Authonomy

I have been reading a lot lately. You all know about my long list of books on my nightstand and the 100 books in a year goal, but there's also the internet. Wow I wish I could count blog reading and research toward my goal, but alas it is not to be. After much research into the e-reader I found the answer to my questions. The biggest of which is that the books simply aren't much cheaper than going to the book store. Even with it's conveniences it just isn't cost effective to shell out the upfront to get the e-reader. I'd have to buy well over a 700 books to make it a cheaper option! Now if they came out with an itunes style store where all ebooks were $3 - $5 it would be great! I'd rush out an buy an ereader tomorrow (in theory, I'd actually have to save for a month or two to afford one).Maybe I tunes themselves can get into the e-book biz. That would be great for me. Already have an itunes account....of course all my lovely giftcard money I got at Christmas has been used on new music....I hate that my birthday isn't until November. Hey valentine's is coming up...maybe I can ask for itunes card, is that romantic enough?
The other item I have been reading about and researching this week has been a site called: Authonomy. Don't ask me how to say it, It changes each time I try. I actually heard about it a few months ago on my favorite Literary Agent Blog. Really people if you have any interest in Literary publishing or it's world you should check out Nathan Bransford's blog ( http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/ ). And not just because my sister thinks he's cute.
A few months ago he mentioned Authonomy ( http://www.authonomy.com/ ). I as usual was curious and went to check it out. I sent off a link to my fellow family authors and waited to see what they think. My brother was the only one who really had too much of an opinion about it all. He was worried (as always) about first north American publishing rights and a publishers chance to screw you over in a contract. Of course this is assuming that I could ever get a publisher to give me the time of day! Since this has yet to happen I begin to weigh the downsides, and it's seeming less and less. So off I go to the site to check it out again. Now it's run by Harper Collins, though I think other companies might be checking it out a little too. It's also a great way to build a platform and honestly aren't I a sucker for a new way to waste time online? Did I ever really stand a chance of resisting? As a final kicker Harper Collins is British isn't it? Wouldn't that mean I hadn't given up north American pub rights but British rights? How does that work with the internet? Does it go by who owns the site or who reads the site?
Well I now have a profile on the site with the first three chapter of My first novel up on it. I have the novel complete, but am still a little weary of putting the whole thing on there. Maybe I'll change my mind in time.
In theory this site is a place for readers and writers alike to find the best new material out there, bypassing the old system of querys and agents to get what the people want published. I pretty sure that Harper Collins actually has a much different plan for this site (thus my hesitation for putting the whole book up) but for now we'll work on that assumption. SO anyone who likes to read should head over and check out the site. Register for a profile and look around at all the books. There's over 3,000 on there now and I'm sure something for everyone. Just be a little careful, some of it isn't appropriate for everyone (it's marked so just keep an eye out). I would love you all to read my book and see how it's doing. The idea is that people can read it and leave feedback or comments and then they rate their top five favorite books. Once your book has enough people rating it highly then you go on the editors desk were a Harper Collins editor will read and critique it for you. Yea! So please check out mybook ( http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=5760 ) and let me know what you think.
Also check out the site some and let me know what you think about the whole site. For you fellow authors out there it could be a useful site for you too!