A new zombie novel co-written by Margaret Atwood is giving readers a thrill online, but it’s her young protégé and co-author that’s reaping most of the benefit of online publsihing.
The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home chronicles the adventures of Clio and her 15-year-old granddaughter Okie as they travel from New York City to Toronto during a zombie apocalypse.
The first installments are engaging enough but hardly deep stuff. It skims over the dark despair typical of the genre in favour of a light tone and steady wit.
The novel is getting a lot of attention in Canada because it’s co-written by Canadian-favourite Margaret Atwood.
But her writing partner, U.K. author Naomi Alderman, is little known in North America.
Atwood teamed up with Alderman as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, which pairs young artists with accomplished mentors in their artistic field.
Like Charles Dickens’ Bleak House and Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady, The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home is a serialized novel.
Its first installment was published two weeks ago on Wattpad, a community reading website, and new chapters are published there every Wednesday until it concludes.
While some publishers and academics say e-books have killed the written word, Alderman and Atwood say they see online publishing as another way to reach readers.
“My college teacher, Northrop Frye, said you should let the young begin with whatever interests them; and millions of them are interested in Wattpad,” Atwood told the Guardian.
Atwood is no stranger to the power of social media; her daily tweets are followed by over 350,000 people.
This constant contact with her readership has helped her promote her latest works, whether it’s an e-book or a traditional print novel.
But it’s Alderman who stands to gain the most from e-publishing.
As an emerging writer (her first novel, Disobedience, was published in 2006, followed by Lessons in 2010), Alderman’s readership is a fraction of Atwood’s.
Young writers in Ottawa can take a cue from Alderman and find readers online.
Wattpad publishes works by tens of thousands of writers. Some of them are well known, but many of them are starting out. Often, it’s often easier for young authors to find a home online than in print.
By tapping into the 10-million-plus readers who subscribe to Wattpad, Alderman has access to a ready-made fan base.
By publishing the novel in segments, Alderman and Atwood give readers a chance to get hooked and spread the word online.
But although the built-in readership of Wattpad and its ilk is a draw, it can be hard to get noticed among the throng.
Atwood’s prestige keeps The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home front and centre among readers. Few aspiring novelists have such a well-known writer sharing their byline.
Whether it’s in ink or HTML, the written word often benefits from a little publicity.