consideration was budget; how to produce a professional-looking product with a very small amount of cash in order to maximise profits for charity. One of East’s big decisions was to keep editing in house to keep costs down. The group paid for a professional formatter but saved money with Caroline Bishop, one of the d20 members, proofreading the book. A professional designer created the cover, hired by the design team. They decided on the title UnLocked, a play on the fact that the idea came about during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Polly Crosby. one of the team, explains that "we wanted the cover to be fresh and accessible, but also to give a hint of the freedom we all felt when coming out of lockdown, and the freedom we, as writers, feel when we pick up a pen".

If authors are willing to donate their time and expertise, anthologies can be a powerful way to "give back"

In the meantime, some of the other d20s banded together to work on promotion. East explains that they took "a lead on spreading the word about UnLocked. One thing that I really emphasised throughout the course of the project was that we were always going to take it at a slow pace with very generous deadlines for each stage. I was so aware that we all had publishing contracts".

Tim Ewins from the promotions team says: "We pushed it to local papers and managed to get finished copies in some gorgeous independent bookshops." Kelly Lacey Book Publicity and Promotions offered a free promotion and book tour package. 

Format is key

Another decision point was the book’s format, which East took on board by fathoming KDP. Seeing as East aimed to publish UnLocked towards the end of 2022, the authors wanted to have a print on demand option as well as an e-book to make the anthology a desirable Christmas gift. There were nerves and pride aplenty when the book went on sale in November 2022. Thankfully UnLocked hit the top 10 in the Amazon short story anthology chart and reviews were excellent.

The decision to choose to donate the proceeds The Trussell Trust was a democratic one that seemed natural in the wake of the cost-of living crisis, which started during the Covid-19 lockdown. "The Trussell Trust themselves have been incredibly supportive of the project and have been lovely to collaborate with," East says.

The decision to choose to donate the proceeds The Trussell Trust was a democratic one that seemed natural in the wake of the cost-of living crisis

Did publishing using KDP work well? "From the start, it seemed the simplest solution for us to self-publish this anthology," explains East, "which would give us maximum creative control, and also we would not have to worry about finding an independent publisher to take us on."

There was, however, a downside. "Amazon KDP doesn’t — as standard — allow distribution into bookshops. It is possible to allow this option, but it has a significant impact on royalty rates. We therefore had to make a decision and, in order to maximise profits for charity, we made the decision to go with online Amazon sales only."

The d20s are currently thinking about a follow-up. Will such self-published anthologies be a growing trend in the future? Perhaps. Considering the work involved and that anthologies are a labour of love, authors have to be very committed. The d20s have so far raised £200 for The Trussell Trust – a welcome amount for the charity but considering the time and labour involved in two years of planning from the initial idea to publication day, not a stellar one.

There are quicker ways for authors to raise money for good causes. But if authors are willing to donate their time and expertise, anthologies can be a powerful way to "give back", using their writing skills to fundraise, bring charities to their readers’ attention and entertain them at the same time. With self-publishing and print on demand becoming easier and cheaper, the future of the author anthology is promising.