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If Our Kickstarter Succeeds…
We need thirteen Multipath™ books written, illustrated, edited, and published, ASAP.
What is Multipath™?
You are reading a story and you get to the end of the page. What if, instead of simply turning page, the book let you participate in the story? What if the page ended with [turn right], [turn left], or [turn back]? And then you <turn right> only to be asked to [laugh], [attack], or [help] the mysterious stranger? And then… That’s Multipath™.
What does it pay?
Our normal contracts pay the authors a percentage of our gross. Multipath™ books will be paid as a flat fee. We intend to pay $500 a book, for all rights, flat. The bad news is no royalties. The good news is you get the money up front. That’s $500 total for both art and text. You are not required to have any art, but it will improve your chances.
How do you format and submit a Multipath™?
We will need a sample. If we like the sample, we will tell you where to upload. This next part is sort of an IQ test, an idea I picked up from Steve Jackson. If you can follow these slightly convoluted rules, we know you can do the mechanics of building a Multipath™ book.
1) The Book is to be a single text file.
2) The start of each decision point should be a line of text with just the tag, which follows this example: <page:the darkest path>.
3) When you connect a decision point to your story, it must follow this example: [turn right]<go:the rathskeller>, [turn left]<go:the darkest path>, or [turn back]<go:starting point>. Where there are three pages somewhere in your manuscript with those three names: the rathskeller, the darkest path, starting point.
4) Pictures must be PNG format, 600 DPI.
5) To mark the location of a picture use it’s exact name, including the .png, and follow this example: <img:bobcat_with_saddle.png>. Where there is a picture with that name.
6) We expect you to make a reasonable attempt at editing. The publisher will perform a final edit after the book is bought.
7) If our Kickstarter succeeds, we will replace this rule with the appropriate email address for submissions. Until then, there is NO rule 7.
Brief example (decision points should be longer in general):
<page:the battle>
William was trapped behind the turned over table. Should he [peek]<go:battle sniper>, [wait]<go:battle pause>, or [try to talk to the enemy]<go:battle talk>?
<page:battle talk>
William calls out that he wants a parlay. The unseen enemy stops shooting, but still hasn’t spoken. Cautiously, William stands up. No one shoots him. The enemy isn’t visible. [William assumes the enemy has fled and returns to his team]<go:battle ends badly>, [William talks about what makes his side right]<go:battle gingo>, or [William asks what the enemy wants]<go:battle parlay good>.
<page:battle pause>
Waiting is hard to do when someone is out there, waiting to shoot you. Eventually, you have to move. The body can’t stay in one cowering position forever. [peek]<go:battle sniper>, or [try to talk to the enemy]<go:battle talk>?
