Write on Demand
Romance ain’t my thing, but Ellora’s Cave has a ‘next new thing’ going. A subscriber gets to read the first chapter of an e-book, usually for free. If they like it, they pay to read the rest of the book.
The difference is they only publish one chapter of their books each month. You sell your story on the first two chapters. After that, all you have to do is produce your one chapter a month ahead of their deadline.
Certainly cuts down on the cycle of write for a year…… rewrite for a year, spend two years shopping the manuscript, plus another two years waiting for a title to come through the pipeline. It also incorporates reader feedback into the loop much earlier. If no one buys the book, the author has the option of suspending or halting effort, instead of waiting X number of years.
It also reduces risk for the publisher. No more “best sellers” hyped in advance in auctions that run into the millions that never pay out.