You knew this was coming… we had to examine the prospect of social networking in terms of authors and publishers in today’s landscape.

As you know, we have dedicated an independent page to social-networking sites which are author-specific. Unfortunately, we find that authors tend to sign on to sites where people who are already familiar with their work are also signed. In addition, trying to get an author to buy another author’s work is like pulling teeth… you can try…

There are varied classifications of author-specific social networking sites. Some will showcase biographies and book covers with corresponding amazon-dotcom sales links. Some are for posted interviews, tour schedule posting and reservation management. Some are for reader interaction with virtual bookshelves of books to review and discuss. Some sites are for niche markets and some allow book video trailer uploads. Again, most of these sites are hybrids of feature sets.

As for publishers, the way is not so pre-ordained, as it were. They want catalog engagement, brand engagement and increased readership – but other than outright media buys – where to aim?  Should they build a back-end network to their own website for the benefit of readership they already have? Should they troll through endless bookmarking networks (i.e. mixx, stumbleupon) to bookmark their catalog?
We did see one major House use social networking as a tool for streamlining their new author discovery process. An author joins the network, (s)he loads individual chapters of their book to the service; then gets critiqued by fellow authors. As their book’s popularity(rank) increases, the author has a chance of being read and considered for publishing by the House. This is an interesting concept; except that trying to find a gem with mass appeal in a sea of elitist authors who all want their own book to be on top is not as simple as it sounds.  This does, however,show the innovation of further adaptation of the social web interface to distribution and consumption of books.

We notice that many authors and Houses are on twitter. Are they tweeting with regularity? To whom are they tweeting? The trade? Potential consumers? People who have already befriended them on five million other networks?   How many of the new wiki apps for these networks have to be downloaded in order to take full advantage of their services? Almost every service has a toolbar, a mobile app and a multi-account login wiki to download. Does writing or publishing a book now require an excel chart for social logins?

If Shakespeare was on twitter, for example, what would he tweet?

Alas, I weep – for ’twas foretold that the very villainous web would usurp my sweet utterances and companion markings

There are an increasing number of video and podcasting options for authors and publishers to explore, as well. For smaller Houses, the question is: what is the video strategy for the catalog? Is there a video budget for each book? Is youtube the end of the uploading strategy?

Above and beyond – how many hours can an active author or publishing House expect to dedicate to execution of a complete social-networking agenda?

We believe that as options expand, the case for success in the social networking environment for authors and publishers will expand, in kind. We believe that the key to that success will be the degree to which the author, or the House, examines why they have chosen one service or the other to exploit – rather than connecting to everything in sight – with logins and passwords flailing in the air akin to the arms of an octopus.            

Although the question of a writer’s greatness is bound to be of perpetual concern to literati who brood and analyze to the nth degree; we’ve tried to examine the question here.

Is greatness found in the writer’s ability to write what s/he feels? What her/his heart feels? What his/her memory beholds?

Is greatness found in the writer’s ability to write within conventional, grammatical, syntax-based constructs? Is it the ability to write without thought for those constructs?Running amok on the literary canvas?

Is greatness found in the writer’s ability to get his/her point across? Is greatness found in his/her ability to make a point regardless of the evidence of the point to others?

Is greatness found in the method the writer elects to publish his/her work? (note: We find that there are many who ascribe to this belief – based upon these simple words: WE DO NOT REVIEW SELF-PUBISHED BOOKS. POD PUBLISHED AUTHORS NEED NOT APPLY.)

If a quality greatness is found within a writer, does that then, make the writer great?

Is greatness based upon commercial appeal?

Is a writer’s greatness based on appearance?

Can an overweight, mid-western woman with a mushroom hairdo win a Pulitzer if she writes the same book as the urban intellectual who wears black and sits on endless literary forum panels?

It is apparent that this question is loaded with subjectivity. The answer is relative to the writer. You will know when you have made a work that is great. Just as you the smell of literary garbage cannot be hidden; neither can the shine of a literary masterpiece. But – If you base your greatness on whether one person has read your work, or a thousand, you will never know.

A Self-Published Author Enjoys Continuing Success

One thing that is a point of intrigue to SCRiBULA is the relationship (if any) of new publishers to Hollywood. As such, we are currently undertaking an investigation into this topic.

In the meantime, we found this article at http://authorsadvocate.net; which is really, more of a blurb from 2008; about related success of various self-published folks:

Posted by Elizabeth House 10/30/2008

A recent post in “PW” (http://www.publishersweekly.com/) notes that “Lifetime” has purchased the film rights for a bestselling novel from an author who self-published her first book. In 1996, having received rejections slips for her novel, “Behind Closed Doors” from rafts of publishing houses and literary agents, Kimberla Lawson Roby formed her own company and paid to have her book published. Within six months, she sold more than 10,000 copies, and the rest, as they say, is history. At the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, film rights to Roby’s “One in a Million” were sold. Rory has subsequently published with Black Classics Press, Kensington Books and Morrrow. She has received the Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year Award and Author of the Year presented by the African American Literary Show in New York. Many other self-published authors have gone on to win awards, become bestselling authors, and launch successful publishing careers. For example, one Dorrance author, A. R. Ammons, self-published his first book of verse, “Ommateum”, and went on to win the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Success on this scale is noteworthy.

• Here is an interesting link to an article about a nine-year old; who sold movie rights to a book he wrote about how to talk to girls. Click the picture:

A Hollywood Hurting for Ideas Throws Money at 9-Year Olds

We invite you to share here, your thoughts and/or expertise regarding the premise, as well.

Book Genre Codes:
AA – Action Adventure
BI – Biography
BU – Business
CE – Collected Essays
CH – Children
CR – Christian
ES – Espionage
FA – Fantasy
GF – General Fiction
GL – Gay & Lesbian
HI – Historical Fiction
HO – Horror
HT – How To
HU – Humor
LI – Literary
ME – Memoir
MF – Military Fiction
MY – Mystery
NF – Nonfiction
PO – Poetry
RO – Romance
SF – Science Fiction
SF – Self Help
SU – Suspense
TH – Thriller
WS – Western
YA – Young Adult

As far as we know, there are no merch shops dedicated to indy/POD/self and other new-publishing wonks out there. So, we hope you show your support for the premise by visiting our SCRiBULA store and perhaps, purchasing a themed item, or two. We plan to expand our artwork and selections, as support warrants….. so let us know what you may like to see us offer.

Just one of our SCRiBULA merch logos

Self Publishers

Q. Book publishing has changed dramatically from the traditional model and many people now publish business and other books as “self publishers” that sell quite well. Does The Times consider such books for review and if not, why not? Seems a book should stand or fall on merit, not source, especially since in the new world of publishing and Internet a reviewed book would be readily available to any willing buyer.

— Joel Blackwell
Washington, D.C.

A. For the time being we don’t review self-published or print-on-demand books. Even excluding such books, the number of published titles is growing each year; the latest number I heard was in the neighborhood of 200,000 titles released annually. Since we can cover only a small fraction – about 1,500 titles a year – we have no choice but to make distinctions, for instance, reviewing only books that our readers can find in bookstores. Your point about merit is well taken, and it’s one we share. Our thinking, which may be old-fashioned, is that with so great a volume of books being published each year by traditional publishers, and with so many imprints available, every book of merit is almost certain to find a home at one or another of those presses.

Then again, there are many worthy titles published in the traditional way that we also don’t review, save in rare instances: reprints, new editions (even if substantially revised or updated), collections and anthologies, plus many scholarly books. If the Book Review had more pages, and if our staff were larger, we might consider expanding the number of books we cover. But for now it’s all we can do to keep up with the volume we already handle.

These days… Looking at blogs ( whether intellectual in tone or flagrantly simplistic) which cover new publishing models;  one gets to the conclusion that none yet know where the publishing world is going; yet ALL know it is going somewhere ELSE.

The simplistic blogs offer mythic tales of POD-to-mainstream success in defense of stigmas. The intellectual blogs offer tales of  disastrous POD constructs; while seemingly oblivious to the scores of mainstream publishing  jobs and sales revenues being lost — the last anyone checked.

Is there no happy, bipartisan place  for this discussion? Can’t bloggers agree that both, POD and mainstream books are fertile grounds for jewels amidst crap? Can we admit that there are pearls of great writing amidst the swine of POD purgatories and bookstore remainders?

Good grief!

Simply put, we’ve had enough. SCRiBULA is determined to delve  past this tiredness and investigate, not only the truth, but the evolution of the colliding schools of thought about what is going on with today’s (and tomorrow’s) commercial distribution of the written word.