Brave New World?
Carol Lindsay
Using the Internet, writers can be read and
appreciated, or not, all over the world. With this international connection
some writers are using the Internet as a way to promote or even write their
work. How can you, a writer, capitalize on this? Here are a few examples:
Web Sites
Having your own web site means that you can interact directly with your
audience. Many authors and celebrities – and now politicians – have found an
immediate connection with their audiences through their sites. Some are using
their sites to enhance their work.
Janet Evanovich
uses her site to promote her novels and advertise her tours. A section of
her site called Writing Q&A lets writers ask Janet questions about
her career and how she writes her novels, and she posts her replies.
Using the archived comments from this site, Janet and Ina Yalof wrote a
writing advice book, How I Write, which was published in September of
2006 to rave reviews. While it’s not on the bestseller list, sales have been
very strong.
e-Book Podcasts
Educators, writers and studios are discovering the power of the written
podcast. Readers subscribe to a podcast that can be downloaded into personal
computers or portable media players. While most podcasts are audible media
files, some are written pages or e-books. Teachers can use written texts in
their podcasts and “push” them to students using controlled subscriptions.
e-Books and audio books available as podcasts are selling very
well. Schools, public television, and radio stations have been
sponsoring free podcasts - paying the writers to develop the podcasts that
are distributed free to readers.
Blogs
Blogs offer anyone an opportunity to air views, showcase
work, or just “talk” at no one in particular. Tatting blogs offer advice and
links to lace patterns. Golfing blogs might help improve your game.
Music blogs allow musicians to connect with their fans and offer links to
songs. Can these songs be stolen? Well, yes. But if the people like the music,
CD’s get purchased too. Even famous bands have found advantages to
connecting with their fans this way. One band promoted their new CD by
making .MP3 files of one of their hit songs available for amateur musicians
to use, then add their own tracks and send them back to the band. The band
posts their favorite versions on their blog. Traffic on the blog has
exploded and sales of the CD are high.
One blog getting a lot of attention right now is Leroy Sievers'
My Cancer. This blog, sponsored
by National Public Radio, began in May of 2006 with the words “My doctors
are trying to kill me.” It is a daily commentary on Sievers' battle with
inoperable cancer. Readers are invited to add their own comments which
are sometimes included or discussed on the main blog.
Through this blog, a large international community of cancer victims and
caregivers has formed. Members (who can be anyone anywhere) can share their
frustration, their successes, and their failures with people who understand
their pain. The blog has also helped Sievers to continue working while
undergoing treatment.
The Networked Book
On the brave edge of connectivity sits the networked book. In this type
of project an author posts the idea for his book or actual chapters from the
book on a site and invites comment. While the text can be stolen quite
easily, the advantages of immediate and widespread feedback may outweigh the
risk.
The University of Maine hosts a project called
Art Pool 3.0. Art Pool is a site that
contains links (many, many links) about art and writing projects. By mousing
over the link (resting your computer cursor on the link), you open a
description of the project. Click the link to open a message window with
information about the sponsor of the project, the contributors, and perhaps
an invitation to add your comments or participate in the project. The only
goal in the Art Pool is to communicate and work with other creative people.
Reviewers can also rate ideas, providing feedback to help make the
project more successful. Being a new venture, Art Pool has very few
"results" entries. This will grow as the projects mature.
It’s like having people shoot at you.
~ McKenzie Wark in a recent interview
Another example of the networked book is
Gamer Theory, a book that is being written and developed
through an Internet site. Author McKenzie Wark decided to use a web site in
“an experiment to see what happens when authors and readers are brought into
conversation over an evolving text.” When it is complete, Gamer Theory
will be published by Harvard University Press.
So far, nine full chapters of the book have been posted on the site and
made available via podcast. Readers are invited to read the chapter and then
comment or join in discussions on a forum about the chapter. Using this
feedback, Wark fixes, rewrites, or completely redirects his chapters. The
updated material is then re-posted to the site for more comment.
Is this a situation of a book being written by committee? Not at all. Wark remains the sole author of the work and
is responsible for what is
contained in each chapter. It will be interesting to see the result of
this experiment.
How Connected Do You Want To Be?
Yes, it's true - if you post your work on the Internet you stand a good
chance of being plagiarized. You also open yourself to a world's worth
of comment both good and bad. For some writers the experience has been
profitable, spiritually if not monetarily.
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