Follow up: Screwpulp launching this week

A few weeks back I wrote about Screwpulp, a new startup that is looking to bring an innovative model to publishing and selling eBooks. At the same time, they are looking to potentially help connect new writers with editors or agents.

You can read my article on DIY Author in full here. There were a lot of comments about the model and a few questions.

Earlier today Richard Billings, founder of Screwpulp, left a great comment addressing some of the questions the article brought up and providing some screenshots of what their beta version looks like.  I wanted to say thank you to Richard for taking part in the discussion, and share what he had to say with all of you.

I've reprinted excerpts from my article in normal text and quoted pieces of his comment in the grey boxes. You can read his full comment here or get in touch with him directly at richard@screwpulp.com, the email he left for us in the comment.

1. Part of the Screwpulp model is to let the first 100 readers download a book for free before moving the price up to $0.99. Those first 100 readers agree to provide a review or rating in return. That's a cool model. I wondered in my article, "I'll be interested to see how Screwpulp is going to hold people accountable for those reviews and mentions after they get their free eBook." Here's what Richard said:

We only allow a single 'free' book per day per user (It's actually not free because they pay by a social media mention that not only drives them to the book on our site but also to the author's Twitter page). We want to give them time to read it and try our best to avoid gaming the system. The next time they visit the site and try to download another 'free' book they will be required to rate and/or review their previous 'free' download. We don't require paying customers to review but we do encourage it.

That seems like a good approach to me!

2. I was intrigued to see that Screwpulp views the manuscripts they publish as not just downloads for readers, but potentially writing that editors could read. If the editor/agent likes it, they could then contact the writer and try to work with them. Very cool idea. I wrote, "[it sounds like] ...Screwpulp is talking about making a digital slush pile where books could be tested to see if they sell, and then attract a team if they do." Here's what Richard said:

"As for submissions we, of course, assume no rights to the work and also have no form of exclusivity. We only ask that you give us 90 days to prove ourselves. During the beta we will waive the 90 days.
 Professional services such as editing, cover design and translation will be added in a second phase.


We are currently accepting submissions via submissions@screwpulp.com. We are offering free eBook formatting into PDF, Mobi and ePub even if you decide not to use our service."

So there you have it. They are launching a beta version this week and will be building in the other services in a few months.

Check it out this week and let me know what you think!

Here is what a full screen will look like in the screenshot Richard provided. Looks like it's going to be beautiful!

Screenshot courtesy of author