In the past, authors who wanted to publish their articles, essays, short stories, and poetry often struggled to find publishers who wanted to print their work. Most publishers and editors who worked at magazines, newspapers, and journals refused to accept manuscripts which were submitted by authors who did not work for them, so authors’ first challenge consisted of locating publishers and editors who welcomed these unsolicited manuscripts.

After authors found one of these publishers or editors, they had to print at least two (or sometimes three) copies of their articles, essays, short stories, and poetry to submit to the publishers and editors. After they had completed that step, the authors had to purchase at least two large and expensive brown envelopes. The first envelope would send the manuscript copies to the publishers and editors; the second envelop would be a self addressed return envelope which would permit the publishers and editors to send the authors a decision regarding their manuscripts. After completing this second step, authors had to draft a short, one page cover letter which told the publishers and editors why the authors believed that their work belonged in the newspapers, magazines, and journals to which they had submitted.

Needless to say, this process was extremely cumbersome at best. Authors often had to wait six months or more before the editors responded to their queries. (And often, the publishers and editors merely responded to inform the authors that their work had been rejected.) Today, however, digital technologies such as internet blogging have streamlined the publishing process. Instead of submitting their work to publishers and editors, authors can self edit and self publish their articles, essays, short stories, and poetry on their internet journals or blogs. By cutting out these cumbersome steps, authors can ensure that their work reaches readers days (or even hours) after they complete the final sentence.

Although few authors would disagree that internet publishing is much simpler than traditional publishing, many authors worry that internet publishing prevents works from reaching readers. After all, these authors argue, there are so many blogs on the internet that it is easy for one essay to become lost amid the fray. To counter these fears, blog programmers have developed bookmark software which allow authors to share with your friends their works.

In essence, these bookmark software (also called bookmark page software or bookmark this page software or my delicious online bookmark manager) allow authors to send mass emails to readers informing them that they have just published a new work. Additionally, these bookmark software programs also post the authors’ works to their Twitter and Facebook profiles seconds after the works become available on the blogs. By doing so, these bookmark software programs ensure that millions of potential readers have the ability to access and read the authors’ works seconds after they are published; consequently, authors who use these bookmark software programs can increase their readership tenfold in a matter of hours.

Furthermore, because these bookmark software programs often translate the authors’ works into other languages, authors who use bookmark software programs find that they can acquire readers who live halfway across the world. Thus, authors who use these bookmark software programs no longer need to wait six months or one year for a publisher to translate their work into another language. Instead, authors who use these bookmark software programs only need to wait a few minutes to communicate with readers in Asia or India.