Happy 2010 to all bookleteers and others out there! We start the year with a case study written by Kati Rynne who was one of our first alpha testers and took part in the initial Pitch Up & Publish event in October:

Ideal for Creative Writers
Bookleteer could prove ideal for creative writers who want to share a selection of poems, a short story or novel extract.
I’m writing a teenage novel and regularly send chapters to teenage and adult readers in order to get feedback. In the past, I’ve emailed out my work as a Word document with a portrait layout, and have found that 15% of people don’t download and read the email attachment. However, this Autumn I used Bookleteer to produce a miniature hard-copy booklet of the first three chapters, added a Creative Commons illustration to the front cover, printed and folded the copies, and distributed them to readers.
The response has been terrific. 100% of targeted people were motivated to read my work.
My teenage readers reported that the miniature size of the book made it portable; they stuffed the booklets into their schoolbags and read them on the bus or tube. Some of the girls noted that the booklet had the feel of ‘a personal possession’; it seemed to tap into teenage girls’ lust for secrets.
The adult readers were keen on the format too; they felt they’d been sent ‘a real book’, rather than a document that closely resembled their office paperwork. Readers had to turn the page every couple of hundred words, which kept them engaged with the story.
My writing sample was 40 pages long, the maximum length recommended by Proboscis, so the folding and scissor-snipping were fairly labour-intensive. Having said that, the product is robust enough to withstand some wear and tear; a third of my readers have successfully circulated the writing sample among colleagues and friends.
The Bookleteer format would be suitable for writers who want to send a writing sample to a publisher. Creative writing students at the University of London are enthusiastic about using the format to workshop their writing. The .pdf that is produced would also make a valuable download on a writer’s personal website.
Kati Rynne
www.katirynne.wordpress.com
Tags: case studies · creative writing · evaluation · feedback