The Benefits of Being an Online Academic Author

The Benefits of Being an Online Academic Author
There is something wonderfully liberating about sharing your written work on your own web site, through a popular blog or via social media. The strings to conventional publishing and the delays and disappointments it can introduce are cut, and the author becomes, as it were, the keeper of his or her own text. Sharing advanced research through such venues has rapidly become both a popular and a valid means of disseminating knowledge, and now careers are made online as well as in the classroom and the conference hall.

Yet all the potential for positive effects as an online author does not negate the fact that there are trials and tribulations. Technical aspects can be maddening at times. Indeed, the very functions and features that can bring a broad grin to your face when your web page finally looks absolutely perfect might have had you pulling your hair out in frustration three hours before. The keys when faced with technical challenges are usually the same: patience and persistence. Keep trying and learn from what does not work as much as from what does. If you find yourself stumped, ask the provider of the service or platform, check out community comments and chat feeds or perhaps ask your colleagues, mentors or students. It is certain that someone else has encountered similar problems and will be able to provide some answers.

All of this can take a great deal of time, of course, but that is one of the costs of being an online author. A great deal of time is also needed to ensure that everything you disseminate is of a high quality. Although your web site or blog may strike a more casual tone than do the scholarly journals in which you publish your research, the high academic or scientific standards of those journals should be maintained. You will not do yourself, your work, your scholarly reputation or your career any good by neglecting the high standards that lend your writing authority and precision. This means that your prose should be carefully proofread and edited to avoid errors and confusion, ensuring clear and accurate communication. Tables and figures should be accessible and informative, catching the reader’s eye and quickly transmitting their primary messages to the mind. Appropriate citations and accurate references should be included to acknowledge the work of other scholars and authors just as they would be in more formally published scholarship.

Finally, there is the matter of readers and their feedback. You will probably need to make general decisions about allowing responses and comments, how often you will reply to readers, what sort of feedback you will address and what sort you will not. There will undoubtedly be less positive experiences along with the delightful ones, but in most cases the traffic itself is part of the point. As long as someone is reading what you are writing and thinking about it, you are on the right track, and it is up to you to establish and adjust the route you will take as an online author.