The Eden Cycle Trilogy

[jon_chaisson]

The Eden Cycle Trilogy
(this section x-posted to jonchaisson--sorry if anyone's seeing this twice)

First off, after reading a certain passage in John Scalzi's You're Not Fooling Anyone You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop about his posting Old Man's War on his website before it got published, it's kind of made me think about possibly doing that myself. And yesterday bonniers mentioned the same thing on her LJ. Out of all the writing I have, I believe the Eden Cycle Trilogy is prime for this same thing.

Of course, it's a double-edged sword: there are those who are going to say that this will nix any possibility of it being professionally published (read: it's free on the internet, why should we lose money publishing it?), but at the same time there's the possibility (like Old Man's War, actually) where it does eventually get picked up and published.

I'm going to be blunt and honest here--as much as I love the trilogy and think it's one of my favorite projects I've ever written, it's far from being my best work, and I doubt I'll ever be able to find the time to completely rewrite it to the point of it being picked up by a major publisher. I've come to the conclusion that if I do end up publishing this online, then it will have found a good home and others will be able to read it. Many of my writing friends out there have already read at least the first book, and while it still needs work, they did enjoy it, so I know at least someone out there would check it out.

I also want to bring up the fact that the trilogy has a considerable amount of backstory, worldbuilding, maps, notes, reference and outtakes (its original idea, The Phoenix Effect, included). Utilizing these things as multimedia "extras" would be a lot of fun to work with. I could even keep an ongoing separate blog tied in with it, explaining how the scene was written or thoughts and memories about writing it. If you haven't guessed already, I could easily see the whole trilogy project as the online version of a Special Edition DVD--a director's cut with commentary, outtakes, pictures and other fun easter eggs. I mean, why not?

Am I annoyed that I possibly wouldn't make one thin dime out of it? I was for awhile, and to an extent it still feels like I'd be giving up in a way, but I've been over it for awhile now. Am I shooting myself in the foot, effectively throwing this ginormous project away, all this work for nothing? Maybe, but that's looking at it from the point of view of novel-as-potential-paycheck. I don't think I'm throwing it away; in fact, this is more along the lines of giving it the outlet it desperately needs. It's not doing anything, its paper versions gathering dust on our bedroom bookshelf and closet, and the digital version sitting around doing nothing on my hard drive (don't worry, kids--I have it saved elsewhere too).

I would love to hear what people think about this idea...

Comments

[mekkasimian.livejournal.com]

PUT UP FIRST BOOK FOR FREE.

DECIDE NEXT MOVE BASE ON RESPONSE FROM PUBLIC AND PUBLISHERS.

=M=

[dollydelusion.livejournal.com]

Idea 1: Publish it online free on a site of your own that has banner ads that you can earn money via pay-per-click

Idea 2: Publish it online free on a site of your own withOUT banners but add a paypal donation button for people that would like to donate after reading.

Idea 3: Publish it online free but make a lulu.com profile, format it and all that stuff and offer it as a digital download for x-number of dollars and as a book perhaps and see if people will buy it.

Or try variations of all three at some point or another and see what works best.

I don't think you should make it completely free and not generate any cake from this because this is your work and whether you think it's your best or not, you put time and effort into this and you should turn some sort of a profit from it. Even if it's not an exorbitant amount.

[sleeping-dragon.livejournal.com]

There's always the publish a teaser chapter (or two) version of the first commenter's suggestion. Also, you live in SF, right? So funky coffee shops and independent bookstores around every corner? There are all sorts of personal publishing houses out there these days. Have one of them print up a couple dozen or a couple hundred of the first book, and ask the local shops to carry them. Offer to do a signing at the store. Send a copies to agents or publishing houses. I bet if you asked nicely, dasmarzipan would do up some cover art. If the books lends itself to cover photography, I'll be happy to do it myself.

[bonniers.livejournal.com]

That sounds to me like an excellent candidate for some kind of promotional or self-publication.

Marketing types in other fields call something like this a "loss leader" -- something you deliberately choose to sell at a loss, or free, in order to generate traffic to the store or brand in order to sell lots of something else that will make money. This is why grocery stores usually have a ridiculously low price on weekend sales. They know people will come in to buy that and most likely buy several other items in addition.

People who like your writing will be looking for more, and telling others about it. Building an audience by word of mouth. It won't happen overnight, but it's a good strategy.

Another thought -- it's not making much in the way of money or readership sitting on your closet shelf, is it?

[eimarra]

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.