Writers' Blogs

After learning that one Australian publishers is asking its authors to keep a blog, Jane Sullivan in the Age looks whether it's such a hot idea. The pitfalls course include the drain of creative energy which could be directed towards the next book; and the strain of finding something new and interesting to say all the time.

And Sullivan notes that :

There's nothing more annoying than an author banging on about their latest launch or tour or reviews and trying to be entertaining, when you know they just want you to follow the links and order their books.

She goes alone to a blogging workshop and learns that what readers really want is :

... an insight into the blogger's life as a writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean they want a blow-by-blow diary entry about the writer's day. The most popular bloggers take a creative approach.

Some of the Australian authors who have the knack, she reckons, are Penni Russon, Jaclyn Moriarty, Maureen Johnson, while the ultimate blogging author is British author Neil Gaiman (1.6 million hits a day!)

There is no doubt that blogging helps an author build a fan base. Many authors also find blogging a very useful way of getting feedback on content before they publish. (You might like to check out this very interesting piece by Tania Ralli which appeared in The New York Times some time back.)

Of course, closer to home we have some very good blogging authors ... check out the Biblioscribblio links in the sidebar!

(BTW any passing authors who don't have a blog but might like to guest blog a piece here, are very welcome to contact me!)

Oh Those Clever Little Penguins!

The Guardian carried news yesterday that Penguin plans a wiki-novel in collaboration with Britain's De Montford University:

Based on the principles of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, the novel, called A Million Penguins, is open to anyone to join in, write and edit. None of the words, characters or plot twists will be attributed to any individual and - and this is the element of the project most likely to bruise delicate egos - participants are free to edit, chop and change other writers' work.

The big question is whether those who participate will be willing to check in their writerly egos at the door. But certainly the announcement has caused a stir: the A Million Penguins website and blog are already getting 10 hits a second!

Penguin have also apparently taken up residence in Second Life. (For the unititiated, a social community in an online 3D world.) I'd better go check it out.

(Incidentally, if you bump into a young lady with spiky blue hair, wearing microminishorts and displaying a great deal of cleavage ... you'll recognise me at once, of course. I haven't managed to find anything bookish going on in Second Life yet, maybe because I seem to spend most of my visits to the site at the bottom of the sea. CW has promised to take me on a tour of the library and when the internet connection is better, will take her up on that.)

I wanted to blog earlier in the week about another very interesting innovation from Penguin, and I even had the heading ready: Penguin Draws a Blank.

I was browsing the fiction section of Kinokuniya the other day when this cover (left) caught my eye. This is the latest packaging for classic novels, and you only know which title you're picking up from a wee sticker on the plastic wrap. The tag line for the My Penguin series is:

Books by the Greats, Covers by You

Because you see, the idea is that YOU design the cover image for the book. And then, if you want, scan and submit it to Penguin for possible display in their online gallery.

Yes, yes, Penguin are very innovative, very clever indeed. But I can go one better, if someone wants to go into business with me.

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and sell readers books with both the cover and the pages blank so that they can write their own classics. That's one Penguin haven't thought of yet!