digital-library[1] The Bookseller’s FuturEBook blog has an interesting look by Chris Meade at how today’s authors have more power to promote themselves and build relationships with fans than ever before, leading to a new viability for self-publishing.

The Amplified Author of 2010 (term coined for authors engaged in the social web) can sit at her desk and speak directly to her readership through a blog, can expand that circle of readers gradually by using Twitter and other social networks, can find an active readership interested in offering criticism and ideas, can publish work through print on demand and put it on the global bookshelf of the web, can set out her stall of publications and services on a website where she can also offer to run workshops, teach, write reviews, perform; she can take her work to publishers and broadcasters able to give detailed evidence of who her readership is and what they think of her work. Once she makes it into print, she can use her own energies and laptop to promote her masterpiece.

Of course, we have already heard much of this sort of thing, especially in the wake of established authors such as J.A. Konrath or Seth Godin deciding to go it alone and move away from traditional publishing. But the FutureEBook piece explains that thinktank if:book (The Institute for the Future of the Book) is creating “a new kind of hub for writing in the community".

They call this hub a “Unilibrary”. It is to be located in Hornsey Library in London and is planned to to include a “co-working space” with a voluntary social network, aimed at helping local creative types get together and create.

Meade explains:

The axe hovers over libraries because today our laptops are seen to provide us with access to a wealth of free material – but we need libraries more than ever, not just to bridge the digital divide for those without wi-fi, but to be somewhere we can all bring our laptops for guidance on how to get the most from the web, and to share our responses to what we find.

UK libraries are currently in danger from proposed budget cuts to the Public Lending Right, the fund that pays authors modest sums when their books are checked out of libraries. Author advocacy groups are urging authors to mobilize against the planned budget cuts.

We’re in a sort of transitional period right now, as publishers, authors, and retailers wait to see what the nascent self-publishing industry is going to become. I personally think the name “Unilibrary” sounds kind of silly, and I don’t think the article really supports its point very well—it says we need libraries where we can come together in person, even though the rest of it is all about how promotionally we’re using the web—but nonetheless, it’s worth keeping an eye on this kind of effort.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. This (Meade’s) article is one of those where I started reading and thinking ‘yeah … right on …’ but then start to double take and think no … is this guy really serious ? (And by the way, I have no intention of adopting his daft ‘coined’ term for writers who communicate with their readers)

    Can any writers here tell me .. do writers really fret about where publishers are going to earn a crust ? do writers really fixate about getting published in the ‘right’ places ? Truly .. I would love to know !

    The Amplified Author of 2010 (term coined for authors engaged in the social web) can sit at her desk and speak directly to her readership through a blog, can expand that circle of readers gradually by using Twitter and other social networks, can find an active readership interested in offering criticism and ideas, can publish work through print on demand and . ……… snip …. Once she makes it into print, she can use her own energies and laptop to promote her masterpiece.

    I find this supposition very dubious and contradictory. Is Meade suggesting that writers who have not been publishers can conjure up a readership and online community simply by tweeting and twittering et al. ? And then she prints a thousand books and sells them direct … ? This seems doubtful and unlikely to me in the extreme.

    Yes, the skills of editing, design, marketing will always be needed

    Who exactly will provide these ? Will the writer have to pay ? how many writers could pay a professional editor to do what an editor from an established publisher would do for a writer ? I can’t imagine many writers who have not been published being able to afford this.

    plus the means to illuminate their text with images, sound and film.

    Methinks this guy is living on another planet.

    … reputation of a writer may be gained from publication by an established publisher, but it remains the property of the author who can take that capital away again and use it to create their own ‘brand’.

    Is this really possible ? My understanding is that once rights have been signed over to publishers they cannot be just taken back. They are subject to a contract usually for an extended period. No ?

    we need libraries more than ever, not just to bridge the digital divide for those without wi-fi, but to be somewhere we can all bring our laptops for guidance on how to get the most from the web, and to share our responses to what we find.

    I don’t buy this for one moment. This sounds to me like self serving justification. Personally I don’t believe libraries will be needed soon – but even if someone could sell me the concept I think they could do a better job than this.

    When a nearby bookshop was threatened with closure recently, I and many friends were deeply alarmed. Why? We mostly buy books online or in bigger stores, and, to be honest, it’s not a great shop – no events, no encouragement to have exciting conversations about books with staff or fellow customers, yet it still symbolized a great deal.

    Mmmm… he couldn’t be bothered actually purchasing books but he was alarmed ? Why ? because it ‘symbolised a great deal’ which means what exactly ? to me it means some kind of old farty nostalgic illusion rather than any useful or real role for such a poor book shop.

    In conclusion this ‘article’ reads to me like a very confused and inconsistent promotion attempt for a pet project. Sorry to be so negative 🙁 I guess I should close on a more positive note .. which is to say that for established writers or writers who get a hook on ePublishing and start to sell a few thousand copies, there is indeed a great new opportunity today to communicate with their readers and leverage their initial readership through direct communication, web site forums etc etc. But not in the way that this article suggests.

  4. Howard: speaking as an aspiring fiction writer (although likely destined to spend my life still aspiring), I can say that yes, this article is based on the New World Order.

    Writers really, really do care very much about how they get published. The “legitimate” trade publishers pay you for your manuscript, in the form of a royalty advance. For most books written by most authors, the royalty advance is all the payment they’ll see from their work.

    Also, the “legitimate” trade publishers are able to put your books into bookstores, where people can see them and buy them.

    There is a gigantic ego boost from having your book selected for publication by one of the legit trade publishers. It’s a validation that is extremely hard to come by, and thus extremely valuable.

    And I’m surprised at how many writers desperately crave a book with their name on it. Not an e-book; a physical book, displayed on the racks at Borders and at Barnes & Noble. Many want that more than the money. (Which is why vanity publishers still exist.)

    As for the “amplified writer” stuff, alas, over the past few years that has become the case. Unless you’re already a big-name author, the publisher (and your agent) now expect you to publicize your work. A number of agents now have little interest in signing new authors who haven’t already developed what’s called a platform, basically meaning all of that FaceBook, Twitter, blogs, and other stuff, with a significant number of people already following your work before you try to get representation.

    There is little room any more for the next reclusive writer. If you’re not already signed with an agent, you’d better be gregarious and prepared to do all that FaceBooking, tweeting, blogging, and going to bookstores and book clubs to do readings and signings. What, you thought you wanted to work on your next book??

    The question you have on editing is a huge one, and one which doesn’t really have a good answer right now. The “editors” at the publishing houses don’t really do much editing any more; they’re more like gatekeepers who reject poorly edited work (and poorly written work). Agents generally don’t have the skills to do the editing and will also usually reject poorly edited work out-of-hand, so it’s up to the author to provide a well-edited manuscript to the agent. And as you say, editors don’t come cheaply. Who’s going to pay, say, $3500 for an editor to clean up a manuscript that if it gets really, really lucky will be selected for publication and earn a royalty check of $4000-5000? But probably will never get published at all?

    There’s one section I think you misread, in which Meade is talking about the author’s reputation remaining the author’s property, even while the publication rights to the book lie with the publisher. Thus, Janet Evanovich can switch from Macmillan to Random House and still be famous for her Stephanie Plum novels (two of which she’s contracted to write for RH) even though it was Macmillan who helped make Stephanie Plum famous.

    I second the rest of your comments.

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