Authonomy

[j_cheney]

I've been doing housecleaning tasks (writerly ones) and updated my stuff at BU, checked the Webboard at Baen's, formatted a couple of stories for Anthology Builder, and prepped a query.

And I spent some time looking over Authonomy. This is Harper Collin's equivalent of an open slush pile.

Has anyone tried this out? Any thoughts?

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I wish I were more of a pioneer or an early adopter, but I'm timid, so I tend to want to sit back and see how something goes before trying it.

I think I'd be interested in participating only as a way of getting the editors to look at my work, which means that the sharing-among-peers aspect would be wasted on me. I *love* sharing with my peers, so it's not that I'm not interested in that in general; it's just that my time is so limited, and I already have LJ as a way of discovering and reading peer writing. I don't feel like I have any additional time to spend browsing through other people's works on that site.

Maybe other participants would, though, and maybe it would be a way to get more people reading my stuff, but if I'm going to expose my stuff in a non-traditional way, I'd rather be more in control of it (do it on my own). Maybe if I ever am pursuing non-traditional publishing more seriously, I'd try something like that...

Getting back to using it as a way of having Harper Collins see my work, I think I'd be better off looking for an agent who could put my work in front of an editor who has a particular interest in my genre. I suspect here, although a team of editors will eventually look at the work, there's no assuring that, if you write fantasy, it'll be seen by someone who is interested in fantasy, you know?

Still, it's interesting that they're doing it.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

I have yet to read through the FAQs, so I'm not certain of all the conditions. I don't know what the ratios are for different types of reading. I'll jsut have to wait and see, I suspect.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I did read the FAQ. It seems like a kind of forum-y interactive place, but with the editors of Harper Collins swooping in and reading and commenting on your stuff at some point, too. Reading markalders experiences was useful, too.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Well, that doesn't sound good...

[reudaly.livejournal.com]

At first blush it seems like they might be trying to do something like Baen's Bar. You just have to deal with crap -- either crap reviews or still not getting a request to see the manuscript.

[satimaflavell.livejournal.com]

It's a numbers game. You get lots of people to read your work and comment on it, and the ones with the most positive comments get looked at by the HC editors. I signed up for the sole purpose of voting for a friend who did, in fact, eventually make it to the editors' desk. But there are literally thousands of members (and the standard is generally quite high) and the ones who make it are the ones who spend *a lot* of time networking - doing the rounds, commenting on others' work etc. You would have to make a project of it and take time out from other activities to do it justice.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Aha--that makes sense. Hadn't read the FAQ closely enough to notice that not all the things get read, but of course they couldn't all get read.

This mechanism seems flawed to me, in that there's a conflict of interest--presumably most people who sign up do so because they have a project they'd like the editors to review... so you're competing, aren't you, with all the other people who are reading and commenting. If your friend eventually made it to the editors' desk, it means that at least people do give positive comments and ratings, but, yeah, seems like a lot of effort. It's one thing if it's just to read and be read, but when you add in the element of a chance at editors' interest... somehow it skews everything.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

And that's why there are so many "The best evar!" reviews, I'll bet. They want you to go review theirs in turn....

Bad system.

[satimaflavell.livejournal.com]

Yeah - the odds are better than winning the lottery, but it's still luck and networking that count, given that the standard is very high and most of the books are on a par with each other in terms of quality. It's helping HC keep their slushpile down, I guess:-)

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you're probably right about that...

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound like it's an avenue I want to pursue....

[kara-gnome.livejournal.com]

rob_haines was just talking about this, too. He's pretty much asking, though, as you are, I don't know, thought I'd say...:) Could be something great, really.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

It does seem like a good idea...

[vaughan-stanger.livejournal.com]

Mark Alders has blogged about his Authonomy experiences at some length. You'll find him on my LJ flist.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thanks--reading his experiences really gives a better sense of it.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Hmm....
That is useful.

Back when the OWW was sponsored by Del-Rey, I was an Editor's Pick of the Month. Did not win the contract, alas. So I had the chutzpah to ask if the line, "We were drawn into the bit of this world that we got to see, and it made us want to see more," could be interpreted as a request for a full, and was told it could not.

This Harper Collins thing seems less well-organized. And it sounds like the reviews aren't that helpful.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Very true