Why I'm Releasing My Novel on Twitter

Starting today, Bastille Day, I'm releasing my entire debut novel--The French Revolution--on Twitter. As far as I can tell, it's the first full-length literary novel ever released via tweets.

My immediate reaction, were I in your shoes, would be incredulity. Who reads long-form literature on Twitter? Who reads long-form anything online?

The short answer is: nobody. The internet is a universe of abundance, overwhelming us with creative videos and fascinating articles and a Pandora's Box of endlessly entertaining distractions. With this reality in mind, I don't expect people to read my whole novel online.

However, I do think you might actually read a few 140-character snippets of my novel, and--based on that sampling of Junot Diaz-style wordplay meets Jonathan Franzenish multilayered plotting--consider reading more, and even sinking some money into it.

Beat up Twitter all you want--the one truth they understand is that people will actually pay attention to very short messages. People read text messages, and they read tweets, because it only takes three seconds to check it out and move on. On the other hand, good luck getting someone to respond to lengthy emails, even if they're brilliant. Most people just don't have the time to dig through it.

Amid this information maelstrom, tweeting my novel provides the ultimate in easy sampling and information triage before purchase, the equivalent of watching a clip of a TV show before deciding to order the season on Netflix.

Twitter also gives me unmatched control and speed. I can tweet The French Revolution out as fast or as slow as I want (I'm starting off with bursts every minute for the first page, followed by tweets every 15 minutes--lemme know what you think), but even at just one tweet per day I'm moving faster than traditional publishers. I can get instant feedback from readers, and we can discuss the intricacies of the characters and plot twists as they develop. It's an ubercool way to grow a community and, ultimately, a market for my work.

That said, I didn't write The French Revolution in short, burstable, Twitterific sentences. I wrote this novel for lovers of literary fiction, with long and loving sentences, exploding with imaginative descriptions and inventive plot twists and characters I hope will stick with you for a while. Twitter is the delivery mechanism, not the defining structure. While I think my whiplash sentences will be compelling in 140-character bursts, it also may backfire.

I'm willing to take that chance. Publishing needs to change, and while I'm not going to revolutionize the industry on my own, I think I can help nudge it toward a more dynamic and customer-friendly future.

Besides, it's Bastille Day. What better time to try something zany?

Follow Matt Stewart on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mjfstewart

Comments

[jmccormick]

To go along with Nicks comment, I also have a hat in the ring as having the first novel on twitter. Nick started his about 10 days before I started posting my late wife's novel "Cowboy". She would have loved the idea of telling the story in this fashion. It took until 10/27/08, and 3501 tweets to finish. It's at www.twitter.com/talkingcat. When i was looking for other people who may have been posting their books on twitter last year, I ran across a few who had started, but then turned into a posting to say read my novel at some web site address. Not the same. I believe my wife's novel's claim to fame will be the first "completed" novel on twitter. Good luck with this. While it is difficult to read backwards, it's a lot of fun.

[Matt Stewart 1]

Hey Jim, I poked around and thought that nobody had RELEASED a complete novel on Twitter - people had only WRITTEN novels on Twitter or republished old novels. After I launched, I did hear about your story, and it's sad and beautiful and terrific all at once. You may have me on that. I could add the further caveat that my novel is the first full-length, complete, agented novel released on Twitter, but that's kinda silly.

For the record, I also qualified all my statements with "as far as I can tell." There's always something else in the blogosphere, and you were it this time.

I think this extra attention is great for all Twitter writers/novelists, and I'm psyched to see the experimentation continue. Your devotion to your wife is inspiring, and I really appreciate your warm words.

Rock on
MATT
@thefrenchrev

[jaybushman]

As long as we're comparing start dates, I began tweeting "The Good Captain", a sci-fi adaptation of Melville's Benito Cereno in November of 2007. Although technically it would be a novella, I guess. Planning for a rebroadcast in the near future. http://www.loose-fish.com

More than enough room for us all. And great to see more people thinking of twitter in terms of LONG instead of just short.

[NickBelardes]

Your novel isn't the first. I began the first original literary novel @smallplaces on Twitter on April 25, 2008. It's been written about in the U.K. Guardian, Mashable.com, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Bohemian,com, Metroactive.com, Knock Literary Mag out of Antioch University and a lot more. Just Google "Twitter Novel." You'll find Nick Belardes and @smallplaces.

With that said, I agree, nothing wrong with tweeting a novel. If the Japanese can be successful with cell phone novels, then the rest of the world eventually may have success with Twitter literary novels...

I hope you have much success. I'll make sure to follow you.

[Matt Stewart 1]

Cool stuff Nick - any tips/words of wisdom you can pass along?

I guess I'll see you at the annual convention!

[jeffarazzi]

A guy in Richmond, Va has been publishing a novel on twitter since June 19th http://twitter.com/ttaylordude

[magicianofoz]

I tried The Twizzard of Oz, tweeting lines of dialog from The Wizard of Oz movie in real time. It was not easy, the lag time between tweets as the number of tweets increased indicated an issue with Twitter programming, I was shut down about 45 minutes into it, but there was a huge response as people found reading the movie unique and worth the effort. Now I'll try The Twizzard of Oz as a book reading, tweeting lines from the 1899 original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum top celebrate the 70th anniversary of MGM's The Wizard of Oz movie.

[Matt Stewart 1]

Much more fun to cue up Dark Side and a couple boxes of acid...!