Yes, thanks to Unbound , this is now possible! Though not quite for everyone yet…

As the traditional publishing world faces increasing difficulties, some Brits came up with an original idea to add to those now popping out at regular interval.

Named Unbound, a fitting name since they plan to escape the shackles of the traditional publishing industry their system is an interesting one.

Rather than trust pundits from the established literary scene to decide unilaterally what should be published, they ask the public. Yet, public opinion, in this case is not free at all.

This is the system. The author pitches his idea to the public and asks for support, and yes, that means financial support. The public then decides whether to support the idea or not. If the pledges reach a predetermined minimal amount within a defined period of time, the pledgers cough up and will received anything from a free e-book to lunch with the writer depending on the amount they pledge, i.e. GBP 10 will get him an e-book whereas for GBP 250, he gets to lunch with the writer – who pays the restaurant bill is not clear J

Regardless of the amount pledge, pledging grants you access to the author’s private area or ‘shed’. The ‘shed’ contains updates on the book’s progress, exclusive interviews, draft chapters, information about the author’s backlist and allows you to join discussions with the author and other supporters.

Some heavy weight writers are participating in this project. Terry Jones, for one, has  successfully pitched an idea called “The Evil Machine”. He will now devote his time writing the 13 episode series, happily financed by pledgers.

Jonathan Meades has 24 days left to raise an additional 64% of the minimum required.

At this stage, Unbound is considering only published authors, although they plan to include proposals from first-time authors submitted through literary agents soon. Unagented submissions will have to wait for their staff to grow substantially.

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