Today’s question:
I was reading your most recent blog post, and the last line caught my attention.“if you want to be really safe, keep that stuff off the internet.”So, I was wondering what you thought about [Paperback Writer's E-book Challenge].
(In short, what Paperback Writer is suggesting in the above-referenced blog post is a challenge to writers everywhere to put up an original story in ebook form for free download.)
I think it’s a great idea. Like PBW, I think that writing is the best advertisement for your writing. I know some people who “blog” in character to go along with their books, which is a similar construct. This challenge of PBWs is a marketing suggestion. People will read your free story/novella what have you, and then go buy your book. Her novella, it seems, will be set in the Darkyn vampire series she’s been publishing with NAL. I read the Darkyn books, so I’d like to read another story set in that universe. I don’t see a downside to this challenge at all. Free reading from great authors, and a fun marketing opportunity for the writers!
A few months ago, when I ran the Great Blog Voice Experiment (see right), a lot of the comments showed that people were excited to read the participants’ books. They were providing free content to the blog for the purposes of the experiment, but it helped get some buzz started about how wonderful these writers are (click on the GBVE links on the right to check out some of their stories). I think this will have a similar effect. Perhaps, any GBVE participants who were talking about expanding the snippets they wrote for the GBVE will do so as part of PBW’s challenge.
When I said “keep that stuff off the internet,” I was talking about writers who blog at length about their uncontracted ideas. Call me superstitious, but I don’t do it. I’ve spoken before about the “dark room” where it’s just me and my idea and no one gets their fingers into it until it’s been developed? Well, there’s a period beyond that, that we can think of as “backstage” where my crew can hear all about it (friends, agents, industry necessaries), but I’m not exactly opening the curtain while they are still buildign the set and working out choreography.
I have no problem with saying, “Here I am posting a free story I’ve written for my blog called Aloisius Tumble, the Most Celebrated Muffin Maker in all The Galaxy.” I am more circumspect about posting, “so I’ve got this idea I’m batting around about this guy… a baker, I think. Probably a futuristic. Haven’t been a lot of science fiction set in the world of the culinary arts. Got to put together a proposal though. Probably have him fall in love with some scrappy ship captain. I wonder what my agent will think…”
To me it’s the difference between Aloisius putting out a little tray with muffin crumbles and toothpicks and letting all the customers have a sample of muffin before purchase, and Aloisius letting any alien in the system (even the ones who might be opening their own pastry shop on the next moon over) come on back to his kitchen and watch him peeling Venutian puce berries and creaming butter.
September 19th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Peel in private.
Good advice.
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September 19th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I’m pretty paranoid. I don’t discuss anything about uncontracted work on the internet. No titles, no character names, no plotting, and no subplotting.
Sometimes I discuss themes, because there are only so many of those to go around, and we’re all just re-using the same ones anyway.
But I agree about the free e-novellas. Sounds like great promotion. Kelley Armstrong does those year round. At least, she was doing that last time I visited her site, several months ago.
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September 20th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Rachel, hon, you don’t even talk about your CONTRACTED books… I’ve noted.
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September 20th, 2006 at 9:52 am
When I was working on the proposal for I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU my agent kept telling me, “DOn’t tell anyone this idea!”
I don’t think that, as a rule, writers should be as worried about having their work stolen as a lot of new writers tend to be. But once you do get that really high concept idea–that ‘why hasn’t someone written about this before?’ idea–it’s probably best to let the world at large read about it in publishers lunch.
Plus, what if it doesn’t sell? Then people will be asking about your failures. Who wants that?
ally
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September 20th, 2006 at 11:32 am
I like to post excerpts from words that didn’t make it into full length novels. The main reason I stay away from posting works in progress is that I do no want feedback until I am at the editing stage. It can be distracting.
(I found you via Pub Rants)
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September 20th, 2006 at 11:33 am
Once you’ve sold the idea, scream about it so we can all celebrate with you and wish we’d thought of it first. *snicker*
Blogging in depth about an idea you have, or putting your ‘idea or work in progress’ on your website, then acting shocked when someone else’s name shows up as having sold it? Duh.
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September 20th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
I probably suffer from an unhealthy LACK of paranoia. But when the little bell goes off “…should you really be POSTING this?” I usually listen.
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September 20th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I’m not paranoid. I’m not worried about getting ripped off. Yes, it’s happened. And yes, I’m sure it will happen again. But I don’t have the energy to worry about this kind of stuff.
I’m hoping my publisher will let me post an excerpt of Lord Sin. I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I think it’s great when I can read the first chapter or so of an unknown author (I love the feature on Amazon where you can read the first few pages of a book).
I’m also pretty committed to the idea of having an Amazon Short ready as soon as my book is up for pre-order (thanks to JA Konrath over on A NEWBIE’S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING for this one). I’d thought about just putting it up for free on my website, but I really like the idea of having it on Amazon so that people looking at my book/s there can take a 49-cent risk and see if they like my voice.
Anyone else out there planning on putting up an Amazon Short?
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September 20th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
So after I had the panic attack from hell I took the synopsis OFF of my blog and stored it elsewhere.
Thanks for the reality check. Not everyone is honest (been trying to learn that since I was five…)
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