The Variant
The Variant is a short story by John August.
It’s a spy thriller with a strong dose of science fiction, in the vein of The Prisoner and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., or the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges.
It’s 7,176 words, which is about 23 pages typeset.
It’s described on Amazon thusly:
After 35 years working at the Central Library, Vincent Lewis has perfected the art of unremarkability. But when a terrified woman falls through his bathroom ceiling, he’s forced back into a life of gunfights, double agents and paranormal research. The secret he’s been keeping for nearly four decades might reunite him with his lost love, or kill millions.
Who wrote it?
John August is the screenwriter of eight feature films, including Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride. He wrote and directed the 2007 movie The Nines. This is his website.
Where can I read it?
Do you have a Kindle?
The Variant, on Kindle
Would you like a nice .pdf?
One 25-page .pdf delivered by e-junkie, just 99 cents via
PayPal.
Like it? Share it.
How about a sample?
Absolutely. You can get the first 13 pages of The Variant right now.
If you dig it, come back and get the whole thing.
Why 99 cents?
That’s the price we’ve seemed to set for a unit of cultural entertainment that’s enjoyable but not necessarily life-changing. For example, most of the games in the iPhone App Store are 99 cents. If one looks appealing, you’ll buy it, because 99 cents isn’t a lot to gamble.
If you think of novel as being like a music album, a short story is sort of like a single. It’s self-contained and enjoyable on its own. No coincidence, a single on iTunes is 99 cents.
Why not free?
If after reading the lengthy free sample, you decide you want to read the rest of the story but don’t want to pay 99 cents — or for some reason can’t — send an email to sales@johnaugust.com.
If you can present a coherent case for the story should be free (to everyone, or specifically in your situation), I’ll send you the .pdf at no charge. Note: In doing so, you agree to let me print your email in part or in full.
Any other options for purchase?
Do you have an iPhone, or iPod Touch? Do you live in the United States? Then you can read Kindle books on your device.
→ First, download the free Kindle app. (Link to App Store).
→ Launch it, and search for “variant.” Click and load. It’s 99 cents.
Do you love ebooks, but hate DRM? Do you live outside the U.S., and thus can’t use the Kindle app? Then the ePub file may be right for you.
It works in many mobile readers, including Stanza for iPhone. But it’s more complicated than the Kindle version and requires a computer. (That is, you can’t just buy it directly on your iPhone.)
Undaunted? Excellent. Click here for instructions on installing the ePub version.
Questions? Concerns? Need to tell the world what you thought?
Leave a note below. And thanks for visiting.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I was lucky enough to “beta test” this story for John, and I can wholeheartedly recommend spending the buck to own it. You won’t be disappointed.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I had a chance to read it 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 22nd, 2009 at 11:30 am
John, I’m curious about a couple things:
Have you conferred with other writers (esp. short story writers) about this business model? It seems like a great idea to me, and I would think that a lot of authors would be eager to jump on if your efforts are successful.
Have you considered doing a book-on-tape version on iTunes, perhaps with big-name actors? (I realize this could get complicated when it comes to remuneration, but it’d be cool.)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
As an alpha tester, I loved this sci-fi short
A bit wordy on the first few pages, but don’t worry, the second half will more than make up for it. The last page is a page turner (unfortunately being the last page, you can turn no further, unless of course, there is a variant)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Great ad page and a great idea. Hope there will be more.
(Heading to the Kindle store now to download my own)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Sounds great, but why is it available in such limited formats? I’d buy an ePub version in a second.
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Your writing style enthralls and entices me; to read and to write. Bravo!
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I was also one of the lucky early readers and loved the story.
I just got back from my lunch break where I finished reading the new and improved Kindle version…a deal at 99¢.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I enjoyed the story a lot, it´s just a little too short for its own good, in my humble opinion (maybe that´s the screenwriter in you, not to use big, padded descriptions… but towards the end, it was a bit too rough – what about a strategically placed flashback? :) ).
The distribution model is great, too – generous sample, no messy DRM, fair price. What more could I want? Well, (1) an “audio book” of that, and (2) more of that kind, of course. I wish there was a selling space for eBook-PDFs on iTunes.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Hey John, is there any way you could send me a copy like that of the image for the .pdf file, in the spiral binding? If a hardcopy like that exists & your willing to mail it to me (I’ll pay for packaging/shipping etc.), signing the cover would definitely be the icing on the cake & also my first & only famous autograph. Let me know if something like that is doable, if not, I’ll just pay .99 to read it on the computer. Thanks.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
@Joshua:
If you’re volunteering, I can send you the Amazon markup (basically HTML) to convert to ePub.
@Kenny and @Nick:
Audiobook is an interesting idea. And yes, I really wish there were a simple way to do a pdf/e-book through iTunes.
@Richard:
I have no plans for a physical version. I know there are services that can generate them on-demand, but it’s not something I’m pursuing. So for now, the pdf is your best bet.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Kind of clunky, but a workaround for the iPhone if you don’t want to just download the free Kindle app: buy the pdf on your computer, email it to yourself, then read it in the Mail app on your phone.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Liked.
My first SciFi story I think. (For some reason it’s taking me a while to accept that actually, I’m quite a SciFi girl)
Also the first time I’ve bought a book online. Worth the 64p. Would be interested to hear how you do out of this, John. Is nice to see the web being seen as an opportunity, rather than a threat.
Unlike the commentor above, I prefered the first half to the second.
Loved the last couple of lines – like the couplet of a sonnet. If someone asks me to recount the story in a month or two’s time, it’s going to be those last couple of lines, or the feeling of them, that I remember.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I agree that an ePub would be nice. In my experience, PDFs don’t work as well on smaller devices (like my iPhone). I bought it on KIndle for iPhone. $1 is low enough that I don’t mind the DRM so much. Haven’t finished it yet, but I like it so far.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Nice work John. Putting up the preview PDF was a great idea. I planned on just taking a quick look at it and ended up buying the full version.
I think your pricing is right, too. I’m not one to buy things online at a whim, but I didn’t have any problem justifying a click on the link to purchase it. I’m looking forward to seeing you post about how this works out.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:56 pm
If you don’t mind my asking, which format gives you a better cut?
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
@Nat:
I make more than twice as much on the .pdf. I’ll blog about it when I get a chance.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Hi John. FYI: I bought the book from e-junkie but the pdf wouldn’t download on my iPhone’s Safari. I got it fine on my desktop. Might be worth a mention on the top of the webpage. I didn’t do the kindle thing because of the DRM and how it tends to not work when you upgrade your stuff in 5 years time. You could email the pdf with the receipt and I could probably read it from iPhone email (weird I know).
Anyhow, nice story. The climax could do with a little more flesh. I’ll send an email about specifics, so as to not give spoilers.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Very interested in seeing how this pans out. I’ve been considering doing something similar myself for a while now – 99 cents seems to be just about the right price for a short story, and while I personally would have preferred a donation scheme over a half-now, half-when-you-pay model, I can see this working quite well for you.
As for why I should have your story for free – because I feel that any commercial transaction without the possibility of a refund in the case of customer dissatisfaction is inherently flawed. When it comes to selling fiction online, my personal preference would be for the story itself to be presented completely free in HTML, and a print-ready, cover-art-included hi-res pdf be sold for 99 cents for those who feel it worth their dollar.
This sort of “value adding” is what convinced people to buy PC games in the 90’s when it would have been so easy to just copy the diskettes – by adding cloth maps, game manuals full of fiction and art and backstory that seemed an indispensable part of the package. It should be the same direction music producers take if they want people to continue buying physical cd’s over digital downloads, and the same applies to authors on the web.
I personally wouldn’t expect consumers to take a leap of faith, even if only for a dollar.
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 am
Decided to buy the .pdf at page 7 of the sample.
Keep them coming.
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 am
I tried my best to be in one of the test groups for this story but kept missing out so I jumped at the chance to buy it for (a very reasonable) 99 cents.
I absolutley love reading stories and watching movies about time travel and was pleasantly surprised to see that this story tackled that. I really enjoyed the story especially the way information was given to me throughout. Any chance this could be turned into a feature length film in the future?
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 am
Very much worth the $0.99.
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 am
Delightful. Over much too early. I think I need to spend more time reading short stories.
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:49 am
Dig the story.
Curious how one goes about getting a short story listed on the kindle store…
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 am
This story is bloody brilliant. Will you be writing more in the future, John?
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:01 am
i hope this system works out for you because it’s a great idea- certainly worth the 99c.
someone mentioned audibooks- your writing style works perfectly for it, because it doesn’t sound unnatural when you read it aloud- like a friend telling you a story. reminded me a bit of some of ted chiang’s stories, with the air of authority on the subject (but that’s probably because i read much too little of the short story sci-fi).
looking forward to future stories/experiments!
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:38 am
I really enjoyed the story, thank you!
One thing: who was that Ukrainian chess champion?
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
@Dmitry:
The chess champion is fictional, but an allusion to the Deep Blue/Kasparov match.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 am
It would be helpful if you would dare post some of your business results from this neat model. Then we could see if more people/smaller price works!
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 am
Thanks! I get it — he was a variant of Kasparov :-)
PS Looking forward to reading about self-publishing experiment results.
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
Just a technical question. Bought the Kindle version with my iPhone yesterday at work – downloaded right to my phone, no problem. Read a couple pages and then decided on wanted to wait to finish it on the Kindle at home.
Getting ready to read last night and I tried to sync it up with the Kindle – but it didn’t go sync up. Would you know how to get it on both devices?
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Very engaging, John, and yes, reminiscent of Borges on several levels. He’s been a favorite since college days in Ames, and I just cracked open my anthology, looking for a particular story I’d remembered about a librarian discovering God in the letter “e”… Instead, I dropped into “The Writing of the God” and a few other yarns and saw parallels with “The Variant” all over the place.
Write more of these!
BTW, GREAT title and cover page design, too! Thanks for sharing, as always.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
@Jim:
Should be in “Archived Items” on your Kindle.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Liked it. Any chance of the setting / idea expanding into a longer story?
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and the brevity of the writing style. I’d make one small suggestion for future stories (there are going to be more, right?); fully justify the text. It looks more like a printed page in a book if you do that and somehow that makes it feel more ‘real’.
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Just finished reading… great story.
Cool to see this type of self-publication. Would be interesting to see some stats about sales, etc.
I think you should definitely do something like this again. At $0.99 it’s a no-brainer.
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 pm
It’s tough to make an impact when there’s so much content being flooded into the market on a daily basis. I went the free novel route, and decided after a long thought process to give my novel away, despite having toiled for several years on it. I wanted it to be read, first and foremost, and figured I’d rather have people reading/downloading it and free, than me charge and reduce the numbers who were interested right down. I wish John goodluck – the public profile certainly helps, I’m sure. And 99 cents is next to nothing, anyways. But I can’t help but feel there’s this internet mentality out there where a LOT of people expect…maybe demand…things to be free these days. Like I said, it’s tough.
May 24th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I really liked it.
But I bet it would be hard to expand into a longer form. The particular physics issues involved would need to be developed into some sort of “rule book” for you to consult while writing, so you would have some guidelines about what is possible and not possible. This kind of story line can easily turn into a complete and arbitrary seeming mess.
May 24th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Loved it. Very smart, very cool, completely gripping. And I loved the detail about the cats: “always black, never named”. Tells you so much about the guy in so little space. More please …
May 24th, 2009 at 8:02 am
why does amazon say the kindle version has geographic restrictions?
May 24th, 2009 at 8:40 am
@Aaron Davies:
Kindle books, whether for the physical device or the iPhone app, are restricted to the U.S. Which is frustrating. That’s one reason why there’s a pdf.
May 24th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I may buy your book (or not). But I have no choice: PDF or nothing. The remarkable thing I can see about Kindle, is that I can purchase physical books from Amazon, but not Kindle books, and so not yours.
The reason? I am in France.
Ironic isn’t it? Amazon US will ship to me kilograms of paper across the Atlantic, but not a few kilobytes…
What a pity.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Great story with a great concept and a great distribution idea to test. For an author such as yourself that has a name and a fan base it’s a great model to trial. I’m more than happy to pay the $0.99 for stories like this John, keep them coming! Perfect for short form narratives (and procrastination at work on a Monday morning).
And boo to Amazon and their US only kindle. PDF will have to do in the meantime.
May 25th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Well worth the $1
Thanks
May 25th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Loved your story this is the first Book/Short story Ive ever read on my computer screen. I did find it a bit strange not flipping pages in a book but very much enjoyed your story thankyou.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:03 am
You had me at ‘no one knew a thing about’ Vincent Lewis. Time stops when you’re having a good read. Thanks, John.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
John,
I was told you don’t like peer review websites, like Triggerstreet and Zoetrope.
So… Why don’t you make another experience here and upload something (a short story or a movie script) under a different name just to see what happens? I think you’ll be surprised at the high quality io some of the reviews.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
John,
Best SciFi I’ve read in years! Just great. Thanks for sharing.
Rich
May 26th, 2009 at 5:33 am
I just went straight for the PDF option, at €0.73 why not?
I loved the story, just the right length for a short story imo. Like a previous commenter I thought the last few lines were poetic and a little magical.
Cheers.
PS – big up on the cover art too.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:34 am
John. After reading the other comments here, it appears you are being charged to distribute your pdfs. If this is the case, you might check into http://www.mals-e.com/ the FREE Shopping cart. This spring I purchased Freeway Pro and self taught myself web site building, then when I needed a cart I choose Mals. It was a wise choice, being a complete novice webster, I needed help from time to time, and Mal was an All Star when it came to service. I choose the Premium Service because I wanted to accept credit cards, (via PayFlow Links) but his free service works fine if you are just using PayPal. Give it a Google, might save you some dough in the long run.
Hope this helps, Rich
May 26th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Great story, great purchase.
Tks. :)
May 26th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I only realized that there was an ePub after I bought the PDF version. Is there a significant difference between the two files? I am using Stanza on the iPhone and some of the text flow seems off.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
@Dalton:
I’m sending you the ePub version. Let us know if it’s better.
May 26th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Yes, thanks, that’s much better! Now that I can compare the two it is obvious that the PDF does not have any paragraph breaks at all, but it does have some mysterious line breaks where they don’t belong. It’s good to know that there’s a difference between the two formats, at least in the way that Stanza converts them for iPhone.
I have read actually read a few novels on the iPhone so far. While it’s not ideal, it definitely works and the convenience is a huge advantage.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Very smart. Very entertaining. Definitely worth the 99-cents.
I just want to let you know how helpful your site is. I’m so glad there’s somebody out there doing what you’re doing.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Wow. Great story– first short ive given a chance in years. Just as Sarah said: “poetic and a little magical.”
Definately worth the buck… and then some!
May 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Fantastic ! Please write more
May 27th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Well done. I loved the story and really like the format. I hope this resurrects the short story in literature.
May 27th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
The story was amazing! Very well done. I even made a reference on my blog, telling all the readers to check it out!
May 28th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I enjoyed the story, but would some kind soul decode the anagram for me?
May 29th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
To the international users, I’m pretty sure the reason Amazon will ship a pound of paper over seas, but not a few kilobytes, is to due the DRM and US laws about export of encryption technology.
Yet another example of an industry limiting their own profits via digital paranoia.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:10 am
Haven’t read the story yet but am wondering if you have considered letting people choose between the 25 page standard layout and a printer-friendly version (or both)? I was able to change the pdf download to a 13 page layout – saving almost half the paper.
June 1st, 2009 at 2:06 pm
John- Congrats on writing a really compelling, fun and thought provoking story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading your future work. Also, this story is prefect for a quick read on an iPhone via Kindle Reader. Thanks! -Jeremy
June 1st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
@Steve:
SPOILER, backwards: HTNIRYBAL
@is:
I formatted the pdf so it would also work well on screen, which is how many people seem to be reading it. Like you, I often adjust print settings to squeeze two pages onto one.
@many others:
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 am
Long live the short story. Great example. Well worth the .99 Did mine on the Kindle version all in one sitting. Need more.
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Nice story, loved the ending. I admitted I cheated on the anagram and used an online anagram generator. I should have seen it though :) I love seeing my reply appear as I type it! You’ll have to keep us informed as to how this works out for you financially. I hope it works well!
Z
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Loved the story and I have put up a short review at amazon.
In that review I mention that the story reminded me of two good stories I read a while back: Distant Replay by Mike Resnick and a novelette called Understand by Ted Chiang. Both are on the interweb and worth a look especially as there as some nice resonances with The Variant.
On a wider scale, I think you hit a sweet spot in terms of price and providing a preview to allow for a virtual taste test (it shows confidence in your story and the feeling of openness and interaction is in itself an attractive quality). I’m finding it a fascinating experiment and hope you will continue to share your results and thought processes.
cheers m
June 4th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Short and sweet, and it didn’t turn out the way I suspected.
Great material for the Outer Limits TV show!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I was one of the lucky twitter followers who had the opportunity to pre-read The Variant and offer up comments. My experience with the pre-read and the story’s subsequent success, along with hearing some traditional Hollywood tales of woe this morning, prompted me to write a new blogpost entitled ‘The Trade-Off’. Since The Variant and your innovative work (John) helped me find the direction I needed to take the post in, I’d love if you’d all take a look. Feel free to comment! http://tarynoneill.blogspot.com/2009/06/trade-off.html
Have a great weekend everyone!
Taryn
June 12th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
These are the words of a discerning consumer/writer (to-be):
The first thing I noticed was the subtle distinctions between the two painted figures on the cover. They look quite like some optical illusion in determining which hat is taller and who has a cleaner shave.
Not saying that they had a shave, but you know. Nonetheless, they seem to be an apt imagery, though, I wonder if you will explain the reason behind your choice.
As for your prose, I think it is thoroughly engaging and the resolution is impeccable for the kind of emotional impact it gives leaves much to the imagination. Though I think you use the third-person omniscient relatively well, perhaps by using the third-person limited, the characters in your story will be more defined since it is mainly Vincent’s POV that you are using. This is because with occasional snippets from the minds of the side characters, it seems to leave the reader wanting for more.
On a more philosophical/scientific note, I thought the ideas presented are sufficiently viable for a story as short as this; very enigmatic.
Most of all, I really want to commend you on your execution of the narrative in succinct sentences, something which most writers seem to under-appreciate. Keep doing what you do. Look forward to read more :)
June 14th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Great story! I was curious about Vincent to the very end – I couldn’t begin to guess where the plot was heading but was happy to be along for the ride.
Good luck with selling the story online. I think it’s a fantastic idea.
I came across this story via Twitter, and oddly enough had randomly set my PVR to record The Nines a few weeks ago – it showed up in my movie queue the night I read the preview for this. The world works in mysterious ways.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Thank you for a wonderful story John, it was well paced and I adored the ending. I’d be delighted to read more in future…
June 18th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
What a fun story and interesting premise! Thought provoking and enjoyable. Thank you! I also love the fact that it was priced nicely and that purchasing the PDF gave me the immediate gratification of being able to read it today, after hearing your interview on Public Radio!
June 19th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Fantastic story; couldn’t stop reading it! read the Kindle version on my iPod touch.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
John,
Enjoyed the story.
If you are serious about increasing your distribution, you may want to consider putting it on fictionwise.com.
I buy most of my books on that site, and read them on old gemstar ebooks. I am thinking about getting a Kindle or Sony ebook, but haven’t felt the need yet. I no longer read physical books or magaizines because I am allergic to the ink that they are printed with.
July 9th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Wow! The sample did its job, sucking me in, and convincing me to buy the full story (PDF), which I loved. Kudos!
(Hat tip to Will Hindmarch for the recommendation.)