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Alright so, I'll go through the process:
What problem does this idea solve?
Answer: My sister has been writing stories for years, but has never made a single dime off of them. She uploads them to fan sites like fanfiction.net and fictionpress.com. She hopes to one day get them published, but for now she just writes on the side.
My thoughts are I could become the publisher for her -- that all she would have to do is provide me with a completed/finished story and/or book. I handle the creation of the ebook, marketing, generating sales, and receiving customer payments.
Commandment of Need
My sister could use someone who knows how to create, promote, and sell her work because she just doesn't have the time or desire to learn how to do these things for herself. I'm pretty confident there are other people like her out there because every now and then, some of my favorite authors on ff.net and fictionpress make a post on how they are taking down a story because it's going to be published, and most of these people use a publisher instead of doing it on their own. So, there is at least some demand for this idea, I don't know if there's a lot, but there is some!
Commandment of Entry
This is where I potentialy run into some problems. A quick glance at Google reveals a number of competitors including Amazon, Lulu, Smashwords, Publish Green, and many, many others. However, to be honest, I actually think of this as an advantage because if there are companies already doing it, then there is some success to be found in this idea. Also, I've noticed that they are targeting people who want to write ebooks, and that they provide some help with formatting the work into an ebook, and provide these writers with a platform to sell their ebooks. What I see lacking is help with marketing the ebooks, but I could be wrong on this point.
Commandment of Control
This one I'm not entirely sure about. While I would own the website and the skills on how to market and sell ebooks, the ebooks themselves would probably be owned by their authors, ... I think? So, I guess I have partial but not complete control.
Commandment of Scale
This idea has the potential for a worldwide audience. In the beginning, it'll be restriced to an English language audience because I only speak English, but it can be expanded into other languages. Also, initially I will be restricted to Romance because that's what my sister by and large writes, but once again it can be expanded into all genres (Romance, Science Fiction, Non-fiction, Children's literature, Young Adult, etc).
Reach or Magnitude?
With this idea, I'm thinking it'll probably have to be reach because it appears the price of ebooks ranges from 0.99 to 9.99. There are people who sell ebooks for more than that, but I have no clue how well they do.
Commandment of Time
I'm honestly not sure if this business can be detached from my time. I think it can, but I'm not sure. I think if I hire people who know marketing and sales I could have them replace me on that front. Also, I know the handling of receiving customers' payments can be automated because it's already being done with many other businesses. And that, there's probably a way to build a system that will explain and take each writer step by step through the entire process of creating and selling their ebook.
So, as it stands, what do y'all think? Does this idea have the potential to be Fastlane?
What problem does this idea solve?
Answer: My sister has been writing stories for years, but has never made a single dime off of them. She uploads them to fan sites like fanfiction.net and fictionpress.com. She hopes to one day get them published, but for now she just writes on the side.
My thoughts are I could become the publisher for her -- that all she would have to do is provide me with a completed/finished story and/or book. I handle the creation of the ebook, marketing, generating sales, and receiving customer payments.
Commandment of Need
My sister could use someone who knows how to create, promote, and sell her work because she just doesn't have the time or desire to learn how to do these things for herself. I'm pretty confident there are other people like her out there because every now and then, some of my favorite authors on ff.net and fictionpress make a post on how they are taking down a story because it's going to be published, and most of these people use a publisher instead of doing it on their own. So, there is at least some demand for this idea, I don't know if there's a lot, but there is some!
Commandment of Entry
This is where I potentialy run into some problems. A quick glance at Google reveals a number of competitors including Amazon, Lulu, Smashwords, Publish Green, and many, many others. However, to be honest, I actually think of this as an advantage because if there are companies already doing it, then there is some success to be found in this idea. Also, I've noticed that they are targeting people who want to write ebooks, and that they provide some help with formatting the work into an ebook, and provide these writers with a platform to sell their ebooks. What I see lacking is help with marketing the ebooks, but I could be wrong on this point.
Commandment of Control
This one I'm not entirely sure about. While I would own the website and the skills on how to market and sell ebooks, the ebooks themselves would probably be owned by their authors, ... I think? So, I guess I have partial but not complete control.
Commandment of Scale
This idea has the potential for a worldwide audience. In the beginning, it'll be restriced to an English language audience because I only speak English, but it can be expanded into other languages. Also, initially I will be restricted to Romance because that's what my sister by and large writes, but once again it can be expanded into all genres (Romance, Science Fiction, Non-fiction, Children's literature, Young Adult, etc).
Reach or Magnitude?
With this idea, I'm thinking it'll probably have to be reach because it appears the price of ebooks ranges from 0.99 to 9.99. There are people who sell ebooks for more than that, but I have no clue how well they do.
Commandment of Time
I'm honestly not sure if this business can be detached from my time. I think it can, but I'm not sure. I think if I hire people who know marketing and sales I could have them replace me on that front. Also, I know the handling of receiving customers' payments can be automated because it's already being done with many other businesses. And that, there's probably a way to build a system that will explain and take each writer step by step through the entire process of creating and selling their ebook.
So, as it stands, what do y'all think? Does this idea have the potential to be Fastlane?
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