“Finally, the text still requires context. As publishers spin up their digital and print-on-demand backlists, more and more is published with less and less context. These efforts amount to land-grabs and rights-squatting, without adding value. Works without TOCs, indexes, author bios, footnotes. Placing work in context is one of publishers’ primary tasks, stretching out to commissioning introductions, assembling background material, supporting biographies and critical studies. Design belongs here too: good book design, appropriate book design, as important now as it has ever been.
“Velocity, depth, breadth. These are the dimensions we can add to books, that are the gifts of a digital age, not gimmicks, glossy presentation and media-catching stunts.”
What I like about James Bridle is that he’s in love with books and is able to bridge the bits and atoms worlds, translating and informing in both directions.
Obsession
One thing about me I don’t talk about much: I have an obsession with writing. And not the kind that you’ve read from me – websites, blogs, and the like. I’ve been actually writing stories, sketching narratives, jotting down snippets on and off for 30 years.
Of course, I’ve been writing online for almost 20 of those years. And, while James (in the article quoted above) does not think that is publishing, I do. Of a sort. On the level of bulletins and pamphlets of old.
At the same time, I absolutely agree with him that it’s not Publishing, capital P.
“P”ublishing
I am of the camp that thinks there’s a need for editors and publishers who, as James says above, provide context. Partly there’s the culling the chaff and bad writing, pointing out what’s valuable and well-written, no different than how we tend towards online publications that eloquently point us to what’s interesting and worth our attention.
But, James points out further that Publishers wrap text in a rich layer of context to enhance the text. So true. So necessary.
My books-in-waiting
I have posted some of my short stories here (see Narratives tab above), but have never felt complete (I have two novels and a few dozen short stories). A large part of me wants to see the stories in print, in a physical book (meh, Kindle?), for folks to flip through, fondle, read without having to know me. Yeah, good old-fashioned traditional Publishing.
Services like LuLu emboldened me to head down the path of just publishing it myself, but I know in my bones that I want an experienced editor to read my book, make it better (this is what editors do), and give it to a Publisher who can give it a design, context, audience access, and have it rub elbows with other books. No I am not looking for fame or fortune, just that I publish a wholesome book that I will be proud of.
I’ve known this all these years, and every time I put my novel or short stories into a book format (and go through the contortions of endless editing, layouts, design decisions), I am reminded that the mechanics and business of Publishing is not going away any time soon. [UPDATE: No sooner had I posted this I saw a tweet that pointed to this article “Publishing is no longer a job or an industry — it’s a button” which takes another tack to say Publishing is dead and Publishing is necessary – well, parts are dead and other parts are necessary. Basically, the same thing James says and I comment on.]
It’s hard work.
And LuLu knows that – check out all the Publishing services they offer á la carte.
What do you think?
Read Jame’s whole article: The New Value of Text | booktwo.org.
Another hat-tip to James, I recently made a travel guide for my wife – travel guide, tips, language guide, photos, some fun things, and so forth. I cleaned up and formatted the text, added photos, laid it out, added a TOC (an index would have killed me), personalized it a bit. LuLu was just my printer. And it was great to not really have to worry about the copyrights. Only thing, it cost more to ship it than to print it (I shipped it fast – couldn’t wait to see it). Ugh. Atoms still have to be moved.
And, yes, she liked it.
