Yes, Scalzi sold Old Man's War from his blog when PNH came along and said, "Dude, we'd totally print this at Tor" (or words to that effect).
However, Scalzi had *also* published Agent to the Stars on-line without such resounding success. He did it as donation-ware, so he did make some money, and eventually he did sell it as both a limited-edition hardback to Subterranean Press and a paperback (coming out the end of October). So realize that it may be years before what you put on-line gets picked up, if ever.
Also, Scalzi is the first to admit that he is unusual. Part of the reason he got picked up wasn't just that he wrote a commercially viable novel in a subgenre that sells well but also that he has a hellaciously popular blog. The blog was popular with thousands of unique hits per day before he ever started posting Old Man's War. So he had a built-in audience that made it easier for PNH to get marketing to sign off on the purchase.
You *can* put your work up on-line. Even though Wylie Merrick suggested it, though, they did say they wanted 10,000 visitors before they'd look at such work. Scalzi had that. If you do go this route, realize that you will have to be spending a vast amount of your time and energy on marketing before you ever see a penny.
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Date: 2008-09-30 03:59 pm (UTC)However, Scalzi had *also* published Agent to the Stars on-line without such resounding success. He did it as donation-ware, so he did make some money, and eventually he did sell it as both a limited-edition hardback to Subterranean Press and a paperback (coming out the end of October). So realize that it may be years before what you put on-line gets picked up, if ever.
Also, Scalzi is the first to admit that he is unusual. Part of the reason he got picked up wasn't just that he wrote a commercially viable novel in a subgenre that sells well but also that he has a hellaciously popular blog. The blog was popular with thousands of unique hits per day before he ever started posting Old Man's War. So he had a built-in audience that made it easier for PNH to get marketing to sign off on the purchase.
You *can* put your work up on-line. Even though Wylie Merrick suggested it, though, they did say they wanted 10,000 visitors before they'd look at such work. Scalzi had that. If you do go this route, realize that you will have to be spending a vast amount of your time and energy on marketing before you ever see a penny.