Please note that the original "Naked Writing" project was completed on November 11th, 2012.

You can buy The Dragon Lords by Silvia Hartmann here and from all good book stores, online & off

Read "The Making of The Dragon Lords" here.

 

Silvia Hartmann is

The Naked Writer

See a Fantasy Fiction Novel

Being Written Before Your Eyes!

Introduction | Silvia Hartmann | Instructions for Readers | Press-Clippings | Project Details | Media Contact

Introduction to Naked Writer Project

Silvia Hartmann
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At 9am, Wednesday 12th September (BST), Silvia Hartmann began writing the first words of her new fantasy fiction novel "The Dragon Lords" and in doing so hopes to become the world's first author to pen a book whilst letting readers see every word being typed.

With the rise of eBooks and print-on-demand paperbacks, many authors are now using the web to bypass traditional publishing houses in favour of self-publishing. This project, known as "The Naked Writer", aims to go one step further and give fans the chance to not only see the manuscript being typed, but to also comment on the storyline and provide feedback as the novel develops.

Silvia Hartmann said, "This is an amazing opportunity for me as an author to push the boundaries of the author/reader relationship. It will be amazing to write knowing that people will be viewing each word, paragraph and chapter, each backspace as I go along! Some authors plan their manuscripts in advance, but my stories tend to have a life of their own and I look forward to seeing what unfolds with everybody else!"

Before penning the opening paragraph, the author announced to her social network followers that the first session was about to begin. By using the Google Docs cloud-based office suite, the author started with a blank document and begin to write. Fans have been provided with a public web page (Open "The Dragon Lords" Manuscript / backup link) to see the book being written before their eyes. This represents a completely new level of interaction between readers and their author and was made possible by the advanced collaboration tools built into Google's software.

Silvia Hartmann said "Google Docs is a fantastic, freely available tool that allows readers to communicate directly with their author. It is bit of a dream come true. Scary – and exciting!"

Traditionally once a manuscript has been written and gone through a series of agents, editors and publishers, a finished book can read quite differently to how it started and in some cases even have a different ending. Through this project, readers engage with this process of writing & editing in real-time, literally collaborating as the magic unfolds. Alongside Silvia Hartmann's main readership, this will be an interesting project for budding authors, literature students and all those who are fascinated by the processes of creative writing.

Last week, the author asked her fans to suggest titles for the new book and she chose "The Dragon Lords" from those suggested. The winner was from the UK and is due to receive a signed copy of the finished paperback once the title is published by DragonGold, with target publication date of Monday, 26th November 2012.

Whilst this novel may be the first of its kind in that it allows fans to see words being typed, the Naked Writer project follows a trend by other authors looking at new ways to engage with the public. Already this year, author Willy Chyr invited fans to contribute sentences to his novel and author Kimberly Pauley polled her readers through her blog asking for their help to write the third title in the Sucks to be Me series.

This project takes collaboration a step further and it takes a brave author to "bare all" in this way.

Fellow writer Sonia G Medeiros said "I'm not sure I could do that. At least, not at this point. My work evolves so much as I go along and I have to fight a nasty inner critic as it is. I can't imagine doing all that in public. LOL. But it might also give others insight into the process and maybe encourage/inspire new writers too."

Another writer Suzan Harden wrote simply "Hartmann is a braver woman than I."

About Silvia Hartmann aka StarFields

Silvia Hartmann is a member of the Society of Authors and the author of The In Serein Trilogy, Vampire Solstice, The Magician & The Golden Horse.

Silvia Hartmann lectures internationally on creativity and visionary genius. She is the creator of Project Sanctuary and The Genius Symbols. Her latest book, released in August 2012, is Infinite Creativity.

Instructions for Readers

Silvia Hartmann will begin typing at 9am (BST) on Wednesday, 12th September. It is up to the author after that how long to spend writing each session until the manuscript is completed.

The author will announce the beginning of a writing session on both Facebook & Twitter. Please like, befriend and follow Silvia Hartmann and also use these pages for commenting on the story:

This novel already spans multiple Google Doc documents. To view the manuscript being written in real-time click on the last link, or to read what has been written so far click on the first link:

If there are more than 50 people viewing the document, then Google will automatically direct you to a backup page which refreshes every 5 minutes.

Google has also provided a handy tool for embedding the manuscript on this webpage. The following is the first document (Parts 1 to 4):

Press-Clippings: The Dragon Lords Around the World

These are just some of the press-clippings featuring the novel:

Key Project Details

Media Contact

Contact: Josh Alliston / DragonGold (DragonRising Publishing)
Phone: +44 (0)1323 700 123 UK
Email: Send Message

Note: Readers that would like to get in touch with Silvia Hartmann should visit her Facebook page

Please note that the original "Naked Writing" project was completed on November 11th, 2012.

You can buy The Dragon Lords by Silvia Hartmann here and from all good book stores, online & off

Read "The Making of The Dragon Lords" here.