So, what I took away from yesterday's entry was that you all want: hard copies, e-reader copies, online copies and audiobook versions.

O_O

I don't actually have a problem with any of that, until I realize how much work it's going to take per product. Say I wanted to produce a copy of The Worth of a Shell:

Hard Copy Process
1. I'd have to design the cover.
2. I'd have to paint it.
3. I'd have to decide on any extras that are going to go in it: maps, illustrations, alien calligraphy, lexicons, backmatter, etc.
4. I'd have to finish those extras.
5. Then I'd have to get together with the layout person and choose the size of the book, get a page count, and then work with him on the interior design.
6. I'd have to copy-edit the manuscript.
7. After upload, I'd have to make a page for it on the website with appropriate links and with a generous sample/excerpt.

That's for the hard copy. I would also have to:

E-book/Online Process
8. Get the layout person to convert the book to PDF and HTML for me and massage it into a format appropriate to an e-reader.
9. I'd have to put these someplace secure and mail them to people who paid the appropriate amount.
10. If I wanted to make it available online because of patron donations, I'd have to set up a web template for each section/chapter and then post them as the money comes in.

If I had the wherewithal, I'd also end up:

Audiobook Process
11. Recording the book in sessions, probably with a friend's audio set-up.
12. Figuring out how to make those audio sessions available for download, and how to track who's paid for them.
13. Buying a lot of hot tea to keep myself from going hoarse.

Whatever the case, there's a lot of work that has to happen after the story is written and before the book/short story collection/novella/whatever is available for you. Doing all this would take away time I could be painting, writing or working on other projects. At very least, since I only have so many hours in the day something will have to give in the form of babysitting or help with house maintenance.

Which means money up front would be helpful. So brainstorming, I thought up these two ideas:

Patrons Make it Available for Everyone: I could do a patron-style thing where people can pay to make the work available online, just like we did with the Aphorisms, and use that money to help get the hard copy done. That would result in all the fiction being available for free online because of reader donations, with hard copies available with significant extras (special editions!) for about $10-20 and stripped-down copies for ebook readers for very cheap (probably around $2).

Patrons Decide What Project Gets Attention Next: I could do a "pay attention to this project/alien/universe/character!" fee where people say, "Do that one next!" and point me at the next project they want in hard copy, and then their names go in the back of the book. In that universe, everything would have a "jar", I guess, with a monetary goal and once enough people have donated into that jar that project is the next in the pipe. The amount each thing would cost would depend on how big it is, or how much of an effort it would take to make it possible.

In both scenarios, people who help out will get their names called out in multiple ways, just as with the Aphorisms.

If I don't do something like this it's still going to happen, but it's going to come out reeeeeeeeeeeeally slowly.... I can't get around the fact that, being human, I only have so many cycles in the day. *rubs head* Do you have any ideas?


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Tags: marketing, new publishing paradigms, technology, writing
Current Mood: thinking

Every day I repeat archangelbeth's long-ago comment that "If you get one thing done a day on top of babycare, you're ahead of the game." So I felt pretty good about getting this color test of "Just Because" done yesterday even though I was still on narcotics.

Today the kitchen is clean, the baby is drowsing and I finally feel well enough to sit in a chair for a while, so God willing I will go to work on painting Willow.

After I'm done with dessert, though. Or I will dip my paintbrushes in my milk.


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Tags: art
Current Mood: determined

Back to work by lamp-light while it thunders outside...


Look how clean my palette is for a change! Today I used most of my color range, though, from yellow to purple. The only thing I haven't used at all in this painting (surprisingly for me) is red.


I believe in wild yawps when you do something worthy of them. In this case, when I started painting I failed to give Willow believable hair on the crown of her head. Not only did I fix that, but by happy accident the result made it look like she has layers of hair on top of one another. So to celebrate this victory, I made myself a gin and tonic and...


...contemplated her partly-completed hair some more. Mmm, fwoosh.


Halfway through the celebratory gin and tonic, I discovered that I was getting loopy because (smart thing that I am) I forgot that carbonated alcohol hits me like a sack of bricks. Since I wanted to continue working instead of hanging out at the table grinning like an idiot, I dumped the remainder of it and hauled out the celebratory hot chocolate instead.


The baby slept through this enterprise (more or less). I had to get up a couple of times to give her back her pacifier. :)

Here's the progress for the night. Won't be long now before I finish it... thank goodness, because I have a pile-up of paintings waiting for me after this one.


Willow (Coming Together)

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Tags: art, brushes, photos
Current Mood: kind of sad