From: remus@panix.com   
      
   Michelle Bottorff  wrote:   
   > Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)  wrote:   
   > >       I can understand that, I don't have the money to pay them either. But   
   > > that just means that either I find a publisher who wants my book, or I   
   > > ask if people want the book badly enough to help me get it properly put   
   > > together, including editing.   
      
   > If you've never been published, for whatever reason, (or in my case, if   
   > you've only published a few short things, in non-related publications),   
   > how would anyone know they "want the book badly"?   
      
   > Your solution is one that can really only be applied in cases where the   
   > author already has an audience.  It's not really viable for a complete   
   > unknown.   
      
      I'm trying to decide what the criteria is for 'unknown'.  I'm thinking   
   of classifying fame in logarithmic stages, like the Kardeshev scale:   
      
   Author Fame 1:  Your significant other sometimes reads your work.  (1)   
   Author Fame 2:  You have a few friends who have read your work.  (~10)   
   Author Fame 3:  You have been to writing workshops and other venues and have   
   made a few dozen connections to people who have read (or have offered to read)   
   your work.  (~100)   
   Author Fame 4:  You have been getting stories out there, on the internet   
   or in small magazines, and have amassed a fair-sized audience.  (~1,000)   
   Author Fame 5:  You have published something in such a way to attact   
   attention, equivalent to a minor novel or a short story in a major magazine.   
   (~10,000)   
   Author Fame 6:  You're a very successful author and have no need for a   
   day job.  (~100,000)   
   Author Fame 7:  You're wildly successful, a multi-millionaire, and Hollywood   
   is making movies based on your stories.  (> 1,000,000)   
      
      I think someone could have a successful Kickstarter campaign just from   
   level 2 or higher.  It depends on how much money you are asking for, who   
   your friends are, and how good you are at advertising yourself.   
      
      As a counter example, I'm solidly in Fame 4 and I don't think I could get   
   a Kickstarter off the ground because I'm an irascible asshole.  Even those   
   in Fame 5 are struggling to get a larger audience and may not be well-known   
   enough to use their fans as a resource.  We don't all have Sea Wasp's   
   silver-tongued charm.  :)  But some authors *do*.   
      
      Hmn.  Maybe what we need is a way to quantify social/marketing skill.   
      
      Anyway, my point is that almost nobody is completely 'unknown'.  It   
   depends on your personal skills and situation.  Which means that any advice   
   anyone gives might be useless to others.   
      
   ...                                                                  ...   
   Remus Shepherd    
      New Webcomic:  Genocide Man             http://www.genocideman.com/   
      Life is funny.  Death is funnier.  Mass slaughter can be hilarious.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)