When a Novelist Holds an IPO

When rogue author Tao Lin set out to write his second novel, he realized he would need to raise some capital to sustain himself. So he has decided to sell shares in 60 percent of the U.S. royalties for his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled book.

Not only will the scheme defray his financial risk if the book does poorly, but Lin hopes that shareholders will promote his book out of self-interest.

Dubner has wondered if public libraries could be created from scratch today. If the novel were invented today, would they all use Lin’s startup model?