
A self-published riff on Hamlet broke every Kickstarter record. - curtis
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/08/ryan_north_s_kickstarter_hamlet_adventure_to_be_or_not_to_be_reviewed.html
======
kn0thing
Technically, that book was not "self-published," rather it was published by my
company, breadpig (which also publishes xkcd, SMBC, and some other fun things
like Story War!).

If you're inspired, you can buy the book here:
[http://breadpig.com/products/to-be-or-not-to-
be](http://breadpig.com/products/to-be-or-not-to-be)

It'll be available in bookstores nationwide soon enough!

~~~
justcuri0us
How do you define "published by"?

I define it as paying for production, and distributing the product..

~~~
kn0thing
Responsible for: paying* + coordinating the people who get produce the product
(this includes the author herself, the designers providing art, the person
doing the layout, the editor, and the printer - down to helping the authors
choose paper stock); distributing the product - we do direct sales, as well as
have the contract with PGW, a distributor, that lets us get into bookstores
(sad but true, we had to get one before Barnes and Noble would stock xkcd:
volume 0); we have a warehouse in Austin (Hi Amplifier!) that handles all the
fulfillment for kickstarter rewards, we manage that relationship to make sure
every address-change is accounted for and everyone gets their perks; in the
case of this kickstarter, we're also the ones coordinating with manufacturers
to make everything from bookmarks to plushie-skulls; we do a wee bit of
promotion, but that's how we can afford to give authors (75%+) of the profits
-- they already bring their fans with them.

This is a bit old, but still pretty accurate -- I published a step-by-step
guide to do what breadpig does, so anyone can replicate it, because that's how
we roll.

[http://breadpig.com/blogs/news/5863073-reasons-to-self-
publi...](http://breadpig.com/blogs/news/5863073-reasons-to-self-publish-or-
start-your-own-niche-publishing-company-or-not)
[http://breadpig.com/blogs/news/5863065-step-by-step-guide-
on...](http://breadpig.com/blogs/news/5863065-step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-
publish-a-book)

Sorry for the mega post but I know how much work Christina (runs breadpig ops)
put into pulling this off and I feel like an article that doesn't even mention
that isn't doing it justice. Obviously the story here is Ryan, which made this
amazing thing possible, and he deserves 99.9% of the credit for the product
and campaign, but it's not quite as simple as "self-published."

*We paid for printing up-front with xkcd's book and a couple of SMBC's, but thankfully kickstarter came along and we've since adapted the business because we now have the pre-order dollars from backers.

------
jmduke
Something I didn't realize until now: "Choose Your Own Adventure" is an actual
series/brand, not just a genre:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure)

~~~
mh-
Indeed, there are over 200 of them - I read most of them as a kid, at least
all of the ones available in our local library.

~~~
kn0thing
And it's under copyright, so we have to call them Adventures-of-your-own-
choosing ;)

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weiner/trial-of-the-
clon...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weiner/trial-of-the-clone-a-
choosable-path-gamebook-by-za)

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weiner/trial-of-the-
clon...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weiner/trial-of-the-
clone-2-wrath-of-the-pacifist)

~~~
AndresNavarro
The problem here is actually trademark law not copyright. The idea behind
trademarks is that customers know the source of the product, so names, logos,
brands, etc. are protected by it.

Copyright only protects the actual content/expression of the work of the
Choose Your Own Adventure, not the name of the series.

Stallman has a nice article about the conflation of the "intellectual
property" laws here: [https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-
ipr.html](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html)

------
lessnonymous
The article asks

> Is it a good book? Is it $580,905 good?

The point it misses, I think, is that it doesn't have to be "$580,905 good".
It just has to be $15 or $20 good to each independent backer. If I put up $20
to get a physical copy, then the worth of _my_ copy has absolutely nothing to
do with everyone else's copy.

This is, of course, the "work smarter, not harder" concept proven.

Contracting, consulting, and anything else where our time is the product on
sale is a low return product. We can't create more time to increase our
returns.

Instead we need to find our own "Hamlet" that for some finite effort on our
part we can be rewarded by tens, hundreds or even thousands of customers. All
of whom receive the value they pay for and all of whom have no interest in
every other customer and whether our effort (time) is worth the total we've
been paid by all customers.

~~~
aeontech
Yeah, I thought that was an odd way to phrase it as well. Undertones of "well,
it's not _real_ literature" levied against science fiction, fantasy, pulp, and
most anything not written by people long dead somewhere in there as well.

------
barry-cotter
Good, thoughtful article but I fail to see how Shakespeare's legacy is
"perverted" by Ryan North's project. The original is stilo there, pristine as
ever.

------
aeontech
I just received the book, and it is impressive! Good paper, beautifully
printed, great illustrations, not to mention absolutely hilarious. Definitely
exceeded my expectations.

~~~
kn0thing
That's exactly how Ryan North rolls, that magical Canadian....

