posted
I keep trying to think of something funny to say, but nothing I can say could top the scheme itself.
Posts: 2830 | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
Well, it is easy to read it as a $1000 minimum but actually $1000 is the cap if you want to write over 1000 words. I think. Still is silly in my opinion, and most importantly violates the principle that money flows to the author in professional writing.
I did read some interesting self-published work about Mormons with Autism the other day. Actually, it was mostly Mormon parents with Autistic children sharing their experiences. I think the existence of "vanity press" for such an undertaking is valuable. The idea that only things that can be marketed profitably should be published no longer seems like the right idea.
posted
pooka, do you remember the title? I would be very interested in reading that book. I'd prefer it if you emailed me so this thread will stay on the topic of idiots and/or victims.
posted
I remember years ago Hatrack had a section where people would write bits to a story, then vote on which bit would be tacked on to the story. It was designed as a writing exercise, but never got very far. IMO, because everyone had a separate idea where the story should lead and then after a round of voting, they couldn't continue with that vision.
Isn't that always the problem with collaborative efforts? I'd like to chat with authors who made a collaborative effort work, because I wonder how it could be pulled off. I imagine it would be very difficult without one writer basically leading the project. I've only ever tried once, and we didn't make it past chapter one.
posted
Wasn't there someone through here last year or the year before with a similar plan? If I remember right, you would be contracted to write one chapter and then have the copyright to that one chapter.
I recall it only because the author of the thread spent a good bit of time telling us how we would be out of business once his idea caught on. (Because a novel written by two dozen people has to be better than one written by one person.) It also sticks with me that there was a small fight with the author.
posted
Yeah, I remember that person. It wasn't as straightforward as 1 chapter per person; it was more like a bunch of people write different scenes or parts of scenes and then a committee picks the best bits and spackles them together. Sort of an open source approach to novelwriting.
He posted the first 13 of the project in F&F, too, as I recall. Something about a corpse hanging under a bride in Venice or something?
quote:Something about a corpse hanging under a bride in Venice or something?
I just had to preserve this for posterior.
P.S. Oh, it's about marketing? How weird. See, I just spent a couple days with my Marxist relatives and their Adbuster's posters, and that gives me worse jibblies than the original idea.
[This message has been edited by pooka (edited July 16, 2006).]
As to the person who asked about collaboration: Tracy Hickman is one of the most successfull collaborators. http://p098.ezboard.com/bdragonhearth You could go here and ask him your specific questions. All I can say is go into it with all eyes open.
posted
I hate it that they're using this forum to advertise this kind of crap. I may not be a good writer, but I've decided that if my stuff isn't good enough to publish I can live without publishing. I never submit to contests that have "reading fees" because I find them sleazy, but that's just me. I never submit to a non-paying market because the fact that I get payed for a story tells me that market is good enough to survive darwinian capitalism, ie, somebody reads their stuff. I might submit to a non-paying market if I really liked what they published and they had a good proven circulation. It's not about the money, after all, it costs me a mint to cash a check in dollars (I don't live in the US), it's about having some kind of proof that I'm not submiting to a vanity press or to somebody's blog.
[This message has been edited by Sara Genge (edited July 19, 2006).]
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