Netting words & authors to reach new readers

Is the Internet the latest tool at the disposal of authors - both new and established - interested in promoting their work?

While I was wondering how I should begin this article on a website that puts up short video clips of authors talking about their book, I decided to turn to the Internet to provide some inspiration. And I then chanced upon a website called newnovelist.com, which sells software to help you write a full novel. And all I was looking for was an idea for a good introduction.

If the Internet offers ready help to even write a novel, then its publicity too can be directed via the world wide web. Meettheauthor.com is one such site that puts up a short video clip of an author talking about his book to the camera; the site's tagline is that it brings books to life. The site claims that what the author speaks isn't from a publicist's desk but is straight from the author's heart.

For a true book lover this may seem a good way to hear a loved author(s) speak about his work. And the Internet is where more and more people are logging on to discover a whole new world. A book coming to life for a book lover is akin to a child finding that one day her favourite doll/toy has come to life. After five-star hotel book launches, this would seem an innovation in the way books get promoted. So is Indian publishing ready to use the Internet and websites like meettheauthor.com to publicise a book?

Says Shruti Debi, editor, Picador India, "I don't see a website like this replacing book events. It might be interesting if the author lives abroad or for other reasons is not available for touring when the book is out, then this would help."

Thomas Abraham, president, Penguin India, says, "In India the hype is there but online penetration figures are not clear." Despite that Abraham adds, "We are looking at online strategies for Penguin India. In the UK, Penguin did do podcasts and that took off very well."

Author Amitava Kumar gives the example of New Yorker journalist Lawrence Wright performing My Trip To Al-Qaeda and says, "The performance makes him more than a journalist or a writer, it makes him a citizen, addressing other citizens. I like that. It makes your writing more meaningful."

Maybe it is this quest that is making both established and new authors queue up to put their video clips online. The site's current top 10 video clips features authors like Elizabeth Kostova (The Historian), James Patterson (Maximum Ride), Edward Rutherfurd (Dublin), Paulo Coelho (The Zahir), Giles Milton (White Gold), Adeline Yen Mah (A Thousand Pieces of Gold), Wei Hui (Marrying Buddha), Sophie Kinsella (The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic), Liz Jones (Purple Reign) and finally Chris d'Lacey (Icefire). There are other authors like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and there are a total of 864 video clips that a visitor to the site can view.

Part of the stereotype about an author is that they are people who live in isolation, self-imposed maybe but one that is seen to help the creative process of writing a great novel.

There is already tremendous market pressure on writers to be a part of road shows to promote books; is a website like this further taking a writer out of his lair to face the paying public? And is that really a good thing?

Says Kumar, "Writing is a public act but it gets done often in deepest privacy. A writer should have the right to be invisible to his or her public."

Says first-time novelist Himani Dalmia, whose book is being published by Penguin India, "Some authors are very private and some authors want to talk about their book but these days you need to sell your book. The authors who will choose not to do this will be making an informed choice."

Adds Abraham, "Beyond a point hype may add a percentage point but a good book stands out irrespective. Some reclusive authors don't even do any publicity. This kind of a website is an added opportunity." Author Kamalini Sengupta says, "Most authors are eager to talk about their book."

Even if Indian publishers aren't willing to spend the kind of money (it costs $190 for the first 60 seconds for self-filmed clips) that meettheauthor.com expects from each clip, there are free options like YouTube and Google Video where free video clips can be posted by just about anyone.

The challenge then would be to direct traffic to that clip given the clutter that exists on such sites. But what cannot be denied is that even though Internet penetration remains small in India, it isn't always going to be this way and when that changes, video clips, be it on sites like meettheauthor.com or other forums, will become almost as ubiquitous as the book launch party has become in India these days.