Another of Jim’s Self-Publishing Plans
Kind of a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I’ve been thinking about another way I might self-publish.
I’ve got an anthology invitation sitting in my Inbox. These days, I rarely write short fiction without an invite. Much as I enjoy short stories, I just don’t have the time. But even with an invitation, there are no guarantees.
I’ve worked on some invite-only anthologies where the approach was, “If you’re invited, you’re in, no matter how much we have to work with you to get you there.” I’ve seen others where a large number of invited authors were rejected. (I remember the outrage from some big name authors who were rejected from Sword & Sorceress XXI.)
So with this invite, I know it’s not a sure thing, and that makes me nervous. I’m planning to do a goblin story, and I know one of the two editors is a big goblin fan, but what if the other one hates my goblin humor?
And then something clicked. Jig the goblin has a good-sized fanbase. I could always set up some sort of crowdsourced funding model online. Maybe micropayments of $1, or I could post the first half and see if people will pay enough to match the 5 cents/word rate for the anthology, or just post the whole thing with a PayPal tips button, or who knows. My guess is, if I do it right, I could probably make as much or more than I would from the anthology sale.
Wait, what? Is Jim C. Hines saying you can make more money self-publishing than by selling to a commercial publisher?
Maybe. In this particular case. And I obviously don’t know for certain. But there are several factors to consider:
- I’ve built up a bit of an audience with my commercially published fiction. There are people who trust me as a writer, and are therefore willing to pay for my work.
- The Goblin Quest books have sold tens of thousands of copies, and a lot of people would love to see another Jig story.
- I don’t have the biggest blog on the Internet, but I’ve built a pretty good following, so I have some means to get the word out.
- I’ve only outlined the story, but if all goes as planned, there will be zombies. And few things pack more messed-up entertainment value than goblins vs. zombies.
I doubt this would work as well if I posted an original story, one not related to my books. I know it wouldn’t work as well if I were an unknown author, or one without any sort of readership. But in this situation, I suspect it could work.
It’s probably a moot point. While I’ve been rejected from invite-only projects before, it’s the exception rather than the rule, which means the goblin/zombie tale will probably show up in a year or so when the anthology hits the shelves. But if it does get rejected, I’m no longer worried.
It could even be fun.
What do you think?
Tweets that mention Jim C. Hines » Another of Jim’s Self-Publishing Plans -- Topsy.com
September 8, 2010 @ 10:45 am
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by adrian, Jim C. Hines. Jim C. Hines said: New Post: Another of Jim’s Self-Publishing Plans http://bit.ly/9cFqdL […]
Chris
September 8, 2010 @ 4:44 pm
First of all, I must say, much like an excited schoolgirl would I suspect, “O M G Another Jig story!” But seriously (and I’m not saying I wasn’t serious when saying my wows to another goblin tale…) I think you shoul;d do it. You never disappoint with the goblin stories, and if 2/3 editors are already known for enjoying that type of tale, I think that’s a sure-fire reason to do it. (On this analogy I might be full of junk, but here goes…) Say you were doing any other story where you don’t know if you’ll be accepted at all; at least this one is a 2/3; that one editor who *might* not (and if he doesn’t like the goblin books, he’s obviously got a screw loose) like it…well, 2/3 still right? And if all else fails…I do think your Paypal/web-financed idea sounds very sound. Either way, do what you feel as an author is right, but…DO right that goblin tale 😉
Cy
September 8, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
Definitely go for it, Jim! (write the story, I mean) Seems like you’ll be fine either way.
But I’m really curious about something your idea brings up—-if you wrote a short story about Jig and sold it online for no one’s profit but your own, would the publisher who published the original Jig books be okay with it? I really have no idea how the whole licensing thing works for books, but I would vaguely guess you wouldn’t be allowed to sell whole copies of your Jig novels online this way, but an original short story set in Jig’s world, etc, would be totally okay. But because Jig is a character who shows up in the books they published and (I presume) also in your proposed story, would they have any claim to that name/trademark, etc, and be able to make you give them a cut of your story profits? (or make you change the name/character in the story?)
mattw
September 8, 2010 @ 7:16 pm
You certainly make a good argument for self-publishing the story. And if you build a successful model for yourself, it would stand to reason that you could reproduce the same model with another down the road. I’m sure there are diehards that would argue that you should go with the anthology, but are they dwelling too much in publishing’s past?
Jim C. Hines
September 8, 2010 @ 7:56 pm
Good question! In most cases, the publisher licenses the right to publish that particular manuscript. DAW has the exclusive right to publish Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, and Goblin War in English. However, the characters and ideas and everything else still belong to me. So if Hollywood ever comes knocking, they negotiate with me (my agent, actually) for the rights to make a movie and turn me into a quadrillionaire.
There’s an exception with work-for-hire, like tie-in novels and such. But in this case, I own Jig, and am free and clear to write and sell those short stories. No trademark issues or percentage to DAW or anything like that.
Jim C. Hines
September 8, 2010 @ 7:57 pm
The thing is, I don’t know. It might work … but would it work again? There might be people who’d be willing to chip in money for a one-time thing, but not on a regular basis … or maybe they would.
And there are advantages and disadvantages to the anthology, too. For one thing, it would be more likely to reach new readers, whereas the self-publication/crowdfunded model would be more likely to just reach people who are already fans. So the anthology *might* be a better way to go because it could help build my audience more effectively.
Is one option better than the other? Heck if I know. But I’m interested in playing around and finding out!
Jim C. Hines
September 8, 2010 @ 7:59 pm
Thank you! It’s actually responses like yours that got me thinking maybe the self-publishing thing could work with Jig and crew 🙂
The best reason at this point is that I’m really excited about the story idea, and I think it could be a lot of fun! And one way or another, I’ll find a way to get the story out there.
Steven Saus
September 8, 2010 @ 9:48 pm
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, Jim. You’re in a perfect situation. I suspect that pricing it cheaply and selling it yourself would also drive a bit more interest in the goblin novels as well. (Kind of like how I got interested from the podcasts.)
Or if you’re nervous about it, you could send it in to the antho, and if it gets published, sell it yourself after the rights revert. And if it gets rejected, you’ve got a perfect sale.
Chris
September 9, 2010 @ 12:23 am
The new audience thing is a very good point; I didn’t even think of that. Maybe trying your chances through the anthology, and if accepted go through that or if not do the self-publish route? I was going to suggest doing a combination, but my head began to hurt seconds after I suggested it to myself on account of, I’m assuming, copyright issues, etc. Best bet: write the tale, put it in the anthology, then change one word on the story, and self-publish it. 😛
mattw
September 9, 2010 @ 12:23 am
It might work again with an established product, so if you found success with the Jig story, maybe a princess story would work in the same way down the road. Are you familiar with Wil Wheaton’s 1,000 true fans theory? He posted something a while back about having 1,000 true fans that will get whatever it is that you put out there.
Sounds like you could probably argue back and forth all day. The anthology sounds like it would be the safer bet, but maybe the self-publishing could have a greater financial impact.
And I love web comics. There’s one that I followed for a while that I ended up getting published by an indie comic publisher. There’s another that follows the POD model that also offers a lot of merchandising.
NikkiGirly
September 9, 2010 @ 12:53 am
I love the idea of you doing something for your website! I would gladly pay to read another goblin story. Jig is a fantastic hero and I have gone out and bought the book for a friend because I thought he would like it! I really liked the Jig-short story podcast you had done about a year ago I think. I definetly have to say reading the possibility of this does make me do the happy dance! Please do another book! from one of your rabid fangirls! XD
Cy
September 9, 2010 @ 4:05 am
Ahh, I see. That answer is incredibly helpful–it’s the sort of thing you’d only really know if you’ve been published, but most published authors don’t intend to self-publish shorter-than-novel-length works on the side so there’d really be no occasion to ask them. I really hope this works out for you–it’d be great if authors had more options for getting their work out there.
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 7:59 am
Only changing one word isn’t enough to get me out of the contract violation 🙂
What I really need to do is quit the day job so I have *time* to try all of these different approaches! Sadly, the need for health care and a stable paycheck pretty much kill that possibility right now…
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 8:00 am
Yep, I remember that theory. I didn’t think it was Wil’s idea originally, but he was talking about it.
Since I already agreed to write a story for the anthology, it will go to them and they get first dibs. If they pass, I’ll go the self-publishing route.
If they buy it, I *have* been thinking about a princess story possibility… 😉
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 8:01 am
I already agreed to write something for the anthology, so they’ll be getting first dibs. But if they pass, I’ve got another option that’s potentially just as good, which is comforting 🙂 (And a nice change from years ago when I was submitting my short fiction unsolicited!)
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 8:01 am
Thanks, Nikki! I don’t know about another book, but I’m definitely going to try to write this story. It should show up either in the anthology or on the web site. One way or another, I’ll let folks know 🙂
KarenJG
September 9, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
You might want to check with Lawrence Watt-Evans. He’s published several novels on his website using a “pay as you go” plan, and I think he considers it a success. His website is here He also has a sff.net newsgroup where he discusses his current projects (sff.people.lwe).
Me, yeah, I’d pay a small amount – but you might want to check out publishing e-books/stories instead. You have to prepare separate files for Kindle, but Smashwords can be read on all of the other readers. Doranna Durgin’s been doing some, and it’s a really easy purchase, rather than the micro-payment at your website model that you’re talking about, or the “donation based” model that LWE does. (Amazon also offers free “Kindle for pc/ipad/mac” software applications, which is what I read Kindle purchases with right now.) Of course, then you have to share the revenues, but, ease of purchase might make up for that. Or might not. ::shrug:: Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be interested!
KatG
September 9, 2010 @ 1:29 pm
If it’s a decent enough anthology, it’s worth putting the story into the anthology, because then you have the chance of gaining new readers from the anthology audience. (Quite a lot of these anthologies are doing well.) However, that does not preclude you from eventually writing a second Jig story and putting it online, or possibly putting the anthology Jig story online at a later date after the anthology’s publication, depending on your contributor contract for the anthology. And if the anthology for some odd reason rejects your Jig story, you will definitely find a happy Jig fan audience online for it.
Steven Saus
September 9, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
Buying eBooks doesn’t HAVE to be hard (or require anything other than a PayPal account for you or the buyer). I’ve got a solution running on my site now that’s simple, unbranded and (unlike when I was using ZenCart) quick and without “logins”. It is, of course, really easy to do it wrong. 🙂
I would really argue against using Smashwords for anything. The main reasons are these:
1) At least when I’ve used it, Smashwords made my documents available in ALL formats – including RTF. I’m much less comfy with that than ePub.
2) I’ve seen the crazy results from Smashword’s conversion software. In fact, I got some of my first freelance work with eBook conversion cleaning up the errors that Smashwords had created. My name should link to my eBook conversion page; this isn’t self-promotion – I’ve got screenshots of before and after on that page. I don’t identify it there, but the “before” is from a document Smashwords created.
KarenJG
September 9, 2010 @ 2:12 pm
I have to say, my experience is that it’s ALWAYS easier to do it wrong! Doing it right requires attention to detail, and most people seem to prefer wrong and easy to right and… well, not even hard, just less mindless. I went to your site, and see your point about the “auto-converted” files. Blech!
JoshV
September 9, 2010 @ 5:51 pm
You might find this article of interest: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/09/09/HowToScoreATraditionalDealAfterSelfPublishing.aspx
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
Hm … the first thing I notice is that they only tried to submit it twice before giving up. That’s their choice, but it doesn’t really impress me. They also mention the “no celebrity, no platform, no pre-existing audience curse,” which is a bit of a myth. (I just got done arguing with another writer on Writer Beware who claimed real publishers only buy sure things and celebrity books.)
It’s interesting to read about how much work they did to revise and edit the book after getting an agent. And I do agree with some of what they’re saying, especially their marketing tips at the end there.
Steve Lewis
September 9, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
I know I’m gonna sound like a jerk here, BUT I actually hope that you don’t sell the story to the antho. Why you ask? I don’t wait a whole frickin’ year to read this, are you kidding me? Goblins vs freakin’ zombies??!! I would totally spork stab little old ladies, puppies, kittens, and random leprechaun or two to to get a copy of this.
Having said that, though, I’v heard that a short story is the best type of advertising for a writer. And the best part is they pay YOU for it.
Jim C. Hines
September 9, 2010 @ 7:39 pm
Nah, you don’t sound like a jerk. I kind of know what you mean … I’m a little impatient to hear what people think of the story 🙂
I’m not sure about short fiction being the best form of advertising, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. I do know I’ve gotten some new readers through my short fiction. On the other hand, I’d love to compare those numbers to the numbers I’d get for landing a major movie deal starring Samuel Jackson as Jig the goblin, or something like that…
mattw
September 10, 2010 @ 8:40 am
“(I just got done arguing with another writer on Writer Beware who claimed real publishers only buy sure things and celebrity books.)”
I haven’t read the discussion, but I remember one of the panelists at a panel about writing at last year’s Windycon saying something that pretty much amounted to him not buying stories from authors that weren’t already published in pro-rate SFF publications.
Jim C. Hines
September 10, 2010 @ 8:48 am
Was this someone who was an editor or just a reader?
Now I’m trying to remember who all was at Windycon, and who might have said something like this…
mattw
September 10, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
It was an editor/author at the panel. I think the panel was called Writers Support or something like that. I could tell you who the person was, I just don’t know if you want it on your blog. It wasn’t a panel that you were on, nor did I remember seeing you in the audience (although I wasn’t really looking for anyone in the group).
I did see a panel that you did on YA and SFF, which was interesting. I hope you can make it this year too.
Jim C. Hines
September 10, 2010 @ 1:26 pm
Oh, I’m planning to be there again this year, and was just yesterday e-mailing the programming folks about panels 🙂