Social Network Publishing

One of the characteristics of social networking online is the interactive, community element. On a blog, readers can comment on posts. On a photo-sharing site like Flickr, users can pool their photos into Groups. On YouTube, you can post a video response to a video you’ve just watched. On Wikipedia, you can edit the online encyclopaedia or discuss an entry with other users.

A new publisher, SlushPileReader.com has just launched where authors can submit their manuscripts and readers can vote on whether or not that manuscript should be published as a book.

On the Book Standard, one of the company’s founders, Johanna Denize is quoted as saying:

“The world of literature is en extremely subjective world. An author may only have one shot at having his manuscript read and if the particular editor or agent who reads it doesn’t like it—that’s it. Game over. Slush Pile Reader will change that and give authors a chance to be read not just by one person but by many.”

When a book is selected for publication via this reader voting process, the company is committed to publish it in the traditional way and the author is paid an advance along with receiving royalties.

Book Standard comments:

“Slush Pile Reader is launching at a great time, as many publishers are taking into consideration the public’s opinion of a manuscript before publishing it. Simon & Schuster is one publisher that has taken special care, joining with Media Predict to decide which proposals are likely to succeed and teaming up with Gather.com for the First Chapters and First Chapters Romance competition, where Gather.com members vote on excerpts from manuscripts on the site.”

The one thing that’s not clear to me is whether the readers are paid anything for their “work” by giving input to the publishing process in this way. Perhaps there’ll be enough people who’ll do it for the fun of it - and who would enjoy being in the influential position of making or breaking the career of a would-be author.