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Hillcrest Media has plenty to be happy about with their purchase of Fiction.com domain for $90K

With Patrick Ruddell poised to take the sci-fi world by storm with the soft launch of ScienceFiction.com, there’s a lesser-known group in the domain development world getting ready to do the same in 2011 with fiction: Hillcrest Media Group, the owners of several media properties including Published.com and Fiction.com.

Earlier today, TechCrunch broke the news to their readers that Patrick Ruddell, domain investor and blogger (better known as Chef Patrick), dropped $175,000 for the domain ScienceFiction.com in order to launch the “TechCrunch of Sci-Fi”. TechCrunch writes, “The domain name had been held back by a finance company called Domain Capital due to a defaulted loan, and Ruddell contacted two sci-fi geek friends to turn it into a business. Fast forward to today, and ScienceFiction.com has launched as a way for fans to access information about all things science fiction, ranging from movies, TV shows, games, books, comic books and technology.”

If Hillcrest Media Group has been following the news, they have to be delighted to see the price of ScienceFiction.com selling for $175,000.

Why?

Back in July, Hillcrest Media Group acquired the domain name Fiction.com for a mere $90,000 in a private sale brokered by Moniker.

As we wrote about in July, the company even boasted of the domain name acquisition.

2011 looks to be an exciting year for online sci-fi and fiction enthusiasts.

And it’s defintely exciting times for domain investors, young and old. Patrick Ruddell only entered the domain industry in 2008 and as Ron Jackson writes, “Now here he is, less than two years later, at the helm of ScienceFiction.com.”

Patrick Ruddell also managed to secure the matching vanity URL @sciencefiction on Twitter and on Facebook (facebook.com/sciencefiction) – something many big companies have been unable to do as they expanded their reach into social media.

New Owner of Fiction.com happy with decision to pay $90K for a Great Domain, here’s why

While sellers of domains have boasted about turning a domain investment into a Big pay day, buyers also boast of buying a domain name at a bargain – and that’s exactly what the new owner of Fiction.com is doing.

You might think you understand the true value of a domain name, but obviously, you might only be getting a fraction of the price in the eyes of an end user who may think they’re getting a steal even if you happened to pay pennies on the dollar for the domain name.

You can certainly make money flipping domain names to other domain investors, but you might be looking back later and asking yourself, “What was I thinking?” – Especially when the domain name later sells to a company or individual with plans for development.

What would you be willing to pay for Fiction.com if you were a publisher?

Fiction.com, which sold this past week for $90,000 in a Private Sale brokered by Moniker, sat unused for over a decade – going all the way back to 1994.

Now, that’s all changed.

Hillcrest Media, the owners and operators of Published.com (A Free Book Directory) that has been online since 1997, have now acquired Fiction.com – at a price that many in the publishing industry would consider an absolute bargain.

But don’t take our word for it.

The landing page at Fiction.com boasts of the acquisition.

From 1994 until July 9, 2010, Fiction.com, a coveted domain name, was held and never used. We bought Fiction.com on July 9, 2010 in order to turn it into what it should be — the premiere online destination to learn about great fiction, meet authors, discover new fiction books, and buy fiction ebooks.

Fiction.com won’t be a knockoff of other sites. It’s too great of a domain for that. We have many creative ideas for our new site. We’d love to hear from fellow fiction authors, publishers, reviewers, and others. Complete the form below and tell us your thoughts and ideas on how we can make Fiction.com a helpful site for you.