I posted this earlier as a response in the Author forum, but it's nested pretty far down, so I decided to repost here.
The CHRONOS Files is currently in the contracting process for development as a "world" in Kindle Worlds. I don't know how familiar all of you are with the program, but it's basically a paid fan-fic site, with different worlds (like Hugh Howey's Silo Series, a Kurt Vonnegut world, etc.) that Amazon licenses and then opens up for other writers to submit stories.
The program aims to attract indie authors, as well as fans of time travel and shows like Doctor Who who like to write and who want to earn a bit on the side. The plus for established writers (in addition to 35% royalty for stories over 10K) is that it can drive new readers to their other books--and Amazon will be doing a considerable amount of promotion when the world launches. They were originally looking at launching the CHRONOS Files World in early 2015, but they're now talking about bumping it up to late October or early November to coincide with the release of Time's Edge, so early works will benefit from that marketing push, as well. So, authors who write those first few stories will probably get a bit more visibility than those who jump in later.
I have an *extensive* World Guide that I've put together, to minimize the digging authors will need to do for specifics on how time travel works within the world, background characters, etc. And given that the CHRONOS Historians in the backstory for the series investigated pretty much the span of human history up to 2305, not to mention the possibilities for alternate timelines, the range of topics you could address is wide open. Also, even though my series is YA, stories do *not* have to be YA. I'm just asking that authors put a notice in the description of mature stories indicating that they contain content that might not be appropriate for younger readers. That's for the author's protection, too. Angry parents *will* leave fiery one star reviews on YA books--like the mom who complained that Timebound was inappropriate for teens because my protagonist kisses two different guys in the same book.
I have no idea how directly profitable this will be, either for authors or for me--I get a percentage as the "world licensor"--but it seems like a potential publicity opportunity, if nothing else. And some of the Kindle Worlds stories are actually selling pretty well.
So--if any of you are interested, just let me know and I'll send you the full details. You can message me here with your email address, or just email me directly at rysa@rysa.com.
The CHRONOS Files is currently in the contracting process for development as a "world" in Kindle Worlds. I don't know how familiar all of you are with the program, but it's basically a paid fan-fic site, with different worlds (like Hugh Howey's Silo Series, a Kurt Vonnegut world, etc.) that Amazon licenses and then opens up for other writers to submit stories.
The program aims to attract indie authors, as well as fans of time travel and shows like Doctor Who who like to write and who want to earn a bit on the side. The plus for established writers (in addition to 35% royalty for stories over 10K) is that it can drive new readers to their other books--and Amazon will be doing a considerable amount of promotion when the world launches. They were originally looking at launching the CHRONOS Files World in early 2015, but they're now talking about bumping it up to late October or early November to coincide with the release of Time's Edge, so early works will benefit from that marketing push, as well. So, authors who write those first few stories will probably get a bit more visibility than those who jump in later.
I have an *extensive* World Guide that I've put together, to minimize the digging authors will need to do for specifics on how time travel works within the world, background characters, etc. And given that the CHRONOS Historians in the backstory for the series investigated pretty much the span of human history up to 2305, not to mention the possibilities for alternate timelines, the range of topics you could address is wide open. Also, even though my series is YA, stories do *not* have to be YA. I'm just asking that authors put a notice in the description of mature stories indicating that they contain content that might not be appropriate for younger readers. That's for the author's protection, too. Angry parents *will* leave fiery one star reviews on YA books--like the mom who complained that Timebound was inappropriate for teens because my protagonist kisses two different guys in the same book.
I have no idea how directly profitable this will be, either for authors or for me--I get a percentage as the "world licensor"--but it seems like a potential publicity opportunity, if nothing else. And some of the Kindle Worlds stories are actually selling pretty well.
So--if any of you are interested, just let me know and I'll send you the full details. You can message me here with your email address, or just email me directly at rysa@rysa.com.