Grasping at straw polls.

Just saw a beautiful Twitter post from Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself), that went like this:

Thanks for all the #TGBDVD replies. Looks like97% of teachers would like DVDs and Harper Childrens just changed their mind on not doing it.

Sadly, I'm afraid my Twit-Fu is still too weak for me to know how to link to an individual post. To explain the context of it, though, Neil was himself filmed while reading aloud from his novel The Graveyard Book as he went around the country promoting it. Those recordings are already available online for free. Neil put the question to the internet: would teachers rather have a DVD available than have to rely on the website to play the readings for their classes? He asked them to reply using the tag "#TGBDVD" (The Graveyard Book DVD) so that the answers could be tracked.

I know more people than teachers would be interested in that DVD, but that's apparently the primary market it would be aimed at.

So, five hours after he put the question to the internet, he announces that not only have people overwhelmingly asked for a DVD, but that the publishers have "changed their minds" about putting one together.

I don't know all the backstory here, but reading between the lines it's pretty obvious that the Harper Childrens didn't think the demand would justify it. It's anybody's guess why. If I had someone giving me odds, I'd lay money that the old chestnut "We can't expect anyone to turn around and buy it when you just got done giving it away for free!" to have reared its head, though I'd also lay odds that the existence of a free recording of the book in its entirety have not hurt sales of the printed book or any audiobook edition. The fact that an author reading a novel aloud in its entirety as a video is kind of a novelty also might have played into it.

Then Neil asks the internet if they want the DVD and the internet says, "YES! PLEASE!"

This is evidence of a couple of things.

One, it's an obvious refutation of the "people won't pay money for what they can get for free" canard that causes so much distraction for media companies trying to figure out how to use the internet... or even coexist with it.

Two, it's a further erosion of the idea of "gatekeeping" as a necessary function of the publishing companies. This is actually a good thing for everyone involved, companies and consumers and creators. The companies don't have to guess as much about these sorts of things any more. Creators don't have to depend on those guesses, don't have to see their own choices second-guessed by corporate prognosticators when they go right to the source. Customers get what they want.

Of course, any companies that are far too invested in their positions as the great golden guardians of culture, the arbiters of What People Really Want, are going to fall behind as they miss out on opportunities like the one that Neil's Twitter poll revealed, while those that are responsive will make out like bandits.

As I've said before, it will be interesting to see what kind of interest Cat Valente's Fairyland novel attracts from publishers. It's going to come with its own hype, it's going to be coming to the market with a bigger "test audience" than most books... it'll be interesting to see who recognizes the potential on their own and who needs something like a Twitter test.

You know what the world needs more of?

Tales of MU icons.

There are plenty of MU readers on LJ, but not a lot of icons. But there are a lot of talented people among those reading it, and we should be able to come up with some 100x100 pieces of creativity. I put no restrictions on using the likenesses of characters, concepts, or even bits of texts in some Livejournal/Facebook icons if people will make them and then post them for freely sharing among the community.

Let's see what you folks can come up with.

Lost and found, increasing readers to increase sponsorship.

So, my last laptop (may it rest in peace) was a big sucker that only had about an hour and a half of battery life under optimal conditions... more like 45-50 minutes with wireless surfing and music going and stuff. It's got a mostly white case.

My very awesome new one can be used pretty much for a whole work day if it's got a good charge, and it keeps its charge pretty well on standby. It's also small and a sleek and glossy black.

So, I've already found one way in which the old one was a better "fit" for me... it was impossible to lose. It's bad enough that I tend to lose my phone two or three times a week (incidentally, now that I'm not writing on it anymore, I'm not sure where it's gone to... maybe I should be looking into Skype instead?), now I have to worry about losing my computer. Fortunately my apartment is not that large, but unfortunately a lot of the furnishings are dark colored and I tend to run the place in "low light mode" most of the time.

I'm finding the trick is not to shut the lid when I go to set the lappy down somewhere or walk away from it... it's a lot more colorful and visible and bright that way. I always had to shut the other one so it would go straight to standby and save its battery, but that's far less important with this one. I'll adjust. It's such a minor thing, compared to how handy the thing is. I am seriously indebted to tzadkiel for providing it... I hope you don't mind, but I plan on paying off my debt in stories. ;)

And of course, by that measurement... the fact that I was able to mention a need and have someone step up and take care of it... well, I can count that as a victory. I don't want to diminish that. But other than that, I've had a very lukewarm response to my attempts to boost my sponsorship lately. I'm an analytical sort, so naturally I've got some thoughts about why this would be. Obviously the fact that I've been directing my own readership to other creative causes lately might be coming into play, but the fact is things have been at a plateau ever since my first huge sponsorship push peaked. My readership has remained steady since then.

So I think what this tells me is that I'm at or near the capacity of my current readership. Feel free to prove me wrong by having a bunch of people rush to sign up, but really, of the people reading my work on a regular basis, nearly 1% have chosen to sponsor my writing.

It might not sound like it, but that's actually a fairly impressive benchmark, especially as it's not including irregular and one time contributors and people who send money every month by hand. There may be a few more people who'll be willing to contribute if they can send a check instead of using PayPal, and I've actually got a PO Box set up for that now, which I'll have listed for those who want it under a cut at the end of this post. Tomorrow I'll be adding that to my payment page, along with a sponsorship option for people who want their contribution marked down as supporting my work in general instead of a specific story. That's something I overlooked but I've had a couple of people ask for it.

So, those few things... along with my continued productivity, timeliness of updates, and engagement with the readership... might boost things a little, but as I've said before to survive the long term, I need to raise my income, and to do that, I need to raise my audience, as well. Any support that people can give me in raising my profile, in publicizing my stories... if you feel self-conscious about promoting Tales of MU, remember that I do write other stuff and that 3 Seas and Tribe are entirely non-sexual and suitable for younger audiences... anything helps.

My laptop's taken care of, but I've got a tiny chip in my glasses... it's practically invisible to me when I'm wearing them but when I take them off and look at it it's a pretty vivid reminder of the sorts of unexpected expenses that can sneak up on you. Again, the point is not to go "oh poor me, I need the internet to buy me new glasses". Actually, after the last time I replaced my glasses... shortly after I left my day job... I've got some really great resources on getting them cheap. But the point is that unexpected expenses can be expected to continue, and the answer to that is me writing, people enjoying it, people sharing their enjoyment, and a few of those people... under one percent of them's just fine, if there are enough people in total... deciding to give some value back for the value they've received.

So, you know, spread the word on your own journal. Tell your friends. Start conversations. Blog your reactions to the stories, if you feel the urge. Tweet and ReTweet links to your favored stories. If you've got a friend who blogs or writes or podcasts about internet culture or writing or fantasy or spanking or carnivorous mermaids or superheroes or whatever, drop them a link.

I need more exposure to grow. I need to grow to survive. I need help.

(Also, if you emailed me with promotion ideas or business prospects like back in April or so and I never responded or else dropped out mid-conversation... I've got some big gaps in my memory right around the time I started to notice my email acting up. Feel free to email me another poke.)

( Mailing address for checks. )