Welcome to my accidental interview with Sarah Holman about the Very Bookish collections. I wasn’t planning on interviewing Sarah, we were just chatting and I had a few questions about the collections that I was curious about, and those led to a few more questions . . . and here we are. 🙂

Have you ever wondered where the idea of A Very Bookish Collection came from? Or how the authors were chosen? Are they planning any other collections? Let’s find out!

Sarah: We have the July 4th collection coming out next year and plans are already started for the Easter collection the following year.

Me: That’s good! 🙂 How did you come up with the idea of doing a collection of stories from different authors? And how do you handle the sales?

Sarah: Well, I’ve seen a lot of novella collections done like that so it isn’t an original idea. Just most of the collections are not things I would want to read.
As for sales, I keep track of it (as it’s published on my account) and then we divide the royalties We also each pay for part of the cover design.

Me: I agree with you there! I have enjoyed some collections, or at least a few stories in each one. But not all.
Okay, that makes sense. I just wasn’t sure how you handled the sales and such. Neat.
I like that these collections are sold all together for a certain amount of time and then the authors can publish them as stand alone stories later.

Me: Okay. Did you plan on doing more than the Christmas collection when you first started?
(Hmm, now I feel like I should be using all these questions and answers for a blog post about the Thanksgiving series. 😉) Or maybe just the series in general.

Sarah: Hehe, feel free to use them.
Yes, I planned on more from the first collection.

Me: I just might. 😀

Sarah: I thought about starting with an Easter collection, but I thought that I should establish the series with better known Holidays.

Me: Good idea. Are you thinking of doing other holidays after the Easter one? Like Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, New Year’s Day?

Sarah: I am. I know I want to do a Valentine’s Day and a New Years’.
We shall see how much of a following we have. If people keep buying them, we will probably keep writing them. 😉

Sarah: The authors I picked were ones I worked (in one way or another) with before and trusted. I also had loved their books. They were also ones I had interacted with a lot on Facebook so we already had established a friendship.

Me: That makes sense.

Sarah: So, originally, there were going to be five stories in the Christmas collection. One of the authors just had a lot of life challenges and had to drop out and it was to late to fill the spot.

Sarah: All the original authors were invited in October of the next year (2019) for the Thanksgiving collection. And June of this year (2020) for the July collection

Me: So every author has around a year to get their story planned, written, edited, and such.

Sarah: Exactly.

Me: Does each author get to pick what book they want to feature in their story? And are there rules about how closely the new stories should be tied with the older book?

Sarah: Yes, the authors get to pick what book they feature. It is always so fun to see what they choose and why. So the rule of thumb is that there should be elements from the original stories the novella, but there is a lot of room for the creativity of the authors.

Me: I like that. It makes each story unique and makes the stories not “retellings” but still connects the new and the old.

Sarah: Yes, I love seeing what each author does. I have to say the Thanksgiving collection is amazing. I feel like my story is the weakest of the group. We have a lot of talent in this collection.

Me: She’s doing a great job! I can’t wait to see what happens for the July 4th collection! 😀

So, there you have it! What did you think? Are you excited for this collection to continue? Have you read A Very Bookish Christmas and/or A Very Bookish Thanksgiving? What holiday would you like to see more stories written about?