Maybe she is working on a book! Because I think that is still the real way to establish your presence and credibility: not blogging, not Twitter or any other form of social media, not an ebook you paid for yourself, but a good, old-fashioned, between-two-covers book from a genuine imprint, whether it be a mainstream publisher, university press, McFarland, BearManor, whoever. If I were a young writer starting out, that would be my goal, particularly given the continuing lack of periodical platforms that matter. Pauline Kael used to get her acolytes regular gigs on newspapers or magazines so they could become “established”, but that road seems to be closed.
I have said to friends that the Internet, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, social media, ebooks, streaming, anything electronic, it’s all just sandcastles, they wash away with the tide.