I am thinking of creating a service to help people write books. The idea would be that you could show your book proposal to other people who have already written books, have them give you feedback, and then find out if they are interested in being involved with you as an editor or co-author or whatever. Is this something you’d be interested in?
This is a great idea, but I could see a few hiccups along the way. Are there dead ends associated with this? Are there major obstacles that you’d need to overcome? It’s one thing to help people write books, but are you sure you can get people to publish the books? Or, what if they get published and then people are unhappy with the way the publisher deals with them? What if they make money but they’re not happy with how it’s distributed?
I’d be curious to hear if you have a background in publishing and if you might have some inside knowledge on how to solve for some of these issues.
Great points. I don’t have a background in publishing, but I’m passionate about the book industry and an avid reader. I do see your points with the logistical challenges, especially from an outside perspective.
I’m thinking of a slight pivot to make this more about mentorship and support in the literary industry, where you can collaborate and get advice as you write your next novel or short story. That takes the publishing element, maybe the more complex element, out of the way…
I have seen these kinds of services before, and I have even considered them myself. The problem, I think, is that they tend to be limited in the number of people they can help, because they only work with people who have already self-published. I think what you really need to do is develop a service where you are working with people even before the book idea is fully formed.
Yes, for sure, I think the mentorship/collaboration element between aspiring authors and more tenured authors may be the better one, to be honest. I don’t want this to feel exclusionary in any way or have this be intimidating to get involved with. Thank you for the feedback!
I echo a lot of the above. It’s a cool idea, but I have trouble seeing people pay for this service. However, having a smaller niche group and community is a value that I see in this kind of idea. Good luck!