Ebooks, Apps, and Collaboration

The fear of ebooks has recently been dwarfed by the growing fear of books as apps. Granted, there are a number of valid concerns, many of them economic. Yet, books as apps push the boundary of what a book is even further by their multimedia possibilities. In app form, does the book/literary content still hold the lion's share of a user's attention? Or is it an entry point into a world a multi-media related content. Can it be either?

Writing with apps in mind opens a whole world of cross-disciplinary opportunities. Collaboration with other creative genres has been difficult and limited simply by the nature of writing and reading. Graphic novels stand as the hallmark of co-op effort by allowing room for both the visual and written aspects to flourish. In most other cross-disciplinary efforts, writers tend to be on the sideline, cheering at someone else's game. It is hard to invert the process and make literary content the focal point of a collaborative effort. An app can center on literary content complemented by a selection hailing from other creative fields: musicians, game programmers, graphic designers, you name it.

We live in a remix culture; we love sampled music, fusion food, multimedia approaches. Apps give literary content a way to play in our remix culture as focus, not just a bonus.

Independent Publishers, Meet Your Audience. Lessons from Indie Labels

Ken Auletta's "thorough and thoughtful exploration into Kindle-iPad-publisher tensions leaves you with a lot to consider. As he traverses his way through the current e-book jungle, he details publishers' (non)relationship to their audience:

...It would take years for publishers to learn how to sell books directly to consumers. They do not market research, have little data on their customers and have no experience in direct retailing. With the possible exception of Harlequin Romance and Penguin paperbacks, readers have no particular association with any given publisher; in books, the author is the brand name. To attract consumers, publishers would have to build a single collaborative Web site to sell e-books, an idea that Jason Epstein, the fromer editorial director of Random House pushed for years without success.

It's an interesting point; publishers think of retailers, not readers, as their customers, thus many publishers never connect with their authors' audience. Whatever is left of a press's marketing department is devoted to authors without consideration for the company. Yet, independent publishers' potential to draw attention by their own merit is huge.

Perhaps the indie press should take note of their music label brethren. While Warner Music or EMI do not (possibly could not) create their own fans, there are intensely loyal followings for indie labels of every genre. Listeners identify with the indies for the point-of-view, personality and lifestyle that they stand for. Labels directly engage fans as well as form trust through the music they support. A label's fans will try out new artists, check out new releases, and attend record label tours because of the label as well as the musician. Heck, my sister loves Trojan Records so much she had its logo tattooed.

This type of inherent value and trust can be cultivated by indie publishers. Some are starting; more need to. After all, literary aficionados want ink too.

What e-reading means to writing: the iStory

In celebration of its forthcoming iPhone/iPad app, Narrative Magazine is heralding a new genre: the iStory. After indulging in several iStories, it seems that normal challenges of storytelling are greatly intensified inside the 150-word genre.

Challenge 1. Maintain the narrative. With such small space to convey a fully developed narratives, some texts slip into a territory that is more poetry than fiction. While lovely, these texts do not "give readers a strong sense of having read a full and complete story." Certainly, poetic texts have an (e)audience, much of which cross-pollinates with consumers of fiction, but their delivery as fiction to fiction readers could yield an unsatisfying experience, not because of the quality of work but due to a mismatch of text to reader.

Challenge 2. To detail or not to detail. This is not a genre for the descriptive. Too many details suffocate the story line, yet none at all may render a story limp, naked, or worst of all, generic. The potent use of thoughtful details is the strong suit of this genre. Timely, poignant details speak to an author's mastery of the craft. With one well-crafted line, the story suddenly blooms, and we understand Mark Twain's idea that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word...'tis the difference between the lightening bug and the lightning."

Challenge 3. The End. Perhaps the common issue is how to end...cleanly. Some closings are abrupt; others feel gimmicky (read M. Knight Shyamalan's expected twist). While opening and moving the iStory occur fairly successful, a natural close is tough to deliver. Tougher than normal. If this form fosters new techniques, I believe they will occur in this arena as authors look for effective ways to resolve and end a narrative.

Beyond singular creation and publication, the iStory brings new considerations to collecting work into a book. A writer who is organizing an iStories book/collection becomes akin to a poet. Both need to deeply consider the harmony/discord between pieces as a reader transitions from one to the next.

If 150 words still feels roomy or if you don't believe in its possibilities, consider Narrative Magazine's section of 6 word stories. I leave you with one written by the king of literary minimalism Ernest Hemingway: "For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn."

Going Retro. What Internet Reading Means to Writing

This article has had me thinking about what internet reading could mean to the writing process. No one knows what the ultimate results will be, but what does seem to be happening is a revival of previously defunct forms of content delivery. Take the serialized story, for instance. While rumored to have survived in literary nooks and crannies, the serialized story essentially burned out after its heyday in 19th century magazines. Until now. In its new digital suit, the serialized story has returned to us.

Five Chapters is one such site that features quality short stories by breaking them into five parts and delivering them throughout the work week. This site differs from the typical e-reading hot spots in one critical way: it's incredibly quiet: no hyper-linked text, no advertisements, no blog roll. It is, rather, a zen-like reading corner of the Internet universe that presents just enough content for the average person to read comfortably online.

I subscribed to Five Chapters' feed to give the site a test drive, and I must say, I'm really happy with the results. The stories are loving-crafted with the kind of characters that follow you around after you click elsewhere. Having only heard of few of the 192 authors featured, I feel pretty good about myself after I read. This is simple (and, honestly, time-efficient) way to introduce yourself to writers that are normally drowned out by the buzz of big six advertising.

Dave Daley says he designs the content to fit into a lunch break, but, personally, I prefer to wait until the end of the day. Coming home to a new issue gives me that cozy, homey, Americana feeling that I've only glimpsed at in Norman Rockwell paintings. For me, it's a bit like coming home to the afternoon paper.

Amazon strikes again. What's an indie to do?

Just the Macmillian-Amazon standoff cools down, Amazon picks yet another fight. Add threatening independent publishers to the growing list of loss-leader strategies, intentional Kindle incompatibility and removal of buy buttons. Amazon is on a role.

With Apple courting indie publishers as they prepare to launch the iPad and iBookstore, Amazon is attempting to curb any power over ebooks that publishers could possibly retain. While it can't pull these antics with the big six, the company thinks it can push the smaller presses around. Amazon is betting that indies, who rely heavily on internet sales, will not be able to survive without Amazon sales. So, the company is threatening to cut them off at the knees if they sign the (more fair and balanced) Apple contract.

But there are signs of hope. Perseus Books has signed on with Apple regardless of Amazon's threats. As the largest independent publisher and distributor of another 330 independent presses, Perseus is setting up a good line of defense. If most small publishers follow suit, Amazon will have to back down lest Apple appear to offer the broader selection. On its own, an indie is a sitting duck, but collectively, Amazon needs them more than they need Amazon.

Amazon's behavior is appalling. Over and over again, the company flexes corporate muscle in order to force the entire book industry to bend to its will. Simply put, the company is trying to determine how strong its monopoly hold is. It is absolutely necessary that publishers deny this corporate bullying now. If Amazon gets away with its behaviors in these early days of digital conversion, the company will be setting the pace and the unsustainably low prices for a long time. Singlehandedly, Amazon could dismantle entirely an all ready fragile industry.

Fear and Loathing in the Book Industry

It doesn't matter if you are a local plumbing company or a major record label, you are undergoing digitization in your industry. Understandably, a good dose of anxiety is accompanying this change. Will your new websites, blogs and digital products be worth the investment? What are the new standards? How necessary is digitization for you? Typically alongside this fear is enthusiasm and opportunity. The new media offer tremendous possibilities for both corporate and independent companies, but the publishing industry seems to have skipped the possibilities section of this brave new digital world.

The literary press holds its breath at every single development or upset. Whether it's Amazon throwing around its monopolistic weight or an indie press subverting the standard book release process, the industry watches with apprehension, fear and even anger. Many publishers do not have a level of digital fluency. E-books, blogs and twitter accounts are seen as an impending giant casting a shadow over their once peaceful village.

Their anxiety is making them resistant to changes that, for better and worse, are not able to be stopped. To quote the iconic Richard Nash:

The publishing business is not in trouble because there's no demand for books. It is in trouble because there are changes afoot in how best to satisfy the demand, changes to which there are suitable responses, two of which are fostering fan culture and generating a sense of occasion, and the leaders of the largest publishing organizations are failing in their professional responsibility to implement these responses. By reducing their participation in BEA at the same time the media participation has increased by almost 50%, by refusing to open the Fair to the readers on Sunday, these CEOs have effectively thrown in the towel. They are managing the demise of the book business, pointing fingers at any generic social forces they can find, failing to see the one place the responsibility can be found, their own damn offices.

Many publishers are becoming their own worst enemy. Absolutely, risk is implicit in experimentation, but risk, at least, offers a chance for success as well as for failure. Standing still is suicide.

In this interview, Don Linn offers thoughtful and sane advice for publishers. Start educating yourselves, start experimenting with the less expensive new media forms. Get in the game or you will get left behind.

iPads and WePads and Flash, Oh My!

Berlin company Neofonie is taking advantage of the iPad interlude and filling in the gaps that Apple left out: http://www.stern.de/digital/computer/wepad-a-fresh-alternative-to-apples-ipad-1553767.html

The Replacement Press releases their first book

As an infant press in the Twin Cities, the Replacement Press is a publisher to watch. Composed of a husband-and-wife team, they publish out of their apartment, maintain day jobs and pour themselves into their venture. Both in their late twenties, Andrew and Sarah De Young have one solid advantage: an ease with the social media that makes other publishers cringe. They tweet, update their facebook status, post faithfully to their blog. They see ebooks and digital readers as a possibility to diversify literary voices rather than as a death blow to independent publishing. I see them as the potential of indie publishers' future: passionate, adaptive, glocal.

Perhaps I'm drawn to Andrew and Sarah De Young's adventure because their success could go beyond the personal. Starting from a vantage point inside the new digital era, they could begin to set the pace for 21st century publishing. After reading so many blog posts and news articles about the dim future of publishing, the Replacement Press offers an encouraging counterpoint. Yes, they are young. Yes, they are a fledging company, but they are creative, flexible and fueled by new possibilities.

As their first book launches this weekend, I wish them the best and will be following their progress.

Virtual Credit, Virtual Value, Virtual Ripoff?

Galley Cat recently posted this article which discusses lessons from Farmville that can be acclimated to the publishing industry. The main success they are interested in adapting? Virtual commerce. So, as opposed to paying a flat rate for an annual subscription or investing in a one-time purchase, readers would pay for virtual credits that are used up as they read.

After watching the video, it seems that what publishers love about the potential of virtual credit is exactly what consumer watch group would abhor. Virtual credit has one wonderful, magical principle that has many industries licking their chops: it is hard to evaluate the value of vcommerce. What does 33 credit per dollar mean to you? Or 42 credits per dollar if you buy wholesale? Since the time or amount allotted to virtual credit is completely arbitrary, there is no comparison shopping and no competitive edge keeping prices low. There is no standard that a consumer can use to compare and contrast. Virtual credit is hard to wrap your head around. Which is why some publishers are so excited about it.

Something about vcommerce seems underhanded to me. There is something very slippery, completely opaque and potentially dishonest about this sort of purchase. Into the midst of digitization frenzy, the whole publishing industry is scrambling to figure out how to make money. Yet championing a business practice that takes real money in exchange for something that essentially does not exist is not a way to create a good relationship with your potential consumer. In fact, under that term, it is an anti-new media practice because it takes advantage of the personal, familiar interactions of Web 2.0. It underminds the inherent trust. The utter delight at a consumer disadvantage disturbs me. The industry excitement about taking real money and returning a virtual product that defies evaluation, very simply, gives me Enron flashbacks.

Tit for tat: what digitization means to the writing process

This post is among several recently that have questioned what changes in media formats mean for the writing process. How will writers contend with e-books and vooks? Do they change the writing process?

The implication is often that new forms will facilitate a poor quality of writing. Me, I'm not so certain that the digital formats are a threat to quality writing, but I understand the concern. Digital formats seem to be occurring in a less organic way than we're used to. Typically new formats evolved as writers push and stretch standard forms until someone breaks the barriers alla "The Wasteland" or "Ulysses." Certainly, in the cases of vooks or kindle, the experiment seems to have come before the experimenter. But this was also the case with the Gutenburg press.

Do writers who create in the new formats suffer a creative crippling because of e-structures? The writing process has always and will always take form into account. A writer does not approach an essay in the same way a novella. Structure carries its own set of restrictions and opportunities that influence the final product. Kindles and blogs are no different.

Perhaps what unnerves us is the sudden onslaught of so many new types of final products, so many new considerations. But I have faith in our literary craftsmen. A new format will not change a writer's intention. Regardless of available formats, a writer choices to produce lead or gold. Perhaps because big publishing houses are transitioning with best-sellers and pulp-style writing, we get the impression that this type of writing will set standard. Well, that's their standard for the old formats, too.

But the steps between a writer or (an indie publisher) vastly decrease with the new formats. Costs shrink, and visibility rises in a way that begging a corporate bookstore for shelf time never accomplished. So perhaps, ebooks and kindles can encourage unestablished writers. Whether or not they strike it big, their literary children can enter a world that was previously an impossibility.

Baby steps toward publishing future

Neither over-optimistic nor fatalistic, Jason Epstein's "Publishing: the Revolutionary Future" has given us a lot to think about. Here, he lays out a detailed vision of the digital future of books, and I walk away feeling...mixed. I think about his idea that, one day, when all books are digital, libraries and bookstores will not be needed, technically neither will books. We will go to websites for our digital libraries and retailers and instantly download our selections from a infinite backlist, some server out there somewhere that contains all the books ever written. A digital Library of Babel.

Maybe I'm just old-school, but I have trouble imaging not being able to wander around a bookstore or waiting at the counter of its cafe for the appearance of some kid whose sobriety I question. But Jason goes on and points out what many others have said. Bookstores aren't really what they used to be. With the onslaught of corporate retail presence combined with a thirst for high-risk, typically low-quality, bestsellers, the diversity inside bookstores has greatly diminished. When we browse there, we find less good, quirky, new and more okay, predictable, same. Perhaps, without the high cost of physical presentation in a storefront, we book-shoppers will find more to browse through, books we never knew existed because, previously, we could only view the tip of the iceberg.

Blogger to Publisher: The Daily Beast will print...eventually

This weekend Galley Cat has noted that The Daily Beast is in the midst of its first publication. For over a year, this comprehensive emag/blog has been covering current events, arts, politics and entertainment. (They even have weekly crossword puzzles). Partnered with Perseus Books, the Beast is launching their first book "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America" authored by John Avlon.

Without even broaching political issues, the Daily Beast is ruffling the publishing industry's feathers, again. In the current, infant stage of literary digitization, most publishers stick to hard copy books first, and then, maybe, they will later release an ebook version. Not so with the Beast. Jumping right into ebook form, the Daily Beast promises a paperback to come.

While established publishers are upset at the Daily Beast's strategy, the move makes sense. Shaped from Avlon's blog posting, the book itself evolved in an untraditional manner; why should the publication be any different? The digital world is the Daily Beast's native environment. Here it has readership, presence and support, so extending its ventures first in cyberspace, where it is at its strongest, just make sense. For ink-and-paper publishers, digital moves are the ventures and experiments they must contend with; it is their last frontier. For a blogger gone publisher, the process is, more or less, reversed. Holding the book in their hands is the last unknown, the leap of faith, and the final proof the they have arrived.

In case you have never heard of a Vook before...

I had never heard of a Vook before today, and I really don't know what to think, but neither does my spell check, which is comforting. As a combination of a book, or better still an e-book, and video with a "Share" widget, Vooks seem to be a little like Kindle 2.0. This article explained fairly clearly how Vooks operate. I'm not certain I will be reading any dense literature on a Vook any time soon, but these could turn out well for nonfiction books: "The Elegant Universe" with PBS excerpts, "I am America and you so can you" with Colbert Report interviews, "Lidia's Italy" with cooking clips....I can see it.

Two Ravens blog delivers

I am happy to report I've started finding quality publishers' blogs, ones temper their desire to sell with discussions of their everyday lives in the publishing world. The standout example is Two Ravens Press, a small, dynamic press that defines themselves as "the publishers at the end of the world." (They located in the Scottish Highlands.) Don't let their love of the quiet life fool you; Two Ravens has won numerous national and international awards, have a wide selection of fiction and poetry available in print and e-book form and, best of all, have an obsession with experimental, finely-crafted literature.

Their passion for the written word spills over into their blog. With a mix of discussions on daily events, the writing process and their take on the changes in publishing, their blog is personal and thought-provoking. Their latest posts including their massive Abode crash, their move even more remote place on the edge of the world and a response to the Guardian's blog post on "The theft of intellect."

Whether a reader is a fellow small publisher, a fan of their authors or a literary enthusiast, Two Ravens blog is one you can cozy up to, sift through and take with you throughout the day.

Looking for the person in the blog

So far I must say that I have been sorely disappointed with many small publishers' blogs. Many small presses are using blogs as an advertising opportunity. Their posts are filled with marketing copy announcing their latest releases and events. Company updates are fine, along with other content, but that balance is often missing.

I am not certain if some publishers are using blogs this way because news updates are their driving purpose behind the blog or if they are uncertain as to how use the medium. Although Laura Hazard Owen is focused on twitter in her article "Twitter isn't stupid-but publishers need to be smart about using it", her advise on successful micro-blogging easily spills over into the use of company blogs. Asserting that twitter is not an advertising tool, Owen points out that social media are an opportunity to get personal and connect with the audience.

I have to agree with her. Publishers, yes, tell us about your releases. Yes, tell us what products you are excited about. But tell us also your concerns about the future of publishing; tell us who you will be reading on the couch this weekend. We've met the product, now we'd like to meet the person.

Ferlinghetti's City Lights

When I stumbled upon City Lights Publishers's website and twitter account, I was really excited. Founded by beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights has been a feisty, fiercely independent press since 1953. I thought there could be no better way to kick off a study of publishers’ new media innovations than this major piece of the American cultural canon. After listening to their podcasts, I felt both inspired and disappointed.

The podcasts are wonderful; their first podcast features no other than Lawrence Ferlinghetti, himself, reading from his latest book, “Poetry as Insurgent Art". Ranging from national political satirists to poet laureates, their monthly podcasts continued to delight. My personal favorite was “ A celebration of Holderlin” which presented new translations, including one never before heard in English, from Nietzsche’s favorite poet.

So where was the disappointment? The website surprisingly did not feature a comment section. So when I listened to Holderlin’s idea that a poet's job was "to sing the traces of the fled gods", I had no place to talk about this striking idea. I sat, looking for a place to stuff my enthusiasm, while the sounds of the lively audience reached my ears.

As a child of beat poetry, City Lights prides themselves on engaging in and encouraging others to participate in our cultural discourse. Indeed, they succeed in motivating their audience. As they approach their first-year anniversary of podcasting, I hope they expand their website and give it the room not only to broadcast cultural discourse but to absorb it as well.

Independent publishers engage in the new media era

The independent literary press has always had its work cut out for it. The publishing world, particularly in the last fifteen years, has become drastically concentrated into the hands of a few international media giants whose first order of business is turn-and-burn bestsellers. Now there is nothing wrong with a great story or entertainment for entertainment’s sake, but an overload of enjoyable, yet empty, diversions does not enrich us. Without a balance of voices that speak to the deeper chords of human experience, our lives are flattened, cheapened.

Struggling to maintain a presence in a publishing world dominated by fleeting amusements, small-scale publishing houses are gaining ground by engaging in new social media practices that, ironically, were initially popular for the quick entertainment they provided. The independent press now tweets, updates their Facebook statuses, diggs other publishers’ releases and blogs about the literary world (interesting that companies that survive by selling words now offer them for free).

Media Bistro’s Gallery Cat has declared that independent literary presses are actually leading the publishing industry’s transformation into the new digital era. Online, armed with social media tools, indy publishers have gone interactive. They have distinct personalities: some, like Soft Skull, are edgy and boisterous, others, like the Etruscan Press, are contemplative and graceful. Our smart phones, readers and notification boxes now light up with small updates that life is rich, exciting and full of great literature.