So after several dozen suggestions on the comments of 'Threads: The Island' and lord knows how many emails and messages, I'm converting it to hopefully publish it as an ebook.
Nervous? Fucking right I am. My first foray into the actual publishing world, putting something I've created up for sale, and hoping people will buy it, but more importantly, like it and want more.
So I've been thinking about how to maintain my links with the people who read 'The Island' and generously provided feedback and encouragement, and I've decided that I'm going to post the short stories on Lit for free, and put the novel-length stories onto Smashwords and hopefully Amazon too.
That way it's the best of both worlds, I think. The work that takes the most time and effort gets the chance of financial reward, and the people who liked my writing enough to encourage me to take the step get to read short stories involving the same characters.
As for editing the manuscript for publishing, it's requiring a lot of changes. Anything that could leave me liable has to come out, anything referring to an actual person, or company or product has to come out too, and there's the plot points I wanted to strengthen. Plus an additional twist or six I want to add... However the initial work is going well so far.
Hopefully you'll buy it when it comes out so you can see The Island at it's best.
JJ
i know, idea of this is good, but still ... i think there will be people who would want to read it but couldn't buy it. i know it would probably be cheap, but you'll still need credit card (mastercard or visa) or something and some pople just doesn't have any of that (if you take me for example, i have maestro, which is just like other two, but i can't buy anything online with it)
ReplyDeleteI get exactly what you're saying. Getting rid of my credit cards was the best thing I ever did. However there's ways around it. For instance you can buy an ebook with Paypal, set up straight to your bank account.
DeleteOne of the other driving factors for me was that if I leave it up on Literotica, someone is going to copy the entire thing, paste it into the right format and publish it themselves, making money from my work. Then when it gets taken down, it gets reposted with a different title again. And again. Sadly the only way I can protect my own work is to publish it myself.
I also know that you can borrow ebooks out of the public library in the UK too, although I don't know about the rest of the world. That's a free service to read currently published books.
I'm pretty sure what you're talking about is quite a small percentage though. Then there's the other side of your argument....
If I've done all this work, why shouldn't I be entitled to some financial reward for it?
Happy to hear your thoughts, Anon.
JJ
Well, I'm not the anon from above, but let me tell you that I fully encourage your idea of publishing your next story. When I was reading the first part of the Threads story I thought that this is way too good to be posted for free on lit. And if you have a look at the ranking on lit, then you will see that is not just my opinion. It went straight to number one, congrats on that ;)
ReplyDeleteSo now that you’ve made yourself a name, you should take you writing career to the next level and publish it. You will slay two birds with one stone. It will not only protect your intellectual property, but it will also get you some money. Which isn’t that bad, isn’t it?
I can’t talk for other people than me, but I’m going to buy your next story!
German Greetings.
My thanks to you, Sir!
DeleteCheck back here or subscribe for details of releases :-)
JJ
For something as extensive as Threads, you should indeed publish. I suggest leaving x pages on lit, sort of as a preview, as it will be very helpful in allowing your work exposure. If possible, the short sample should be one small arc of the story, enough that the reader will enjoy it alone, but it should leave them wanting more and thus willing to purchase the full work. The preview would function essentially the same as a preview in a serial author's book, how many include the first chapter of a soon to be published work in another paperback.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon,
DeleteI know that Smashwords and Amazon allow you to download a percentage of the novel to try it, and then if you want to read more, you can buy it, but i'm pretty sure you're not allowed to post sections of it on free websites, which is a bit of a fucker. :-(
However, I am going to be posting a short story about the two days after The Island on Literotica exclusively, and I have a few ideas for a few more. That's kinda where my thoughts are heading. Publish full novels as ebooks, with free short stories on Lit.
JJ
I'm both really pleased and slightly saddened that you are going to publish the island as a book. Pleased because I get to buy the story and you get a financial reward, which I think you so justly deserve for this.
ReplyDeleteThe sadness comes from the necessary changes that will have to be made to avoid the lawsuits. For me the hammering home of the extra ordinary circumstance was all the celebrities mingling with siblings.
I have no doubt it will be awesome however - so you have got at least one sale from me.
Kind regards
Dave
I'd not only buy the book for myself, but I would buy it as a gift for a few friends & recommend it to anyone & everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe Best Read I Have Had To Date (erotic or otherwise although I only read a few dozen novels).
I've already sent a few people over to Literotica to read your story recently, I cant wait to hear their feedback & I hope word of mouth makes you more recognised!
I know you wrote Threads back in '11, but I just finished reading it. I have to say that that was one of the best stories I have ever read. You did a really great job with it. I would definitely buy your book once you have it published.
ReplyDelete