You know what would probably improve this whole submission process?
Authonomy had the right idea.
So did Tokyopop.
They both created Web 2.0 sites where users could submit their work and this work could be reviewed and voted on by others.
But here is the problem with their Web 2.0 projects:
They don't encourage readers to read and vote on the work they like.
Authonomy is marketed at aspiring writers. It's not marketed at people that just want to read stories.
Tokyopop is marketed at people that are fans of other Tokyopop licenses, and the user submitted stuff is just on the side, and hardly the focus of the website. The editors don't pay much attention to it.
These web projects could actually be the greatest thing in the world for publishers and agents. Publishing does not have to be so hit and miss when they have access to market research. It's really easy to gauge whether a writer has the ability to reach an audience if their work is online and other users can vote on it.
Anyone who gets a large followship should be scouted out by agents and publishers-- even if you aren't super crazy about their work.
This is my biggest grief with the traditional publishing model, where small numbers of people decide what is marketable and not marketable:
It's not about you and your personal likes and dislikes.
It's never been about you.
It's always been about the readers who actually purchase the books.
Readers are capricious. Just because they bought Twilight doesn't mean they want to buy every vampire love triangle story that comes out.
Just because they bought Harry Potter doesn't mean they want to read every story that has wizards in it.
Just because they bought The Da Vinci Code doesn't mean they want to read every story about a Holy Grail / Jesus cover up.
A new novel costs roughly the same as a movie ticket. Can you imagine if the film industry produced and theatrically released twenty PG 13 werewolf or vampire films every year? Do you think audiences would watch every single film? Or even half of them? No? Then why on earth would you expect this same consumer group to buy every urban fantasy vampire or werewolf story you churn out? Doesn't that seem kind of silly?
The biggest selling point is probably not what is in the story, but the voice and style of the author. Neil Gaiman is a great example: he writes in a diverse number of genres with a wide range of subject matter, and his readers nearly always buy his work.
I mean, let's be reasonable here: if someone attracts a readership of a few thousand people, they probably will sell a few thousand copies if the book isn't ridiculously priced: (hint: paperback first editions are our friends. Save the hard backs with full page color artwork for books that actually succeed in the market). This is a much better system than the current one, where everything is so hit and miss because they don't have a way to "test readers" en masse.
But the trick is getting the average reader to go to the website, not just aspiring authors. Writers look at stories in a different way, and tend to be over-analyzing things. Readers are just looking for a good story that appeals to them. That's why Harry Potter wasn't taken seriously until an editor handed the manuscript off to his eight year old daughter: the target audience.
It's really not too hard to see what can convince readers to read unknown writers online.
Fanfiction sites have been doing it for years.
This is what you do:
Idea #1: Fan Fiction contests: You convince a few of your authors to allow fans to write fan fiction short stories in a contest to publish an anthology of this fan fiction. Obviously, you work out a deal with them so that they get a % of the royalty. (Do not tell me this cannot be done. George Lucas has been doing this for years with his Star Wars franchise, and I know Star Trek fan fiction anthologies are officially published.) The stories that receive the most votes will be picked up by editors, edited professionally like any other story out there, and then published together in one book. You could even have the famous author who created the original material comment on each chosen story and give their thoughts about it.
The established franchise is just the hook to get the readers to the website. The rest requires giving them a reason to keep coming back to the site, and that is where the contests comes in.
What the contest does is give readers a reason to go to a site like Authonomy and read work by unknown, potentially publishable authors. What is the reason: interactivity. Their votes cause a book to be published. There is something really rewarding about knowing your actions have made a difference in the universe, even if it is just getting a book published; especially in an industry where readers rarely get to have any real decision power in what kind of stories come out in bookstores.
Now, since authors on Authonomy are able to upload several stories, when readers find one fan fic they like, they can read the other stories by the same author. That is how you can introduce them to these new works.
You can't just do the contests as a one time thing. There needs to always be a contest happening. Major publishing houses have a large number of authors, so this shouldn't be a problem. Chances are it is in their best interest because their original books might find new life when fan fiction authors create renewed interest in the franchises. I once created a fan game for Castlevania and it encouraged a few people who had never played a Castlevania game to play the actual Castlevania games. This does work.
Idea #2: Shared universes. It doesn't even need to be an established franchise, just some consistency. Aspiring authors can organize this among themselves, all uploading shared universe stories and linking to one another's stories on the website, so fans can read through them-- and also be introduced to the other stories the author has uploaded.
Idea #3: Reward readers for reviewing and voting on fiction.
Each time they submit a review, they receive some points.
Once they have a certain number of points, new features are unlocked for the user, such as different emotes or accessories for their digital avatar (Some very popular internet message boards, like Gaia Online, do something like this).
This encourages the readers to be active in the community.
(Naturally you need mods to ensure people aren't just uploading crap to get more points, but you should have mods for any online site anyway.)
There's probably more ideas to improve the model, and none of it is going to be too innovative: a lot of the stuff I've proposed has been done before. The only thing is that it hasn't been done correctly and with the intent to discover new talent.
So did Tokyopop.
They both created Web 2.0 sites where users could submit their work and this work could be reviewed and voted on by others.
But here is the problem with their Web 2.0 projects:
They don't encourage readers to read and vote on the work they like.
Authonomy is marketed at aspiring writers. It's not marketed at people that just want to read stories.
Tokyopop is marketed at people that are fans of other Tokyopop licenses, and the user submitted stuff is just on the side, and hardly the focus of the website. The editors don't pay much attention to it.
These web projects could actually be the greatest thing in the world for publishers and agents. Publishing does not have to be so hit and miss when they have access to market research. It's really easy to gauge whether a writer has the ability to reach an audience if their work is online and other users can vote on it.
Anyone who gets a large followship should be scouted out by agents and publishers-- even if you aren't super crazy about their work.
This is my biggest grief with the traditional publishing model, where small numbers of people decide what is marketable and not marketable:
It's not about you and your personal likes and dislikes.
It's never been about you.
It's always been about the readers who actually purchase the books.
Readers are capricious. Just because they bought Twilight doesn't mean they want to buy every vampire love triangle story that comes out.
Just because they bought Harry Potter doesn't mean they want to read every story that has wizards in it.
Just because they bought The Da Vinci Code doesn't mean they want to read every story about a Holy Grail / Jesus cover up.
A new novel costs roughly the same as a movie ticket. Can you imagine if the film industry produced and theatrically released twenty PG 13 werewolf or vampire films every year? Do you think audiences would watch every single film? Or even half of them? No? Then why on earth would you expect this same consumer group to buy every urban fantasy vampire or werewolf story you churn out? Doesn't that seem kind of silly?
The biggest selling point is probably not what is in the story, but the voice and style of the author. Neil Gaiman is a great example: he writes in a diverse number of genres with a wide range of subject matter, and his readers nearly always buy his work.
I mean, let's be reasonable here: if someone attracts a readership of a few thousand people, they probably will sell a few thousand copies if the book isn't ridiculously priced: (hint: paperback first editions are our friends. Save the hard backs with full page color artwork for books that actually succeed in the market). This is a much better system than the current one, where everything is so hit and miss because they don't have a way to "test readers" en masse.
But the trick is getting the average reader to go to the website, not just aspiring authors. Writers look at stories in a different way, and tend to be over-analyzing things. Readers are just looking for a good story that appeals to them. That's why Harry Potter wasn't taken seriously until an editor handed the manuscript off to his eight year old daughter: the target audience.
It's really not too hard to see what can convince readers to read unknown writers online.
Fanfiction sites have been doing it for years.
This is what you do:
Idea #1: Fan Fiction contests: You convince a few of your authors to allow fans to write fan fiction short stories in a contest to publish an anthology of this fan fiction. Obviously, you work out a deal with them so that they get a % of the royalty. (Do not tell me this cannot be done. George Lucas has been doing this for years with his Star Wars franchise, and I know Star Trek fan fiction anthologies are officially published.) The stories that receive the most votes will be picked up by editors, edited professionally like any other story out there, and then published together in one book. You could even have the famous author who created the original material comment on each chosen story and give their thoughts about it.
The established franchise is just the hook to get the readers to the website. The rest requires giving them a reason to keep coming back to the site, and that is where the contests comes in.
What the contest does is give readers a reason to go to a site like Authonomy and read work by unknown, potentially publishable authors. What is the reason: interactivity. Their votes cause a book to be published. There is something really rewarding about knowing your actions have made a difference in the universe, even if it is just getting a book published; especially in an industry where readers rarely get to have any real decision power in what kind of stories come out in bookstores.
Now, since authors on Authonomy are able to upload several stories, when readers find one fan fic they like, they can read the other stories by the same author. That is how you can introduce them to these new works.
You can't just do the contests as a one time thing. There needs to always be a contest happening. Major publishing houses have a large number of authors, so this shouldn't be a problem. Chances are it is in their best interest because their original books might find new life when fan fiction authors create renewed interest in the franchises. I once created a fan game for Castlevania and it encouraged a few people who had never played a Castlevania game to play the actual Castlevania games. This does work.
Idea #2: Shared universes. It doesn't even need to be an established franchise, just some consistency. Aspiring authors can organize this among themselves, all uploading shared universe stories and linking to one another's stories on the website, so fans can read through them-- and also be introduced to the other stories the author has uploaded.
Idea #3: Reward readers for reviewing and voting on fiction.
Each time they submit a review, they receive some points.
Once they have a certain number of points, new features are unlocked for the user, such as different emotes or accessories for their digital avatar (Some very popular internet message boards, like Gaia Online, do something like this).
This encourages the readers to be active in the community.
(Naturally you need mods to ensure people aren't just uploading crap to get more points, but you should have mods for any online site anyway.)
There's probably more ideas to improve the model, and none of it is going to be too innovative: a lot of the stuff I've proposed has been done before. The only thing is that it hasn't been done correctly and with the intent to discover new talent.