A Futuristic Model For Publishing Science Fiction or Fantasy?

What I'm hoping to develop is a business model for a science fiction anthlology publisher that will let allow for some hope of turning a profit. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but I suspect that it could work if it was done right. There is no challenge in publishing books at a loss, anybody can do it and plenty of folks on a mission have. As I'm neither a trust fund baby or a deep pockets publisher, I need to work out a business plan that will be fair to the writers and also fair to myself.

My first thoughts of creating a new science fiction publisher were originally posted on my Self Publishing blog in May, and involved paying a symbolic advance to contributors, something on the order of $50 per short story, in return for the non-exclusive right to publishing the stories in an anthology. Where the model diverges from magazines is that I would then pay a royalty on sales, dividing 50% of the net amongst the contributors.

If I lived in a sci-fi fantasy, I'd start soliciting manuscripts and be preparing to publishing the first book, but there's a minor catch in terms of marketing. I haven't done any research yet on how sci-fi is purchased these days, whether the standard book distribution channels I know how to reach through my self publishing business would be of much use, or even what the typical sci-fi paperback sells for these days. Nor does it help that I'm fairly busy working a new non-fiction book, not to mention building a house with a friend and looking for a new home for myself.

I'll be doing my homework online here, looking at the current science fiction marketplace, publishers and retailers. I'll also need to study up on marketing science fiction on the Internet, whether or not ebooks should play a role, especially as give-always. But considering the contract terms I have in mind, which will be based on non-exclusive rights, I'm not sure that getting involved in the give-away game wouldn't complicate matters.

In the mean time, if you want to start get going building your own publishing website, it's the best way to create a platform for your writing efforts. It doesn't require any fancy software or big out-of-pocket expenses, any old HTML editor works fine.

Jnuary 21st, 2008 - Posted by Morris