I'm not sure where this takes us:
Blogging, social networking, viral media: these terms are now bandied around in publishers' marketing meetings. Sometimes this gets results: see how Canongate turned Steven Hall's post-post-modern Raw Shark Texts into a cult before publication, via a MySpace page and haunting website. But the web is still seen as a cheap afterthought to established advertising and publicity. At a Bookseller-run seminar on "reaching readers online", Shaa Wasmund, founder of teenage girl site MyKindaPlace, told publishers that this must change: "You have to interact, and make this an integral part of your business rather than an add-on. Today it's all about the user being able to pull from the internet what they want rather than have it pushed to them." The challenge is to replicate word-of-mouth digitally: whether by creating a buzz among literary bloggers, filming a funny video that will be sent round by bored office workers, or building up a loyal following on social networking sites. But it can't be falsified, warned consultant Peter Collingridge: "There's a fine line between blogging and flogging - if you're using the blogosphere just to hype your products you will get found out immediately."
From "The Bookseller" by Joel Rickett, in "The Guardian" newspaper
