Would you pay for storyhour updates?

[BLACKDIRGE]

I do regularly pay for fantasy fiction, so I might well pay for a storyhour of sufficient quality. But it'd probably have to be professional-quality writing to compete for my fiction-entertainment dollar.

Agreed. I do think there are some writers on the board that are good enough to be considered "professional", the afore mentioned Destan immediatley springs to mind.

BD

 

[GeorgeFields]

If I'm going to pay for a story hour, I'll wait and buy the book.

 

[jmucchiello]

Given how much WotC IP the overwhelming majority of story hours use, I'd say that there are considerable legal hurdles to the idea, leaving aside the reluctance that you see in most posts here. Even generic settings like Sepulchrave's Wyre are obviously D&D stories, and use tons of copyrighted things like spell names, monster names, and the like. I am not an attorney but I don't think that the OGL would cover this if people were to try to sell story updates. This is one reason why I've always turned down offers to reimburse me for the time and effort I've spent writing for my fans here. I take my payment in fan posts and feedback.

If someone came up with a way to monetize the Story Hour forum, you could bet that WotC's lawyers would be on top of that like bees on flowers.

Actaully spell names and monster names are pretty safe. You cannot copyright a title/name. You can however trademark them and you can copyright characters. Sep's story would be impossible because he uses characterizations from past D&D books: Graz'zt and most of the demons and devils have their roots in characterizations created by TSR. While his setting is quite in the clear, he'd have to rename most of the featured NPC monsters to successfully publish.

Someone was talking about publishing some storyhours. I forget who but I'm sure the issue of copyrighted material is why it hasn't happened.

 

[el-remmen]

I already do. I mean, what is more valuable than time?

Oh, you mean pay to read them?

 

[Cheiromancer]

I'd pay considerably more than a dollar for an update to Tales of Wyre.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Nope, I wouldn't. If it's good enough, make it a book. Otherwise, it's just posts to a message board.

If I were in an offendable mood, this would likely offend my sensibilities. I've not had many people drop by my story hour and comment about my story, but the few who have said that the story was/is an enjoyable read. (Thank you to those who have. You honestly don't know what a simple "Dang, this is a good read" can do for a person's day!)

Sure, it hasn't had professional editing, of course. But just because I write and post doesn't mean it isn't good enough to be published after an editor has had their go at it. I'm also not saying my stuff is publishable, either. But I think there are people here at ENWorld who are publishable quality who write because they like to see people happy and don't need to make a buck on it. I commend them. To be honest, if I were to ever publish I would still write Story Hours. To be completely honest, I would actually still write them so that people who bought my books felt like they were getting a two-for-one deal or something like it (Which means I would have to retain rights to my setting and not sell them off to the publisher, of course...). I just like to write. I like to make money, too ... but I like to write more.

As to whether or not I'd pay, no. And to be honest I wouldn't accept payment, either. If I accepted payment I would probably immediately lose my desire to write because it would become a job, not a hobby. I could probably sell a book if approached because fiction is most often bought up once a work is completed. But the fun about a Story Hour is that I can say to myself ... "Huh, I've got an hour and a half to kill. I can crank out 2,000 words and give it a rough edit in that time! And then, poof, I've got an update that was fun to write.

 

[Davelozzi]

No.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

No.

 

[Ry]

No.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I'd think about it...

A tidied up, printed and bound version of some of the SH's would definitely drag money out of my pockets though...