h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Two favours in fact, and maybe three.

You may be aware that the h2g2 Community Consortium is putting together a collection of entries to publicise and promote the site. A couple of your entries were mentioned in the recent conversations about peoples' favourites, and I'd like to include at least one of them:


A31268298 The Other Coronation Stone
A34788667 The Fairey Rotodyne - an Opportunity Missed

But I'd also like to include your very early entry on the Eleanor Cross A133011. This is partly to show just how far we've come on as a writing site and because finding good entries from 1999 is hard - and even harder when I'm limited to writers who are still here. In fact so far it's you and Woodpigeon and that's it.

The thing is, we're not the BBC so we need to get separate permission to use people's work. So, let me know if you are ok with me using any or all of these entries.

Many thanks

Ben

Hi there.

Thank you. I would be honoured for you to use any of my offerings if you think it will help.

Deke

(Of course, if you'd like real awfulness there's always A126659 ).

I spotted that one.... But some things are just not ironic.

A small question if I may ask.

When you have the entries you want together, in what way exactly do you plan to use them to publicise h2 ?

Deke.

Do you know, you are the first person who's asked!

1) we will use them during the bid process to show that, yes, we can organise a p---up in a brewery, or in this case a organise a book on a writing website

2) if the community bid is unsuccessful we will use them to show the new owners what sort of writing h2g2 produces - save them all that awkward browsing the site malarkey

3) if the community bid is are successful - and maybe if it isn't - we'll take it round publishers who publish into the Christmas book market and say "wanna publish a book like this"? Whether it's the same collection or a different one that eventually gets published, who knows.

We're putting the thing together as a prototype on lulu.com so that we have something physical to give to people who need to know what h2g2 is all about - it's a sort of dummies guide to the writing on the site. The other advantage of course is that people can buy physical copies (or maybe download electronic ones - I've not checked that out yet). Any surplus from the sales will go towards covering the expenses of the bid, and accounts will be published early and often. Any surplus surplus will be given to Save the Rhino which was one of the charities Douglas Adams sponsored.

If any of this goes against the grain, let me know.

B

No, none of it goes against the grain. I think it’s a very good idea.

The reason I asked was because I was thinking this book and maybe others to follow after it, may be a source of revenue as well as publicity. It occurred to me that an electronic book of collected works might be sold by h2 as an independent publisher (Indie ?).

There does seem to be some definite encouragement by Amazon ‘frinstance, for independent writers through its ‘Kindle’ store. I haven’t looked into the practicalities of it, but I would have thought that to be an appropriate place to try as it does have a number of budding authors that might even get involved with h2. Even though Amazon do take a sizeable percentage of the selling price the ‘writer’ sets their own price for the book. Yes I know anyone can get the same articles for free just by visiting h2, but can they get ‘the best of…‘

It was just a thought, but apparently you’re way ahead of me and have already worked that one out.

Great minds....

It's reassuring to know we're not way off beam in what we are thinking.