Digital Authorship: Publishing in the Attention Economy (Elements in Publishing and Book Culture)

This Element looks at contemporary authorship via three key authorial roles: indie publisher, hybrid author, and fanfiction writer. The twenty-first century's digital and networked media allows writers to disintermediate the established structures of royalty publishing, and to distribute their work directly to - and often in collaboration with - their readers. This demotic author, one who is 'of the people', often works in genres considered 'popular' or 'derivative'. The demotic author eschews the top-down communication flow of author > text > reader, in favor of publishing platforms that generate attention capital, such as blogs, fanfiction communities, and social media. This volume looks at contemporary authorship via three key authorial roles: indie publisher, hybrid author, and fanfiction writer. The 21st century's digital and networked media allows writers to disintermediate the established structures of royalty publishing, and to distribute their work directly to - and often in collaboration with - their readers. This demotic author, one who is 'of the people', often works in genres considered 'popular' or 'derivative'. The demotic author eschews the top-down communication flow of author > text > reader, in favour of publishing platforms that generate attention capital, such as blogs, fanfiction communities, and social media Explores contemporary authorship via three key authorial roles: indie publisher, hybrid author, and fanfiction writer. Examines how digital and networked media allow writers to distribute their work directly to - and often in collaboration with - their readers. These writers tend to favor publishing platforms that generate attention capital.