I spent a while trying to determine if any big name SF authors
got their start at Baen after Jim Baen died, and as far as I
can tell, the answer is no.

I _thought_ Larry Correia might be one but he was self-published
before moving to Baen. Likewise, every other possibility turned
to either have started outside Baen or inside Baen but before
2006. Almost 20 years is a hell of a run without discovering at
least one new superstar.

Did I miss someone?

This could be the logical outcome of the Del Monte approach to SFF.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <10hnfhj$kmr$2@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

I spent a while trying to determine if any big name SF authors
got their start at Baen after Jim Baen died, and as far as I
can tell, the answer is no.

I _thought_ Larry Correia might be one but he was self-published
before moving to Baen. Likewise, every other possibility turned
to either have started outside Baen or inside Baen but before
2006. Almost 20 years is a hell of a run without discovering at
least one new superstar.

I did some checking of authors who have shown up recently in the Baen
catalog and I am wondering if I am seeing more than one group of writers
who founded their own publishing companies to publish their books
instead of submitting them to major publishers.

Did I miss someone?

This could be the logical outcome of the Del Monte approach to SFF.

?

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ?-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <robertaw-DD3CA1.22335714122025@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <10hnfhj$kmr$2@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

I spent a while trying to determine if any big name SF authors
got their start at Baen after Jim Baen died, and as far as I
can tell, the answer is no.

I _thought_ Larry Correia might be one but he was self-published
before moving to Baen. Likewise, every other possibility turned
to either have started outside Baen or inside Baen but before
2006. Almost 20 years is a hell of a run without discovering at
least one new superstar.

I did some checking of authors who have shown up recently in the Baen >catalog and I am wondering if I am seeing more than one group of writers
who founded their own publishing companies to publish their books
instead of submitting them to major publishers.

Did I miss someone?

This could be the logical outcome of the Del Monte approach to SFF.

?

Baen used to run an ad in their books that read in part


TRAVIS SHELTON
LIKES BAEN BOOKS
BECAUSE THEY TASTE GOOD

Recently we received this letter from Travis Shelton of Dayton, Texas:

I have come to associate Baen Books with Del Monte. Now what is that
supposed to mean? Well, if you're in a strange store with a lot of
different labels, you pick Del Monte because the product will be
consistent and will not disappoint.

Something I have noticed about Baen Books is that the stories are
always fast-paced, exciting, action-filled and seem to be published
because of content instead of who wrote the book. I now find myself
glancing to see who published the book instead of reading the back
or intro. If it's a Baen Book it's going to be good and exciting and
will capture your spare reading moments.


(This was a long time ago, under Jim Baen)

If the goal is to provide reliably interchangeable books, then
of course there can't be any standouts. The whole point is to
populate the middle of the bar curve, not the ends.


--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 12/15/2025 1:33 AM, Robert Woodward wrote:

In article <10hnfhj$kmr$2@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

I spent a while trying to determine if any big name SF authors
got their start at Baen after Jim Baen died, and as far as I
can tell, the answer is no.

I _thought_ Larry Correia might be one but he was self-published
before moving to Baen. Likewise, every other possibility turned
to either have started outside Baen or inside Baen but before
2006. Almost 20 years is a hell of a run without discovering at
least one new superstar.

I did some checking of authors who have shown up recently in the Baen
catalog and I am wondering if I am seeing more than one group of writers
who founded their own publishing companies to publish their books
instead of submitting them to major publishers.

[snip]

The action/adventure-oriented part of SF -- which goes back to ERB, the
first incarnation of _Astounding_ (the Clayton/Bates era), _Planet
Stories_, etc -- is a very big part of the indie/self-published scene.
Some authors eventually branch out to offer their services to other
authors and become indie publishers, e.g. Selkie at Mango Media
Publishing, James A. Hunter at Shadow Alley Publishing and the team
behind Aethon Books (https://aethonbooks.com/the-team/).

There is also some overlap between the indie/self-publishing part of the market and Baen Books. For example, if you pull up the list of David
Weber's co-authors, you'll find Jacob Holo and Richard Fox.

Finally, the world of online serials is also heavy on action/adventure
SF. Places like Patreon let authors make a living without ever
publishing a book in the traditional sense of the word. For example, see ArcaneCadence's Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/ArcaneCadence), which
earns $27,860/mo, or The Dark Wolf Shiro's Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedarkwolfshiro/about?), which doesn't show
the monthly amount, but shows 1,880 paid members with the lowest paid
tier at $5/mo.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 14 Dec 2025 23:00:03 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

I spent a while trying to determine if any big name SF authors
got their start at Baen after Jim Baen died, and as far as I
can tell, the answer is no.

I _thought_ Larry Correia might be one but he was self-published
before moving to Baen. Likewise, every other possibility turned
to either have started outside Baen or inside Baen but before
2006. Almost 20 years is a hell of a run without discovering at
least one new superstar.

Did I miss someone?

This could be the logical outcome of the Del Monte approach to SFF.

Depends what you count as "started"
Correiia did self publich Monster Hunter Internatonal but it was
pretty quickly picked up by Baen so I'm not sure it disqualifies him
from starting there

and I'm not really sure how many big name SF authors have really
started in the last 20 years
Probably Andy Weir but he'd done webcomics first - starting back in
2001 with Casey & Andy - and he self-published The Martian before it
was picked up by a publisher as well...

I think a large number of authors are hitting amazon ebooks rather
than going for traditional publishing, and then you've got patrreon,
royal road etc

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)