It’s well known that beginning a writing career is full of challenges; the main one is simply reaching readers. Distribution is what a publishing deal gives a writer in conjunction with marketing to create sales. Without that engine to drive distribution, how does a writer reach out?

This problem became clearer to me a couple of years ago when I was reading Hammer of The Gods, the salacious and schlock biography about Led Zeppelin. I should say now that I am not a fan – I passed through that obligatory stage during my adolescence – but this superhyped paean to teenage male fantasy did contain one interesting business insight. For a band, touring is vital: it keeps the economics of the band going, ensures the music (product) is being distributed to new markets and builds loyalty with an existing fan base. It’s hard work but if it pays off it means the band has greater control over their creative and business ventures; they will not owe a production company any outstanding loans or any other commitments that aided their rise.

For writers, adopting this tour model is much harder: The public come to see established writers at festivals, not unknowns, but the principle can still work over the Internet. The Net is the greatest distribution network ever developed; that is in the distribution of information, and products, whether software or music and increasingly movies and TV. It’s always on, and always accessible to millions of people. With the eruption in peer-to-peer networks and the deployment of BitTorrent* software for multiple file sharing, the model of distribution over the Net has exploded - hence the paranoia by music and movie companies about illegal downloads of their content.

It was with this view that I saw the Web as a means of getting my writing out of my computer and to a broader horizon. I figured a direct route to potential readers would be best, where I’d give away some stories as an effective way of building a writing career. It’s just as important to be seen in other places online, or elsewhere, so that people can find your work. The role of search engines, primarily Google, is critical as it’s the information nexus; harvesting names, citations and organising it for individual searches.

With the help of two friends: one with a mini-recording studio, voice microphone and software editing tools, and the other with a strong radio voice suited to two of the story samples I chose, we recorded five minute samples as teasers, then digitally compressed them into MP3 format and posted them on various BitTorrent sites. I added a description of the samples and any other information, including links that would help the downloader see what they were taking. Creating BitTorrent files is easy and free: download a BitTorrent client software and follow the directions to set up a folder and files.

At the same time I was also distributing larger written samples on websites and publishing the stories in a collection along with a novel, on Lulu (Lulu.com – a self-publishing website). This ensured that were other places to find my work, as a means to reference it. In fact the hardest thing was publishing the books because I had to put my name to the work and accept whatever comments and criticisms may come back to me.

The reaction on the BitTorrent sites was stunning. Almost immediately the downloading began, with over 200 in the first day, and so on till I calculated that about 7000 downloads were taken in about 6 months. The actual number could be higher but some BitTorrent sites don’t report all downloads, so there’s a chance it’s over 8000, and continuing.

The stories have been taken by people in English speaking countries, the US and Britain primarily, but also by downloaders in Bulgaria, Russia, Brazil, France and a handful of unexpected places. As I recall there was just one Australian downloader.

An interesting question is whether this experience is good or not. Judging by other things offered on BitTorrent sites, it’s been quite successful, certainly for a writer without a well known name. The other question is could it be replicated? The stories I offered were urban and edgy in theme and style; the profile of BitTorrent users is likely to be young male and urban. That’s why this article is titled ‘How Led Zeppelin helped literature’, because my work does not fit within a genre. Other similar examples of writers distributing their work online have come from fixed genres such as, sci-fi or crime fiction. Literary fiction can’t compete easily against well-defined genres. It may also be true that some genres, romance, historical fiction, or a weighty biography may not ignite the public online but that’s not certain either, and not for the future. Presentation and collateral material all help. And setting expectations: my own were quite modest as any interest, let alone a sale, was a success.

In my day job I am a communications analyst, advising companies on business and technology strategy, and I’d be the first to acknowledge that the samples were free, and everyone likes a free thing. Marketing is a slow process and giving something away is part of that process – just like browsing in a bookshop – to create awareness, and interest.

I am not sure how far this experience will go as it’s still going on, and it has not made me an overnight financial success, but it is more rewarding than leaving my writing to languish inside my computer. The last thing to say is that with just a PC, Internet connection, and some software; all at a very low cost, I am able to deliver a published product across the world, which is the closest I shall ever get to being on tour.

*BitTorrent is similar to KaZaA and other distributed swapping services where users download from other users and do not use a centralized directory. BitTorrent has largely been used for sharing/downloading music, movies and other media.

Guy Cranswick lives in Sydney and has also lived in London and Paris. Apart from English he speaks French and Italian -- and survival German. He has worked in business/marketing and as a journalist. He has written screenplays, a novel, a collection of stories and is trying to get into his second novel.

Links -
BitTorrent Download site: 
http://www.mininova.org/tor/666175 http://www.mininova.org/tor/538500

Australian Reader Sample Stories:
http://www.australianreader.com/index.php?section=authors&authorID=672

Sminkworks Literary Competition Winners: http://www.sminkworks.com/SSCwinners.html