Unbound allows authors to pitch book ideas and interested readers to fund those books. Says the site:
Unbound is a new way of connecting with writers. Most of the writers on our site will be well known, others will appear here for the first time.
What’s different is that instead of waiting for them to publish their work, Unbound allows you to listen to their ideas for what they’d like to write before they even start. If you like their idea, you can pledge to support it. If we hit the target number of supporters, the author can go ahead and start writing (if the target isn’t met you can either get your pledge refunded in full or switch your pledge to another Unbound project). […]
This part also caught my eye:
But that’s not all. As soon as you make a pledge to support an Unbound project you gain access to the author’s private area or ‘shed’. Here you can get updates on the book’s progress, watch exclusive interviews, read draft chapters, find out information about the author’s backlist and join discussions with the author and other supporters. It’s a portal into a new community of writers and readers: a place to comment on and contribute to a work in progress.
Then comes the exciting bit. The book is written, designed, edited and printed and we send it to you, either as an e-book or a beautifully bound, limited edition hardback (or both). For the first time, you will be able to hold in your hands a book that wouldn’t have existed without you.
Whoa… The pressure to keep writing while your funders watch your progress? That could either help hold you accountable—or be completely paralyzing.
Currently, the site isn’t open to just anyone—at the moment, only agented submissions are accepted. But authors like Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) are already on board.
Here’s the company’s video on how it all works.
What do you think? Is this the future model of publishing? Would you fund a book this way—or try to get funding this way?
