The world is growing small, we write in sms-lingo and long elaborate letters have slowly contracted into 140-character-Tweets. We prefer conversing with each other in tweets, tell jokes and anecdotes in the same wordframe and publishers even feel that the 140-character tweets when strung together could well be our literary works in the future. So, like blogs that helped them get a peek into writing skills of an author, have publishers begun hunting for talent on Twitter?
In the West, people have begun collecting their tweets in the form of Tweetbooks, but unlike blogs where the writer’s imagination ran wild like an untamed stallion on an unbound prairie, here there are limitations that could cut short a germinating story in 140-character tweets. Ravi Singh, Publisher of Penguin India, reflects on the prospects of Twitter becoming the next hub for authors, saying, “It is actually difficult to get an exact sense as there is so much material on the site and people use short, abbreviated messages. Twitter is similar to a blog and could be reliable for gauging good writing of non-fictional matter.”
With so many ifs and buts when tweets are compared to literature, he feels that featuring a writer solely on his Tweets may not happen anytime soon. But Ravi still doesn’t deny the fact that the idea holds water. He adds, “I personally may not be doing it, but others could be watching the micro-blogging site keenly.” Who knows?
Keeping in mind, a youngsters’ thought-process there have been experiments around the world involving literary pieces that were pruned into 140-character-long Tweets. For instance, Twitterature created by two University of Chicago students is a rage, but do publishers here take tweets seriously? She hasn’t scouted for talent on Twitter, but V.K. Karthika, chief editor and publisher, HarperCollins India, agrees that tweets could be sweet too. She says, “I haven’t stumbled on writers on Twitter per se, but a collection of tweets by an author’s agent was pretty impressive. The person tweets Mahabharata and once he is done with the entire book we’ll decide whether to turn the tweets into a flowing narrative.”
Even smaller publications are watching out for talent on the Web — be it in the form of Tweets or Blogs. Rakesh Kapoor of Blaft Publications, that specialises in pulp fiction and graphic novels, informs, “Through friends or followers on Twitter we have come across many artists, writers so it is helping artists and bloggers in terms of getting exposed in different ways. I have discovered links, followed posts and found interesting stuff on Twitter, but haven’t been into talent scouting on the micro-blogging platform.”