Category Archives: micro-patronage

more reasons for self publishing…

i wouldn’t sneeze at the offer of a $50k advance…but that would be a mighty large pay cut…even for me…

“Conveying news of latest rejection, agent mentions we’ll be lucky to get $50,000; explains, “Publishers aren’t overpaying anymore. They know they’ll just break even if they pay $50,000 and sell 20,000 copies in hardcover, which few books ever do.”

I realize if I’m “overpaid” I’ll earn $50,000 minus $7,500 agent commission. That’s $42,500 for three years’ work.“

either way, this is a pretty devastating look at how authors get treated by the publishing business…and just another piece of evidence as to why i think self-publishing is a better option…

the new micro-patronage…pt 2…

“Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales,” wrote Reznor on his message board. “Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY [as DRM-free MP3s] … Collect people’s e-mail info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers. Then, offer a variety of premium packages for sale and make them limited editions / scarce goods.”

It’s a play straight out of Anderson’s playbook (and, in fact, Anderson cites Nine Inch Nails as an example of a business that understands “Free”).

To put it into practice, Reznor advises that bands distribute through Amazon, TopSpin or Tunecore; set up a simple, Flash-free site outside of MySpace (which he says is “dying and reads as cheap / generic”); never abuse their mailing list; use free tools from Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud; and give people a reason to keep coming back to their site (Reznor’s own forums are an example of this strategy).

However, Reznor says the strategy of giving away music in return for e-mail addresses, then marketing pricey box sets and other premium goods to those e-mail addresses only makes sense if a band wants to keep all its money and stay in control of its image.“(click for full article)

this can work for printed media too…

the new micro-patronage…

the last two years have been very interesting…reading and watching musicians use the internet to find new ways of financing, selling, and marketing their work…i’m working on a plan to do some of the same things for my next book…stay tuned…

your comments and observations are welcomed…