Online publishing has made it a lot easier for writers to find audiences and paychecks — at least if they’re writing nonfiction. The demand for articles, copy and even blog posts has skyrocketed. But while plenty of people have published their fiction and poetry online, the market for such work has not grown as fast as other writing opportunities.

There have been countless attempts to use online tools to jump start individuals’ ability to write and publish fiction. One of the newest — FastPencil — caught my eye a few days ago. The online tool promises to give everyone the power to ‘write, collaborate, publish and sell’ their own book, all on one platform. The feature set is a little more comprehensive than those communities and applications that have come before, combining elements of both as well as bringing in echos of Lulu.

Those features seem to include the following:

• Social networking between writers, editors, reviewers and other interested parties
• A collaboration tool that helps you to find potential collaborators and chat with them
• Feedback tools
• A blog import tool
• Outlining tools
• Word processing tools, including automatic versioning
• Automatic formatting
• Publishing and distribution
• Book listings on Amazon
• Book formatting for the Kindle

I get a sense that the site is pulling the most useful features from all those sites that have come before it — but it does not necessarily address the issues inherent with self-publishing. FastPencil certainly smooths out bumps in the process and while there are costs associated with publishing a book through the site, they are surprisingly low when compared to many self-publishing companies. But the chance of an author hitting it bit through FastPencil is not a bet I want to take. It’ll get books out to the author’s friends and family, and that’s about it.

So, where’s the benefit? I like the interface and tools that FastPencil offers. The site does offer a smoother system than trying to use the different features of different sites and then bring a manuscript together for publication. And there is certainly a target market: if the online boom has proved anything, selling to a small market (even friends and family) is not necessarily a bad thing.