Looking to start a Self-Publishing "Collective"

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kelloish

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I was at World Fantasy '12 last week and at one of the panels, they mentioned a community of previously published authors who were now self publishing old titles that they had regained the rights too. In order to put out the best possible product they were all working together, sharing and trading their skill sets. I am now hoping to set up something similar with other authors new to the self-pubbing world.

For example, I have a background in book publicity and working with bloggers and reviewers to help build hype for new titles. In exchange for editing and/or formatting I would be willing to put together and execute a one month long publicity campaign.

I am hoping to aim a bit higher in scope than a simple trade, if there is an area where your book could use a stronger showing but you do not have the skills/budget to to do it yourself, there may be someone here who can help you with that in exchange for use of a skill set you have.

Looking for people who can provide:
- editing
- copy-editing
- marketing/publicity
- web design
- cover design
- formatting (digital and physical)

Okay, this is not an 100% original idea by any stretch, but there are new people breaking into this business every day. So if someone is looking is interested, I'd love to partner up.
 
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thothguard51

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Stand in line. This is not new and there are dozens, if not hundreds of publishing collectives out there. Most are complete failures within two years or so, while others have found some small success for their members. But you really have to offer a member something more than what they can do on their own.

Here is the thing, as your 1st paragraph mentioned, the members who started the collective that was talked about are all published writers who have a fan base already established. But from what I gather, they still self published, but with the help of their members in trading services.

I also assume these writers knew each other professionally if not personally. This makes a big difference because they know what the other members are capable of. Why should this matter? Because anytime you have a collective of strangers, someone is always going to feel they are not getting what their contribution is worth. Someones feelings are always going to get hurt and this will drag a collective down. So, how is the collective vetted and who has the say as to who can join?
 

retlaw

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I think - for the most part - you get what you pay for. My experience w/this type of arrangement has been this: I help and help. When I ask for help, the cricket chirp is the only response.

If you're serious about this, I think you should be ready for a long haul. IMO, it'll take years to create the kind of synergistic contributors you're aiming for.
 
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