How Anthologies Work

For some reason I've never quite figured, the way many publishers handle anthology payments is that they pay the editor the entire funds budgeted for the book, and the editor pays the creators for each story. This is not always the case, but often.

Subsequently, because the publisher has treated the editor as a kind of sub-contractor on the project, any royalties earned are forwarded to the editor who is then obliged to send a pro-rata share to each author, depending on the percentage of the book contributed by each author. For instance, if it is established by contract that an author will receive 10% of the royalties earned because his story encompassed 10% of the anthology, then if the editor is given $2,000 to disburse among the contributors, that author would receive $200 in royalty payments.


Some years back I sold a story to the anthology CHILDREN OF CTHULHU published by Del Rey Books and edited by John Pelan and Ben Adams. For whatever reason, of the two editors, Pelan was given control of the purse strings on the book. I was initially paid for my story, but have to this date never received a penny earned in royalties. This despite the fact that the book is still in print after a full decade and seems to be a perennially good seller for Del Rey Books. I've inquired to find out why I've never received any royalties, but no good answer has been forthcoming.


Of the two editors of the book, the only one I speak to is my pal Ben Adams who has always stayed in touch with me. He, too, has never seen a penny out of the anthology's royalties, despite being the co-editor. I've been told that all such funds are forwarded elsewhere. Del Rey has never bothered to clear this up with me, so I have no idea where. Neither does Ben. I've never been able to get in touch with John Pelan about it.

I have only co-edited a single anthology in my days as a writer/editor. That was EVERMORE for Arkham House Books. Before her death, I was told by April Derleth (the publisher) that she thought she owed us some royalties, but she never made that clear. Since her death I've not heard from the folk who are in charge there now. I was happy when Arkham House actually cut each check for the authors in that volume, so I assume they'll do the same when (and if) the book earns out royalties.

Other anthologies of which I have been a part have paid out royalties regularly and with perfect accounting. Especially when I sold to anthologies handled by the late Marty Greenberg.

Will I ever be made aware of, or receive royalties from CHILDREN OF CTHULHU? Who knows?

Know Your Rights

These are the things:

Love.

A warm, dry place to live.

Food.

Freedom.

Companionship.

Time to enjoy these things.

I am reminded of the song by The Clash, "Know Your Rights", about imposed limitations.

These are things I think of when I stop to review my life until now.

The only real path to freedom in the western world is through money. It opens the doors and allows you access to the road without having to worry about freezing to death, starving to death, or being arrested for being poor.

I was pondering my writing life.

I started writing fiction when I was eight years old. I was spurred into this by my third-grade buddy, Billy Bridges. We would write Godzilla stories and exchange them. But I quickly grew bored with Godzilla and moved on to writing stuff about my own inventions.

When I was in my mid-20s I started trying to sell my work. It was time to get serious about it. At first, I managed to place short works in magazines that paid in copies. Later, I sold tales to small press publications that paid anywhere from 1/2 cent per word to 3 cents per word.

All the time I was at this work, I would wonder what it would be like to:

sell my first story...(it was nice)...

sell my first comic script...(a great achievement for me)...

appear in a hardback anthology...(that one was electric)...

appear in a mass market paperback anthology...(I loved seeing it on the shelves in the bookstores)...

have a story in a widely circulated newsstand magazine...(Hey...almost famous!)...

edit an anthology...(a special kind of satisfaction)...

sell a novel (that was indeed a rush).

I kept thinking that each of these goals would electrify me and fill me with contentment and satisfaction. But as I reached each goal, I just kept wanting to hit the next mark, climb the next peak, see over the following ridge.

The novel sale to Five Star and seeing it in hardback in 2006 was truly a thrill. But I still wanted to keep moving. I wanted to sell another novel, of course, but more than that I wanted to move out of the smaller publishers and into the realm of one of the big, New York publishing firms.

Now I've done that. It feels really good to achieve that goal. I've been chipping away at this slab of marble for almost thirty years. It's taking shape, at long last. Eventually, I'll reach my next publishing goal. I won't say here what it is, but I've got a feeling I'll reach it.

I'm single-minded that way.

Road Trip!

Not exactly "On the Road", but I'm headed up to Greensboro tomorrow to hook up with Mark Rainey to sign copies of our anthology, Evermore (Arkham House Books).

After we sign the books, we're probably going to hit a restaurant. It's been a long time since I've visited the Raineys. I'll probably post some photographs here tomorrow.

Woo HOO!

At last!



Ten years after I conceived the project, the anthology EVERMORE has seen publication from Arkham House Books!



I apologize for my appearance in this photo, but I'd just arrived home from a rough day at work. But I was too excited not to have my photo taken with this gorgeous volume from Arkham House! One of my dreams was to see my name in print on an AH title. And here it is!

Evermore anthology.

The Arkham House Books anthology that I co-edited with Stephen Mark Rainey is getting closer to publication. I just got the final look at the jacket art, and it's a beauty.

The Poe-themed anthology has been a very, very, very long time coming. Mark and I have shepherded this wonderful book for a couple of years and it's great to see it finally coming to bookshelves.