Books sales aren’t what they used to be. In fact, reading isn’t what it used to be. Hence, now more so than ever, literary writers need sponsors. According to the New York Times, they’re fiding them.
In a continuing sign of the blurring of boundaries between literature and advertising, a campaign for Svedka, a Swedish vodka, is serving as inspiration for a series of articles to appear online and in a book.
Nerve.com, the digital publisher that specializes in dating, relationships and other frisky business, is teaming up with Spirits Marque One, the importer and distributor of Svedka, to commission 16 writers to imagine what the world of 2033 will be like in areas ranging from sexuality to politics to science. Nerve.com and Svedka will jointly own the rights to the stories.
Spirits Marque One plans to spend $750,000 through next year to sponsor the project, which includes plans to anthologize the articles in a book and send the writers on a book tour. The writers are not required to include or mention Svedka, vodka or drinking in their stories, executives at Spirits Marque One and Nerve.com say.
