Curated multi-author pay-what-you-want bundles (StoryBundle model): gate and self-run variant
Harvested 30 Oct 2026. 'storybundle', 'bundlerabbit' and 'multi-author' had 0 hits in INDEX.md. This is different from author-group-promos-bookfunnel-storyorigin-free-organiser-run.md (free cross-promo lists) and pay-what-you-want pricing for a single title. Here several authors sell ONE paid bundle for a limited time, through one storefront, and split the money.
How StoryBundle works (Author FAQ, read 30 Oct 2026; page footer (c) 2024)
- Submission: email [address kept in the project workspace] with a description and genre, a .mobi for evaluation only, your rights position (all regions, electronic) and any exclusivity (KDP Select). The FAQ asks for professional editing and a good cover, and passes on books with typos.
- Length: a standard bundle runs 3 weeks; holiday bundles vary.
- Price: pay what you want, with a bonus tier at "usually around $10" (the current homepage shows $30 to unlock 12 bonus books, 15 in total). Buyers choose the split between authors and StoryBundle, and can add charities. "The average price paid is higher than the bonus price."
- Exclusivity: none. Keep selling everywhere during the bundle. Files are DRM-free epub and mobi.
- Numbers they publish: "our first bundle sold 3600 copies, which brings about $3000 per book into the author's pocket". That was the launch bundle (about 2012). It is StoryBundle's own figure, not checked, and old.
- Curation: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, a practitioner (kriswrites.com, 28 Mar 2024, read), curates a writing bundle every year. She builds it around a theme where "each book builds on the others", adds bundle-exclusive titles and a pop-up workshop, and sells it to writers "or their lovely friends who want to give the bundle as a gift". The curator's theme and audience are the product.
- Typical volume: one secondary source reports that SFWA runs four StoryBundles a year, "typically move 600-800 copies". This is a search snippet from an "Indie Pub 101" page that wasn't opened; not checked.
- Fit: StoryBundle runs mostly genre fiction and writing craft. Heritage or local-history non-fiction is rare (search on 30 Oct 2026 found no history bundle). Getting in depends on a curator wanting the theme.
The arithmetic to run before saying yes
- Revenue per book ≈ (copies × average price × author share) ÷ number of books. Example: 700 copies × $15 average × 70% to authors ÷ 10 books ≈ $735 per book. All of these inputs are assumptions. Change them and see whether the result still beats the reach you'd get otherwise.
- The real value is the list: a bundle puts your book in front of thousands of readers who didn't know you. But the store owns the buyer emails. Your back matter (one next step: a free chapter or signup link) is the only path from that reader to you.
Self-run variant (what a small heritage seller can actually do)
- Theme: a narrow theme that fits the readers, e.g. "Welsh local history & Patagonia". Aim for 4 to 8 titles from different authors or societies, all owning their e-rights.
- Storefront: a Gumroad or Stripe product page that the organiser runs. Terms in writing before launch: price tiers (base / bonus), the split (equal per title is simplest), when payouts happen (within 14 days of close), refunds, and who handles VAT (Gumroad as merchant of record handles EU VAT; see the eu-vat skill).
- Run it for 2 to 3 weeks with a hard end date. Each partner emails their own list once at the start and once in the last 48 hours.
- Back matter: every file carries one next step back to its own author.
- After it closes: publish the totals to partners (copies, gross, fees, each share), then pay.
How we apply it to Cedwyn
- GATE (owner decision): submitting to StoryBundle, or inviting other authors and societies, means contacting third parties, so it's the owner's call. Nothing is sent. A hive draft task can hold a short pitch if the owner states GO.
- Fit check first: the Cedwyn e-books are heritage non-fiction. StoryBundle's catalogue is genre-led, so the odds are low unless a curator runs a history or Wales theme. The better-fitting route is the self-run variant: a short "Welsh heritage & Patagonia" bundle with 3 to 5 like-minded titles, the Cedwyn v0.0.2 (£4.99) title as one of them, sold through the existing shop. Price base about £9.99, bonus about £14.99; prices only on the owner's word.
- No change to current prices. The editorial rules apply to the bundle copy (neutral, no banned words, no family holdings).
- Measure: copies, gross, new signups via back-matter links, compared with an ordinary 3-week window.
Sources
- storybundle.com (read)
- storybundle.com (snippet: $30 bonus tier, 15 books)
- kriswrites.com (read)
- SFWA "600-800 copies": search snippet, "Indie Pub 101: Marketing the Book" (not opened, not checked)
Raw Markdown: curated-multi-author-bundle-storybundle-self-run.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json