Today's Date: April 27, 2024
The Sallie Mae Fund Grants $75,000 to DC College Access Program to Support Higher Education Access and Completion   •   Latin America CDC a Must, say Public Health Leaders and AHF   •   US Marine Corps Veteran to Celebrate Grand Opening of JDog Junk Removal & Hauling in Findlay on May 4th   •   Greenberg Traurig is a Finalist for Legal Media Group's 2024 Women in Business Law EMEA Awards   •   Brothers to Host Grand Opening Event for JDog Junk Removal & Hauling Business on April 28th   •   Suzano 2023 annual report on Form 20-F   •   Whitman-Walker Institute Applauds the Biden-Harris Administration for Finalizing Robust Affordable Care Act Nondiscrimination Pr   •   29 London Partners With US Media Company Bobi Media to Strengthen Market Offering   •   Kinaxis Positioned Highest on Ability to Execute in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions   •   Anti-Mullerian Hormone Test Market Projected to Reach $586.48 million by 2030 - Exclusive Report by 360iResearch   •   CareTrust REIT Sets First Quarter Earnings Call for Friday, May 3, 2024   •   L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plans Celebrate New Community Resource Center in West Los Angeles, Highli   •   Getting Tattooed with Gay History   •   Broadstone Net Lease Issues 2023 Sustainability Report   •   Levy Konigsberg Files Lawsuits on Behalf of 25 Men Who Allege They Were Sexually Abused as Juveniles Across Four New Jersey Juve   •   Carbon Removal and Mariculture Legislation Moves Forward in California Assembly   •   Chase Opens Innovative Branch in Bronx’s Grand Concourse Neighborhood   •   Books-A-Million Launches Its 22nd Coffee for the Troops Donation Campaign   •   Badger Meter Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend   •   Toro Taxes, the Leading Latino Tax Franchise selects Trez, to power Payroll solutions
Bookmark and Share

Writers and Readers Launch Revolutionary Online Gay Community

 

 

This revolutionary online community is the vision of veteran GLBT author Mel Keegan. For the first time, writers, artists, editors and publishers have the opportunity to unite in a project independent of the mechanisms of traditional publishing and distribution. To both writers and readers the value of this retail environment is enormous, as it brings together creator and consumer without need for the intermediary retail giants who shape the marketplace.

Adelaide, South Australia (PRWEB) August 12, 2009 -- Bestselling gay author Mel Keegan has masterminded a web-based cohesive organization combining the skills of writers, publishers, editors, agents, reviewers and artists in the GLBT community to provide an unprecedented public access portal to independent- and small-publisher titles. GLBT Bookshelf is an online resource designed to counter the perceived discriminatory practices of major players in the book retail scene.

Frustrated by the infamous “AmazonFail” fiasco of early 2009, in which the online retail giant was suspected of attempting to deny GLBT literature the benefits of its promotional systems, Keegan conceived of an online community in which all such systems were circumvented -- replaced by “community promotion” with direct links to authors’ and publishers’ pages.

 

Keegan is highly motivated toward the success of this venture. “Nothing convinces you to act like being forced to the margins of an already marginalized community. In a way the AmazonFail business was a desperately-needed kick in the pants. Now we have a public contact venue and direct sales channel which is not dependant on the big boys, their promotional tools, their advertising -- not even their search engines.”

 

In creating GLBT Bookshelf, Keegan set out to answer the needs of most GLBT writers and artists: Create a place for their works to be cataloged, described and sampled, linked to their publishers and independent sales pages -- and promoted by joint funding amounting to peppercorn contributions from community members. In this way, all writers benefit from wide media exposure while no individual foots the advertising bill.

The site takes the form of a “wiki,” where users sign up (free) and a pilot page is created for them. They then use editing tools to flesh out their pages with text, graphics and video. They develop their own virtual website within the wiki, which is built on the EditMe engine, operated by EditMe.com.

Visitors find authors, titles and publishers via multiple, categorized contents lists, as well as the fully-featured Search function. The site features user forums, book reviews, author pages, and directories for publishers and cover artists. A free PDF user’s manual is available, and the public launch is underway.

After just one month GLBT Bookshelf boasts around 200 “authors and others” online. Writers are booking low-cost advertising in high-traffic page locations, months ahead. More than 1000 user-pages have been created, and 500+ books are currently cataloged. Projected growth rates suggest this is the tip of the iceberg.

Find GLBT Bookshelf at www.glbtbookshelf.com, and watch for developments in the months ahead. While it remains early days, Mel Keegan is highly optimistic. “We could be seeing a quiet revolution in GLBT book marketing, in which the community takes its fortunes into its own hands. Technology has freed us from the restrictive practices of the traditional industry -- the Bookshelf is the joint venture of a lifetime. We must evolve new ways of thinking to take full advantage of our opportunities.”

Mel Keegan lives with an eccentric family in South Australia and is the author of more than 25 books. “The Deceivers” won the Stonewall Fact and Fable Award in 2003, while “Death’s Head” was nominated for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1992. GLBT Bookshelf is the culmination of Keegan’s creative vision.

###

Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q291cC1NYWduLU1hZ24tU3VtbS1Mb3ZlLUNvdXAtWmVybw==

          
 


Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
Breaking News
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News