The Variant, a new short story
As a screenwriter, most of my writing takes place in the third-person present tense. Movie characters run, shoot and misbehave within a small subset of the words, senses and actions that other literary characters take for granted. We never know what Indiana Jones is thinking, unless he tells us. We don’t know what a Wookie smells like, unless another character mentions it.
Don’t get me wrong: I love screenwriting. But it’s limited.
So when a friend asked me to write a short story, I jumped at the chance. The thing I wrote, The Variant, was and maybe still is supposed to be part of an anthology of short stories written by well-known screenwriters. It falls in that loose genre of spy-fi which encompasses both The Prisoner and Jorge Luis Borges.
After leaving it to sit on the shelf a few months, I considered sending the story out to the usual magazines that publish short fiction. But it’s not really a New Yorker story. It probably belongs in a sci-fi quarterly, one that I would never buy unless specifically instructed. And I would have a hard time nudging all my friends to drop five dollars on a magazine they had never heard of.
So, in the spirit of iPhone apps and Jonathan Coulton tracks,1 I’m releasing it myself for 99 cents. You can get it as a pretty .pdf, or on your Kindle through Amazon. 2
You can find all these options here: johnagust.com/variant
This is all an experiment, obviously. I’m lucky to have a career where it doesn’t matter if this generates $15 or $1,500. But I’m curious whether this is a feasible model for a writer. In the next few weeks, I’ll be posting the results.
I’m well aware that there are going to be some people who simply can’t pay 99 cents for something online. And while I can’t anticipate every scenario, I’ve set up an email account (sales@johnaugust.com) to figure out solutions.
- I discovered the delivery system (E-Junkie) through Coulton. ↩
- And if you live in the U.S, keep in mind that every iPhone can now read Kindle books with the Kindle app. ↩
Articles
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
John;
I look forward to the results. I’m curious though, is this the only form of promotion that you’re doing for it? I hope you post all of your promotional methods with the results.
In the meantime I’ll download the Kindle app and check out your story.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I’ve just read about anthologies in Jenna Glatzer’s “Outwitting Writer’s Block” – thanks for reminding me of this, I almost forgot to look it up on the net ;)
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
John –
Thanks so much for the chance to have been one of the “readers” on your early drafts (and thanks, Twitter)…
The story is great, folks, and well worth the price of a download.
Good luck with it, John… look forward to hearing the results.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Thanks for mentioning JoCo. Huge Jonathan Coulton fan… even got to interview him last year when he was in LA at the HoB. Such a down to Earth guy…and man, what an entrepreneur! The new business model for musicians?
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I follow your blog, but noticed this first on Daring Fireball. I bought it today, and just finished reading it on my iPhone over lunch.
1-click at Amazon, a great price, and a very enjoyable story. This was an excellent experience all the way around. Thanks, John.
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:57 am
I blogged about this today, John. I was originally opposed to the idea of offering previews for digital fiction, having covered the field for about 3 years now … but you won me over. Bravo, and keep up the good work!
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:05 am
//Potential SPOLERS forthcoming.
Nice short story, John. I really liked the pace and style. As far as the story goes, it has a very nice premise and then you greatly elaborate on it, but for me personally the ending suffered a bit from a deus ex machina type complex. Furthermore, but equally stemming from the way the conclusion is handled, questions that pop into your head as a reader do not get addressed by the end.
But other than that I fully enjoyed reading it and
//END potential SPOILERS.
I really recommend everyone to buy and read it, as it is absolutely worth that dollar.
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
Interestingly enough, I was planning on embarking on a very similar experiment myself. I have a number of short stories and essays, thought I’d put them online. Had some vague ideas for monetizing them.
I don’t think I could sell the stories themselves, at first. I have no name recognition, there is no presumption of quality in potential readers. And just starting out there wouldn’t be enough traffic that the 1%-3% who decide to buy would turn into any kind of income.
Still, I await the results of your experiment.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:15 am
another Daring Fireball referral, read on iPhone Kindle app. i was surprised at how smooth the 1-click purchase with link to Kindle app went. 99 cents is a totally reasonable price. hell, think of all the stupid junk we pay more for in a day. less than the price of one beer!
i really enjoyed the story, although i was just discussing with friends how time travel (and the ilk) seems to be showing up in so many shows and movies lately. i did very much like your twist, however. fantastic read.
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Hi John,
I don’t think the problem is the dollar amount that stops people for paying for a song or books online. I think it’s plain convenience masked by laziness. People would rather download torrents because it’s easy. You click a button to get what you want.
People simply don’t want to bust out the credit card, type in all the information all for a single dollar, regardless of what they’re purchasing. It’s not fast enough to satisfy the on-demand generation.
I think the solution is finding a faster way people can make the transaction, like entering a user name and password (for security reasons) that automatically links back to the person bank account and makes the withdrawal for them. Less effort and getting the product on-demand.
Basically, it’s more convenient to steal the desired product than to lug our lazy asses off the couch to find the credit card. Create the Imagination and Entertainment network. Provide people with the convenience of purchasing a product when they want it and I’d bet stealing products online will decline.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I had a chance to read it during the beta test myself and felt that it was easily worth the .99 cents.
It’s pretty thrilling, well-written, engaging, and anything else you’d want in a short story.
The bonus here is that you’re helping monetize the medium of short stories. Short stories in this day and age need all the help they can get and bravo to Mr. August for having the wherewithal to do it.
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Just tried buying the book via Amazon for my iPhone, as I am in Europe: no dice.
Amazon.com says something about geographical restrictions. As you are the author and copyright holder, could lift them? Or does Amazon just not sell outside the US for Kindle (+Kindle.app) content at all?
Cheers, Ben
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
@Ben:
Kindle, even the iPhone version, is U.S.-only. Which blows, and can’t be worked-around by an individual copyright-holder. That’s why there’s the pdf. A ePub version (for Stanza and others) is a few days away.
May 24th, 2009 at 1:44 am
@Ben:
Probably the only way for a European to get around the Kindle problem in general is to get an account and credit card in the States, if you ever find your way there. There are several bank account types where you pay no fees for opening and maintaining it and you don’t need any big amount of money to actually open the account, either.
May 24th, 2009 at 4:44 am
@Paul: Yep. Waiting for my Greencard lottery winning ;)
The main problem with this is that you basically need to have an US address. Perhaps prepaid CCs would work. Gotta check that out when I go back there.
May 24th, 2009 at 6:09 am
@Ben:
Mhm, also waiting for my GC lottery. ;)
If you have anyone in the US you know at least a little bit, who would let you use their address, that would be an option too. The bank essentially just wants to be able to contact you somehow (or through someone), it isn’t really necessary for you to be staying there all the time. At least that is how I am set up.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:01 am
You don’t have to post this John. It’s off topic, but my thoughts are with you and many others today while the Court makes its ruling. Hopefully, they will make the right decision.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
@Andrew – Boo! They didn’t! I am embarrassed. /hijack