Harper Collins UK

Flapdoodle · Oct 10, 2007

Harper Collins in the UK are setting up a website were you can post a whole novel and let it be read by readers (Normal readers.) The readers will rate them, and the publisher may even select some to be published based on reader feedback...

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Sounds interesting... getting readers to do the filtering.

Register here.

http://www.authonomy.com/

J. R. Tomlin · Oct 10, 2007

So it is public? This would use electronic publication rights then?

Stew21 · Oct 10, 2007

that's what I was thinking too, Tomlin. Why would they spend the money to publish them if people could read them for free on the internet?

Flapdoodle · Oct 10, 2007

J. R. Tomlin said:
So it is public? This would use electronic publication rights then?

Pass. All I know is what it says on the website. I saw an article about it in one of today's broadsheet newspapers. Well, not Broadsheet anymore, Berliner.

I assume you'll have to sign up for it - but I don't know. Maybe we'll find out when they get their website up.

Elodie-Caroline · Oct 10, 2007

Hi,
On another website that I belong to, not writers, but most of them love to read. They will admit to not like reading on their computers, that they would rather have the paper book. So not all is lost if people published this way. Some would read on-line for free and others would go and buy the books if they were lucky enough to be published.

Elodie

bsolah · Oct 10, 2007

Sounds like another open slush pile to me. I think you'll get so many submissions, that it'll be hard to sort through.

And then you get a whole stack of legal issues to complicate it.

Carmy · Oct 10, 2007

I thought having a novel available on line to readers meant it was published and most publishers wouldn't touch it.

Have the rules changed?

cletus · Oct 10, 2007

Sounds like they're moving their slush pile online. How many readers are going to take the time to find the one or two half decent novels posted once they realize 99% of what's on there is the drizzling shits?

bsolah · Oct 10, 2007

cletus said:
Sounds like they're moving their slush pile online. How many readers are going to take the time to find the one or two half decent novels posted once they realize 99% of what's on there is the drizzling shits?

Exactly

J. R. Tomlin · Oct 11, 2007

Elodie-Caroline said:
Hi,
On another website that I belong to, not writers, but most of them love to read. They will admit to not like reading on their computers, that they would rather have the paper book. So not all is lost if people published this way. Some would read on-line for free and others would go and buy the books if they were lucky enough to be published.

Elodie

That isn't the point.

The point is that if it has public access, it uses SALEABLE publication rights that a publisher would expect to have available if they published it.

It would be VERY lucky and highly unlikely any publisher would take it in that situation.

Carmy said:
I thought having a novel available on line to readers meant it was published and most publishers wouldn't touch it.

Have the rules changed?

To the best of my knowledge the rules have not changed. So whether or not people plowed through it, this would be a big disadvantage to any author. There are publishers out there who expect electronic rights to be available.

spacejock2 · Oct 11, 2007

For the rare manuscript which actually made it through this process, not only would the final edited book likely be substantially improved on the posted draft, but also the number of people buying a copy because of the publicity would outnumber the online readers perhaps 100 to 1. Or 1000 to 1.

Placing the whole text of a book online isn't a big deal. Most of the readers for any work of fiction will be those who picked the novel up in a store whilst browsing, not those who happened to click a link.

cletus · Oct 11, 2007

J. R. Tomlin said:
It would be VERY lucky and highly unlikely any publisher would take it in that situation.

Except, of course, Harper Collins UK.

Flapdoodle · Oct 11, 2007

cletus said:
Sounds like they're moving their slush pile online. How many readers are going to take the time to find the one or two half decent novels posted once they realize 99% of what's on there is the drizzling shits?

I dispute that figure! 99.9% will be the drizzling shits!

Yes, I read it as "online slush pile" with members of the GP expected to read and comment as an initial drizzle "filter".

cletus · Oct 11, 2007

Flapdoodle said:
I dispute that figure! 99.9% will be the drizzling shits!

I know. I was trying to be kind.

Harper Collins UK

Flapdoodle

J. R. Tomlin

Stew21

Flapdoodle

Elodie-Caroline

bsolah

AW's Resident Commie

Carmy

cletus

I'm a king bee

bsolah

AW's Resident Commie

J. R. Tomlin

spacejock2

cletus

I'm a king bee

Flapdoodle

cletus

I'm a king bee