Are the 1000 true fans like the 1000 monkeys who write Shakespeare?

John Scalzi talks about the 1000 True Fans model for success for an artist. Scalzi brings up some rather good reasons why the model is made of fail.

Immediately when I heard about the idea as applied to book publishing, and how someone was silly enough to think that 1000TF x $100/yr = $100,000 dollars all going to the artist, I shook my head.

Dude, I'm completely unpublished and even I know that's profoundly stupid and uninformed.

( Reasons why it's stupid beneath the cut, along with my other objections to the use of the phrase 'true fan'. Because I'm sure a lot of you have already figured out why such a model is about as useful as a submarine with a screen door. )

My icon is a big fat lie

Right now my "muse", inasmuch as I can be said to have one, is actually whining and refusing to get out of bed, citing that it's much warmer under the covers.

Of course, my muse better rise and shine before November 1st, because I've got some serious noveling wot needs doing.

Right now the problem is that I'm stuck between three ideas. Two are in the urban fantasy neck of the woods, and one is sci-fi. Right now, I'm quite sure that all of them suck, I'm trying to figure out which one sucks least, but I'm afraid that they all sound like bland rehashes of other people's much better stories.

The only thing I have to recommend my ideas is that at least I'm not doing vampires.

The problem for me is the issue of investing my time. I have neither the time nor mental fortitude to write three novels at once. I mean, I can do NaNoWriMo, but three at once is more like National Beat Yourself In the Brains With A Rock Month, which I think is actually in March.

I originally did type up my three summaries of my ideas with the intention of posting them and even maybe asking for opinions, but I've decided to spare your eyeballs. Trust me, they really are that bad.

That's the thing about deciding to fully commit to an idea and flesh it out into a story of any length. It's like a blind date. Sure, it all sounds good on paper and your friends tell you how wonderful it'll be - but then you sit down and you realize that nobody mentioned that your date (or your idea in this case) has a goiter, a lazy eye, and no conversational skills.

Three bachelors to decide from and just a few days until November. I don't suppose I can ask them what kind of tree they'd be or where we'd go for our first date.

The only good thing is that I always give myself permission to abandon NaNoWriMo ideas if, come December 1st, I realize that it just isn't working. You're not required to marry the first person you go on a date with, after all.