There's a site called
Technorati that is widely known in geek circles to accurately track one's "popularity" on the internet. This means you type in your URL and bite your nails until the results arrive, declaring you a total loser (in which case the error message reads "Ouch! 0 sites have linked to you."), a blazing winner, or, in most cases, a mediocre success.
Technorati monitors books. Its gauge is called
Book Talk and it tracks who's talking about what book on the internet today.
Today the top two most widely-discussed books are (drum roll):
David Sedaris's new collection,
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
AND
Jeffrey Eugenides'
Middlesex, new to paperback.
What I'm wondering is whether there are any thematic through-lines connecting Sedaris and Eugenides to our authors, all of whom deserve a few sales, and some of whom demand outright notoriety. If we can siphon away even a sixteeth of their fan base, we'll be sitting pretty.
So let's try.
David Sedaris is a very, very funny man who thanks to NPR exposure finds himself uproariously popular among overeducated folks like myself who read widely but still enjoy fart jokes.
Maybe, just maybe, people will feel the same way about our own
Steve Young once he catches on. Steve and David share a similar sardonic streak. Both write for magazines. Both have been fired from a host of jobs. And here's the clincher: David's sister wrote for and starred in "Strangers With Candy," a show about a drug-using prostitute going back to high school, while Steve wrote for "Boy Meets World," about a milk-drinking kid befriending his principal. As you can see, these people are clearly related.
I'll concede that these sensibilities could not be more opposite if they tried, but at least they reside on the same continuum. We could catch the same web traffic, because in theory there exists a lone web surfer who admires any and all TV series about high school. Such a person may stumble upon this blog while researching guidance counselor episodes and come upon this entry. This same person may then buy
Steve Young's book, or at least wonder aloud at the striking similarities between him, Amy Sedaris (co-author of
Wigfield) and David Sedaris.
Ding!
Our
online store should start smoking at any second.
Now, on to Jeffrey Eugenides.
Eugenides is not very funny, but he has written quite extensively about high school (see
The Virgin Suicides). What causes a problem for me is his creepy obsession with sex and repression.
Now, our authors are much more wholesome (see Saul Turteltaub's
The Grandfather Thing and
The Sibling Thing) and a lot more humorous. Saul pretty much sticks to funny anecdotes and witty observations about family life.
However, although readers of
Middlesex (like me) may be moody and confused, it's possible that sharp, funny, and gentle books like
The Grandfather Thing may serve as a bracing tonic capable of reminding these gloomy types (like me) that there's more to life than death, inbreeding and the Pulitzer Prize. (Sigh.)
Is it obvious what I'm doing here, folks? We all want a piece of the pie. Publishing is a tough business.
Though I have no doubt that people are discussing these two authors (both Greek-American, by the way! I wonder how they feel about "Troy"), I have to add that Technorati is not comprehensive. My average Google search for my own site reveals a smattering of links and trackbacks that this uber-crawler has failed to recognize.
So the bottom line is, yes, shamelessly grab traffic where you can, but don't cede dominion to any one source. I, for one, am hoping the little blogs and clusters of discerning readers will win out for us in the end. In the meantime...
[Deep exhale.]
Here I am, Technorati. Come and find me.
