Independent Digital Publishing

On June 19^th, Lighthouse Writers Workshop hosted the avant garde of short story publishing as part of the last day of activities of the Denver’s literary festival.  I talked with the founders of one-year-old Electric Literature Andy and Scott, two guys from Brooklyn, NY who are experiencing great success using the digital medium for publishing new lit.  Their company has received press attention from PBS, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and many others. 

 According to the website, “Electric Literature’s mission is to use new media and innovative distribution to return the short story to a place of prominence in popular culture.  We are a quarterly anthology of five top-notch short stories, delivered in every viable medium.”  Andy and Scott spoke to me interchangeably, most times agreeing with what the other said so quotes contained herein are attributed to both.

What’s going on here?

Electric Literature is the first short story magazine to publish to iPhone and micro-serialize to Twitter.  And, on Twitter, ElectricLit has gained over 150,000 followers, more than any other publisher in the world.  Let’s not forget Kindle availability.

For comparison purposes, in one year, Electric Lierature has about half the number of subscribers as Paris Review which represented a traditional, established model. 

The other good news is that writers are all paid, about $1000.  Not bad.  The company’s website states, “Here's how our model works: To publish the paperback version of Electric Literature, we use print-on-demand; the eBook, Kindle, iPhone, and audio versions are digital. This eliminates our up-front printing bill. Rather than paying $5,000 to one printer, we pay $1,000 to five writers, ensuring that our writers are paid fairly. Our anthology is available anywhere in the world, overruns aren’t pulped, and our back issues are perpetually in print. We hope that this model can set a precedent: more access for readers, and fairness for writers.”

According to Andy and Scott, they have 40 volunteer readers worldwide to handle the submission volume the company receives. 

Since there really isn’t a model for online books, the field is wide open.  For example, by foregoing the bookstore experience, shoppers miss out on the interaction with staff to make recommendations, or just coming into the store and browsing.  “The challenge is to find a way to either continue to support bookstores or create the same kind of community online.  That’s super important, that users not just use it only for a content source.”  Whichever the future outcome, the guys says the paper book isn’t going to disappear.

Advice?

I asked the guys how they built their online community.  It was no surprise that they’ve been aggressively using social media, Twitter and Facebook.  One full-time employee works posting on Twitter between 12 and 20 times daily.  Also they create buzz with some kind of promo or industry-worthy news announced every week.  Facebook is perfect for generating and creating opportunities for online discussions.  Twitter and Facebook help build the community feel.  “Use (the medium) like you’re at a dinner party.  Don’t just talk all about you.  Talk about all kinds of fascinating things. People like community, not being marketed to.” 

Electric Literature also says they create engaging blogs in thoughtful ways.  Additionally, if you want to build your community, maintain a database of industry contacts such as blogs, editors name, book reviews, email addresses.  Build personal relationships with editors, bloggers – “send out mass emails to let them know about good stuff.”My time was up with Andy and Scott.  The partners were very engaging and their enthusiasm contagious. 

Follow Electric Literature on Twitter under ElectricLit.  Pass it on.