is viral blogging the way of the future?

It’s no secret that companies hire bloggers to post favourable comments about their services or products all over the interweb. I was surprised however, to find out that one of those organisations is this year’s Melbourne Writers’ Festival (MWF). MWF put a call out for volunteers to undertake the task of generating online promotion for the Festival by way of blog posts.

According to the position description key tasks include:

Regularly contribute to the 3-4 blogs supplied by the festival, at first by “leaking” names, news, dates and times.
Instigate discussion about the program from July 18 onwards
Discuss sessions attended during the festival
On the close of festival, place comments on blogs
Tailor responses to sub-market eg foodies, diversity groups etc

For their time (around 2-4 hours per week plus festival attendance), volunteers can expect in return:

Will gain experience in viral marketing
A reference on the successful completion of project will be provided.

Now, I don’t doubt that the volunteers who end up doing this will have a genuine interest in the MWF, but it does seem like a pretty cheeky way to gain promotion. Surely there are more transparent methods to market the Festival to 18-25 year olds (this is the audience MWF is seeking to increase through the viral web campaign). Facebook groups, e-newsletters (by subscription) and a MySpace presence are all legitimate ways to attract the attention of this age group, without treating them like idiots.

I mean, surely dear reader you would be suss if you saw a post on Locus that said: “Hey, I just heard David Sedaris is coming to a festival. Which festival? Why, it’s the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, tickets here…”

Perhaps I am being a little too harsh, but it just seems to me that this type of thing is reserved for creepy self-help services, Avon-style herbal supplement sales or financial scams. We all use the internet to promote our businesses, but I think when posting on blogs or forums it is important to give full disclosure about who you are and what your association is to the products/books/services you’re endorsing.

I’d be keen to hear from the Festival’s decision makers as to why they chose this path.

E.

thoughts on ewf

So the Emerging Writers’ Festival has been and gone. The festival sold out which is pretty amazing, though they re-opened door sales at about midday on Saturday so I think most people who wanted to go and left it to the last minute still got access. David Ryding, the Assistant Directors and all the volunteers put on an excellent and interesting festival. I was impressed.

Programming
I thought the programming was really diverse and interesting for it - the focus was firmly on the craft of writing and covered a real variety of genres, including theatre, lit fic, poetry, comedy writing, zines, performance and comics. And there was a good mix of panels, workshops and conversations.

One of my complaints about the MWF is that the pricing doesn’t allow me to pop into different sessions and discover new writers and ideas, but the weekend pass system of the EWF did, and it was great. (Unfortunately though I didn’t get to as much as I wanted to because I had panels on the Saturday and the zine fair on Sunday.)

A few of the panels got a bit contentious (sadly I missed them!) which means people were pretty engaged with the topics. And by all reports most panels had a lot of discussion going on in them, by the panellists and audience. Like I said, the variety of stuff on really seemed to work.

I thought having a final session where people can Q&A the festival director and suggest ideas for next year was an awesome idea, but sadly it seems like David Ryding and I were the only ones as he was the only person who turned up! (I was packing down at the zine fair.) I guess everyone put their suggestions onto the feedback forms…

Venue
The Town Hall is a pretty amazing venue but I still think its one failing is that it feels all closed off and inaccessible. The Porticoe Room was a central meeting point but it didn’t seem to be used much by festival-goers. The Town Hall doesn’t really encourage lounging around and mingling; it’s so formal. I loved the Scrabble and 48 Hour Play Generator at the BMW Edge though. That’s a great venue.

Festival Hub
The festival bar, FAD Gallery, was an awesome idea and made up for the lack of hanging out points at the Town Hall. On both days the bar was full of festival people, it was really fun and I met lots more people there than at the EWF. Some people complained about its vicinity to the Town Hall and I agree that it felt like a bit of a pain, but the bar was so cosy and writerly that I think it was worth it - plus I had some really good conversations with people walking to and from the bar, so it wasn’t all bad.

Ambassador’s Program
I think this was an awesome idea and seeemed pretty successful. A few ambassadors were more prominent than others but I guess you gotta expect that. Their session ‘Seven Enviable Lines’ was the festival highlight for me. It was really entertaining to hear their different (and same) points of view and advice… which included ‘don’t get drunk and be a wanker at public events’ (doh), ‘don’t wear your pajamas to work’ (doh) and ‘always be prepared for panels’ (doh).

Vibe
The atmosphere at the festival (and bar) was really vibrant and relaxed. I like these smaller festivals because they are all about discussion and the exchange of ideas, rather than the cult of the author, so it’s easy to be apart of the action.

Zine Fair
The zine fair was sadly much quieter this year than it was last year. I don’t know if that’s because of the cold or because it was Mother’s Day or because everyone ziney was at the festival panels but it just wasn’t buzzing.

‘It was good.’

L.

the plastic age

Two new publications are available from my favourite web comic artist, who also happens to be the amazing illustrator behind the covers of this year’s Mini Shots series - Rhys McDonald.

Pioneering Mediocrity
Self deprecating name? Check. 36 page b&w mini comic with full colour cover? Check. What more do you need to know? Never before has so little been on offer from a webcomic! Hi jinx, boob jokes, actual boobs, nude men, it really is a book for the family to enjoy. If mediocrity makes your mouth water, you’d better hold a bucket under your face because this will have you salivating like a fat man at the buffet line!

Can’t Even Tell - The Art of Rhys McDonald
74 pages of wall to wall art, 38 full colour pages and 36 b&w. Collects various work from 2007-08, including sketches which have never seen the light of day, TPA comic strips of the highest (and crudest) calibre, pinups, robots, mexican wrestlers, girls….you get the idea. The book is perfect bound A5 size.

The comic will only set you back a coupla bucks and is well worth it if you have a sense of humour. If not, well - there’s always the art book. Availabubble to buy from the-plastic-age.com store.

L.

melbourne media makers fund

Vibewire presents: Melbourne Media Makers Fund

Does DIY Media interest you? Are you looking for just a little cash action to get your project started? Do you need a hand?

Vibewire is offering four media makers aged 15-25 the opportunity to complete their own media project, with $500 each to go towards production costs.

Projects will be conducted between Monday 9th June and Friday 4th July, with the completed projects to be showcased on Saturday 5th July. Residency participants will be given some resources to help complete their projects in the specified four week period. Participants will be expected to manage their own time and budget, with advice and guidance given by the Melbourne Media Makers coordinator.

If you are interested in applying for the Melbourne Media Makers Fund, please complete the attached application form and submit to lisa@vibewire.net by 12pm, Sunday 1st June. Successful applicants will be required to attend a meeting in Melbourne on Sunday 8th June and to report weekly on their project progress until its completion.

L.

sticky memberships

I’m always talking about supporting Sticky, and now you can do it even if you don’t live in Melbourne.

It’s just come to my attention that Sticky is now offering memberships.

For $5 you can sign up to their zine newsletter.

For $425 you can sign up to their zine newsletter and also receive two $250 zine packs.

… and there are many other pricing options in between, so if you or your organisation would benefit from receiving awesome stickiness via mail and email, head to the Sticky site to pledge your support. I especially like the ’surprise zines in the mail’ aspect.

L.

willy lit fest & clunes booktown

Victoria is book-tastic this weekend…

The Williamstown Literary Festival. Come along to this boutique Festival, a popular local cultural event focusing on literature, drama and writing which presents established and emerging writers and literary figures. Features Richard Franklin, Ian Hickinbotham, Michael McGirr, Clare Williamson, People’s Choice Awards and various workshops. Tickets on sale now through the Hobsons Bay Libraries on 9932 4170.

Also on is Back to Booktown 2008 - the Community Event of the Year! Booksellers from all over the country are coming to Clunes to offer their treasures; award-winning writers are joining us for the weekend. Enjoy the books, the food and wine, and much much more.

L.

writing is a business too

Arts Law Week – Writing is a Business Too!, with Joel Becker, Jeremy Fisher and Nic Pullen

When: Wednesday 21 May, 6:30-8:30pm
Cost: $7, VWC Members FREE, Rating All
Where: Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton

Authors often forget - or are uncomfortable with - the fact that it’s OK to earn a living from their writing, and that to be a freelance writer is to run a small business. Industry experts Joel Becker (Director of the Victorian Writers’ Centre) and Jeremy Fisher (CEO of the Australian Society of Authors) join Nic Pullen (Tresscox Lawyers) to discuss the detail of setting yourself up in a writing business. They speak from their own experiences as freelance writers and editors, and discuss the advantages and pitfalls of running a writing business in the ‘noughties’.

small publishers show a little spunk

… or is that SPUNC?

From today’s Age:

Seemingly out of nowhere, a dying academic’s last lecture rockets up the bestseller lists - something local small publishers can only dream of. A new report shows they may be doing it tough but there’s plenty of life in them yet, writes Jason Steger.

It will come as no surprise to learn from a new report into the state of small and independent publishers that the major problem they face involves money. The Small Press Underground Networking Community - Spunc - commissioned the report from Kate Freeth, a master’s student at Melbourne University, who got responses from 46 publishers.

The key findings are: that most have a small annual turnover (58% no more than $50,000, and 28% $10,000 or less); a lack of funding (50% receive no funding at all); a lack of paid staff (29% have none); 89% have used volunteers in the past 12 months; a lack of staff (24% have only one staff member); and small print runs (47% have an average print run of fewer than 1000 copies). But the report says the 46 respondents have published more than 300 titles in the past 12 months, an encouraging figure.

Full article here

L.

naughty jk

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably heard that JK Rowling is suing RDR Books for releasing a publication called Harry Potter Lexicon. It seems to me that JK Rowling is being churlish and this whole thing comes down to people other than her making money from the Harry Potter phenomenon. After all, she was fine when the publication was ‘only’ an internet resource.

Book Square agrees - JK Rowling Is Wrong - or follow the whole story as it has unfolded in the media from the RDR site.

Edit: on a slightly related note, here’s an interesting article about Bloomsbury authors getting shirty about being neglected because of the Harry Potter success…

Edit: Print is dead perspective

L.

rip andrew’s @ nova

As I was rushing through Carlton on Wednesday I swung by Andrew’s Books in the Nova complex only to find that it’s now a Borders clearance centre.

Not sure when that happened but I’ll miss pawing through good cheap books when I go to the movies.

L.