I’ve been involved with an organization for about four years now that is, in many respects, turning the publishing industry on its ear… or at least reinventing an old game with a few new twists and a lot more panache… or is it chutzpah? Anyway, the organization is WordFire Press, and I can say with a fair amount of pride that I am one of a number of contributors to a fairly fresh and remarkably successful notion of how to sell books and expand writing careers.
There’s no doubt that this gig can be a lot of hard work. There’s also no doubt that what we’re doing is getting the attention of more and more people in the industry with every book we publish and convention we attend. Granted, the shows can be a three ring circus every time we put up the Tower of Nerd, but there’s something special about bringing together all these authors and volunteers, all of them committed to putting new books into the hands of eager readers.
But that’s not why I’m reaching out to you today. I’m reaching out to you today because it is a special occasion for me. It’s also an example of one of the many methods WordFire is using to get the word out on books you might never have heard about or couldn’t get otherwise.
This time around, it’ a Humble Bundle.
Humble Bundle sells digital content through its pay-what-you-want bundle promotions and the Humble Store. When purchasing a bundle, customers choose how much they want to pay and decide where their money goes—between the content creators, charity, and Humble Bundle. Since the company’s launch in 2010, Humble Bundle has raised more than $71 million through the support of its community for a wide range of charities, providing aid for people across the world.
Today I am fortunate enough to be involved in the April 6th Humble Bundle. Fully half of the 18 titles in the Sci-Fi Specials Bundle are not available to the public when the Bundle goes live. You’ll actually be getting titles not available any place else until their official launch. One book—the new anthology Decision Points, featuring stories by bestsellers and award-winners Jody Lynn Nye, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robert J. Sawyer, Jonathan Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, and a never-before-collected Ender’s Game story by Orson Scott Card—is included here as an advance pre-production proof. The remaining books in the bundle have never previously appeared in any other bundle.
The Sci-Fi Specials Bundle includes books by Alan Dean Foster, F. Paul Wilson, Dune-author Frank Herbert (a collection of four previously-unpublished novels), Kevin J. Anderson, J. A. Pitts, Andrew Mayne, Mario Acevedo, D.J. Butler, Doug Beason, Ramon Terrell, Neo Edmund, Jason Henderson, Shean Pao, Quincy J. Allen, Peter J Wacks and J.R. Boyett, Josh Vogt, and Aaron Michael Ritchey. Readers choose the amount they want to pay, and the bundle unlocks more titles at certain bonus levels.
A portion of the proceeds goes directly to the designated charities—the Challenger Learning Centers for Space Science Education and the Emergency Medical Fund for the Science Fiction Writers of America.
It is my sincere hope that you are able to buy the whole bundle. There are quite a few new authors included in it (including myself), some big-league authors with enough street cred to float a gundark, and a couple of great charities. A bundle like this truly is a win-win-win for all those involved.
So hop on over to Humble Bundle and join in on a massive assortment of science fiction.
Cheers!
Q
