MeCCSA Abstract Submission

Lyle Skains
February 21, 2009
Personal Information
Lyle Skains
First year PhD Creative & Critical Writing
School of Creative Studies & Media
Bangor University
cop814@bangor.ac.uk
07594 866 013 (m)
01248 689 319 (h)
Presentation Information
Title: The Shifting Author-Reader Dynamic: Online Novel Communities as a Bridge from Print to
Digital Literature
Topic: Creative Writing Digital Literature
Research Methods: Literature reviews, empirical research on the model online author/novel
communities
Keywords: Creative writing, digital literature, online communities, author, reader
Technical Requirements: Computer capable of displaying PDF, digital projector, screen
Abstract
In this digital age, readers are turning to online outlets in an effort to prolong the experience
of reading a beloved novel. This paper looks at the websites created and maintained by the authors
themselves, which delve deeper into the world of novel and novelist, offering fans interaction with
both the author and other readers, as well as an extension of the novel's world through games and
additional materials.
These online novel communities are models of a bridge between print and digital
storytelling conventions. They create a new dynamic between author, text, and reader; no longer is
the communication of fiction a one-way street. Rather, these communities provide a space for
discourse between author and reader, opportunities for readers to influence and form the texts the
author is creating, and reader-contributed material in the form of fan fiction and games. The digital
format of these communities also introduces the print-oriented reader to digital storytelling elements
such as online games, multimedia, and hypertext.
This paper uses two communities as models: NeilGaiman.com and JasperFforde.com. It
examines the discourse between these bestselling fantasy authors and their readers, reader
contributions on the sites, the unique author-reader dynamic created through these interactions, and
how these sites introduce readers to digital storytelling conventions.