March 14, 2013

Logophile... Matching Readers & Writers: WABC, Day 14

The Winter Author Blog Challenge (WABC) is wrapping up tomorrow. Like I mentioned earlier, it has been a crash course in social media.

Today's prompt...

If you could create a social media platform that doesn’t exist yet, what would it look like? What would it do? How would you use it to promote your books as well as those of other authors you know/like?

Recently, I saw a picture on Facebook of a library with a Blind Date book display. Books were covered with plain brown paper with a few words describing the book, and readers could choose one to take home. I love this idea.

With that in mind, how about an online connecting site where readers and writers are brought together in a very Match.com kind of way?

The reader inputs their data... what they love to read, genres they aren't interested in, favorite characters, favorite setting, etc. Then, writers have profiles about the books they write, etc. Some magic system pairs the two. (Perfect, since writers and readers alike believe in magic.)

Once paired, the author sends the reader a sampling. Let's say five pages of the author's choosing. It doesn't have to be the first five pages (unlike agents, I do not make a decision within the first five pages of a book ... but I might make one on what an author chooses as their best five pages).

If a reader is intrigued, the reader and writer set up a tweet session to see if they hit it off. If it's a match, the author sends a full chapter. The reader then has the option to buy the book or not. At any point, authors can back out as well... if they aren't feeling the reader would connect with their book. No harm, no foul.

Then, if a successful match is made, the reader leaves a review on the site (and elsewhere, hopefully). This only helps the author's ability to make future successful matches. Basically, it would add an element to that magic system mentioned above.

Let's call it Logophile.com (Greek for lover of words), and the logo would incorporate a book and a picture of Athena, the Greek goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature.

Thoughts?

4 comments:

Julie Glover said...

Oh my goodness, I love this!!! Brilliant, Tia. That is all.

Elise Fallson said...

Tia, THAT is a GREAT idea! Seriously, that could really work.

Unknown said...

Ohh, I like this idea. I'd love to find people who'd appreciate my genre and style of writing. Regular giveaways sometimes just send an author's book to people who just want something for free.
Great idea! :-)

Jo Michaels said...

This is the next 1M dollar idea. Not kidding. Hire some developers and get it going! :) WRITE ON!