Vengeance and Valor: Chapter 8

[naamah_darling]

Chapter 8 of Vengeance and Valor is up at fever_dreamsVirginia's arc ends with her discovering her real name, and with pirate shagging! She really, really can't call herself Virginia any more

Comments

[blue_peitho]

Over in a science fiction land not far from here, an author put out the "hat" and said that, for every $X (I think it was $200) he received, he would post a chapter in the new book online for all to read. If any single person contributed more than $25, if the book ever was published, that contributor would receive a signed copy of the dead-tree edition. This format for income/public readership reward successfully saw the publication of two books from this author.

[naamah_darling]

Niiiiice. Who was this? If the PTB decree that release on LJ doesn't qualify as publication, I may try something similar.

[jessara40k]

It was Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - at least I think it was from the promise of a possible book. This was when they didn't have a publishing contract with anyone, and their publisher was starting to come apart at the seams IIRC. They posted the rough draft as it was written, with subscription for $300 per chapter total, and Baen picked it up because it was in an established universe with a strong fanbase - at least I think that was the reasoning.

[blue_peitho]

Jessara40k has it pretty much right. Along about the time that this project got off the ground, their publisher (Meisha Merlin) imploded and took two books with them. Lee has a day job (I'm not sure about Miller), but they prefer to write than be wage slaves.

It started here (http://rolanni.livejournal.com/242856.html) but refers you to the actual story site (http://www.korval.com/fledgling/) which no longer explains how the project worked. Basically, they announced that they had a story to write, and asked their fanbase to pay for it, chapter by chapter, with a hope of selling the book to Baen. You could probably write them for an explanation.

[elialshadowpine]

Who did you enquiry?

I can tell you, I spoke with Angela James at Carina Press about the same thing, and she told me they'd consider it if up to a quarter of the book had been posted online. I can tell you almost anyone will ask you to take the chapters down until you have finished the submission process and been accepted -- then you can put a certain amount online as a "teaser" excerpt. Exactly how much varies from publisher to publisher.

You already know my opinion on this, but I'll say it again publicly: I think you're doing the right thing here. As much as I love reading V&V every week, you need something to help sustain yourself, and right now your best option for that is writing. And with what you're writing, you could do pretty damn well in the e-pub world.

[naamah_darling]

This is . . . maybe a quarter? Sex takes a long time pagewise, and I'm not skimping on the plot, so it's liable to be long.

I queried Loose Id about a week ago, since I thought they sounded like the best match for me thematically and philosophically. I really hope they get back to me . . .

[elialshadowpine]

I figured it would be quite a bit longer since you are still setting up the characters and plot. :)

I'm sure LI will get back to you. Give it a couple weeks, if you don't hear anything, drop me an e-mail and I'll see if I can get an answer for you from one of my friends who's published with them. >_>

[naamah_darling]

Thank you! I will let you know. You've been really helpful with this, and I appreciate it so much.

Thinking about asking Samhain the same question. Probably should have done that right off. Urgh.

[issahla]

A fair argument could be made that the original "publication" was simply soliciting feedback. If it gets more money for you, I hope that it works! Good luck with your publication endeavors. I'd buy a copy when it is ready.

[kitan]

I'd love to see this in print. Go for it!

[quartzpebble]

Best of luck to you on getting this published. I have been reading and enjoying immensely.