What is Byliner?
Byliner is a publishing company and social network that helps you discover and enjoy great stories by great writers.
How does it work?
Byliner has two components: Byliner.com and Byliner Originals.
Byliner.com combines comprehensive, curated archives of the best nonfiction writers' work with social bookmarking and discussion, allowing you to discover, discuss, and share new and classic work by your favorite writers.
Byliner.com also functions as a distribution platform for Byliner Originals. The concept for our Originals is simple: great stories by great writers, readable in a single sitting. Byliner Originals usually range between 10,000 and 35,000 words, and are available in digital form for your Kindle, iPad, Nook, and other mobile devices. Some Byliner Originals are also available as audiobooks, as print-on-demand paperbacks, and in foreign language versions.
What is a Byliner Original? Why don’t you call them books?
Byliner Originals are not articles, and they’re not books. They’re something in between. It’s an entirely new category, which is why we call them Originals. The truth is, some stories aren’t suited to either books or magazines, because of length or timing. Byliner was created to allow writers to get those great stories to readers while they're still current.
Are Byliner Originals enhanced, with video and audio?
Nope. We're concentrating on straight, strong narratives, readable without the interruption or distraction presented by links or videos.
Where can people buy Byliner Originals?
On Byliner.com, of course. They’ll also be available at Amazon and at Apple’s iBookstore, Google’s eBookstore, BarnesandNoble.com, and other digital storefronts.
How does Byliner.com work?
Byliner.com is designed to help you find something good to read. That might be a new article, a classic article, or an article by a great writer you haven't yet discovered. It might also be a traditional book — or a Byliner Original.
Can I actually read articles on Byliner?
Byliner.com is a discovery tool, so for most articles we simply give you enough information to let you know if you'll be interested in the article, and we point you to the source. However, some writers believe that giving readers easy access to their entire articles will turn such readers into fans, and in those cases we offer up the full text.
Can I "follow" my favorite writer on Byliner?
Absolutely. You can follow any writer in the Byliner database. When a new article by that writer is published — or when a classic article by that writer becomes available online — it appears in your article feed. You'll also see articles that have been shared by writers you're following, which lets you see what they're reading and recommending.
Can I see what other readers are reading and sharing?
Sure. You can follow any other Byliner user's submissions, which is a great way to discover articles and new writers.
Sounds like you're creating something like Pandora, but instead of people discovering music and following artists, they're able to discover articles and follow writers.
That’s pretty close, actually. But the Pandora metaphor simply speaks to the way that Byliner.com helps you discover new writers and their work. The idea is to recommend stories for you that are not only great reads, but great reads that will resonate with you.
What technology did you use to build Byliner.com?
It’s written in a programming language called Ruby (the same language that powers Twitter, by the way), and takes advantage of collaborative filtering and data structuring to help readers easily find stories that they’ll enjoy. Basically, we’re combining our technical expertise with our proven editorial expertise. We think that’s a potent combination.
I’m a writer, and I’d like to submit a story or be considered for an assignment. How do I do that?
Our Submissions Guidelines are viewable here.
I've made it this far. Any good trivia for me?
- The earliest story at Byliner.com was published in November 1816.
- As of this writing, there are 29,760 feature articles in our database.
- Christopher Hitchens wins the Most Prolific prize, with 140 articles.
- The Byliner Blog will offer more trivia, so check it out.
