Good morning from SC, Gregg. You're probably going to get mostly positive responses to the idea expressed here. I also think it sounds interesting, but I'm guessing that the naysayers will mostly just not bother to respond. That said, my recommendation is to press on and see what shakes out.
I think having authors with a diverse mix of genre expertise (Sci-fi, fantasy, historical, romance?) on each team would up the stress level. The three stories could each be in one of those aforesaid genres. You could offer say four different genres and let the teams choose--making it "first come, first served", putting pressure to agree and decide on a particular genre to avoid being "stuck" with only one or two choices.
Anyway, sounds like fun...and I get the dog sitting deal. We have the same problem with our two.😎
Hi Gregg, I honestly think that with the right production team this could really be a success. I believe enough people are truly interested in the book writing process and different authors approaches to it that it would find a wide audience. Obviously the ‘dramatic moments’ built in to the episodes would be the focus of interest away from the cold hard writing process. Look forward to hearing more. Best of luck with it.
Umm, I think Barbara Lane is asking a little of what i'm thinking 🤔
At first, I thought ooo yes, another version of the Traitors, which i love & can't get enough of, but a "writing a story idea" in that type of setting doesn't sound exciting to watch, unless i'm missing the point!
How interesting about Frankenstein and The Vampyre. I do hope Mary somehow knows how well her Frankenstein has done/is doing -she'd be so pleased. And that the others know as well, and that Byron and Percy know as well. Byron gave up on his own idea? That doesn't speak well of him now does it?
re The Write Off.... in theory I like the idea as I've always been a reader and love to write. I'd be quite anxious (anal if I'm allowed to say that) about collaborating on something that has my name on it, so if it were me I'd spend part of the show getting over that, lol. But I'm not clear on when we find out which story wins? I mean how often is this show on? Do we buy a new book every week (which actually would be asking a lot) and get back to you? What are we watching them do on the show? I would imagine they'd be holed up for the bigger part of each day, writing furiously. Can they be productive with cameras hovering 24/7? In other words, what's the compelling hook that makes us eager to tune in each week? And are we (the readers/audience) then under the gun so to speak to hurry up and get the book and read it and get back to you? From the end of each show to the book available and then to news of the winner, how much time are you thinking? I know you may not currently have answers to everything, but I'm throwing out my initial thoughts.
Also - I'll just add....I've participated in one Kickstarter project I really loved and believed in. However I rued the day long before I received the product, as all throughout and loooooooooooooong after, I got a kazillion emails from Kickstarter and oh god..... I just wished they'd never heard of me and swore I'd never go near them again. So please be aware that it can be annoying as hell. I've no idea how much control the participants have over emails, but jeez louise, enough already.
I'm not sure I'd be able to watch, as I live in Mexico and many programs aren't available here. And each week adding a new book to my reading list which would take priority if I wanted to vote? I don't know if I could afford that commitment, either in time or funds, depending. As there would be a world of folks who don't care to read it and vote....what will hook them to tune in anyway? Or read the book anyway for those who don't watch?
Thinking out loud so to speak....
Regardless, if I could get the show I'd definitely tune in to see what it's all about.
Bottom line though - if you can dream it you can do it as they say. I think you should go for it! You WILL have success as a result, I'm certain.
P.S. The photo of Cantabria is breathtaking! Also - LOVE the cover of Lo Que Oculta el Mar!
Hi Barbara, some quick answers - and thank you for such a detailed post(!) - Our thinking is that it's going to be a show on YouTube, probably six thirty-minute episodes, which anyone will be able to watch, anywhere, at any time. They'll be free to watch.
At the end of the six episodes, there's one book released, which has the three stories in it. The show follows the creation of these stories, the author's struggle to work together in an unfamiliar genre, with a new writing partner, coming up with a brand new story, against the clock (and dealing with the creative obstacles we put in their way). The book goes up on Amazon, you buy it, read the stories, decide your favourite and vote on a website - best story wins. Probably about a month after the show is live on YouTube, the winning team is announced, and gets a nice trophy for their mantlepieces, the losers hang their heads in eternal shame...
This is a brilliant idea, Gregg! l never realized The Killing Kind & Falling From Grace were written in such a short timeframe. Thanks for the great facts about other writers who wrote such terrific books also in a short time. You have a winner show concept here.
Good morning from SC, Gregg. You're probably going to get mostly positive responses to the idea expressed here. I also think it sounds interesting, but I'm guessing that the naysayers will mostly just not bother to respond. That said, my recommendation is to press on and see what shakes out.
I think having authors with a diverse mix of genre expertise (Sci-fi, fantasy, historical, romance?) on each team would up the stress level. The three stories could each be in one of those aforesaid genres. You could offer say four different genres and let the teams choose--making it "first come, first served", putting pressure to agree and decide on a particular genre to avoid being "stuck" with only one or two choices.
Anyway, sounds like fun...and I get the dog sitting deal. We have the same problem with our two.😎
Cheers, Dean
Hi Gregg, I honestly think that with the right production team this could really be a success. I believe enough people are truly interested in the book writing process and different authors approaches to it that it would find a wide audience. Obviously the ‘dramatic moments’ built in to the episodes would be the focus of interest away from the cold hard writing process. Look forward to hearing more. Best of luck with it.
Umm, I think Barbara Lane is asking a little of what i'm thinking 🤔
At first, I thought ooo yes, another version of the Traitors, which i love & can't get enough of, but a "writing a story idea" in that type of setting doesn't sound exciting to watch, unless i'm missing the point!
Loving the photo of Canabaria.
How interesting about Frankenstein and The Vampyre. I do hope Mary somehow knows how well her Frankenstein has done/is doing -she'd be so pleased. And that the others know as well, and that Byron and Percy know as well. Byron gave up on his own idea? That doesn't speak well of him now does it?
re The Write Off.... in theory I like the idea as I've always been a reader and love to write. I'd be quite anxious (anal if I'm allowed to say that) about collaborating on something that has my name on it, so if it were me I'd spend part of the show getting over that, lol. But I'm not clear on when we find out which story wins? I mean how often is this show on? Do we buy a new book every week (which actually would be asking a lot) and get back to you? What are we watching them do on the show? I would imagine they'd be holed up for the bigger part of each day, writing furiously. Can they be productive with cameras hovering 24/7? In other words, what's the compelling hook that makes us eager to tune in each week? And are we (the readers/audience) then under the gun so to speak to hurry up and get the book and read it and get back to you? From the end of each show to the book available and then to news of the winner, how much time are you thinking? I know you may not currently have answers to everything, but I'm throwing out my initial thoughts.
Also - I'll just add....I've participated in one Kickstarter project I really loved and believed in. However I rued the day long before I received the product, as all throughout and loooooooooooooong after, I got a kazillion emails from Kickstarter and oh god..... I just wished they'd never heard of me and swore I'd never go near them again. So please be aware that it can be annoying as hell. I've no idea how much control the participants have over emails, but jeez louise, enough already.
I'm not sure I'd be able to watch, as I live in Mexico and many programs aren't available here. And each week adding a new book to my reading list which would take priority if I wanted to vote? I don't know if I could afford that commitment, either in time or funds, depending. As there would be a world of folks who don't care to read it and vote....what will hook them to tune in anyway? Or read the book anyway for those who don't watch?
Thinking out loud so to speak....
Regardless, if I could get the show I'd definitely tune in to see what it's all about.
Bottom line though - if you can dream it you can do it as they say. I think you should go for it! You WILL have success as a result, I'm certain.
P.S. The photo of Cantabria is breathtaking! Also - LOVE the cover of Lo Que Oculta el Mar!
Hi Barbara, some quick answers - and thank you for such a detailed post(!) - Our thinking is that it's going to be a show on YouTube, probably six thirty-minute episodes, which anyone will be able to watch, anywhere, at any time. They'll be free to watch.
At the end of the six episodes, there's one book released, which has the three stories in it. The show follows the creation of these stories, the author's struggle to work together in an unfamiliar genre, with a new writing partner, coming up with a brand new story, against the clock (and dealing with the creative obstacles we put in their way). The book goes up on Amazon, you buy it, read the stories, decide your favourite and vote on a website - best story wins. Probably about a month after the show is live on YouTube, the winning team is announced, and gets a nice trophy for their mantlepieces, the losers hang their heads in eternal shame...
You're dead right that the shows needs compelling hooks to make people want to keep watching to see what happens. In fact, it took me a lot longer than you to really see this. I thought it was a cool idea, and the cool idea was itself the 'format'. But we've spoken now with lots of people, including some who've worked in reality TV their whole lives, and we learned that the real format is a very carefully constructed mechanism for how the show runs, which creates a series of dramatic moments. So we've built one of these, which involves, among other things a Writer's Bloc, some Secret Editors, and something called The Read-a-loud (all ©) - but I'm not going to say much more than that at this point. It is all still being refined though, so your feedback is very helpful. Same to everyone else who's posted and replied - thank you!
This is a brilliant idea, Gregg! l never realized The Killing Kind & Falling From Grace were written in such a short timeframe. Thanks for the great facts about other writers who wrote such terrific books also in a short time. You have a winner show concept here.
I think this could be a really good idea, I think you would need to have some really good personalities playing, especially some wacky ones lol.
I love this idea!!