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Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie
Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off

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SJ_Edwards
11/05/09

In reply to Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie
This seems like a huge lost opportunity.

Surely the best way to deliver the 'Machine Man' experience to the audience would be in the form of 43 one minute, 'blipverts/pages', delivered online and on broadcast TV, over 43 consecutive days.

That would add up to exactly one 'TV hour'.
For the one-off, TV 'event', reprise.

Then the theatrical, DVD and online release of the whole 120 minute film the next day.

For $6.95.

Just like the book. [io9.com]

But why would a film studio use an innovative and hugely profitable new business model? #maxbarry
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acrobatic rabbit
11/05/09

In reply to Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie
I love Max Barry's books. His style of writing, the way the books read, they just beg to have movies made out of them. #maxbarry
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mtaco
11/05/09

In reply to Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie
Max Barry can do no wrong.

MAKE JENNIFER GOVERNMENT MOVIE!!!!! #maxbarry
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SJ_Edwards promoted this comment mtaco was starred mtaco was unstarred

gorehound
11/05/09

In reply to Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie
How do these guys get contract before they even finish a book ?
Stephen Soderbergh I have a big hate for you as you hate the Internet we give a little hate back to you.
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Edited by gorehound at 11/05/09 2:24 PM gorehound was starred gorehound was unstarred

Im_your_Huckleberry
11/05/09

In reply to Max Barry's Weird Cyborg Publishing Experiment Could Be A Movie

Do we really need another one of "those" movies, uh. #maxbarry
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SJ_Edwards promoted this comment

Klebert L. Hall
08/13/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
I don't get it - why would anyone want to read a novel, one page per day? Seems annoying to only read a story for 45 seconds, then wait until tomorrow.
-Kle.
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MoiraFearbot
08/13/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
The unique thing isn't giving a teaser away for free and then charging for the rest. It's the one-page-a-day subscription.
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Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment MoiraFearbot was starred MoiraFearbot was unstarred

gStein_moved to consumerist,.com - so long gawker!
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
I've got to say, max is a marketing genius - one fo my friends introduced me to NationStates, a game that max programmed in order to promote his second book, Jennifer Government, which got me hooked to him, his blog posts, and now machine man - Max has an awesome, quirky way of writing that just hooks you with the fast-paced action and (for a lack of a beter phrase) intentionally-worded sentences. meaning, you read something and it doesn't seem awkward, but taken out of context (like the above passage) makes things funny. [it's been a long day and i'm not fully coherent. hope this makes sense.]
-gStein, maxbarry.com user# 585
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Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment

SagunaNimrit/Maya
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
I was also looking for something new from Max Barry and saw this on his website. I didn't read the fine print, so when I got to the end of the free feed, I couldn't resist paying for the full thing. It's the first solely digital thing I've ever paid for, but I don't regret it at all.

And though it may be very similar to old serial formats published in magazines, it's very new for our time. The truth is, one page a day is INCREDIBLY addicting. I can't wait to get my subsequent pages every day. I regret that they're not offered on the weekend, but I guess it at least gives me something to look forward to at the end of each work day. And unlike most drawn out suspenses, the one page a day format almost never makes me upset he doesn't give me more. He almost always gives just enough each day to satisfy you for about 24 hours, and then you get the next page.

Great idea! Great book! I'm sure I'll be buying the printed version when it's available!

(And yeah, I still need to get ahold of Syrup. Though I think Jennifer Government was great and it was my first Max Barry read, Company was significantly better.)
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Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment SagunaNimrit/Maya was starred

phoenix
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
Now this is worth checking out. Max is a really really cool guy, and Jennifer Government is a fabulous book. :) I wouldn't have know about this otherwise.
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goldfarb
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
how has he reinvented publishing, or a new publishing model?
I don't get it...he gave some stuff away for free (which regular book publishers do now all the time), asked people to pay for the rest (which is the same as just buying a book), and now he has a real publisher...and a chance to edit the manuscript...
how is this anything but a reasonably clever marketing technique?
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
08/12/09

@goldfarb: Doesn't the world "novelist" actually come from the fact that books used to be published "novelly"--as in, something new every day/week/month?
It seems like he's actually just switched to a very old model.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
08/12/09

@goldfarb: And haven't a number of other writers done this before, or something very close to it?
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Charlie Jane Anders
08/12/09

@goldfarb: Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is freaking out right now trying to figure out how to use the internet to make money off fiction, especially novels. I don't know of anyone else who's doing what Barry has done here -- and it's considerably different than the normal process of marketing a book.
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wolfjack
08/12/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: No, Baen has been doing the same thing for years now. Not only do they offer snippets of up to the first third of a novel before it is released. They have the Baen Free Library, the bound in and promotional CDs with entire ebooks on them and their eARC program. What he's doing is by no definition unique.
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Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment wolfjack was starred wolfjack was unstarred

Charlie Jane Anders
08/12/09

@wolfjack: That's not a single author doing that... it's a publisher who has already accepted and published the novel. Plus I gather Baen doesn't do daily updates via email or RSS? The details actually do matter. And I doubt those programs are a major revenue source for Baen at this point -- it's the "making money" part that is tough.
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gStein_moved to consumerist,.com - so long gawker!
08/12/09

@wolfjack: Max is [supposedly] writing the pages day-by-day [i suspect he's actually writing them a week at a time, then releasing them daily... point is, he's taking user input and feedback and putting it back into the novel]
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PrairieGirl
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
I ponied up the money for the subscription and haven't regretted it yet.
It's very, very funny.
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Alasdair5000 promoted this comment PrairieGirl was starred PrairieGirl was unstarred

Don't Make Me Ang Lee. You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee.
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
nice to see an MB update. While I enjoyed Jennifer Government, I liked Company a LOT more. Haven't gotten a hold of Syrup yet
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bluehinter
08/12/09

@Don't Make Me Ang Lee. You wouldn't like me...: I also thought Jennifer Government was the weaker of the three, and am a bit mystified why it's the one he always gets praised for.
Definitely check out Syrup if you get a chance. I think the only reason it hasn't been optioned as a movie yet is because every studio knows Coke would sue the pants off 'em!
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bluehinter
08/12/09

In reply to Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
Thanks. I was just recently perusing my shelves and wondered if Max Barry had anything new coming out. I may have to investigate this further.
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Edited by bluehinter at 08/12/09 12:36 PM bluehinter was starred bluehinter was unstarred

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