Regular readers of this blog know that I read and raved about Victor Gischler’s novel, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Set in the future, civilization hangs together through a chain of Joey Armageddon Sassy-a-go-go clubs strung across America. These clubs, oases of trade in an otherwise savage land, attract travellers, opportunists, and the book’s hero, former insurance salesman, Mortimer Tate.
It’s a great read, heartily recommended. So what am I waffling on about?
Author Victor Gischler promises a sequel which will be available in e-book format. After meeting a disappointing lack of interest in publishing the sequel, on June 26, he turned to readers for funding. The deal is to offer various levels of pledge amounts: from $1 and up. Pledge levels offer certain rewards. At the $5 level, for example, you get an e-copy of the book while at the $500 level (one available and now sold out), he will name the male protagonist after the sponsor.
I’m looking forward to the sequel, of course, but I’m also intrigued by this author’s direct appeal to his readership. According to the post, he sought $3,000 funding by August 10. As of this post, he’s up to $3,140
For more about Victor Gischler’s plans, read here.
I’ve heard of several authors doing something like this lately. Cory Doctorow does this sort of thing frequently, selling his work in different editions at different price levels. Naming a character after a sponsor is fairly typical, too. It’s not really a new idea either. When I was a child, say 1971 or so, my parents gave me a book for Christmas that had a main character with my name. The other characters had my friend’s names, one was my brother, and the dog had our dog’s name. I’ve no idea what they spent for this, but it did come at a premium.
The e-book possibilities take it to a new level, I think. I didn’t know about Doctorow, but then I don’t read him. Will check this out as I think it’s fascinating.
You know, after you mentioned the book you received as a child, I remembered seeing that sort of thing offered.
I had not heard of these books but the plot sounds incredibly irreverent and out of the box. I generally really like cynical, funny and off the wall science fiction.
The authors funding methods also represent out of the box thinking!
Just think Christopher Moore on PCP and you’ve got a sense of Gischler. I liked his warning to be would-be sponsors that his characters are capable of ANYTHING…
Very American, I dare say. (like having your name in a university library or something)
As long as his sponsors don’t have their say in what he writes, why not, after all…