Facebook Founders' College Antics!

[Note: An update has been added below on 8.10.09]
Facebook is a topic of discussion in our new media marketing class this week and coincidentally the author of The Accidental Billionaires, Ben Mezrich, and I are following each other on Twitter. (I think he, or his publicist, found me through my link to the Harvard Book Store on this site.)

The Accidental Billionaires is Mezrich's eleventh book. Impressive since he looks about 25 years old in his interview with Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show. Mezrich has created his own unique style of non-fiction by recounting stories about young geniuses and their creative shenanigans; sometimes leading to the creation of greatness as is the case with this pre-Facebook tale. One of his earlier bestseller books, Bringing Down the House, was recently turned into the movie "21" about the expert card counting MIT students who beat the system in Las Vegas.

Just released, The Accidental Billionaires is currently ranking #6 on the New York Times bestseller list and #1 on the Boston Globe bestseller list. The cover looks a bit chic lit, don't you think? I initially missed the fact that it was about Facebook's, Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard College roommate, Eduardo Saverin. These two math geniuses were a bit awkward with women, and in their frustration hacked into the Harvard computer system; they managed to create a database, capable of rating all of the female students, which ultimately crashed the servers and almost got them expelled.

The excerpt Craig Ferguson reads on the Late Late Show also indicates this is a bit chic lit in nature, but it is on my must-read list for sure. Sounds like a fascinating tale. Sony pictures has purchased the film rights with Kevin Spacey producing.

So the book is about new media; the marketing is about new media; the movie is traditional media, but you can bet it will be combined with new media. The whole phenomenon is incredible to immersed in.

Blogger's Note: If you get a chance follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mgnetworks or find my Facebook Page under MGNetworks (I need some fans there ... just started a business fan page this week - so far, not many fans!) Oh, and thanks, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eduardo Saverin, for being creative, mischievous nerds! You've given Ben Mezrich a story to tell and jumped some of us up a rung or two on Groundswell's Social Technographics ladder.

Blogger's UPDATE 8.10.09: I finished reading The Accidental Billionaires this past weekend. It is a quick, easy, fun read. The insight into how Facebook got its start, in a college dorm room, just 6 short years ago is really amazing. Filled with intriguing characters, and ethical dilemmas, the book serves as a teaser for more information about all of it. I can't wait to see the movie. I will also be much more interested in reading about Mark Zuckerberg, and all of the real-life characters mentioned in this book (Eduardo Saverin, Sean Parker, Peter Thiel, Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss, Larry Summers, and more), in the future, as a result of this glimpse into the founding of Facebook. I realize the author, Ben Mezrich, took creative license with the dialogue and some of the events in the book (as mentioned in his note at the beginning of the book) but it's clear he did his best to piece together the real story using the sources he had available to him-minus any input from the key character, Mark Zuckerberg.

New Media Benefits Authors With Their Debut Novels...

It is absolutely amazing the impact new media has had on the book world. The ease, and availability of self publishing and on-line promotion platforms, have opened huge doors for passionate, self-promoting, first-time authors to enter a previously, well-guarded, gated arena.

Some say an author's best book is their first; although Alison Morris, in her Shelftalker Blog states, "Maybe it's time we scrapped the stereotype altogether." Morris argues that it might be true for authors of adult literature that their first book is the best, but children's and young adult literature authors improve over time. Nevertheless, I think it's safe to assume that all first time authors, regardless of genre, have more opportunity to get a shot at success in today's new, high tech, world than they had previously.

New media makes it possible for authors to create elaborate websites, blogs, facebook pages,and the list goes on, to promote their books, and themselves directly to their audience. Live interviews can be heard over the web, or on podcasts. All of this innovation enables a wealth of first-time, often young, authors to make it into bookstores, and even skyrocket onto bestseller lists with their debut novels.

These valuable, often primary, resources created by, and about, novelists are treasure troves for reading groups. Research is incredibly easy to do compared to, even 20 years ago, when you used to have to go to the library to dig through microfiche to gather any news to share with your fellow book club members.

To illustrate, here's a list of books, by first time authors, along with their official website addresses, that make a great reading list for a new book club:

• The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry - http://www.lacereader.com/;


• The Help by Kathryn Stockett - http://www.kathrynstockett.com/;


• Still Alice by Lisa Genova - http://www.stillalice.com/;


• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - http://www.robertgoolrick.com/;


• The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee - http://www.janiceyklee.com/;


• City of Thieves by David Benioff - http://www.cityofthievesbook.com/.

Future posts will contain more information about each of these books, and the authors, so let's start reading! We want to get the discussion going ....

Special thanks to my fellow book club members who helped compile this list of books, by contemporary authors, guaranteed to lead to wonderful conversations.