We are about to start a new writing contest March 1st, and there’s a question that’s been bothering me since we concluded the last one.

 

What should the title be for an anthology about “relationships”?

And what should the cover look like?

 

As you will recall, our December contest had a theme of relationships and we had some really great stories, but I am at a loss as to how to market that sucker.

 

Our prior anthology was “scary stories,” and it was going to release in October, so that was pretty easy.

 

Relationships is a little trickier.

I guess it doesn’t have to be, but it’s got me stumped.

The stories aren’t necessarily love stories, and they aren’t necessarily… Well, they’re just all kinds of things!

Which is fine. As soon as somebody starts reading it they’re going to enjoy the rich tapestry of stories that are inside.

But what should that TITLE be, and what should that COVER look like – and more importantly, how do you market it?

Or do you market it?

 

Well, why don’t we do this:

 

You guys are pretty smart. Leave your suggestions in the comment section below and if you want to read the stories they are here on the blog (you have to put the titles in the search box, though).

 

And soon we will need to create a private Facebook group to talk about this stuff with all the people whose stories we put in the anthology… or maybe just add members to the Facebook group we made for the scary anthology, because those are some smart cookies in there, too. (I’ll just change the name of the group, right? Yeah…)

 

And then maybe we can start getting some ideas!

 

Feel free to comment below

or if you have any IMAGES you like that might be appropriate for a “relationship“ anthology, that incorporates maybe some of the ideas in the stories, used the “Contact Me” button and send them.

 

Or…

This might be a radical idea… I have seen things like collections by Mark Twain that say “Tom Sawyer and other stories” or something like that…

 

Maybe take the easy way out. Maybe take the first place winner and name the whole anthology after the winning story in the prior contest (“Flight Risk”) and have it be an additional pat on the back to the winner. Flight Risk And Other Short Stories.

Or does that sound like a battle of F-16’s? Or a video game?

And does that make everyone who is in the “other” category feel slighted?

Oh, a good story!

And… you.

Which isn’t the case, but you can see how an author might feel a bit miffed. Authors are a touchy group.

Anyway, I’m open to any ideas.

 

If we go with “Flight Risk and Other Short Stories, An Anthology” we could just put a picture of an airplane. That solves that!

Or not.

Seriously, give me your thoughts.

 

Maybe we could incorporate the relationship stories in with the mystery stories we are writing this month?

…or does that make it harder to come up with a title and cover?

Should we go with a title that doesn’t really mean anything, like Hidden Gems, and the cover could be a jewelry box?

What are YOUR thoughts?