Jim C. Hines - AnthologyBuilder

Previous Entry | Next Entry

AnthologyBuilder

Dec. 17th, 2007 at 1:39 PM

As some of you have probably seen already, Nancy Fulda has been putting together a fascinating new project. AnthologyBuilder is still in beta testing, but the idea basically comes down to a do-it-yourself anthology. You choose from a list of stories, click the ones you want to buy, and for $14.95, a custom anthology is printed and shipped to your door. (~~I'm not sure if the price includes shipping.~~ The price does not include shipping.)

I love this idea. It's like iTunes for short fiction. I imagine there's going to be a lot of work involved, especially if the idea takes off. I'm planning to offer at least one of my stories, and possibly more. Which brings me to the survey of the day.

Poll #1107612
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28

What story (or stories) of mine would you like to see at AnthologyBuilder?

View Answers

Blade of the Bunny (humorous sword & sorcery - my Writers of the Future story)
2 (7.1%)
Goblin Lullaby (Grell and baby Jig for the win!)
1 (3.6%)
Goblin Hunter (I.e., how Jig met Smudge)
7 (25.0%)
Brainburgers and Bile Shakes (Love and romance at a zombie theme park)
2 (7.1%)
Deliverance (A more serious story about death, birth, and loss)
1 (3.6%)
Other (Explain in the comments)
1 (3.6%)

For those of you who are wondering, they're looking for reprints (stories that appeared in a paid market) only. No up-front money, and a percentage of royalties on each sale. The contract is non-exclusive, and can be terminated by AnthologyBuilder or the author at any time.

I like that last bit a lot, since it means -- if someone were to come along and wanted to do a Jim Hines collection -- I'd have the option of withdrawing stories from AnthologyBuilder if the collection wanted exclusivity. Normally, I'm a little reluctant to join something new and experimental like this, because I worry about feeling trapped. But that shouldn't be a problem here.

So, what do folks think?

Mood: excited

Link

Comments

( 37 comments — Leave a comment )

coppervale wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 06:54 pm (UTC)

Hm.

I'm going to be thinking on it a while - but on the surface, it seems like a wicked keen idea. Worth paying attention to as it develops.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 06:56 pm (UTC)

I would love to see the price come down a bit, though I don't know how that could happen given current print-on-demand technology. And I think getting some Big Name Authors on board would do wonders for the site.

But as a beta-stage idea, yeah. Wicked keen indeed :-)

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

mabfan wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 06:55 pm (UTC)

Other: Sister of the Hedge.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 06:57 pm (UTC)

I have to double-check my contract with Prime Codex for that one.

I'm also waiting to see if it makes the final Nebula ballot. If so, I'm giving serious thought to releasing it as a freebie online. I haven't decided for sure yet, though.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

(Anonymous) wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:15 pm (UTC)

John@GraspingfortheWind

Let them all free! A Jim Hines collection, what more could a person ask for? I might just die happy if this could come true. ;-)

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:37 pm (UTC)

Re: John@GraspingfortheWind

I'll tell my agent to get moving on that. I wouldn't want my friends to die an unhappy death!

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

peachtess wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC)

Other would be anything else you write. Though I would love to find out whatever happened to Riana (if of course we don't find out in Goblin War). ^_^

For me personally the price is a bit high. Hopefully it will catch on and allow the price to go down a bit.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:36 pm (UTC)

The price with shipping would make me hesitate as well, as much as I love the idea. But I'm hoping that as print-on-demand tech improves, this hurdle could be minimized.

You know, I originally did have plans to bring Riana back, but it never happened. Hm ... maybe if I do a fourth book someday :-)

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

leahbobet wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC)

Huh, that's really interesting. I can see this being the tool of choice in that neverending "how to get people to read SF" question -- build them a customized anthology that'll cater to their interests and hand it over.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:35 pm (UTC)

As it grows, I think they'll need to do more in terms of categorizing the fiction so that people can find the kind of SF/F they want. But if they can pull it off, I think it's a great tool. I keep thinking of it in terms of iTunes ... being able to get the songs you want without having to buy the ones you don't, that just happened to be a part of that album.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

shsilver wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC)

Goblin story...get them hooked and they'll buy the novels.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:34 pm (UTC)

That thought did occur :-)

Both of the goblin stories I mentioned are scheduled to come out as podcasts as well. So hopefully we'll get some good recruiting!

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

swan_tower wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:33 pm (UTC)

I'm not qualified to comment on the contractual language and such, but at first glance it looks quite sensible. And I frankly think the idea is fantastic.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:38 pm (UTC)

As a writer (not an agent, and most definitely not a lawyer), I see the contract as probably not resulting in a lot of money, but also being more than fair to the writer in terms of non-exclusivity and the ability to opt out at any time.

And I agree completely on the idea itself!

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

swan_tower wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 08:31 pm (UTC)

I don't expect short fiction to earn a lot of money except possibly in its first sale. I'd be more inclined to do this as a way of making my short fiction available in a more permanent form than posting it on my website. (Otherwise, the stuff tends to vanish into the ether.)

For my own part, I'm thinking I'd probably make things available one year after publication, or maybe a little longer if I think it's worth trying to market traditional reprint rights for that story.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

(Anonymous) wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:53 pm (UTC)

I saw the announcement about the POD anthology, and I can't figure out how it wouldn't lose money. Where is the set up charge for the book's initial file? Is there no charge? Are their only costs the printing and paper, which, if it's anything like my books, would be around 4.50 a book?

Link | Reply | Thread

jimvanpelt wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:53 pm (UTC)

Sorry, Jim. That last post was me.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 07:55 pm (UTC)

Short answer -- I have no idea. I'm taking things at face value right now, but I'm not sure how they've got it set up behind the scenes...

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

temporus wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 08:32 pm (UTC)

Having recently finished Goblin Quest, I think Goblin Hunter is the most interesting personally. Though that wouldn't rule out any of the others.

I think it's a neat idea, and I'll be keeping tabs to see how things pan out.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 08:43 pm (UTC)

"I'll be keeping tabs to see how things pan out."

You and me both :-)

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

melissajm wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 08:58 pm (UTC)

Sounds interesting. I just sent them a story.

Link | Reply | Thread

melissajm wrote:

Dec. 19th, 2007 11:02 pm (UTC)

... and they accepted it! ;D

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 19th, 2007 11:49 pm (UTC)

I saw your name on the list - congrats!

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

melissajm wrote:

Dec. 20th, 2007 12:18 am (UTC)

Thanks! I think it's a fascinating idea.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

david_de_beer wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 10:54 pm (UTC)

why not just put them all up?

Link | Reply | Thread

maryrobinette wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:08 pm (UTC)

That's what I voted for, which was probably not helpful.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

david_de_beer wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:11 pm (UTC)

oh, I don't know, if enough of us gang up and bully Jim he'll have no choice:)

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:49 pm (UTC)

I've got thirty-some short stories all total, but a lot are probably still under exclusive contract (I'd have to check). And with something new like this, I'm a bit hesitant to throw everything out there.

This is more of the "Testing the waters" phase for me :-)

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

sonyamsipes wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:14 pm (UTC)

man! I wish I had thought of it!!

Link | Reply | Thread

livia_llewellyn wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:43 pm (UTC)

When you say "they're looking for reprints" - who is the "they" behind the site (besides Nancy)? Is it Codex? I'm just curious as to who's in charge of this market. If you aren't able to say, that's fine. Like I said, I'm just curious.

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:45 pm (UTC)

As far as I know, this is all Nancy's baby. The initial discussion and testing was with Codex, but it's not a Codex project.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

darkchallenger wrote:

Dec. 17th, 2007 11:59 pm (UTC)

That's not an unreasonable price for a trade paperback these days. I like the concept. Now instead of making a mix tape I can make a mix book. I think the idea has a great potential. Definitely worth watching.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

livia_llewellyn wrote:

Dec. 18th, 2007 12:07 am (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying (the "they" was confusing me!).

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

hyptosis wrote:

Dec. 18th, 2007 01:06 am (UTC)

A tad off topic, but I did something for Writers of the Future a while back, a picture for one of their stories. Don't remember the name though. =]

Link | Reply | Thread

jimhines wrote:

Dec. 18th, 2007 01:29 am (UTC)

I thought the story illustrations in WotF were done by the finalists of the Illustrators of the Future contest. Were you one of the finalists, or am I just confused?

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

hyptosis wrote:

Dec. 18th, 2007 05:43 pm (UTC)

It was a while ago, but yeah, I won one of their contests or something. I don't entirely remember now.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

marvad wrote:

Dec. 18th, 2007 01:21 am (UTC)

Fun idea. I expect nobody will become wealthy, but it's a neat thing to do with reprints. I subbed one story just to test out the system. I see there are a few known names, so I'll be looking to see what's available.

Thanks for posting the link.

Link | Reply | Thread

( 37 comments — Leave a comment )