What’s it like publishing a short story collection? Part 2: Tim Lebbon

Welcome to the second part in my blog series on short story collections.

I’ve been interviewing three authors of short story collections – one in the UK, one in the US and one in Australia – about what it’s like to publish a short story collection.

US author: David D Levine

UK author: Tim Lebbon

AU author: Joanne Anderton

Congratulations on having your collections published David, Tim and Joanne!

If you’re a short story writer, as I am, I’m sure you’d love to publish a collection of your stories. A volume of brilliant words containing nothing but your creative genius inside? Sounds fantastic. But how does the experience measure up, and will it differ country to country? David has already told us about his US experience here. Now it’s Tim Lebbon‘s turn.

Tim Lebbon

Hello, Tim. Firstly, some stats. Please could you tell us:

The title of your collection: Nothing As it Seems

Its release date: October 2012

Published through: PS Publishing

One-sentence description: A huge collection of new and reprint short stories and novellas.

Great! Now let’s get stuck in…

1. Congratulations! It’s quite an honour to be asked to put together a short story collection. How did the opportunity arise for you?

This is actually my seventh collection. Every two or three years I look to collect together some of my work from the preceding years, and this time I was lucky enough to hook up with the exceptional PS Publishing, who have done a fantastic job with the book.

2. How many reprints and how many originals will be included in your collection, and do you have a favourite story?

There are three original stories here. It’s difficult to choose a favourite, but perhaps the two most personal stories are Discovering Ghosts and The Reach of Children, both of which are influenced by my mother’s death. The latter won a British Fantasy Award and, until now, has been very hard to find.

3. Do you have an overall theme or message for the collection?

Not by design. I do write a lot about grief and loss, as that’s what scares me the most. And with the two stories I mentioned above, for the first time I felt that I was truly, painfully qualified to write about these themes.

4. To give us an idea of how long this collection has been in the making: which of the stories did you write first, and in which year did you write that story’s first draft?

Including the originals written specifically for the collection, the stories span maybe 4 or 5 years.

5. You’ve been writing short stories for a long time now. How many years into your writing career did you write that first collection-worthy story?

I guess I had maybe 30 short stories published in the indie press before I started having acceptances from larger anthologies and magazines.  My first couple of collections (one of novellas, one of short stories) started around this time.  I could still put my hands on those very early stories, but I’m not sure I’d want anyone else to!  They were a learning process, though, and I’m proud of all of them.

6. There are lots of writers out there who would love to publish a short story collection. Do you have any advice for them about (a) the writing of their stories, and (b) publishing them?

Keep writing, keep reading, keep submitting your work. Aim for the professional markets first (don’t sell yourself short). Pay attention to rejection letters, take the knocks, don’t get downhearted. Write about what inspires you, your passions, your fears. I still get rejections now. Failing that, write Twilight fan-fic and make a billion.

“Nothing As It Seems” by Tim Lebbon

7. What do you anticipate will be or has been the hardest part of getting your collection ready for release? What will be/has been the easiest part of the process?

Thing is with a short story collection, it’s a well-oiled process. Once I’d sold it to PS Publishing, I wrote the originals and then they took over. We talked about cover artist (the incredible Caniglia), and design, and other aspects. But there were no especially difficult aspects to it.

8. Which short story writer do you admire most and why? How have they influenced your own short story writing?

Hmm, difficult question. There are so many, but if forced to choose I’d probably say Michael Marshall Smith. His work just seems to chime with me. His short fiction especially is always touching, soulful, affecting, and if you can move your reader you’re doing things right. I’m delighted to have just written a story with Mike, actually.

9. What promotional activities do you have planned for your collection?

The usual … website, FB, Twitter announcements, and it was launched at the British Fantasy Convention last year.

10. What’s next? Please tell us about your next writing project.

There’s a lot on deck right now! A spooky animated kids’ movie called My Haunted House; a new Star Wars novel Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void due in May; the second volume of my Toxic City trilogy Reaper’s Legacy; a new novella for PS (Shifting of Veils); a novella for Spectral (Still Life); a new novel called The Silence; and a tie-in project that I’m itching to announce but can’t yet. As well as that, a new collaboration with Christopher Golden, as well as several novel and movie proposals. Busy busy. Which is good. Oh, and I’m competing in my first Ironman race in August, too!

Wow – you are busy, Ironman-Tim! Thank you for joining us here today.

Next time it will be Joanne Anderton’s turn to tell us about publishing her collection in Australia. In the meantime, how do you think Tim’s UK experience compared to David’s in the US? Let me know in the comments below.