Ben Greenman :: News






GROWING UP IN PUBLIC

May 18th, 2012

This week’s Facebook IPO may set records, with Mark Zuckerberg’s company expected to approach $100 billion in valuation. Facebook is many things. It is a social network, as the film about its birth reminds us. It is a virtual community. It is a potential advertising platform. But it is also, at least in name, a book. People have been worried for years about the health of books, but Facebook should set many of those worries to rest. Simply by existing, it raises the profile of all other books, the same way that Amazon raised the profile of the mighty African river or Google raised the profile of unimaginably large numbers. Perhaps these are bad examples. My point is that Facebook’s prominence has an inadvertent but indisputable effect. When people talk about Facebook, they are saying “book.”

That is why I have decided that the time is right for other books to also go public. This idea may seem radical, but some of the best ideas do at first. The initial prototype of the electric toothbrush was dismissed out of hand. “Why would we apply electricity to our teeth?” wrote one critic. Even when the idea was explained to him, he was skeptical. So I am aware that people may not see Facebook the way I do, as an opportunity for other books to go public. But let’s not forget: a rising tide lifts all ships.

Take, for example, my forthcoming book. For the purposes of argument, let’s say that it will be a heartfelt collection of short stories titled either “The Bird Upon the Head” or “Anna, Reconsidering.” That book will most likely not have the quite the reach of Facebook, nor will it afford advertisers the opportunities for placing their products and services in front of potential consumers. But it will be seen by some readers, possibly passed around to others, and it is possible that products or practices mentioned within its pages will come to be perceived as more desirable by my readers, some of whom are in the 18-34 demographic.

Let’s look, too, at some of the other factors. In a recent poll, 59 percent of respondents said that they had little to no trust in Facebook to keep their information private. I polled my own readers, and nearly 100 percent trust that all information about them will be kept private. In addition, Zuckerberg has never run a public company of this magnitude, whereas I have successfully written several books of roughly this size, including “Slow Bleed” (1999), “Wrapping It Up” (2002), “The Shambles” (2007), and “A King In A Kingdom Without Kings” (2009). And while Facebook has an arguably bloated infrastructure, with not just Zuckerberg acting in the CEO capacity, but a CFO and a COO as well, my book has a full-time staff of one. In today’s economy, efficiency should be the watchword of every new endeavor.

In light of this, let’s talk numbers. Facebook is worth $100 billion, give or take. I think we can all agree that this is an unattainable goal for me, and perhaps even undesirable. Even half of that value seems like overreach. So let’s take a radical approach to valuation and say that my forthcoming book “The Bird Upon The Head” (or, possibly, “Anna, Reconsidering”) is worth only one-hundredth as much as Facebook. That makes it an even billion: easy to remember and certainly not unreasonable. My national pre-writing tour will make stops in major American cities, appearing to managers of various large investment vehicles. I will make a brief statement and then field questions (though I would prefer that “How do you get your ideas?” not be among them). I hope that together we can bring this book, like Facebook, to the next level.

Grab a Slice

July 14th, 2010

BGreenman Pie Song Chart

BGreenman Pie Song Chart

Originality and Me

June 10th, 2010

The other day, in an interview for my new book What He’s Poised to Do, I was asked a question about originality, something to the effect that I am considered an original writer and was that true and how did I feel about it? I gave a bad answer but now I have a good one.

Recent Activity

June 10th, 2010

My new book, What He’s Poised to Do, is coming out next week, and here are some posts about related projects. Some of them are connected to the new blog Letters With Character, which invites people to write letters to their favorite fictional characters.

-Guest post at Recommended Reading blog.

-Reflections on reading, at the Laughing Yeti.

-Book Notes at Largehearted Boy.

-The beginning of a project created jointly with Significant Objects and OneStory.

-James Joyce and the Jews, and how they’re coming together for an event with Tablet magazine.


10!

April 6th, 2010

Elian’s controversy is ten years old! I have reposted the musical I wrote at the time.

The Future of Print

March 9th, 2010

I took it on myself to save print. Someone had to do it. We’ve heard laments about its imminent demise. It is the case no more. Not with 3*TYPE, which will make everything that’s old new again. Welcome, future. It’s been so long since we saw you.

Sly and Fly

January 6th, 2010

Two new things:

A piece on Moistworks about Sly Stone and a piece on McSweeneys about Balloon Boy.

Mug Shot

December 13th, 2009

The Significant Objects project, which asked writers to imagine origin stories for otherwise unremarkable objects in an attempt to see if that increased their value, now has its own mug, and an explanation of the official mug includes a nice nod to the Smiling Mug I wrote about.

Cassette Drive

December 13th, 2009

A nice review of the Cassette From My Ex book, to which I contributed an essay.

Jewish Rock Stars

December 13th, 2009

Everyone knows about Dylan. Most people know about KISS. Some people know about Mark Knopfler and Joey Ramone. How many know about Marc Bolan?