Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
Think about what it would cost for Random House to switch to your model. Think then what Random House would have to charge an author for the editorial help...
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As you suggest, many of the traditional publishing houses would not be able to make this transition from their current organization. Others might. Maybe smaller freelancers would get most of this business, or maybe places like Random would have to scale down or break into smaller offices to do it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob
You can find enough authors that are willing and able to pay for this stuff up front. Which I highly doubt...
Also, would the "publisher" get any cut of the sales for a book they edited?
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I, for one, do not doubt that some authors, not sure of whether their manuscript will do well, will pay for services to help improve its chances. Will all of them? No; they will either go the traditional route, or go it alone. This is merely another choice.
As for the publishers getting a cut, that's not the direction described by this particular model (in which the author pays for services up-front, negotiation done)... but there's no reason why an author and publisher could not make such an arrangement, possibly to lower the author's up-front cost.
Problem is, that puts the element of risk back in the publisher's hands... which will make them less likely to offer their services, except for what they consider a "sure thing," much like the system we have now.
Understand, the author is absorbing the risk instead of the publisher... but under this system, the author is more likely to get a chance to take the risk (instead of never leaving the slush pile)... and using a publisher's services will help lower that risk by improving the product.