Hypothetical scenario. I have an "Idea" for an anthology. The Idea is distinct and thus has that extra marketing value, nothing else like it. The Idea is long-term, thus has replay / resale value. The Idea is psychologically powerful, thus can draw both well-established talent as well as new.
Authors who submit stories under the Idea get paid.
The publisher who constructs and distributes the anthology makes their mark-up.
Question: If I fill none of those roles, can I still benefit financially from the Idea? Is there value in the marketplace of anthologies just for inventing the Idea, like a royalty? Can I package, pitch, and sell the Idea to a publisher while protecting the IP?
HMx9
SHMx1 (Q2'22)
2xCritiquer for Published Winners (Oh yeah, it's now a thing)
As with stories, ideas are the easy part. Execution and production are virtually all of the value.
A good idea is a seed.
But! In fact, there have been and probably still are packagers. They don't just have the idea, they seek out and offer contracts to people who do the work. Then when they have a viable set of headliners and editors, they sell this package to a publisher.
This is how many/most Baen anthologies are put together: the packager (who is usually also the editor) lines up headliners and pitches the package to Baen. I know it's done with other publishers as well.
Martin Harry Greenberg was a famously successful packager in many genres, especially speculative fiction. Sometimes he lined up a big name author like Asimov to serve as nominal editor, but he still did a lot of the work himself.
It's a lot of work, far more than just the seed. It's where the value comes in.
Sean Patrick Hazlett (Volume 33) and Stephen Lawson (also Volume 33) are two editor/packagers I have worked with. Bryan Thomas Schmidt is another, as is William Ledbetter (Volume 28). They can all give better advice than I on how packaging works, but I've seen them doing it.
Could you be a packager without also being an editor? I'm sure you could, though I don't know of any examples. But you really need some credentials to pitch to a publisher.
Can you just sell an idea to a packager/editor? I doubt it. They have ideas.
My opinion...
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
And I've tried. I've offered them free ideas for anthologies I just wanted somebody to package so I could read them. They said they had ideas.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
