digitally publishing because i can.

About.Alliteration.ink

Alliteration Ink is the trade name of Steven Saus. It is a sole proprietorship, serving as an umbrella under which to organize his business activities. Steven's personal blog is ideatrash.net; official business news will be posted on our news page. There is no alliteration in the name, nor is the business built around paper and ink.

Ideas.Execution

The first decade of the 21st century brought a whirlwind of change to publishing. As eReaders finally became a viable portion of the market, publishers and authors looked on with delight and dread. Many publishers are unwilling or unable - for whatever reason - to take real risks in this new marketplace.

Our focus is on eBook conversion and the creation of digital anthologies. I am not accepting novel-length works at this time. Please see our current.projects area for what I'm working on now.

What's different? There are a billion and a half fly-by-night digital publishers out there. I'm a writer who also has the vision and skills to do things differently. I am honest about my accomplishments, my abilities, and my limitations. I focus on sustainability. I want all of us to make money - but more importantly, I want to publicly show how things do - and don't - work in the changing publishing world.

Alliteration Ink is designed to be a test bed for new strategies and methods that allow authors, publishers, and others in the industry to adapt and thrive in these changing times.

Alliteration Ink is also in Second Life, a graphical virtual world that's free to join. Steven does readings and also generally has fun there.

Core.Values

To achieve this goal, several core values guide my choices:

  • Quality Will Out: Secret market tricks do not differentiate products and services. Quality sells products. This applies to the design of an eBook, as well as the words inside it.
  • Yog's Law: Money flows toward content creators.
  • Financial Transparency: Everybody involved with a project knows its performance. Each project's performance will be made public so that others can learn from our successes and mistakes.
  • Profit Sharing as Risk Mitigation: Profit sharing allows for innovation by lowering the capital investment needed.
  • Profit Sharing as Fruits of Labor: To the maximum extent possible, content creators will be compensated by how much revenue the fruits of their labor brings in.
  • Non-Zero-Sum Game: I help make awesome books, at affordable prices, and get creators the money they deserve.

Projects.In.Brief

Eighth Day Genesis: A Worldbuilding Codex
Creating a believable world for your story is a craft. Over twenty authors share their tips and secrets about creating a fictional world. Due out late May 2012

The Crimson Pact
The forces of evil strike across worlds. The forces of good, embodied in the Crimson Pact, must be willing to sacrifice anything to be able to save everything.

Spec the Halls
It's a charity. It's a contest. It's winter holiday-themed speculative fiction that benefits Heifer International.

Freelancer Resource
As more creative types go it alone, it's important to be able to find quality people to help.