Technohopes

My most recent post was about my technofears; now, I'm going to talk about my hopes regarding technology. My hopes are both personal and professional.

My first and foremost hope is that I can have some sort of book-related career on the Internet. I am a huge booklover (something you probably figured out) and follow author and other booknerd blogs. Twitter is great for direct interaction with bookish people, but blogs are deeper and can be more intimate. I have gotten to understand and "know" favorite authors and booknerds because of their blogs. And since I am not their only fan, a larger, virtual community with real people as members is created. In these communities, I have made friends and have learned more than I ever would have about reading, publishing, and books than I would have otherwise.

I do not expect to be a celebrity blogger (though I wouldn't necessarily mind); that is not why I review books on Goodreads. Sure, I want other reviewers to like and comment on my reviews, and I love seeing the increasing amount of pageviews on this blog, but that is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to become a better, recognized digital writer, in addition to creating a community similar to the book communities I belong to but with unique characteristics. This is personal goal I have with technology, although a professional career can be tied into it.

My professional goals in life are inextricably woven with technology. I want to be some kind of writer, including a travel writer and a fiction author, and I want to be an editor. Every writing career is related in some way to technology, specifically the internet. Many writers--travelers, fiction, nonfiction, academic-- have found audiences online that they never would have gotten otherwise. For example, John Green. Everyone knows John Green (if you don't, stop reading this right now and go look him up! Link below). He began vlogging with his brother about nerdtastic things such as books, science, and history. When he published his first book, his Youtube audience, Nerdfighters, flocked to read his stories. His popularity grew. And grew. And grew some more. Now, he is one of the most loved Young Adult writers. Another example is self-publishing. The most famous would have to be E.L James and Fifty Shades of Grey. This controversial yet undeniably popular story was first an ebook before a traditional publisher picked it up. There is no denying that technology helped to launch both these authors careers.

Some bloggers have actually produced books because publishers saw that they wrote well in their blog posts. Others have made careers with books and writing that have never been seen before, such as running book websites like Bookriot (link down below). The book lovers who run this website are literally paid to obsess and spread the Word of Books online. Now that is a career I would climb Mt. Everest for. I'd probably die but there has to be worse things than dying for books.

So there you have it. My hope for technology is to be successful in my personal and professional endeavors while utilizing it. It's a long shot, considering anyone can post online. Only a few succeed, and I hope/plan to be one of them. I will likely never be famous, but there's no harm in dreaming and using technology to its fullest potential for your own goals.

Links:
Bookriot: http://bookriot.com/
John Green: https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers