Clamouring to become visible...

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on May 25, 2008. The original text can be found here.

The revolution - part 1

In the Observer newspaper in May, out-going Literary Editor Robert McCrum looked over the past decade in the publishing world, and described the writing world as witnessing the "biggest revolution since William Caxton set up his printing shop in the precincts of Westminster Abbey."

He touched on what he considered the ten milestones of the decade. The (re-)emergence of author as celebrity, the success of Amazon, the Harry Potter phenomenon, the rise of (and backlash against) celebrity bookclubs, the flourishing of literary festivals, the increase in value and notoriety of book prizes, the ability of some "old guard" writers to adapt to the new movements in the literary world, and the surprise success of word of mouth best-sellers.

The final two milestones are the rise in blogging and what McCrum calls "the iPod moment", and I think these are the most important ones for us, for the writers who are just starting out. I will leave the issues of the coming revolution in digital publishing until next week, but for now I want to take a look at blogging.

McCrum concentrates on the democratisation of the book review - in a time when many newspapers are reducing, or even removing their book content, the internet has seen the rise in online book reviews. Amazon carries customer reviews, and there are many online review blogs that the publishing world has begun to sit up and pay attention to. At Write Anything, we have set up our own review site, Dear Reader. McCrum also points out the paradox that whilst the internet has allowed millions to find a voice, it still remains a struggle to find an audience, but he doesn’t explore this issue further. Blogging has seen many writers able to do what they never could before - get their words "out there". But to whom? Despite the interest in blogging, it has been rare to find a blogging writer who has their work turned into a "real" book. The most successful books from blogs, (Girl With A One Track Mind, Belle de Jour, Rachel from North London) were not written as books, but as pure opinion. As far as a new technology can have tradition, they were "traditional" blogs and not serialised novels.

Other authors who have had success, such as Scott Sigler, did not blog their work but generated a following through podcasts. Whilst this caught the book world unprepared (how can a book by an unknown, given away for free, possibly work?), with the benefit of hindsight we ought not to have been surprised. Audiobooks have been popular for years. Podcast novels are audiobooks that are sent to you, chapter by chapter for free. An old idea applied through new technology.

But where are the authors who have had their fiction, posted on their blogs, turned into novels? There are very, very few, and those there are won their book deals by the traditional routes, even though they blog their writing. Should this worry us, as blogging writers? I would say no - for now. It is a no because new authors are still being found, still being published. You don’t need a blog to become an author (whether you need a blog once you have become an author is another matter - as a marketing tool it can be invaluable). So long as new authors are still being found in the traditional way, via submissions to agents and publishers, then writing will still be as it was - incredibly hard to get in to, but not impossible.

If that avenue should dry up, if new authors should be pushed out in favour of the celebrity book, then I think we should begin to worry. If publishing houses are only interested in name recognition to sell books and will not touch new unknowns, at that moment the lack of interest in blogging writers will be troubling. Because at that point the only way to have a career as a writer will be to take matters into your own hands. The only way to ensure that there continues to be literature will be through the efforts of the producers of that literature.

This will only happen if the means of production and distribution become available to the writers. A blog is not enough. A blog cannot have its page corners folded to mark your place. A blog cannot be annotated. A blog is not accessible when you are stuck in a tunnel on a train and want something other than the safety information notice to read.

And in advance of just such a need, comes the technology. The iPod moment.

To be continued…