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Has anyone heard about http://www.aburt.com/ifiction/ ? I was curious about what you folks thought about this. Is it a place to lay seemingly good stories that cannot seem to find their way into print?
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If I had a story that I'd exhausted every market for, I'd give it a try--but I don't have one of those yet. Posts: 3687 | Registered: Jan 2007
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I've been following IFiction since inception. It's part of the Critters web ring. So far none of the excerpts have enticed me to read further, thus I've not paid to read the fee-based remainder of any story. The listings are top heavy with the host's stories. It's free to publish stories, though. Vonda N. McIntyre's "The Adventure of the Field Theorems" is posted in its entirety and is free to read with a donation request at the bottom of the page.
Note, it is tatamount to, if not actually, first publication. Anything posted there will consume that potentially most profitable right. On the other hand, as self-publication goes, it's low risk, low effort, no expense, and potentially high volume traffic. There is also potential for income.
One question I have is how much are people earning from publishing there. For me it would be a foray into the digitial self-publication marketplace; however, I don't have any story on which I'd want to exhaust first publication. It could be a valuable audience testing tool.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited June 05, 2008).]
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Is first publication really that significant? I've had stuff "published" in local newsletters, school literary magazines, etc. I've never heard before that it was a drawback in terms of getting your first paid publication. Actually I'd heard the opposite - the more you can get your name out there, and work through the process of revision with an editor, the better off you'll be when you go professional.
Posts: 188 | Registered: May 2008
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I cannot help but think of the shift in marketing.
Was it Scott Seigler that did all the free podcast and got so much buzz that it launched him into a successful career?
perhaps it was another author, but all these new mediums seem to be shifting the way artist's works can be "consumed"
It seems that if you have unsuccessfully submited to pro rate markets that his could be a logical solution. Even if you make less than ten dollars on a story, it is comparable to what you would make in a token market. You also have more control it seems, and in theory it could do more to build a name for yourself.
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There's a lot of potential in e-marketing for writers. IFiction is certainly one. As near as I can determine, there's been 110 stories posted at IFiction. Some have apparently been removed. One of the listings is an essay. The highest charge is $5. Many of the stories are free to read. I don't overlook the anecdotal success stories in the news about e-marketing and e-publishing. I just think e-marketing fiction is too young a process for my interests. I'm not an early adapter. And I'm not particularly interested in debuting in that medium.
Another outlet worth considering is Lulu, which is not a vanity press. It's exactly what it claims to be, a book manufacturer. Steep learning curve there, though, one that I've no problem with.
Lulu is probably not the best outlet for an emerging fiction writer to publish in, but it too has its advantages for writing consumers. I'm writing a nonfiction book for which I plan to use Lulu to manufacture advance reader copies. I'll circulate them to reviewers and selected targeted audience readers for marketing purposes.
quote: I've never heard before that it was a drawback in terms of getting your first paid publication.
That is not the first publication I think extrinsic was meaning, I think first publication rights for that story--as in many publications won't touch it afterward--is what I think was meant.
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Right, Inarticulate Babbler, First Publication rights.
Bent Tree, the only requirement for expenditure of money at Lulu is for the proof review copy. Even that's not mandatory if a project is withdrawn before release. It's all free until a book is ordered. You can order one, ten, a hundred, a thousand. Marketing packages range from $40 and up. The basic marketing package for self-publishing is for purchasing an ISBN, which might automatically get a title listed at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The ISBN will get it listed in Books in Print.
How much software or computer time a consumer would need to purchase in order to post the manuscript in the mandated PDF file is variable. I have several applications that convert output to PDF. My preference is through Corel Draw. InDesign has the same capability. Quark, I don't know about nor any other similar apps. If you've got Adobe Distiller, you're in. I can't afford it and don't need it.
Otherwise, if you've got all you need, it's just a matter of time and effort, and whether that effort is worth it. Most writers I've heard from say it's not.
I've heard somewhere that Travis Tea's Altanta Nights has sold on the order of five hundred copies through Lulu, which I'm given to understand is a runaway bestseller in terms of self-published fiction.
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So if you purchase their marketing package it goes up on their store as well as B&N and Amazon. If you find a quick way to dispose of a few hundred copies and sell the rest on your personal sight, you might make a few bucks?
I am going to look into this a little more. I have a knack for guerilla marketing.
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Lulu says if a marketing package is purchased, complete with ISBN, it's likely to go up on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. If selected, it will go up on the Lulu sales site. Lulu makes no representations that it'll definitely go anywhere else except into Books in Print if an ISBN is issued. A link on a personal site can call the Lulu page where the book is listed. They manufacture standard paperback sizes, perfect bound, saddle stitch, plastic coil, and casewrap-hardbound, and will host e-book publication. They also do CDs and DVDs. Copyright registration is the reponsibility of the rights owner/writer/author/artist.
One under realized potential in the creative writing marketplace is audio books. An audio book on CD or DVD or available for download might have higher sales potential than the printed word.
The interesting to me feature is a single book can be ordered at a time. Lulu uses POD printer/binders. They offer bulk discounts, more books, less cost. The first break point is 26. There is an upper limit that kicks in before they'll farm it out to a mainstream book printer. I think it's somewhere around five thousand.
I too have some interests and success in querilla marketing. One thing I've found is that most of my local booksellers, probably all, won't touch a book that doesn't have an ISBN. Other retailers don't care as long as the books move. I have marketed chapbooks successfully. One was a local history compilation that sold 700 copies. I published them in my home shop and netted $1400 over three years of sales.
quote:One under realized potential in the creative writing marketplace is audio books. An audio book on CD or DVD or available for download might have higher sales potential than the printed word.
Do you think Lulu is cheaper than producing one in a professional studio? CD's that is?
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A studio setup is needed to make the master recording. I've produced a CD package for a nonprofit organization. The recordings were done in a quiet, well-upholstered home setting with a high quality microphone input to a wave application on a computer. They were high fidelity recordings and excellent in quality. I burned the discs, printed the cover matter and the discs, and put it all together, again, in my home shop. 100 duplicates cost $400 and took 18 hours to complete. Lulu wants $458 for the same quantity. I recommended the project reorder to Lulu. Last I heard, that's what the nonprofit did. Lulu applies printed labels, though everything else is the same.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited June 05, 2008).]
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I am tempted to put one of the stories I am less likely to publish on Ifiction, and possibly do so under a pseudonym so if I do a Paolini (or what I hope he will someday do) and not want to be connected with my story I can drop the pseudonym and publish happily under my own name.
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Why use the psuedonym? If it is the approach you are taking with all your potential publications, use it. I would recomend sticking with what you will be going with overall.
I say publish as you would if you had sold a story. I have one out to market on its second try. If I get another rejection on it, I intend on putting it up as a trial on this site. It is a flash, but slipstream and the speculative probably isn't that appealing to genre publications, so I will test the waters with it if it comes back a no.
I will be sure to keep everyone posted on my experience. It could take awhile though. I just re-submitted last week. Otherwise, I have no stories in my barrage that have been shot down by too many markets. We will have to see how there outcome unfolds. If the story does well, I might send them their after they have faced all the pro and semi-pro markets without acceptance.
I'd like to feel this new market out while it is still fresh. I will be sure to share the results.
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