How do you guys suggest I go about collecting stories for an anthology I want to write? Should I ask people to type their own stories up and send them to me? Or should I interview people and write them up myself using the information they gave me...? Furthermore, how do I actually go about getting stories from people? Just talk to people I know IRL, or post something online? Should I pay these people? I'm just not sure how any of this works. I've never written an anthology, so any advice is appreciated. I figured that for each story, I will include the person's first name, their age, gender and maybe what State, region or country they're from. Or, if they want to be anonymous, I'll write it out that way. For example... Steve, male, 32, Kentucky, USA [insert monologue] Anyway, any advice is appreciated guys. I think I have an interesting idea here; it ain't a NY Times bestseller but I think people would enjoy reading the book.
As I understand it, any story anyone tells comes under copywrite once it's in a tangible form. If someone did send you a story that you wanted to print in your own anthology, you would have to have a legal agreement between the two of you if you didn't want to get potentially sued. I'm not an expert, but we do have at least one here somewhere, hopefully they chime in.
Yea, I figured some kind of contract would be involved. And I'm guessing I'd be splitting the proceeds with all of those who contributed, in some way shape or form. Which is totally cool! I just think I have an interesting idea for an anthology.
That depends on the contract. Some people might contribute just to have the opportunity to have something of theirs in print or as a way of donation if some of the proceeds were going to a cause they support.
It's an anthology involving cocaine use and I thought of donating to some sort of addiction recovery cause. I wanted to get a collection of stories from people on how they feel after the coke is gone; once you're sober, what do you think of the day, or two, or three, that you spent snorting or smoking your life away? I say after cocaine use specifically because I don't want the anthology to turn into a bunch of drug-fueled rants about how awesome cocaine is. I want to highlight the dread one feels during and after the comedown. The regret, the feeling you get after wasting all of your money and time chasing cocaine. The seedy, terrible people you have to deal with when you buy and use cocaine.
If you provide the cocaine, I'll provide a story. Though, to be honest, I don't think my experiences quite mesh with what you're looking for. I honestly feel more regret and more physically terrible after I go to McDonald's than I ever did from drugs and the people really weren't all that seedy.
Then you live in a much different world than the rest of us. Cocaine always involves seedy people. 100% of the time. I'll take a double cheeseburger, no pickles, please.
I'm going to disagree with you on that, but this isn't really the forum to discuss it. I would, however, advise that if you do plan on going through with this project, that you be aware of perpetuating negative, and frequently wrong stereotypes about drugs and drug use that may actually prevent people that need help from seeking it because admitting they're associated with drugs would automatically make them horrible people.
cough "Copyright" Copywriting is what copywriters do. That apart you are on the money. The other consideration is why should anyone send you their story ? Whats in it for them? (usually the answer is either a payment or a share of the royalties)
Well, coming from someone who did cocaine for years and years on end, for better or worse, I'm comfortable saying I can agree to disagree. Cocaine is hard drug with a short-lived high, requiring constant redosing. That's why people describe "chasing" the drug. Everyone doing it is also "chasing" happiness, a feeling of content or a feeling of being wanted. Or sex. A lot of the time cocaine is about sex. And lots of alcohol is almost always involved. Everyone involved in that world is either lonely, unhappy or addicted. Doesn't mean they're bad people, they're just usually people without a whole lot of direction or ambition in life. Then of course, you have the "high-class" addict. The Wall St. guy who does an eightball a week, on a slow week, and is closing sales left and right, hiring hookers, etc. Yeah, not seedy at all. This isn't a sentiment I've come up with on my own, either. This is from years of being an addict (still am, depending on who you ask and their opinion on addiction recovery), being around addicts, talking to addicts, talking to people who didn't think they were addicts, and talking to the people who maybe tried it once or twice, saw that it was an effort in futility and never came back. How many well-adjusted, normal people do you know that just so happen to snort some cocaine on the weekends? Or smoke crack for that matter? None. Sure maybe they tried it once in college... but that's about it. Normal people will have a beer, maybe smoke a joint. Anything beyond that and you're getting into the realm of abuse. Very, very, very few people can actually use hard drugs moderately. It almost never happens. But you're right, that is another conversation. Don't even get me started on heroin. As far as the stigma behind cocaine, what is your point? That I'll have trouble finding authors willing to contribute? I suppose that could be true. Obviously, people could write under a pseudonym or simply submit their stories as anonymous. I'm more concerned about, how do I even go about finding others? I can't imagine trying to publish an anthology back in the days before the internet... what did people do, post an ad in the paper? Jeez. Well, sure LOL! I just didn't know if authors would expect payment up front, or what? I'm not sure how any of this works, so excuse me if I'm asking silly questions. Ideally, I would split the royalties would the others or have the proceeds go to an addiction recovery cause of some kind.
With my mod hat on let's jettison the discussion of the wonders/evils of coke ... I tried to do a line before posting this but the fizzy liquid wouldn't stay on the mirror, may be pepsi would be better.... and focus on the question at hand. With my mod hat off - my suggestion would be that you find the cause you want to support first, resolve the discussion with them and then use your connection with them to find the contributors to the anthology. If all profits go to them then people might donate work to the cause, if its a profit split between you and them expect to split your share with the writers... in that case I'd suggest a royalty share as sales could be low and if you pay a flat fee you could wind up out of pocket. And get a lawyer to draw up the agreement ... if you do it with a "cause" they may have pro bono lawyers who can do this for them
If I'm being honest, I couldn't care less about the money. I just think it's an interesting idea for a book. Highlighting the the actual dread, regret and despair involved in cocaine addiction, and not glorifying it, like so many other books and films do.
Or given that you used to be a user you could just write your own story and give a profit share to a worthwhile charity - this would avoid the mess that anthology can often be.. even if your own story is not that long its easy to self pub a short story or novella length book if you want
Having allegedly done years of the drug, you should be aware of the problem that stigma creates in having people seek treatment. If your cause it to actually help people, then please, first, do no harm. Given the nature of the anthology, I would advise that the first people you talk to be actual, licensed healthcare professionals. They would be able to advise you on how best to proceed and may be able to get you in touch with treatment facilities that would be an amazing resource for the kinds of stories you're looking for. And in this type of analogy I wouldn't recommend putting people real names under the stories, no.
Interesting thoughts. Thanks! Do no harm? Meaning what? I'm not sure I get your point. I wouldn't be asking people to put their first and last name, where they work, and their home address on the damn story. I'm offended you would even insinuate that. At most, their first name, age and where they're from. If they're even comfortable with that. As an addict, yes, I understand the concept of discretion. And while I appreciate the advice, I'm not concerned with the opinions of healthcare professionals, their clinical view of things isn't what's needed in this particular case. I'm interested in hearing the personal, subjective experiences from addicts and the dread they felt after the coke ran out. Being up at five in the morning after getting high all night tends to leave one feeling like complete shit; it leaves the user depressed and sometimes even suicidal, especially after multiple days of use. That's the reality of cocaine addiction that I want to highlight.
So, if being addicted to coke is that horrible, why are you completely unwilling to do any kind of research to make sure you don't inadvertently make their lives worse. I'm not arguing the morality or the potential good or evil of the substance, but you are putting yourself in a position that has the potential to cause a great deal of good, or a great deal of harm to a great deal of people depending on how it's handled. This is why I'm recommending research first with people that have been trained in alleviating the suffering of others if that is your intended goal.
Okay, thread is open again - but lets be clear this is a discussion of the practicalities of assembling an anthology , not a debate about cocaine usage - lets all stay on track please
