Small World: Writing in the Internet Age
In little more than a decade, the Internet has changed everything. The way we shop, travel, learn, interact with others, all have been transformed by the now omnipresent web. For better or worse, the world has shrunk to the point that international boundaries have almost disappeared. What does this mean for writers?
Opportunity Knocks
In March 2008, I received an email from a New York literary agent asking to read my novel. He'd seen a short story I'd published in an online short fiction magazine, and my brief bio mentioned a book I had up for grabs. A few months later I had a two-book deal with a major publisher, despite never having met my agent or my new editor. Since I started writing seriously two years ago, the Internet has been key to every advancement I've made, from my first short story sale, to landing an agent, to securing a publishing deal. The web has had a similar impact on other writers.
Irish crime novelist Declan Burke co-published THE BIG O with the tiny Hag's Head Press in 2007. "We didn't have a penny - literally - for promotion," Declan says, so he looked to the Internet for a solution. Crime Always Pays (http://crimealwayspays.blogspot.com/) was conceived as not only a means to promote Declan's own work, but also to highlight a burgeoning Irish crime writing scene.
Although he dislikes the word 'networking', Declan sees this as a key benefit of his popular blog. "It put me in touch with a lot of readers, writers, agents, publishers and publicists that I wouldn't have met otherwise," he says. The evidence of this success is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt picking up THE BIG O for American publication in September 2008.
The Hard Sell
As much as we writers like to believe the art is an end in itself, the reality is if you want your work to be read, you have to acknowledge the business side of publishing. If you're lucky enough to make it over the transom and into the hands of an agent or publisher, one of the first questions you'll be asked is: How are you going to market yourself?
The Inernet is easily the most cost-effective marketing tool available to us, and unlike almost all other media, it has no barriers to entry. More and more, a web presence is considered essential for any writer with professional aspirations.
Nathan Bransford, a literary agent with the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown, says: "A good web presence and professional-looking website is absolutely something that reflects positively on the author."
Moonrat, the online alter-ego of an editor at a respected New York publishing house, agrees. "Web presence is something I ask of all my authors post-acquisition." What's more, in some cases an author's web presence has been a factor in striking a deal. Moonrat says: "It has definitely accounted for the 'platform' we needed to feel comfortable making an offer on more than one book."
Declan Burke saw this expectation as an opportunity. "I think the Crime Always Pays blog was emblematic for my publisher of my willingness to work on behalf of the book. To hustle, as the Americans call it." Declan takes a pragmatic view of web marketing. "If I'm not prepared to get out there and work, why should I expect anyone else to do it for me?"
So, how can a hopeful writer make their mark on the Internet?
Getting Started
Depending on what you want to achieve, perhaps the easiest, most popular, and most effective gateway to the Internet is blogging. Short for 'web log', a blog is a sort of online diary. Many use them to share the minutiae of their lives with the world, with varying degrees of success. Blogging has some key benefits for writers.
First and foremost, it's easy. Simply go to http://www.blogger.com/, create an account, and start writing. Are you writing a novel? Why not log your progress, share the ups and downs of the process, or post a few excerpts? If your writing highlights a particular area of expertise, post some articles to show your knowledge.
Second, it's ideal for meeting likeminded people. A thriving community of writing bloggers shares ideas and information, and always welcomes newcomers. The key to this is participation. Start by finding blogs you like and leaving comments. Join in the discussions. Pretty soon, you'll find other people stopping by your blog to see what you have to say. Before you know it, you'll have a wealth of new writing friends. For Declan Burke, this is the greatest bonus. "Being a writer is very much a solitary gig," he says, "so it's marvellous to be able to sit at your desk and be in contact with people who share your passions and frustrations, failures and successes."
A Little Knowledge...
The Internet offers a world of knowledge to new writers. "No book on publishing has the breadth of up-to-date information you can get online," says Moonrat. She can be found at http://editorialass.blogspot.com/, one of the best of a wave of blogs that share insights into what can be a mystifying industry. "More and more experienced professionals make themselves available online everyday," Moonrat continues, "and that information makes the whole process more transparent for newbies." She advises caution, however. "Make sure the sites you're using are credible, and, of course, information should be taken with a grain of salt."
With this ready supply of information at their fingertips, is there any excuse for writers not to know the etiquette of dealing with agents and editors?
"In a word - no," says Betsy Dornbusch, an editor for Electric Spec (http://www.electricspec.com/), a popular online short story magazine, based in Colorado. "The last thing I need is an unprofessional writer."
Moonrat agrees. "There are some basic tenets that any aspiring writer should grasp, and if they don't they will be doing themselves a huge disservice. If a writer bothers to do no research and flubs these basics up, they'll probably find themselves in a very discouraging place."
Nathan Bransford offers publishing advice at his own blog, http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/. He too cautions writers to take advantage of the vast amount of free information available to them. "Authors who use the Internet to educate themselves have a major leg up over those that don't take the time," he says. "With the ease of access in the form of publishing blogs and databases come higher expectations that authors will utilise these resources."
Talk is Cheap
The ease of communication afforded by the Internet has been the biggest factor in breaking through international boundaries, providing opportunities to writers who live far from the traditional publishing hubs of London and New York. "I have clients from around the world," says Nathan Bransford. "Without the Internet it would be nearly impossible."
But Nathan notes a downside to this ease of communication when it comes to finding new authors. "I do feel it leads to some frivolous submissions," he says, "and it's sometimes a bit overwhelming to weed through these types of queries to get to the good stuff."
Betsy Dornbusch found a similar phenomenon in the early days of Electric Spec. "We did get trunk stories from authors with a lot of sales under their belts," she says, "as well as stories that didn't fit our genres. I'm sure they were testing the new market to see how soft we were." Betsy warns against submitting work on a whim. "Stories get one chance with a magazine, so it would be foolish to treat submissions frivolously."
There's another downside to this open communication. Criticising or getting into arguments with others online is all too easy, but can have long term affects. Moonrat advises against online tantrums, saying: "It's really easy to forget that anything you announce on the Internet becomes part of your permanent platform, and that creating an antagonistic web presence will hurt you."
All Change
While the changes the Internet has created in the publishing industry are self evident, can the web change the nature of what we're writing?
"I think that's already started to happen, that we're well into that phase," says Declan Burke, whose novel A GONZO NOIR was serialised online.
Betsy Dornbusch concurs, saying well-informed writers are submitting better work. "The quality of my slush pile continues to make my job that much harder."
The success of Electric Spec also illustrates how the Internet has provided a new lease of life for a form that has been disappearing from print. "With the thousands of stories published online," Betsy says, "the short fiction market is bigger and better than ever. A reader can find stories of every genre, much of it free, and there are more opportunities for a writer to find an audience."
Betsy has seen a shift in writing style, as well as quality. "The Internet writing style is shorter and more concise than we've seen in past decades, which I happen to like." She also welcomes greater originality. "I think the best thing the Internet has done for short fiction is burst the boundaries of creativity. Independent online publishers often take stylistic risks that established pro-rate markets don't. I think we'll see a trickle-up effect in the coming years as online publishing gains a solid foothold in the marketplace."
But the openness of the Internet presents a difficulty to modern writers and publishers, one that has already had serious ramifications for the music business. "People expect material on the web to come free," Declan Burke observes. "But there's also the residual belief that if something comes free, it's not worth anything."
How to harness this change is the greatest challenge facing authors and publishers today, with some industry insiders speculating on the very future of print as a commercially viable medium. Declan points out one possibility: "The scenario in which Amazon becomes an electronic publisher, signing up writers and downloading their novels direct to Kindle, is a very real one. Would that be good or bad news for writers? A bit of both, I'd imagine."
This article originally appeared in the winter 2008 edition of Ulla's Nib, published by the Creative Writers Network.