ESRC IAA Opening Up Digital Fiction Writing Competition

Description of impact

The “Opening Up Digital Fiction Writing Competition” seeks to highlight popular/mainstream “born-digital” stories: fictional narratives created for and exclusively read/played on digital devices (hypertexts, literary games, multimedia stories). These works currently have no commercial publication platform, and thus even the most prominent digital writers rely on day jobs, arts grants, and/or donations from their audience. Likewise, readers of digital fiction have few central resources to find and read these works, as without a commercial platform they rely on fan wikis and (mostly academic) databases.

This competition brings digital writers and readers together. Writers benefit from recognition, cash prizes (amounts based on other writing competitions), and establishment of a digital fiction publishing platform. New readers are brought to the form through competition promotion and public/school workshops on creating digital fiction, and benefit from participation in the online publishing environment that enables reviews and purchases. These readers also improve their digital literacy skills through reading the competition entries and participating in the workshops. While longer-term, economic impact is developed through establishment of publication and exposure models for digital fiction, which is currently largely without a commercial publication industry. Current models include donation-based sharing, independent publication (usually through game platforms such as Steam, or the author’s own sites), and more recently crowdfunding (Kickstarter) and patronage (Patreon). Nonetheless, there are still no central commercial marketplaces for the promotion, publication, and purchase of digital fiction; most digital fiction authors are dispersed throughout app development, indie gaming development, academic practitioners, and even e-Book publishing. Wonderbox’s model is based on a combination of Amazon’s Kindle Publishing, Choice of Games’s, and Steam’s Greenlight (now deprecated) models: offering a platform for authors to self-publish their digital fiction using a purchase method of their choice (pay-per-download, subscription, patronage, donation, etc.); for authors to collaborate with knowledgeable editors and developers for “premium” publication through Wonderbox; and for new readers to find texts through editor and customer reviews and referrals.

By establishing this marketplace for digital fiction, the Opening Up Digital Fiction Competition and Wonderbox establish a commercial market for digital fiction that impacts indie game developers left behind by the deprecation of Steam’s Greenlight program, digital writers who have never been compensated for their work, and digital fiction readers who struggle to discover new works. This impact is long-term, but as the independent book publishing industry has demonstrated, it has the potential to have economic benefits for these practitioners, just as indie publishing has resulted in more books and more writers earning significant returns on their titles (Author Earnings 2016).

The Opening Up Digital Fiction Competition plays a key role in raising awareness of digital fiction to the public, and in raising awareness and engagement in Wonderbox with digital fiction authors. As it was successful in its first year, I expect its second year to attract more entries, particularly from app developers and indie game developers, two groups who are keen to progress in the commercialization of their work. The competition has benefited from exposure through the networks of last year’s winners and shortlisted authors, as well as promotion and discussion at various conferences related to the research projects over the past year.

Evidence capture will be conducted primarily through short questionnaires given to activity participants regarding their experience, as well as documented social media activity. Website visitor tracking will provide additional information about the reach and interest in the activity.

Sustainability: The establishment of this competition as a fixed annual event will enable it to garner more attention from media companies as potential sponsors for following years. Further, as the research base for this activity is in publishing digital fiction for commercial purposes, competition entrants will be invited to publish their fiction through the research project press; proceeds from sales will be re-applied to the project, including the competition. As the first year of the competition was not established under Wonderbox’s banner, we were not able to implement this element of sustainability previously.

Impact Summary for the General Public

The “Opening Up Digital Fiction Writing Competition” seeks to highlight popular/mainstream “born-digital” stories: fictional narratives created for and exclusively read/played on digital devices (hypertexts, literary games, multimedia stories). These works currently have no commercial publication platform, and thus even the most prominent digital writers rely on day jobs, arts grants, and/or donations from their audience. Likewise, readers of digital fiction have few central resources to find and read these works, as without a commercial platform they rely on fan wikis and (mostly academic) databases.

This competition brings digital writers and readers together. Writers benefit from recognition, cash prizes (amounts based on other writing competitions), and establishment of a digital fiction publishing platform. New readers are brought to the form through competition promotion and public/school workshops on creating digital fiction, and benefit from participation in the online publishing environment that enables reviews and purchases. These readers also improve their digital literacy skills through reading the competition entries and participating in the workshops.

Description of the underpinning research

Wonderbox Project: My current research aims to examine the commercial potential of digital fiction through practice-based authorship and publication of digital works in commercial spheres (e.g., hypertext e-books through Amazon) and establishment of digital fiction publishing venues. The impact activity proposed here (a digital writing competition) will be hosted by the practice-based research project’s online publishing platform, inviting digital writers to publish their work and bringing readers and consumers to the site. This transforms the project’s preliminary research knowledge into practical applications to benefit digital writers and readers.

The “Reading Digital Fiction” project, funded by the AHRC (Ref: AH/K004174/1), aims to examine reader engagement and interaction with digital fictions and to open digital fiction to a broader public. In particular, my work on this project has been practice-based digital writing to create works for readers to engage with, aiming to develop strategies for digital, interactive narrative that appeal to mainstream readers. This project funded the inaugural year of this writing competition.

Beneficiaries and reach of impact

Identified beneficiaries are writers, readers, and students, both globally and local to Wales. Digital writers in particular benefit from cash prizes (£2500 split between 5 awards, commensurate with £1000 offered by the Electronic Literature’s Organization’s Robert Coover Prize and the New Media Writing Prize) and publication and promotion of their work. Readers benefit from exposure to and awareness of digital fiction that appeals to mainstream readers; these works are collected and made available for uses such as reading groups and school study. Students benefit from reading and writing digital texts, developing key digital literacy skills.

The UK Government’s Digital Strategy stresses the importance for citizens of all ages to develop digital literacy skills (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-digital-strategy/2-digital-skills-and-inclusion-giving-everyone-access-to-the-digital-skills-they-need). By reading (and writing) engaging narratives designed for interactive digital environments, students and adults alike develop digital literacy skills that can enhance their daily lives and their economic futures.

Literature Wales and Jisc Wales have agreed to provide in-kind assistance in promoting the competition in Wales. They will advertise the competition through their networks and newsletters, and assist with publicity through online social media. These partnerships will enable a direct connection to key stakeholders and end users.

The role of Wonderbox Publishing is as a co-sponsor of the competition, contributing time and web hosting for the competition and the works. Development of Wonderbox’s role through sponsorship of the 2018 competition will enable more engagement with its publishing endeavors, the proceeds of which will roll over into the competition for future years.

Impact status	Ongoing
Impact date	1 Aug 2016 → 30 Sept 2018
Category of impact	Cultural, Economic
Impact level	Engagement