Eager to browse reviews of Barack Obama’s latest book? Or to find text and video of the candidate’s rousing victory speech after the Iowa caucuses? Forget CNN. Instead, log on to www.redroom.com, a new social networking site for readers and writers that welcomed the presidential candidate as one of its authors in mid-February. Writers of all levels and aspirations (like “leader of the free world”) come to the site to meet, discuss, debate, find encouragement, and even hawk upcoming work. Launched in December and spearheaded by San Francisco-based founder and CEO Ivory Madison, the “Red Room” already boasts more than 600 author pages — with another 500 jockeying for a spot. Ivory and her editorial board strive for a far ranging demographic (from French nationals and presidential hopefuls to the over-70 set) and genres that reach beyond mystery and memoir all the way to sports history and fine art criticism. With 5,000 registered members, Madison aimed to hit 1,000,000 pageviews in February. By late March, journalists and not-quite-published members will be able to secure their own corner of the room with Member Pages similar to the invitation-only Author Pages. Below, Madison talks about her hands-on approach to reading, writing, blogging, being a geek, and carving an on-line niche.
Where did you get the idea for the Web site and what’s it mean to be in the “Red Room”?
To be in the Red Room means you aren’t out there all alone. You’re part of a community, like mediabistro.com, with people you can ask for help and support. It’s also a place where new readers can find you. Writers need to promote their careers, and that means they need a Web presence. Many writers have been “meaning to” put up a site for years. Others have an outdated site, but it’s mystifying and expensive to get their Webmaster to update it for them. We wanted to create something affordable — it’s free — that made the technology so easy, the writers could update their own site, say with upcoming events or new pictures, in a minute or less. I always say to writers, if you can order a sweater online, you can use this Web site. The interface is that easy to use.
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Where does the name come from?
Redroom.com was actually named in part after the literary tradition of the “Red Room” of the White House. When Franklin Roosevelt wouldn’t allow female reporters at his press conferences, Eleanor Roosevelt held her own press conferences at the same time for the women. The conferences were so popular that the male reporters starting attending, and the president had no choice but to integrate his press conferences in order to get any attention. A tradition of civilized revolution on behalf of disenfranchised writers is carried on in the modern-day redroom.com.
| Amy Tan wrote her first blog ever on redroom.com. |
The site calls itself “the online home of the world’s greatest writers.” That’s a pretty bold statement. How can you back that up?
Well, you know, sometimes we couch it a little and say, “the online home of some of the world’s greatest writers,” but at the end of the day, I believe the vision we have will come true. I’m already astounded at the talented writers who have joined us, and the incredible blog posts you won’t find anywhere else. So far, we have at least 20 literary icons who I think are rather universally thought of as the world’s greatest living writers. How many do we have to have to make it official? Seriously, if you have any suggestions of who to invite, we take them.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Web sites for writers. What sets you apart?
One thing that sets us apart is our social mission — we will be giving back to all the causes our authors support; while we do help writers market themselves, we also help them change the world through the nonprofit groups they believe in. Another thing that sets us apart is that we’re invitation-only and the content is moderated to create an appealing, entertaining atmosphere. And frankly, by entering the market at this juncture, we can use what we’ve learned from the evolution of online communities going back a decade. We have the luxury of learning best practices from both the writing community and the online social networking leaders.
Red Room is the online home of authors such as Alice Walker and Salman Rushdie. Was it hard to get such high-caliber authors on board?
It’s funny. Some of the most famous authors can be the most gracious, enthusiastic, and involved. Khaled Hossieni sends the most lovely notes to our staff. James Patterson is mentioning us in his newsletter. Amy Tan wrote her first blog ever on redroom.com; she has another Web site, but had never blogged before. Po Bronson gave me advice that led directly to the development of many of the features you see up there. Alice Walker and Salman Rushdie’s involvement was absolutely crucial in securing our early support. Fame doesn’t affect character or personality. The authors I mentioned have generosity and vision as part of their character. Some self-important barely published writers have turned us down, while Pulitzer-Prize winners have thanked us profusely … we never know until we ask. My advice to people is to ask kind, smart people for help, whether they are famous or not, and you’ll succeed.
Will writers ever be considered cool?
This shows what a geek I am. I think writers are cool. Always did. Still do. All my heroes are writers. I will say this: I don’t like when some writers think they are cooler than other writers. No one in the world is actually “cool,” so why not be the kind of writer who is supportive of people with similar dreams?
Red Room promotes numerous causes. Do you think writers should be political?
Our site provides a platform for writers to highlight the causes that matter most to them, especially those that support children, literacy, and positive social change globally. In the beginning, we’re donating our ad space to the authors’ causes, but soon we’ll have paid advertising — our business has an advertising revenue model so that the services to writers and readers can remain free — and each writer will be able to see how much money they’ve raised. And if you’re offended by the causes an author supports, get off their author page, because viewing it raises money for their causes. Every choice a person makes is political. What to write about and how is inherently political. Our philosophy is that the greatest writers transform individuals and whole societies.
Among many other things, including torch singer and attorney, you’ve founded a writing program where you were an editor and writing coach — even won an award for it. Can you teach someone to be a good writer?
Absolutely. It’s simple: Make them sit down and write. There is no amount of talking about writing, thinking about writing, reading about writing, or studying writing that substitutes for sitting down and writing. And I mean writing, not editing. Most advice I see about writing is really advice about editing or marketing, which drives me crazy. You want an example? “Have a great opening hook!” Well, that’s only going to come during the editing process. If you tell that to a writer starting a project, you’ll shut her down and she’ll never write it. The method I developed, which is the opposite of how most journalists write, is to teach people to separate their writing from their editing from their marketing. Those are three very different skills and they can all be taught in a very short time. Writing requires vulnerability and self-awareness. Editing and marketing require critical thinking and knowledge. That’s a whole other interview.
These days, it seems like everyone — from preteens to plumbers — has their own blog. Why do you think we’re so obsessed with information?
People have a need for self-expression; it help them process or clarify things. People also want validation from others, and to find others like them. Also, I always say, you know, an essay is a piece of art you created with your hands. So, remember that all kinds of people want to make a piece of art and say, “I did that.” And that’s great. Some of them, the real writers, it turns out they can’t not do that, they are obsessed with doing that, with translating their life into pieces of art they made with their hands. Do I sometimes wonder why someone would bother writing something so irrelevant? Sure. But that’s relative. The original blog entries we’re getting from our writers are so outstanding it makes my jaw drop. Really world-class essays, hilarious behind-the-scenes looks at writers’ lives, fun exchanges from old friends. Far, far better quality than I was expecting. But maybe that’s just my taste and someone else thinks that stuff is irrelevant.
On your “About Us” page everyone listed claims to be 29. Hmm. What kind of statement are you trying to make?
Most writers have this idea in their head that they will write their first, serious, award-winning novel before they are 30. I find this endlessly amusing because very, very few brilliant writers do this. Invariably, they don’t have the humility or hubris or whatever to do it until later in life. So, my entire staff really does have a novel or screenplay or something they are working on, and they were very happy to find out that I promised no one turns 30 before they get published. My graphic novel comes out later this year, from DC Comics, so then I can turn 30.
Red Room is geared toward writers and readers and yet you also offer video and audio podcasts. Why do they belong on a site devoted to words?
Our site is all about authors, whatever the authors want, and not just a list of their books. Authors want to tell you what they are up to, what they’re reading, show you the video from a great reading they did, have you listen to a podcast of an appearance they did on the radio, see their favorite still photos, see upcoming events. Soon, we’re rolling out tons of new features for readers and writers to have their own pages to scrapbook their favorite multimedia and books, and to showcase their writing. To find the community they need until they get invited to have their own author page. There was a neat blog comment exchange between two of our writers, Amy Tan and Belle Yang, in which Belle gave credit to Amy for helping her get her career off the ground 15 years ago. I want to see more of that. We aim to build something that helps make it happen every day.
Tips for building a successful internet company:
1. Leverage your existing talents, interests and relationships into the online space
2. Forget about venture capitalists
Secure angel investors who believe in your vision and are in it for more than just the money.
3. Solve a problem for a large group of people that you like, and build something you wish existed for you.
4. Let your market drive your features and alliances
“Red Room gives a portion of proceeds to authors’ favorite causes, not ours, and sell through their favorite bookstores, not ours,” Madison says.
5. Make the technology so easy for users to understand and use
No one should feel excluded, and the design should be so attractive, it feels more like the real world than the Internet.
Freelance writer Dawn Shurmaitis last interviewed director Adam Rifkin for MediaBistro. After interviewing Madison, she’s inspired to finally finish that novel — before she turns, ahem, 30.
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