On Writing: Episode 1

In today’s conversation, I speak with writer David Zeltser. David is the author of the middle grade Lug series, and the picture books Ninja Baby, Stinker, and The Universe Ate My Homework. His work has received high praise from the School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

David immigrated from the Soviet Union at the age of 5 and went on to graduate from Harvard with a degree in physics before returning to his love of storytelling. We chat about his inspirations, writing during Covid, and his advice for aspiring writers.

On Writing: Episode 1 with David Zeltser. .

Transcript:

Publishing’s Next Frontier: Webnovels

The story pulls you but waiting doesn’t reads one review for bestselling author Audrey Carlon’s web novel, The Marriage Auction. Available on Amazon Vella, a new platform allowing authors to publish their novels piecewise, it is just one example of a growing market for episodic stories. 

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Brand new saga! THE MARRIAGE AUCTION by @AudreyCarlan! Going live only on Kindle Vella sometime this week.
What would you do for three million dollars? Four young women enter into a clandestine auction to be married to the highest bidders. #TheMarriageAuction pic.twitter.com/PrpHaB2Sgo

— Audrey Carlan (@AudreyCarlan) July 13, 2021

Author Audrey Carlson promotes her webnovel, The Marriage Auction, on Twitter.

But how did such stories come to be? And how successful can we expect them to become? 

If we look at the market in Asia, the answer is very. 

Destigmatizing Fandom

Fanatic. The word is inherently oppositional. Those that actively participate in fandom culture find it stigmatizing and unpleasant, and those who do not often have a skewed perspective of fans as deviant – obsessive and hysterical. 

Beyonce is almost pulled from the stage by a fan while performing. Youtube Video by Hugo711.

The interpretation above was developed by Joli Jensen, a writer and media studies professor at the university of Tulsa. She is also one of many that has addressed the divide between fan culture and mainstream society. A divide that has gradually begun to shift. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting legacies of the pandemic is the emerging destigmatization of fandom. 

Authorship and the Digital Media Spectacle in 2021

In 1957, A Farewell to Arms premiered in movie theaters across the country and blew Ernest Hemingway, who had already been somewhat well known, into stardom on an unprecedented scale. For decades, Hemingway remained a rare example of an author that had been thrust into celebrity in the same vein as actors, musicians, and athletes. Today the celebrity spectacle has become an integral part of the literary world.

There are a number of authors that have achieved celebrity acclaim in the last decade. Notably, writers like JK Rowling, George R.R. Martin, and Stephen King (to name a few) engage intimately with the world of media. From social platforms to talk shows, the “well-knownness” of these individuals today is intimately linked with their visual representation and the image that they present of themselves to the world, particularly through the digital sphere. Where Hemingway fought fame and the invasion of privacy, many now willingly engage in it as a means to an end.

To what end, one might ask?

Selling books, of course.