A bright idea or a really dumb one?

[valarltd]

I got to thinking.
A lot of my short stories are going out of print, many of them this year.

Now that I have the rights back, would it be tasteless to self-publish them, either as chapbooks or as an anthology?

I was planning to do a POD compendium of the Gay Christmas Werewolves once I got the rights back. And releasing "Rock Us All Down" and "Tuition Fees: The Devil" as chapbooks.

I was wondering if there was any interest or if this is just me, being vain and hogging more than my share of the dealer-table space.

Comments

[saraphina-marie.livejournal.com]

You have 2 shelves' worth of stuff now...keep them filled!!

[morgan-lowri.livejournal.com]

I don't think that would be tasteless at all. It's your work, the current publisher is done with them, they are yours to put together as you see fit.

Fans of your work might appreciate this, actually. I can't tell you the number of times I've bought a short story anthology just because I wanted the stories from one or two authors in them, and then the rest were meh. Felt like 2/3 of a book got wasted on me. It's happened often enough that I've even just read the story I wanted in the bookstore coffee shop, thumbed through the rest, and then put the book back on the shelf. So, it'd be nice to have a short story collection from an author I know I like.

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Dealer-table space is not the issue, dear. Honestly, I think it's more of a concern that you're jumping into self-pubbing. DON'T DO IT. Look, I know we're all in the publishing blues right now - you, me and Sara, we're all getting frustrated. Oh yes, am I tempted to write another NU novel and just publish it myself. Booksurge is super-cheap, gets me on Amazon and I can keep the proceeds myself instead of dealing with gorram publishers.

But. We all know it doesn't count as a publishing credit. Publishers prefer we don't even mention it when we pitch our stuff. It is unlikely to make you back the money you invested in it, much less provide a profit. And reputation does count for something.

Instead, I'd strongly urge you to take these collected works and find a small press that'll publish them as a collection. Same with the Gay Christmas Werewolves and the others. When you get rights back, sell the rights again. Don't publish them yourself. Money should flow toward the author, not away from her. I still believe this.

Hell, if I had the seed money I'd fucking start up Aardvark again. I'm so tired of seeing quirky good stuff linger without a home. I could sell the hell out of your collection and Sara's SEVEN TIMES A WOMAN and.... GRRR.

(Minor stupidnote: be sure to pitch it as a collection, not an anthology. I fell into that trap with a publisher once. Collection=single author; anthology=multiple authors under single theme.)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

How much would it take to restart Aardvark?

We were considering getting Succubus Productions off the ground here. Basically, PoD books and some .pdf downloads for sale.

My stuff's not lingering. One has already gone to reprints, as soon as we expand and make it more romantic. (These are gay men who think love is a trick nature plays on breeders, helluva rewrite) Some of it is still available (until October or December of this year) but I'm planning ahead.

[robertlyon.livejournal.com]

where can I read some of them?

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

My stuff is all available through http://www.angelsparrow.com
Clicking the cover takes you to a buy link.


I have some free stories here:
http://www.angelsparrow.com/freestories.html

[(Anonymous)]

The D-Man Checks In: I will side with reannon on this one. While I do not believe it to be vain to wanna see your work "out there" in one form or another, and we all know your reader base will not grow if your stuff is not "out there" for exposure... There is a right & wrong way to do it, plus there are costs involved in self-publishing that you (likely) do not have for easy sacrifice from your personal finances; costs you might never see back if the effort tanks. Patience is a virtue. Go with the small press. If your stuff is as good as you (and others think)... Somebody will want it so they (and you) can make money off of putting it "out there."

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Actually, the method I'm looking at is a $40 set up fee. ($5 renewal each year) That includes printing, binding, ISBN and an Amazon listing.

The books themselves cost between $3-5 a copy for trade paperbacks, which sell for $10-15.

I'm not going into this totally ignorant.

And I'm sick of small press and ebooks. Readers don't BUY e-books. They buy books that they can lay their hands on, especially if they're impulse-buy priced. "Oh sure, I can pop $3 for a couple stories!"