Lincoln Crisler

Idea the First is a small group of auctions, probably on eBay: I’m thinking one for a custom-written 2500-3500 word short story. Starting bid maybe around $50; winner gets to give me three names and a situation, and I’ll likely conduct a brief interview with them to develop a character sketch. Maybe 3-5 more starting at $25 or so to be main characters in my short stories; nothing crazy, just the winners would have the MC named after them the next time I sit down to write a short. I’d shoot each winner a signed print of the finished work, and retain the right to reproduce the work at a later date in a collection or whatnot. I won’t be living under a bridge anytime soon, but if all goes according to plan I have at least seven signings coming in six states, and a little extra scratch never killed anyone.

Second is a short story available through Smashwords: I was looking into the Amazon Shorts program early last year as a way of making a piece or two available to interested parties willing to exchange a buck for something not available anywhere else, but that program seems to have gone the way of the dodo. I have a couple pieces in the 4000-word range that I’m considering for this. Ninety-nine cents seems about right for one of those. If you’re not familiar with Smashwords, basically it’s a website that hosts e-books of all sizes and varieties, distributes them through all the usual e-book suspects (Sony, Kindle, etc.) in all the usual formats, and gives the author upwards of 80% royalty.

Please advise.