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Max Barry Jams In Public, Creates A New Publishing Model, Slices Your Legs Off
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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_has joined the star bandwagon
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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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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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
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_has joined the star bandwagon
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

PJHitler
06/25/09

In reply to The Tip Jar: Science Fiction's New Revenue Source?
Screw this tip jar crap. David Gerrold has had one set up for years. He keeps on with this crap about he's writing the next Chtorran book and it will be out "soon". He's been saying that for ten years. He gets my money when I get the next Chtorran book in my grubby hands, not before.
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Alasdair5000
06/25/09

@PJHitler: Valente and Pratt are both doing this for very good reason:

[www.catherynnemvalente.com]

[tim-pratt.livejournal.com]

They're not dilletantes. Cut them some slack.
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goldfarb
06/25/09

@Alasdair5000: sorry, I can't agree that 'making a living' is a "very good reason" - it's just a reason, the same one that every one else has for wanting to get paid...sick kid? sad, but doesn't change anything - you work a job and you get paid - job disappears or changes to the point where you are not making the income you need? -> get a new job.
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Shaun Hutchisnon
06/25/09

@goldfarb: Wow. You're a d-bag. Everyone's got to make a living. Artists have to make a living in a less traditional way. These people aren't standing on the side of the road asking for a handout (something millions of Americans do), they're providing a service and asking that people pay what they believe it's worth.

Artists have always depended on patronage of sorts. Without it the world would be a much more depressing place. This type of model where the artists go right to the buyers will be catching on more and more.
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goldfarb
06/26/09

@Shaun Hutchisnon: well technically I'm also an 'artist' and if there is no work in my field I have to get a different job, I don't have the 'right' to make a living in the field of my choice this is true of everyone.
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