I'm curious, given an offer to be included in a POD memento publication, would there be interest by Hatrack members to submit short stories?
Scenario: 6" x 9" perfect bound U.S. trade paperback, one-piece color cover, black and white interior, no interior illustrations, 148 pages total, 8 pages front and back matter, 140 pages body text, roughly 50,000 words total, say ten 5,000-word short stories. ISBN and anthology copyright registration, listing in Bowker's Books in Print. Cover price about $9.00 each available from Lulu.com, probably U.S. Amazon, and perhaps Barnes and Noble online. No creator revenue (me as project editor) or author payment. Purely a memento publication, sort of a vanity publication, but with no purchase requirement or other author commitments beyond submission, editorial correspondence, and final submission proof approval. This would consume first U.S. anthology rights for included short stories.
If I'm inclined to do this, it would consume about 80 hours of my spare time, take about two months from submissions receipt to release, about another six to eight weeks before listing on Amazon, and $50 in out of pocket expenses.
Posted by Koren_Pierce (Member # 8853) on :
I would be interested in this. I had actually considered this route for myself - putting together my short stories, poems, sketches, etc. purely for myself.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Could you define this publication's definition of "short"?
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
Roughly 5,000 words or so. I don't know absolutely, that's a talking point. What if.
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
Personally, no. I am not sure quite what the point of such a venture would be.
I'm slowly loading my published stories to AnthologyBuilder which will give me the opportunity to put together my own collection (though I'll have to pay for the privelege so I suppose that's vanity publishing - but then, once an anthology has been put together, other peopple can choose to buy it there, so who knows?).
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
AnthologyBuilder is something entirely different than the outlined hypothetical. Basically, this is a what if for first time publication in a hypothetical nonprofit hard copy anthology that would be available for a keepsake, purchasable through Lulu.com and probably Amazon and Barnes and Noble online. Copies could be purchased and given to acquaintances and family, etc., as keepsakes. Nothing more, nothing less, other than the experience and rewards therefrom.
Posted by SavantIdiot (Member # 8590) on :
You know, you might get more interest from those of us starting out. It sounds like a fabulous learning experience. The problem being that a) you may not want our offerings and b) if mine is c**p I don't it published at all. So how would you manage it? Plan on publishing ten, fifteen or so and then selecting the ones that work?
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
Those are all talking points for discussion. I'm not dictating a process, just exploring opinions. Simply put, I've published a number of chapbooks for emerging writers and there's a self-gratification in having one's work in publication format to share with acquiantances and family. There's a sentimental feeling to a book that's nothing like a manuscript.
Posted by Teraen (Member # 8612) on :
If there seems to be some interest in it, Hatrack could hold a contest for story submissions. That way, everybody has a stake in the book: either writers or judges.
Posted by Architectus (Member # 8809) on :
createspace is better than lulu.com
They are better at getting your book on Amazon, and much faster about it.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
CreateSpace is what it is. I'm not impressed. They don't offer many features that Lulu does offer. Like listing at other online booksellers, independent ISBN. Besides, this is a bust anyway. With one exception, no discussion on topic, just the inevitable fault finding for fault finding's sake.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited October 26, 2009).]