You may have heard that Amazon is allowing certain invited authors to post their short stories. Individuals can then download these stories for (I think) $0.49 to read. Does this site allow anything similar? I like the Amazon idea, but it is restricted to invited authors only.
I know that this site is aimed at website and magazine content, but I would think the mechanism is the same whether the content goes to websites or individuals.
Posting stories for individuals to download like Amazon.com?
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
More thoughts: allowing individuals to dwnload short stories
Ed wrote:This site does not offer anything like this. It is specifically designed for website owners who require unique content for readers to visit their sites. People do not come to this site to read content; they come to CC to purchase content so that it can be read from their sites.
I suppose I'm suggesting an enlargement of services. Amazon wasn't originally designed to enable writers to post short stories for individuals to download, but they do so now, and I expect they are making good money at it.
It seems to be an obvious progression. Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't it mostly involve adding another kind of license? Full Rights, Unique, Usage, and maybe Individual, where Individual rights do not allow posting to websites or in magazines? Something like this, anyway.
You say "People do not come to this site to read content". Well, would it be a bad thing if they did, and paid us both for the privilege?
I'm a fledgling fiction writer. It is so difficult to get work looked at - let alone published - and what do I live on in the meantime? This kind of service would greatly benefit me and the many thousands like me. I can't see it harming your pocketbook either.
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J. A. Young
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- Location: U.S.A.
Are you suggesting that you would be willing to allow creative fiction to be downloaded for 49 cents a crack to anybody under the sun? As a fiction writer, I think I would rather bury the book in the backyard--I could grow blueberries over it and make more money selling them.
Selling non fiction or informational pieces at a decent rate seems to go over on the site. Some people sell poetry, but I've yet to see it go for more than a couple bucks. I'm somewhat curious as to why sell it here and where it goes.
Anyway, if I've got a gem of a short story, it's not going anywhere near that $.49 figure and it's not being posted so some kid can turn it in to his creative writing class and earn my A.
If CC ever did consider a creative writing branch--beyond what they do now--I'd be very interested to see how they would do it, but at this point, I'd be leary to share my fiction with anonymous downloaders.
Just my two cents, but I hope it's worth more than that. J.--feeling a little feisty tonight
Selling non fiction or informational pieces at a decent rate seems to go over on the site. Some people sell poetry, but I've yet to see it go for more than a couple bucks. I'm somewhat curious as to why sell it here and where it goes.
Anyway, if I've got a gem of a short story, it's not going anywhere near that $.49 figure and it's not being posted so some kid can turn it in to his creative writing class and earn my A.
If CC ever did consider a creative writing branch--beyond what they do now--I'd be very interested to see how they would do it, but at this point, I'd be leary to share my fiction with anonymous downloaders.
Just my two cents, but I hope it's worth more than that. J.--feeling a little feisty tonight
Yes, I would be willing to allow anybody under the sun to download my short story for $0.49 - maybe a little less. That's the price on Amazon that top, invited writers get. I'm unknown, so obviously I would not expect to get as much.J. A. Young wrote:Are you suggesting that you would be willing to allow creative fiction to be downloaded for 49 cents a crack to anybody under the sun? As a fiction writer, I think I would rather bury the book in the backyard--I could grow blueberries over it and make more money selling them.
Anyway, if I've got a gem of a short story, it's not going anywhere near that $.49 figure and it's not being posted so some kid can turn it in to his creative writing class and earn my A.
If CC ever did consider a creative writing branch--beyond what they do now--I'd be very interested to see how they would do it, but at this point, I'd be leary to share my fiction with anonymous downloaders.
Just my two cents, but I hope it's worth more than that. J.--feeling a little feisty tonight
Btw, it's not my idea. Amazon started it, and quite a few well known authors seem to like it. I'll grant you it's controversial. Some authors are strongly against the idea.
I don't pretend to be up on all the legal ramifications, but I like the idea of 1,000+ people downloading my stories for a maybe a quarter each. The extra money would come in handy and if people liked a few of my short stories they might be all the more interested in buying my novel - which I don't have as yet. Working on it.
And, as I tried to point out, it seems (seems! I'm not a programmer) as if CC already has a mechanism in place which would allow this, with maybe a few relatively minor modifications.
You talk about "anonymous downloaders" - how is that different from someone checking out a book or magazine in a library? Btw, these downloaders would not be anonymous. Obviously the software would maintain records of who downloaded what. They'd probably have to provide credit card info. I suspect they'd be far less anonymous here than they would at the local branch of the library.
As for the possibility of plagiarism, that always exists and I don't see any new ground breaking in that area. Any college kid can pick up a magazine and plagiarize someone's story for his creative writing class or whatever.
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Celeste Stewart
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With fiction writing as my first love -- ahhh I love it!---- and content writing as a close second, I see that CC has a great business model and they do a great job at what they do! I can't imagine posting ANY of my fiction here. For me, my stories are a whole different deal and need a whole different treatment.
Most publishers seeking fiction are inundated with piles and piles from which to choose whereas webmasters needing content come here and can request specific content to meet their needs. Why would a publisher who is inundated with far more quality fiction than he needs choose to seek elsewhere?
CC has a niche and is top notch at servicing it. I'd be bummed if they broadened their focus too much and lost this niche which is workly so nicely!
My two cents - good night all, it's been a long day! Celeste
Most publishers seeking fiction are inundated with piles and piles from which to choose whereas webmasters needing content come here and can request specific content to meet their needs. Why would a publisher who is inundated with far more quality fiction than he needs choose to seek elsewhere?
CC has a niche and is top notch at servicing it. I'd be bummed if they broadened their focus too much and lost this niche which is workly so nicely!
My two cents - good night all, it's been a long day! Celeste
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J. A. Young
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- Location: U.S.A.
Well--it has me thinking, but I think my own personal snobbery is going to come to town here on the question of creative fiction. I follow the fiction/poetry market very closely--it is, in fact, part of my day gig. I have yet to see a reputable online journal for creative endeavors--oh sure, maybe a few things that offer some cutting edge stuff, but they aren't really mainstream yet and the jury is still out--plus you're lucky if they offer you any monetary payment whatsoever.
The good stuff--the academically good stuff--is tied up in the print market: The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine and of course many renowned university publications. You have access to the archives of these publications too, so you can read what is selling. There's no use denying this; that's just how it is. Online boards seem to be saturated with what I would call--writing workshop rejects. I would hate to see this site's database get clogged up with everybody's attempts to be Jack Kerouac; consider Ed, for heaven's sake--he'd have to read it all!
I liken the let-your-stuff--be--downloaded route to self-publication--it's in print form, but it really hasn't been accepted by any publishers worth a darn in this field.
Plus--I just can't believe that people would go through the trouble to download an unknown story when they have free across to fiction on the web all over the place. Certainly not 1,000 people. I'll look at Amazon's thing just for the heck of it--but if they are author's like Nora Roberts, Robert B. Parker or James Patterson (popular culture authors) than I can believe they will sell a thousand downloads.
There may come a point when the online market for fiction and poetry will be mainstream--but I wouldn't risk my creative work yet. I'd rather keep knocking on Yale's door, Poetry's. If they won't have it, selling $3.50 in downloads isn't going to make me feel any better.
--J.
The good stuff--the academically good stuff--is tied up in the print market: The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine and of course many renowned university publications. You have access to the archives of these publications too, so you can read what is selling. There's no use denying this; that's just how it is. Online boards seem to be saturated with what I would call--writing workshop rejects. I would hate to see this site's database get clogged up with everybody's attempts to be Jack Kerouac; consider Ed, for heaven's sake--he'd have to read it all!
I liken the let-your-stuff--be--downloaded route to self-publication--it's in print form, but it really hasn't been accepted by any publishers worth a darn in this field.
Plus--I just can't believe that people would go through the trouble to download an unknown story when they have free across to fiction on the web all over the place. Certainly not 1,000 people. I'll look at Amazon's thing just for the heck of it--but if they are author's like Nora Roberts, Robert B. Parker or James Patterson (popular culture authors) than I can believe they will sell a thousand downloads.
There may come a point when the online market for fiction and poetry will be mainstream--but I wouldn't risk my creative work yet. I'd rather keep knocking on Yale's door, Poetry's. If they won't have it, selling $3.50 in downloads isn't going to make me feel any better.
--J.It seems to me that you have one fact: there's little established market, online or otherwise, for short fiction; and one maybe: you don't believe people will bother downloading stories even for a quarter.J. A. Young wrote:Well--it has me thinking, but I think my own personal snobbery is going to come to town here on the question of creative fiction. I follow the fiction/poetry market very closely--it is, in fact, part of my day gig. I have yet to see a reputable online journal for creative endeavors--oh sure, maybe a few things that offer some cutting edge stuff, but they aren't really mainstream yet and the jury is still out--plus you're lucky if they offer you any monetary payment whatsoever.
The good stuff--the academically good stuff--is tied up in the print market: The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine and of course many renowned university publications. You have access to the archives of these publications too, so you can read what is selling. There's no use denying this; that's just how it is. Online boards seem to be saturated with what I would call--writing workshop rejects. I would hate to see this site's database get clogged up with everybody's attempts to be Jack Kerouac; consider Ed, for heaven's sake--he'd have to read it all!
I liken the let-your-stuff--be--downloaded route to self-publication--it's in print form, but it really hasn't been accepted by any publishers worth a darn in this field.
Plus--I just can't believe that people would go through the trouble to download an unknown story when they have free across to fiction on the web all over the place. Certainly not 1,000 people. I'll look at Amazon's thing just for the heck of it--but if they are author's like Nora Roberts, Robert B. Parker or James Patterson (popular culture authors) than I can believe they will sell a thousand downloads.
There may come a point when the online market for fiction and poetry will be mainstream--but I wouldn't risk my creative work yet. I'd rather keep knocking on Yale's door, Poetry's. If they won't have it, selling $3.50 in downloads isn't going to make me feel any better.
I think it likely that a scifi fan, for instance, would peruse the online "stacks" in the same way that he'd browse thru a bookstore. And I also believe that he would risk a quarter if the story's abstract caught his attention.
As for winnowing out the trash from the good stuff, maybe online authors would have to agree to some kind of review process. Also, dated material that has never sold might be automatically deleted. Many possibilities. Bookstores also have junk on sale. They manage.
To Celeste: bookstores sell both fiction and nonfiction with no harm done.
Your argument seems of the "it ain't broke so let's not fix it" variety. My own opinion is that everything is broke, everything can be improved and we should always be looking to do so.
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mattsterrr
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I think the bigger picture here is that constant-content is, above all else, a content website. You're asking a staff of two maybe three people to implement something that even Amazon as a massively global interest probably struggle to cope with.
At the moment the acceptance time for our articles is less than 24 hours which is perfect because people putting in requests get what they want almost as soon as they want it.
When millions of fiction writers start bombarding work onto the site we're going to end up being subjected to the same 1 month, 2 month, and even longer acceptance times. At that point most customers won't find it feasible to post requests, writers won't bother submitting and all that will be left is a website with a load of fiction that nobody wants to read.
As a business model it works for someone like Amazon that has the financial resource to get away with it. But, frankly, I wouldn't want to see it here and I suspect a lot of writers will be of the same mind.
At the moment the acceptance time for our articles is less than 24 hours which is perfect because people putting in requests get what they want almost as soon as they want it.
When millions of fiction writers start bombarding work onto the site we're going to end up being subjected to the same 1 month, 2 month, and even longer acceptance times. At that point most customers won't find it feasible to post requests, writers won't bother submitting and all that will be left is a website with a load of fiction that nobody wants to read.
As a business model it works for someone like Amazon that has the financial resource to get away with it. But, frankly, I wouldn't want to see it here and I suspect a lot of writers will be of the same mind.