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> In the niches of fantasy I read there are no traditionally published authors any more, they all monetise via patreon, kindle unlimited and audible. From what

> In the niches of fantasy I read there are no traditionally published authors any more, they all monetise via patreon, kindle unlimited and audible. From what I've gleaned no traditional publisher can compete with this. I see this too, but I've also seen the next step: Publishers chase them down for book deals. Azarinth Healer is the one that comes to mind (since I'm working through Book 3 again), where the author monetized via Patreon for years, then got a publishing deal through Portal. Honestly, it's been a good thing overall. The audiobooks are high quality, and the editing has done the story a tremendous amount of good.

Retric 3y ago
Moving from self published Patron into traditional publishing is a bumpy ride. To use your example, Azarinth Healer’s author significantly reduced output while working on editing the book without disclosing why they were doing so. They then didn’t hand out copies of the edited work on Patron thus massively discouraging people from continuing to support them. I went through that process a few times with minor variations and it’s annoyed me enough that I decided to permanently boycott both Amazon (including AWS) and Patron. The reverse where traditional authors give fans more access on Patron is less problematic, but also distracts from actually writing.
- falcolas 3y ago
  A bit of a tangent about Azarinth Healer's journey to follow, with a more generic wrapup... > To use your example, Azarinth Healer’s author significantly reduced output while working on editing the book without disclosing why they were doing so. Interesting. This drama must have been largely contained to Discord, since I never really saw it come up in Patreon itself. Plus, their output has been a bit unpredictable due to real life mental health complications for years. Notably, though, supporters on Patreon were not charged when they were not producing new chapters. Ultimately reduced output, especially for the sake of fixing prior works for publishing, is acceptable to me. > They then didn’t hand out copies of the edited work on Patron thus massively discouraging people from continuing to support them. The author probably couldn't. They can't even keep the un-edited version up on Royal Road, so the contract probably stipulated what could and could not be done with the edited manuscript. And, honestly, I'm OK with that. Since Patreon charges have been turned off for awhile, paying $5 for the edited books is acceptable IMO. > distracts from actually writing Authors gotta market their work; even traditional publishers aren't doing that nearly as much anymore. While output might be the key metric that some readers judge authors by, at the end of the day it's not the metric authors need to worry about the most. An author who can't support themselves by writing will produce even less output than one who is bound by the need to make money. At the end of the day, I have a hard time being sour about authors - Rhegar included - finding a way to earn a living off writing.

Retric 3y ago

Moving from self published Patron into traditional publishing is a bumpy ride. To use your example, Azarinth Healer’s author significantly reduced output while working on editing the book without disclosing why they were doing so. They then didn’t hand out copies of the edited work on Patron thus massively discouraging people from continuing to support them. I went through that process a few times with minor variations and it’s annoyed me enough that I decided to permanently boycott both Amazon (including AWS) and Patron. The reverse where traditional authors give fans more access on Patron is less problematic, but also distracts from actually writing.

falcolas 3y ago
A bit of a tangent about Azarinth Healer's journey to follow, with a more generic wrapup... > To use your example, Azarinth Healer’s author significantly reduced output while working on editing the book without disclosing why they were doing so. Interesting. This drama must have been largely contained to Discord, since I never really saw it come up in Patreon itself. Plus, their output has been a bit unpredictable due to real life mental health complications for years. Notably, though, supporters on Patreon were not charged when they were not producing new chapters. Ultimately reduced output, especially for the sake of fixing prior works for publishing, is acceptable to me. > They then didn’t hand out copies of the edited work on Patron thus massively discouraging people from continuing to support them. The author probably couldn't. They can't even keep the un-edited version up on Royal Road, so the contract probably stipulated what could and could not be done with the edited manuscript. And, honestly, I'm OK with that. Since Patreon charges have been turned off for awhile, paying $5 for the edited books is acceptable IMO. > distracts from actually writing Authors gotta market their work; even traditional publishers aren't doing that nearly as much anymore. While output might be the key metric that some readers judge authors by, at the end of the day it's not the metric authors need to worry about the most. An author who can't support themselves by writing will produce even less output than one who is bound by the need to make money. At the end of the day, I have a hard time being sour about authors - Rhegar included - finding a way to earn a living off writing.