Web literature

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Sept 12 I wrote an email to MeiLin Miranda which said, among other things:

Re my search engine idea, it's basically to do an action campaign by online writers to promote but one term to describe what we do, so that it becomes the keyword that works.  If you want to read comics on the web, you search for "web comics"... if you want to read fan fiction you search for "fanfic"... if you want to read an awesome novel online, you search for... what?  Blooks?  Online fiction?  Web fiction?  Online novels?  There is no one term and I think the entire field would benefit, pulling in new readers faster, if we settled on one.

 

My nomination is for "web literature" because

      - the word "literature" points out that there are people writing on the web who are every bit as good as people publishing on paper and so promotes the idea of us as professionals

      - it is similar to "web comics"

      - it can be neatly shortened to "weblit"

 
BUT ...any word would do so long as we all agreed on it. 

Adding to that: weblit is parallel to terms such as chicklit and Canlit (Canadian literature), and it's sufficiently broad that it can allow all sorts of work including memoirs, poetry, etc.

MeiLin liked "weblit" enough to immediately register the domain weblit.us and it's now up and running, as is a conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #weblit.  Check it out.  And spread the meme if you like it.

Comments

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I like it, as a generic term.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I think that "web literature" and "weblit" sound like useful terms. They have been added to the Interests list for this community.

We have also used "cyberfunded creativity," "crowdfunding," and "crowdfunded creativity" for a wider range including art and music.

[highway-west.livejournal.com]

I think a term is useful for helping people find such projects.

I see people reading huge fanfiction projects, and so I am wondering how to reach that audience.

Fanfic

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

If they have advertising opportunities, advertise on said sites. We were just talking about that over at www.weblit.us .