SMFS Member Guest Post: DOING GOOD AND DOING WELL by Kathleen Marple Kalb (SMFS Vice President)

Please welcome our
Vice President to the blog today…

DOING GOOD AND DOING WELL

Guest Post by SMFS Vice President Kathleen
Marple Kalb

Charity anthologies are often good
career moves as well as good karma.

In the last few years, I’ve been
fortunate to have stories in several, and every time, there’ve been concrete
benefits beyond the pleasure of helping our fellow humans.

First, if you’re early in your
career, giving a story to a charity anthology can be a chance to work with an
accomplished editor. To get their comments, and their thinking on your
soundtrack for the current story, and every future project, is enough
compensation right there.

Almost all anthologies also give you
an opportunity to reach new and different readers. Even if you’re a big seller,
it’s unlikely followers of every other writer in the anthology will be familiar
with your work. And if you’re still building a readership, it’s a real chance
to widen your audience.

That’s part of any anthology.
Sharing the promotional effort is, too. Many of us don’t do as much promotion
as we should (looking in the mirror here!) but if you’re out there with a bunch
of other folks, suddenly the burden isn’t as heavy. It’s often a lot more fun,
too.

Charity projects, though, are
special. The writers, of course, care about the cause enough to give their work
and their promotional effort. Often, they’re willing to work harder because the
charity is important to them.

More, though, charity projects carry
built-in goodwill that can lead to extra positive attention. Bloggers,
reviewers, and others will often promote the project as a way to help the
cause. Or just to make sure the writers are rewarded for doing good.

All of that is good for the
anthology and the charity.

Sometimes, it’s good for you, too,
bringing in additional readers for your other projects.

And sometimes, you just get lucky.

My most recent charity anthology
story, “A Fatal Saint Patrick’s Day,” came out last month in LUCK OF THE IRISH. The story involves my
Irish-Jewish Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane, because she was the best fit
for the theme. When I signed on, I just wanted to raise some money to help
migrant children – and write a good story.

As it turned out, though, the anthology
came out just over a month before my next Ella Shane book, A FATAL RECEPTION,
the reboot of the series at Level Best Books – due April 30th. Even better, the
editors, Kate Darroch and Jessica Thompson, as well as some of the other
writers, have different (and much larger) readerships than I do.

We told some good stories, we sold a
bunch of books, and we brought in a nice donation for kids who really need
help. And, as it happens, I introduced Ella to lots of new readers right before
the next book.

The old saw is: “It’s better to be
lucky than good,” but maybe it should be: “Look for chances to do good…and you
just might be lucky, too!”

A FATAL RECEPTION:
Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane and her Duke are at long last headed for the
altar…but they’ll have to handle a murder, a shipwreck, a questionable Polish
prince, and any number of other complications on the way. Continuing the
highly-praised series featuring an Irish-Jewish Lower East Side orphan who
found fame and fortune as a singer of male soprano roles, the latest
installment follows Ella and her surprisingly diverse cast of family and
friends through mystery and misadventure…and into the greatest challenge of all
for an independent-minded woman and her Victorian swain: matrimony!

Buy at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Reception-Ella-Shane-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CXY8T735

Kathleen
Marple Kalb describes
herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend
anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels
including A Fatal Reception and the Old Stuff series, both from Level
Best Books. As Nikki Knight, she writes the Grace the Hit Mom and Vermont Radio
mysteries. Her stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,
Black Cat Weekly, and others, and been short-listed for Derringer and Black
Orchid Novella Awards. She’s currently the Vice President of the Short Mystery
Fiction Society and a co-VP of the New York/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in
Crime. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their
cat.