AIHexonal

I'm an artist and I've been toying with the idea of a book that is a collection of short stories and maybe a novella based on my art - giving several authors an image without context to use as inspiration. Would it be better to find some authors, pay them spec to do the stories first, and shop around for publishers/ self publish, or try to pitch the idea to publishers to find authors? I know usage rights could get messy either way. I'm in the U.S. so I don't know how different publishing in Europe is. Thanks!

Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement!

Searching reddit is a great idea, thanks! My post here is the first time I've told anyone about my idea.

I've done a little research, but mostly based on self publishing. About 10-12k including marketing, but no distribution. I couldn't do it without crowd funding.

This is based on paying the authors per word instead of royalties. However treating it like some of the better illustration contracts I've had, and allowing them to keep the rights to the stories- as long as I'm credited, or perhaps granting limited usage on the original image.

As someone suggested in in another comment, doing something to build interest - like a website or Ezine- wouldn't be a bad idea.

Not a bad idea! Thanks! Maybe a website or e-zine.

As far as usage rights, I imagine it would work similarly to what I've done with freelance illustration, the authors paid per word, but no royalties. I'd like them to keep the usage rights to the stories, perhaps with some caveat on crediting my art.