By Hayley E. Frerichs
When Paige reached out with a tentative email inquiring if any of us would be interested in a second anthology, I responded enthusiastically. My fingers couldn’t type fast enough to craft a response. I put on the caps lock and screamed through email how excited I was to do this again.
We had done it. Despite all the odds and the massive learning curve, we had done it. We had published, together, an incredible collection and I was drunk on that success. I wanted more. I wanted more stories, more authors, more art, more outreach, more women’s voices. That’s how this all began. With women in conversation.
An Invitation
I joined Dandelion Revolution Press in the autumn of 2019, after Paige, Ashini, and Bethany had posted the call for submissions. They reached out looking for readers to help them decide on submissions. As soon as I started reading, I knew they—we—had something. We had something more. Something different than what others were offering. A focus on short women’s fiction.
We’ve often talked about this at our writing group—how each of us have stories that might not be quite “marketable” but are nonetheless, extremely important. These are the female forward perspectives that get pushed aside again and again. We decided to change that.
It wasn’t just our own stories that couldn’t find a place, I looked around at the other talented writers I knew and wanted to champion their stories more than my own. As an avid reader, I fell in love with these unique narratives. Stories of hope—a dancer who could fly at night and a quirky older lady with a talent for making rocket ships. Stories of despair—a grieving widow and a singer’s violent last night. Stories of empowerment—a lawyer fighting for the downtrodden and a survivor getting revenge on abusers.
All of these were the human experience. A women’s experience.
The Process and Progress
After narrowing down the submissions for our first anthology and sending acceptances, the next part was entirely new. How, logistically, did one go about publishing a collection and getting it into readers hands?
What followed was weeks of hard work and a lot of research. As a writer of historical fiction, I often think of the past and how times have changed. Even five years ago, this kind of thing might not have been possible. And definitely not as accessible. How wild is it to think that someone can add a book to cart and miles away it will be printed and sent within hours.
As we edited the stories for Not Quite as You Were Told, I worked on formatting the document and designated myself as the graphic designer. What continues to amaze me is how well Paige, Bethany, Ashini and I work together. Each of us bring our skills and strengths to the table. We balance each other and contribute equally to this project that is more than just a project for us. It’s passion.
I considered titling this blog post “Ode to Technology” because technology has made so many things possible. From communicating by email and electronic submissions to print on demand and word processors, we were able to craft a truly professional book. We even decided on stories via video chat while I was on the other side of the country!
Not Quite as You Were Told was published the week the world shut down. Technology aided us even more and our next project has been conducted almost entirely virtually. (Do I even need to say again just how much times have changed?)
As someone who works to be a full-time author, I now know how it takes a village to get a book from idea to shelves. Society often views success by an individual’s hard work. They alone got them where they are. People imagine an author sitting alone at their computer and then suddenly, as if by magic, their book is published.
This is not the true narrative. It never has been for me! Sure, there is some sitting alone at a computer typing away but I could never write alone. I sometimes talk about ideas with my writing group before I even start to write a story. Getting feedback requires people. Editing. Compiling for print. Design.
It is most assuredly a kind of magic how a book is published. Does that make all of us at Dandelion Revolution Press witches? I hope so.
More
On a chilly fall day in 2019, I was driving my car thinking about the fantasy novel I had written. I was mulling over ideas for my query letter and just kept coming back to this idea that all of my women characters kept secrets. Then it popped into my head—The Secrets We Keep. I jotted down this title idea in my notes and saved it for something more.
As women, we often keep secrets. Society has often forced us to just as it shaped us to “act as we are told.” Our first anthology was a rebellion—a revolution—against that idea. The theme was women acting not quite as they were told by others.
I offered this idea to my fellow DRP word witches: a collection of women with something to hide. Paige, Bethany, and Ashini embraced it with open arms. A new theme was born for our second anthology. The excitement swelled even more and I didn’t think that was even possible. We started brainstorming secrets for our own stories and impatiently waited for stories to drop into our inbox. I looked forward to reading about fantastical and extraordinary women, and the authors delivered.
In our newest anthology, I was reminded again how we are giving a place to stories that don’t get the recognition they deserve. A new author reached out after we accepted her story with her gratitude and excitement: her story had been looking for a home for ages without success. Now it has found a home with us. It was meant to be! This is why we do what we do.
I was also reminded of how much we have learned. About publishing, teamwork, technology, editing, marketing, each other. I treasure the connections I’ve made with writers around the globe. And I—we!—don’t plan to stop anytime soon. Let us write. Let us share. Let us embrace a little magic.
You can support DRP by purchasing our publications, including our newest anthology, The Secrets We Keep.