Anthology idea: A Day in the Life of Sonoma County

This morning I came up with an idea for an anthology that I might want to head up, though at this point I’m just musing since I’ve ever done something like this before. I thought it would be cool to gather a bunch of essays that share what a day in the life of different people who live in Sonoma County looks like. For instance, a day in the life of a homeless person, a vineyard worker, a garbage man, an author, a fashion consultant, a secretary, a lawyer, an events coordinator, an artist, a social worker, a sex worker, a retired senior, a college student…and so on. My purpose behind this anthology would be to show the vast contrast of the people who live in Sonoma County, and to offer a realistic view of what each life looks like. This wouldn’t be to shame or exalt anyone. It would just be about reality.

There are several reasons why I want to do this project.

First, my personal life has gone through several periods of massive change. I went from growing up in a middle-income family with plenty to be grateful for, to living in poverty, to surviving domestic violence, to divorce, to being a low-income single mom, to moving up the corporate ladder, to remarriage and blending a family, to living a life filled with blessings. I know what it’s like on both ends of the spectrum. I’m hoping that by sharing the stories of people in all walks of life, we can also share perspective and promote understanding.

Second, every person has a reason for where they are today. A homeless person did not just wake up homeless. There were events that led to that way of living. Same with a lawyer or a bestselling author – success did not happen overnight, there were steps that were taken to reach their career goal. I want these essays to not only reflect what a day in the life looks for each person, but to also give an idea of why that person is living that life today.

Third, I want to offer an in-depth look at the everyday people who make up Sonoma County – not just the big names we often see in the newspaper, but the ones who you pass on the street every single day.

Fourth, I want these essays to be about different people told in different voices. I think it would make a lovely patchwork quilt of stories.

I don’t want to list a bunch of specifics (though I’m thinking about them), but a few details would be that these are biographical about a Sonoma County resident (not memoir or autobiographical, and definitely true), are 2,500 words or less,  and are original works (previously unpublished). I would also offer no compensation (other than notoriety and a link back to your website), there would be a small submission fee (to cover printing and publishing costs), submission won’t be guaranteed, and 100% of the proceeds (after printing and publishing costs) would benefit a yet-to-be-determined Sonoma County nonprofit. In other words, this would make none of us money (though it could lead readers to your books or cause).

Promotion ideas would include republishing a few essays on my Press Democrat books blog at books.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. If this pulls together like I think it could, I might even be able to get some of these essays in print (though that’s not a guarantee).

As I said before, this is just an idea. I’m not sure how big this idea would be to pull off, and I’d definitely want a team of people on board should I decide to move forward. Right now, all I’m looking for is interested participants. If you’re in Sonoma County, would you want to take part in something like this? Would you want to read something like this? Would you want to be a part of the teams that helps put this together (mostly looking for editors).

I have other books news to share, which I’ll do in my next blog post. But right now, I’m just throwing this idea out there to see what you think. If I think there is enough interest, I’d love to move forward with this. If not, this idea might just quietly go away. Let me know what you think (or if you have insight on the amount of work it takes to put together an anthology).