Wind Tunnel Dreams

[shadesong]

And now, what you've all - well, what some of you have been waiting for...

The return of Wind Tunnel Dreams.

Inspired by the poem-a-day challenge, I'll be writing a poem a day throughout April. All profits go to Elayna's Explo tuition. Sponsor a month of poetry, send a kid to the awesomest camp ever!

Now, I have a decision. Because there are two ways I can go about this, and I'd like your input.

1. I can post the poems here, with a PayPal button; each day you can pay what you like if you like the poem.
2. I can e-mail the poems to people who subscribe. I'd ask for a $10 minimum, but really, whatever you think a month of poetry is worth.

Option 1 is what I've been doing with WTD, and I do like it. The appeal of Option 2 is that it solves the first-publication issue - if really good poems come out, I can sell 'em. The appeal of Option 1 is that everyone gets to see them.

I shall ponder. With your help, hopefully. Please weigh in on this - and please give me prompts! :)

----
Poems I owe:
"Nine Things About Oracles" for elisem
Medusa for s00j
Naga for tithenai

Comments

[freyapax.livejournal.com]

I vote #1 for a couple of reasons. For one thing, method 1 is how I came to be an avid 'song reader. For another, I find I'm more likely to sponsor immediately in response to something that moves me (which can wind up with multiple donations per month-long event), where as paying up front (which I would totally do) I'm more likely to not contribute anymore than that minimum, just pay my piece and enjoy my stories and not really think any further about it. Make sense?

[tenshikurai9.livejournal.com]

I'm time-pressed enough that I don't get to read non-everyday life posts, so I'm not going to try to persuade you one way or the other.

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

Why not consider a hybrid? Donation subscription to view. At the end of the month, tally your donations and post however many your audience has paid for. Reserve the rest for your own use.

Warm fuzzies and much respect off topic

[minniethemoocha.livejournal.com]

Hey. I just got Ravens. Your story is amazing. I read it out loud to my {something} late Saturday night. Much love and props to you, lady. You inspire me daily and I'm so glad to have found you.

Re: Warm fuzzies and much respect off topic

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like it! :) I've been really nervous about that one...

Re: Warm fuzzies and much respect off topic

[themaskmaker.livejournal.com]

It is indeed wonderful! I just read it. :)

Re: Warm fuzzies and much respect off topic

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Yay!

And I just got the chapbooks, and WOW. The pictures do not do them justice. I am in love. Totally want to work with you again!

Re: Warm fuzzies and much respect off topic

[themaskmaker.livejournal.com]

Eee! I am thrilled.

Here's to a long and mutually beneficial alliance. :)

[themaskmaker.livejournal.com]

I strongly support #2. That way, you don't have to coax people to donate every day, and wear yourself out and get frustrated.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

How about both?

Do option 2 by emailing the poems to prepaid subscribers on a daily basis but at the end of each week, do an Lj post containing the previous 6 poems with paypal buttons next to them. [you could even leave sunday's poem as an extra subscribers only option]

That way it solves the first publication issue, and allows everyone to see the poems as a weekly digest and donate.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

That doesn't solve the problem, it creates it. :)

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I think I fail at understanding the ins and outs of copyright...

no wonder I'm a pirate, it's easier!

[spc476.livejournal.com]

Post one or two a week with a donation button and a reminder that to get the rest, you need to subscribe.

[australian-joe.livejournal.com]

I've seen others say that locked posts are not "publication" in terms of selling rights...

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

But I can't friend everyone who sponsors. :(

[australian-joe.livejournal.com]

Hmm, there is that, if some of them don't have LJs.

Maybe a teaser posted here (first few paragraphs?) and the full piece in email?

[seabream.livejournal.com]

Context: I don't know what choices you've made with respect to what purposes you want to serve (income, short/medium/long term, exposure, cred [for these two, to whom/with whom], career [What kind/path? And that affects the answers to the previous questions]) through this process, and how much to weigh each. That being the case, I don't want to be prescriptive. I'm okay with being illustrative though and seeing what conclusions you come to.

At a guess, the number of people reading here, including drop ins who don't friend, and one offs referred to a particular piece by regular readers is growing. Option one encourages this trend and may be a good thing to have around, especially with prior Wind Tunnel Dreams locked (Yes, Shayara, but WTD pieces can be easier for a new cold reader to get in to.), adding to your momentum building your online fanbase, and keeping the sense of experimentation and openness. Depending on your view of publishing and its future, this may be forward looking of you. Of course then there's the professionalism and polish aspect, and what you want to represent you, which is why WTD is locked in the first place, which leads to the career and cred question.

That said, even if you go with option two, (and you'd have to see your contracts for the timeline) eventually the exclusivity will lapse and you can be free to post the pieces here afterwards. On the assumption that the readership of whatever you sell them to extends to a different set of social networks than your blogs/websites, this could widen your audience and keep your current one (presuming that you're okay with people wanting to see more of your poetry instead of different formats that they've not yet seen.). Though there is the question of which type(s) of media you want to aim at. This next part is backed up by nothing but speculative reasoning. The lack of overlap with your current readership may be higher in dead tree or even podcasting (and I think that by now you have it on good authority that some of your pieces can be at least as good out loud as in writing) and hence more useful for getting different new people to see the specific works that you sell, but the proportion, and numbers of readers who like your work who will seek more of it in a meaningful way that increases your desirability to editors, may be lower, with those, than the number who would follow a link back to you from an online magazine.

I don't know a lot about the poetry markets you would be looking at. My understanding is that style and subject matter also affect which ones are open to any given piece. I also don't know what they pay vs. your readers who have seen enough of your previous work to subscribe to see your future work, vs. them + new people, or impulse sponsor people, who you'd miss out on without posting the poems for them to read.

Personally, I like option 1 better, but that's my temperament. I tend to think of 2 as more of a gamble than 1 but as I said, the extent to which you'd mind would be dependent on factors I'm not privy to the specifics of. Either way, in terms of effects on career development, they'd be really hard to gauge after the fact, let alone before.

[natf.livejournal.com]

I would personally love to read them but cannot always afford to pay much. It is totally up to you, however, whether you post them here. *hugs* (http://www.natalieford.com/hugs.txt)