Yesterday, I wrote an article about How To Support Your Favorite Weblit Writer. In the comments, one of my readers, Carmen left this fantastic idea:

I thought this was such a good idea, I wanted to devote an entire article to it. You see, getting educators involved in the promotion of weblit is not only a great way to promote the format, it's integral to earning respectability for web-based literary endeavors. Here's why:

Academia Has The Clout Weblit Needs

There's something about the word "Doctor" or "Professor" in front of someone's name that commands respect. It suggests that you are an expert in your field, that you are among the upper crust of knowledgeable individuals when it comes to your subject of study. Even teachers without doctorates get their share of this respect: after all, if you're teaching, it's implied that you must know something!

Educators -- collegiate and otherwise -- have a captive audience. They can put our work in front of a classroom full of eyes and make sure that work gets read -- and more importantly, that it gets considered for its merit, that it gets discussed, even if only in undergrad papers that no one but the students in that class will ever read.

Educators are mentors, and the good ones want their students to excel. If we can show them that weblit is preferable to pursuing traditional print routes -- that weblit writers, on average, get more readers and earn more financially than traditional authors -- it's not unthinkable that they might start suggesting weblit as an option for their students' literary careers. I'm looking forward to the day when a professor tells a student, "You know, with your talent, you could be a very successful independent poet. Why don't you minor in Web Design and set up a site for your work?"

Educators don't just teach students. They debate amongst themselves in the vast arena of scholarly journals that the mainstream public rarely sees. They write reviews, sometimes scathing, sometimes glowing, of new methods and ideologies within their field of study, they participate in think-tanks, focus groups, give seminars, attend conventions and symposiums, and a whole lot more. And if you can convince an educator that weblit is a valid and viable method of publication, you've got a champion in that arena. You get enough of them, and you can change the status quo.

Academic professors can be some of the most stubborn luddites in the world. They can also be some of the best promoters of innovative technologies and methods, if you can show them why it's worth subscribing to those methods.

How do we do that?

Show Them We're Worth Noticing

When I was in college, a professor of my acquaintance (I never took his courses, but he knew my work) scoffed at the idea of serious poets publishing original poetry on the web. He told me I was wasting my talent, that I should stick to putting together a manuscript for a chapbook to send out to various university presses, submit to a few literary journals, do a low-residency MFA program and eventually land a day job teaching English courses and creative writing -- in short, to do the same thing as every other young poet.

I saw this professor the other day, and he asked me, not without a hint of a snicker in his voice, how "that website thing" was going. I casually replied that I'd had over 20,000 visitors last month, and that I thought that meant I was doing pretty well. He looked surprised, then he became very serious, gave me a terse nod, and said, "Well, keep it up. Maybe you're on to something."

I was grinning all day, because I know he knows that traditional publishing routes don't let poets -- especially no-name, fresh-out-of-college poets -- put their work in front that many eyes. And really, it's the eyes that matter, because it's no secret that there's no money in poetry (even less than in fiction or nonfic).

I haven't won that professor over to the point of convincing him to subscribe to this website (as far as I know), but I think it's only a matter of time. If there's one thing that academia likes, it's hard evidence: proof that the method works, and soon, I'll have enough evidence that he'll have to admit that weblit has made me more successful than I ever would have been had I pursued traditional publication.