Basically We Talked about Books: Literary Culture in the Digital Age ~ by Laurie Steed [28.09.2009]

I love hearing writers talk. Its sad, but true. I’m sure my thoughts don’t represent every reader, writer and publisher out there, but I also know I’m not the only lit-freak that gets a genuine buzz from hearing writers speak, the tenor of their voice as they retrace literary footsteps in search of greater meaning.

Sad to say, there’s one area in which Australia has really faltered regarding the promotion of local writers. Even sadder to say, it’s US bookseller Barnes & Noble that are showing us how things could be done.

Barnes & Noble has hundreds of interviews both online and as part of their podcast, Meet the Writers with BarnesandNoble.com, available through iTunes. As a literary showcase of all things American, it is phenomenal. The host, Steve Bertrand, and the author talk about all manner of subjects, ranging from the book being promoted, to exploration of the writer’s motivations and their favourite works. While these podcasts are naturally designed to showcase an author and their current title, Bertrand does so in a way that actually widens the listener’s range of potential reading material.

Take a relatively recent Chuck Palahniuk interview, as received through the Meet the Writers Podcast on iTunes. During the interview Palahniuk not only mentions his latest book Rant, but when prompted for the authors that inspired him, he also cites Amy Hempel and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this case, the aforementioned podcast not only gives Palahniuk fans the opportunity to get to know him a little better, it also a) introduces them to the work of a classic writer such as Fitzgerald and b) gives non-Palahniuk fans the chance to frame his work in a much broader perspective.

The spin-off benefits are obvious. General book sales go up. Sales of Chuck Palahniuk’s novels also go up, injecting more funds into the country’s publishing industry. And most importantly, his podcast has the potential to reach digitally-inclined readers on their preferred platform.

Meet the Writers is impressive in itself, but it is only part of the B&N studio at www.barnesandnoble.com, where extended interviews with writers (as well as filmmakers and musicians) are paired with customers reading passages from their favourite books and video trailers for upcoming releases; where author biographies are listed featuring their book, music and film recommendations, descriptions of how long it took them to break through, and advice for emerging writers.

My aim here is not to trumpet the corporate salesmanship of Barnes & Noble. What is impressive, however, is not only their sheer weight of promotion of each and every American author that walks into the store, but the availability of author content on any number of platforms, ranging from the print biog through to audio and video podcasts.

Australian Independent publishers have few avenues with which to promote their work. Here a synergistic relationship between certain bookstores (or even a chain of bookstores) and SPUNC could take independent publishing online to a wider audience, while at the same time giving the creators their own voice as part of a greater nationwide dialogue.

In Melbourne, Readings Bookstores seem the most likely candidate to take the Barnes & Noble challenge. They already feature event podcasts and interviews online, but the podcasts are found via a text link at the bottom of their site and the interviews on the site are in print form only. By taking their existing website content (audio event podcasts and print interviews currently featured as links at the bottom of the site) and increasing a) its prominence, including uploading podcast content to iTunes and b) its availability in multiple formats, Readings could raise the bar for the promotion of local authors and the Australian literary community.

On a nationwide level, there are any number of bookstores that could similarly rise to the challenge, and I would keen to hear readers' opinions on those best equipped undertake such a venture in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

The potential benefits for both bookseller and publisher are self-evident: customers could search by name for their desired writer’s podcast, listen at their convenience and eventually shop intelligently with their preferences in mind; both bookseller and publisher would increase their reach to local, interstate and overseas listeners through streamable content, allowing for subsequent purchase directly from the bookstore’s site or the shop itself. And finally, if said interviews are picked up widely enough on an international level, both Australia and its quality independent output get wider exposure on the world stage.

Maybe I am missing something here, but to me web synergy seems the next logical step for independent publishing to reach a wider audience. And, if the internet is slowly falling prey to the mediocre and hyper-commercial, then maybe it is time we take the power back.

-Laurie Steed

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