Well, basically this? I hate telling anyone to go buy it, because I feel bad about that to some extent, but on the other hand, this is my JOB. I'm trying to make a living at being a professional writer, and part of that is learning not to feel bad about not giving stuff away for free. (Not that I've entirely succeeded at that yet, because it was HARD to write this post.) I'm not anywhere near E.L. James's level of popularity or success, obviously, but I doubt 50 Shades of Grey is available for people to download in its original form (at least not from the author herself). I tried to mitigate taking the fic down by making plenty of posts to let people know what was going on with the story, and that it wouldn't be accessible past a certain point; and I tried to keep it online for as long as possible for the sake of being fair. But after a certain point.... you know. What you said.
Yup. No writer would ever be able to make a living if they didn't look after their work - and it doesn't stop you giving away free things - time stamps, teasers, snippets, short stories, fun stuff. Look at Neil Gaiman, Rob Thurman etc - the writers that understand they have an audience that can actually get bigger and more loyal and more inclined to buy books if you give them free things.
I should probably post something like this tbh, because the number of requests I still get for Turtledove is really impossible to keep up with. And I'm extremely behind on sending the pdfs out. Sigh.
Yeah, I wrestled with doing this post for a while because I didn't want to shut the door on the story entirely, but had to face the fact: I don't have the time to keep up with the number of requests I've been getting and was starting to feel bad about it. Plus.... well. I should probably stop talking there before I say something I regret. But it involves mugging ourselves.
Happy holidays and congrats on the contractkyrie_101December 24 2012, 00:17:53 UTC
I hope your holiday season is going well. The purpose of this note to to ask for clarification regarding your written work. My understanding is that there are contractual limitations that prevent free distribution. Does that mean there is somewhere I can go to pay for it? To be honest, I have read an amazing amount of fabulous work by writers such as yourself for free. I see it as a gift that has brought me a lot of reading pleasure. I have no problems purchasing a book that has had such positive feedback and I certainly do not consider that any pressure is being exerted.. Please let me know the current situation.
I look forward to your response. Enjoy the holidays.
Re: Happy holidays and congrats on the contractnanoochkaJanuary 5 2013, 18:00:28 UTC
First of all, thanks for your understanding about the fic no longer being available to download. I really appreciate your being cool about it and also your support! If you're still interested in reading the published version, you can purchase it through the Dreamspinner Press website here, or through Amazon. I actually think it's currently on sale at DSP as part of their New Year's promotion, though!
Re: I am confusednanoochkaJanuary 5 2013, 18:04:20 UTC
Yes, I published it as a novel through Dreamspinner Press last August, which is why it is no longer available to download. You can find it available for purchase here.
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I look forward to your response. Enjoy the holidays.
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have you made a non-fanfiction version of this fic and you will be selling this non-fanfic version somewhere?
or are you saying you are going to sell the fanfiction story through a publisher?
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sincerely
jazzy
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