(no subject)

[minervasolo]

I'm in a spammy mood, and I've been meaning to post this since Monday. I've promised some actual thoughts on publishing, but this is what they inspired.

Numbers are chosen more for convenience; this is not a business model. Cost of advertising etc would have to be researched.



The idea runs thus:

Serialised Novels by email: four genres, only one book in a genre at a time (romance, horror, sff, other). First chapter free on website, back issues available for small charge. Completed novels published via lulu with ISBNs.

Four editors, to choose books. Query with synopsis, the full. Fulls need to be read, because format and style of chapters is important throughout. Can't afford to lose pace anywhere (not that that stopped Dickens sometimes!)

Subscribers can pay £6 a year per genre, or £20 for all four.

No novels over 20 chapters? Minimum chapter length (2000 words?). 30,000 - 80,000 words (approx). Link to free first chapter of next novel at end of previous novel; go straight into chapter two for subscribers. Will try and get illustrations occasionally; not available in lulu books, just serials.

Royalties calculated by number of subscribers per genre per month. 25% for serialisation, 50% for lulu. Free subscription to all four genres for authors for period of novel release. Free copy of lulu book.

Back issues available per genre for 60p (to encourage people to subscribe rather than buy month by month). Available one year only. Chapter limit to prevent latecomers from getting pissed off if several chapters not available.

Advertising on genre-relevant blogs, writing forums, etc. 100 bookmarks for lulu authors to self-advertise locally? Not a great deal of market support!

Amazon Assoc scheme for lulu books. Also, relevant advertising on site.

Forum for book discussion. Authors may revise work prior to lulu publication, or not publish at all.

Big spreadsheet - Subscribers info, Subscribers per Genre, LuLu sales, back issue sales, Authors etc. New sheet each tax year?

I stuffed 247 envelopes, which is what gave me time to plan that out. Poke holes in it!

Comments

[87-degrees.livejournal.com]

It has potential.

It will take time, effort and serious marketing to get it to go anywhere.

I'm assuming you will be the publisher and get other people to submit their books to you. The problem is getting good enough quality books. Good writers won't submit to you unless you're credible and you won't be credible until you have good writers. If you can find a way to break that circle, good luck to you. (I may submit Technicality Man for the other genre when I've rewritten it - I'm on chapter three of the second draft now).

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

It's a floating idea right now, really. A sort of mental exercise. It would require significant organisation, and possibly an Arts Council grant, to actually get off the ground. Definitely a real business plan, with quotes for advertising, advice from other small presses, and more futureproofing than I've allowed for here. It would probably kick off with novella length books, just to make sure at least one book in each genre is completed in the first year.

[aearonlinn.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

I'm in a spammy mood too, but I don't have anything to say (do I ever?) so I'll just keep responding to yours!

I think this, as a sort of nebulous plan (which I know it is-- totally understand, research comes after the idea, after all!), is a very good idea. And I think that most importantly it fills a niche in the market that's rather wide open. I know you've said it before, and I've certainly noticed that there's a gaping hole where the old school serialization should be. Reading Vanity Fair lately really has me lamenting this. You get a few old school places with cult followings (Ray Gun Revival comes to mind, as an online venue, and Graveside Tales does some horror serialization as a sort of bloggy thing), but it's not enough.

The above commenter raises a valid point about credibility as a publisher. Of course, that's the pain of the slush pile, finding the rare gem. The good news is that you're building your rep literally as I type this, and all it would really take to make a tentative venture of it was more of the same, plus some activity in some small press circles-- all well within your grasp. More stuff that can be taken care of later, but I definitely know people who would have helpful opinions on the subject, if you decide after the research that you want to go ahead with it.

I'd pay for it.

[samanthas.livejournal.com]

I don't know the market, but it sounds like a good idea. Like you say, Dickens shows it can work...
Your local Business Link should be able to help with business advice, planning, and free training sessions on key topics if you want to take anything forwards. It seems quite well thought through so far and new writing is something you have a passion for so good signs there. Have fun!!

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Capacity for allowing people to subscribe to more than one genre? So that they can have a chapter from more than one book each time? For more money, obv.

Re: advertising. If it's an interesting enough scheme you can send a press release to most local/free newspapers to include if they're having a slow news day.

Extras? [I ask because L. is making a soundtrack to PtP and people love Easter Eggs]

Broadly I find this an exciting idea, obviously. House proofers/subeditors/whatever? How do you assure quality of text and content?

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

The original idea was to subscribe to all four genres, but people would end up paying for content they didn't want, so it's £6 per genre, with a discount if you subscribe to all four. Easter Eggs would definitely be good, and I think perks for subscribers would be a better way of generating a regular income, rather than pushing completed books.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

~Ah, I see, that make more sense, yes.

Do you mind if I repost a link to this?

[rhube.livejournal.com]

I think Jess is right that Marketing is going to be a big thing here. Not trying to pressurise you into joining our writers group again, but if you wanted to talk to someone about getting this sort of thing started, you couldn't go far wrong talking to Lee (thewritehand), the guy who started up Hub and gained a bit of a reputation for being able to come up with funding. He's also now working as an editor for Angry Robot - Harper Collins' new SF imprint.

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

Go ahead!