When I was in sixth grade, I stumbled upon the Meg Cabot Book Club forums through her website. Back then, it was bright pink and there were lots of users with names that identified their favorite character or a phrase that resonated with them. At 11-years-old, I had found an outlet for my Meg Cabot book obsession and I made "Internet friends" with some other young girls who felt the same way.
At one point, we all started contributing to a fanfiction together, where we all wrote "round robin" style. It was quick and exciting, and that's when my love for writing actually came to fruition.
Anyway, the point is that at the time, the idea of an electronic, transcontinental, 24/7 book club was new and exciting. For years before that, the only way you could interact with authors was at a book signing or a bookstore reading. And other people who share the same love of certain books as you? Maybe if you were in a book club that met once a month. Or there's that friend you converted into a huge Meg Cabot fan by forcing them to read the "Mediator" series.
Nowadays, some of your favorite authors are super easy to reach! Thank you, social media.
I remember when the only way to get in contact with the author would be to send them written letters or send them questions through the mysterious abyss of their impersonal websites.
Now, I can tweet Sarah Dessen and she'll see it instantly (and hopefully respond!). And even more magical? You get to read their tweets too.
This new age of "social authors" is a new and, for me, monumental discovery. However, it's not to say authors haven't been social in the past. By social, I mean social media and the larger presence of writers on those sites.
You get a look into those authors heads, and you feel so much closer to them. For example, one of my favorite authors, John Green, recently posed a question to his Facebook followers.
Suddenly, all of his fans felt like a part of this process for which they've only seen the final product. Especially for book-to-movie adaptations like "The Mortal Instruments," "Twilight," "Life of Pi" and more.
It's an exciting time to be a bibliophile, friends.
John Green is the perfect example of an author on social media. Not only does he post regularly on Twitter and Facebook, but he and his brother comprise the uber-popular YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3H1T3xqzZY&feature=share&list=UUGaVdbSav8xWuFWTadK6loA
John and his brother Hank make videos to each other each week to keep up with each other. In that way, we, as their fans, get a look into their lives as well. We earn about their favorite things, their insights on current events, and their families.
It's a new generation of authors making a larger footprint in society, without overshadowing the imprint of their books and other literary works. In a deeper sense, I feel that it heightens their credibility as artists to us as their readers. We are able to go through the process with them, see them in action, and watch something come to life from their imaginations.
So now that you know that your favorite author is most likely on twitter constantly (probably tweeting about their lunches and taking selfies), I say: go on a treasure hunt.
I’d love to hear about your experiences seeing or reciting slam poetry! Feel free to get in touch with me at arabusa@asu.edu or on Twitter @marie_eo
