Counterbalance

Social Reading, Story and The #LANovels Project

I've been thinking and writing about social reading for a long time now and have been advocating for an element of social that is local, even hyper local. My post about social voting vs. social reading was a first grasping effort to quantify what social reading was to me. My first app attempt centered around check-ins. Instead of checking in on Foursquare and knowing what dish the other checked-in folks in the coffee shop recommend, I wanted to build something that would tell me what everyone in the coffee shop was currently reading. Imagine the conversations that could take place offline, in our own community, around books! Nearly two years later, my perspective has shifted.

While I'd still very much like to create this app (and many new apps have sprung up since my wild vision years ago that could almost get at it with a bit of kluge-y usage), I've since realized it would only offer the initial touch point for conversation. It would connect you with others that either loved or loathed the book you were reading, but it couldn't connect you more deeply with the story itself. I believe this - the desire to connect more deeply with the story - is the underlying premise of nearly all social reading endeavors, whether they are ultimately successful or not. And many are unsuccessful because their focus is on the reading of a story, instead of the story itself.

Since I started banging on about social reading long ago, there have been so many definitions and spirited discussions about what "social reading" means, what it is, what it isn't, what tools reflect this, how readers really read, how they really want to interact with authors (if ever) and will they ever use these social tools that have risen up to fill the "social reading" void. Some excellent tools have been developed that allow readers to share and discuss text in a multitude of new ways. Are these tools the final definition of social reading? For some, probably. For me, they are one way "in" to a book but are certainly not the only way. I continue to be primarily interested in "social reading" as something that's not just about technology, but how tech tools can help us shed our online-only lives and connect offline with a novel, a character, a setting, a community or other readers who share a love of the same. This view is part of a larger philosophy I have about stepping away from computers and taking part in the world that lives just beyond your front door...something I fully accept not everyone subscribes to with as much fervor as I do.

I'm not alone in this line of thinking. Small Demons is centered around all the elements within a novel - including place - that you connect to as a reader. Their site allows you to delve deeper into the "storyverse" of a novel you loved (or loathed.) This gets at something much deeper than sharing a quote on Twitter or Tumbling your favorite passages while you're mid-read or hosting a roundtable discussion of a specific novel on your blog or even attending your local book club. This is story as social, not reading as social.

This idea of story as social is what I'm most interested in exploring further. It is what led me to the #LANovels Project. Through social channels (natch) I've gathered up a list of your favorite LA novels. Most of which I've never read (terrible LA resident that I am) but have meant to read for a long time. Here's my plan: pick a novel, read the novel, explore the local landscape of the novel and document that exploration using a variety of tools that may (or may not, this is purely an experiment) help illuminate the story for you. Don't live in LA but loved Fante's Ask the Dust? What if I read it and left audio-notes on Broadcastr at each location in the novel? Never been to Echo Park but it features heavily in your favorite LA novel? How can tech allow me to connect you with the area in a way you can't without being there? How can tech allow you to connect me with a novel setting in Baltimore that I've never seen?

Surely you can argue that any novelist worth their salt would do a landscape or city or setting justice...no additional after-the-fact tech/social enhancements required. I don't disagree. But I'm interested in exploring this notion of place as character which also happens to be the place in which I live. It's already happening around me with every film filmed on my street. With every car commercial filmed outside my window. (It would shock you to learn how many national car commercials are filmed in the same one-block stretch of downtown LA, my 4th-Street-Bridge-view somehow deemed a perfect stand-in for "any city USA.") What you see when you watch a new car commercial is not what I saw when it was filmed. My additional perspective adds to the story in some way. I know what this bridge looks like when no one is filming. I remember the car crash there last year. The choir that sang on it last month. The way it looks just like Paris at night if you have a drink or two and squint just so. Might the same be true for novels? If so, THAT's the social component I'm most interested in. Story. Stories set in your local community...a community of other interested readers and those who cannot physically be here.

This is all a wild experiment that could reveal much or reveal little. I'll be announcing the initial list of novels and the first pick next week. I hope you'll come along for the ride. 

Read More, Write More, Share More, Learn More Redux

Remember this? It's a go. Finally.

First up: Broadcastr.

Stay tuned.

NOW Reading Redux via The Instructions

While I'm still thinking through NOW Reading (and perhaps crafting a more measured, less "I've had no sleep so let's just blog it and post it, follow-up post), I was pleased to read Darby's comment as well as Mark O'Connell's "The Kindle and the Inner Conflict Between Consumer and Booklover" piece at The Millions as I believe they are all valid points in the conversation I had hoped to revisit.

Of note, while I still mull it all over:

"My point is that I, like a lot of other people, enjoy books as objects. Despite the difficulties that can arise from their accumulation, I like that they occupy physical as well as mental space. In fact, I quietly entertained the futile hope that the whole idea of e-books and e-readers would prove to be a transitory fad, that everyone would just somehow forget that books were cumbersome and comparatively expensive to produce and not especially good for the environment and that they could very easily be replaced by small clusters of electronic data that could be beamed across the world in seconds without ever taking up any actual space."

"So I did the obvious thing, and decided to see whether I could download The Instructions from the Kindle Store. When I found that the e-book version wasn’t yet available, I was briefly seized by that most contemporary (and stupid) of irritations: that of being denied a convenience that didn’t even exist until very recently. Granted, Levin’s novel is an extreme example, but it got me thinking about the unassuageable forces that the book as an object, as a cultural artifact, is up against. The history of what we call progress is a catalogue of ways in which the desire for convenience has trumped almost every other concern."

While I could obviously take from this that my own NOW Reading irritation was a "most contemporary (and stupid) of irritations" I will choose instead to take comfort in the fact that yet another reader is struggling similarly, albeit with a slightly different twist.

I will also say that I purposely bought The Instructions in print form (as I do most chunky novels) because I feel that when the writer has written something hefty and you should literally bear the weight of such heft throughout your reading process. Whether the words and ideas and story rise to meet such physical heft is another matter entirely. For the record, I dragged the weight (physical and otherwise) of The Instructions through seven airports and had to answer numerous questions about what could possibly be contained in such a big red book. I even, on two occasions, had to state plainly that no, it was not The Bible. But lugging around a big book is my own affectation, one that may fall by the wayside should I purchase the next chunky novel in a digital format instead.

I am a lover of print. I am a lover of font. I am a lover of how a font smells printed on the page. I, too, open a book and smell it first. Yes, still. I am a lover of all that the books-as-physical-objects folks hold dear. I hold them dear too. Yet if a younger generation won't ever love what we love, but will read far more in a format they do love, who are we to stick our noses in the air or the proverbial sand? A story is a story is a story no matter what it's written on. 

NOW Reading

A story in five parts, set in San Diego:

• I attended BlogHer. While this is not the place for a full diatribe on all that entails, I did meet a few incredible women. And, though I met nary a book blogger in the sea of 3,500 women, I did connect with Monica Vila, Founder of The Online Mom, who was recently interviewed by Julie Bosman at NYT for a piece on how & why eReaders are a hit with younger readers. We connected instantly over a shared passion for not giving a hoot how kids consume stories (paper books, Kindles, etched stone tablets) but just that they do. And if an easy reading tool gets them reading more - if the immediacy of a book on the castle they just walked through is available as they travel via train on a school trip - well, then, who are we to be bummed out about that?

 

• I had dinner with my brother. Thrice. Our first dinner he mentions he's reading Warren Buffet's book. Then, a day later, he's reading something else. I mention a book casually during our second dinner and a few days later, wouldn't you know it, he's already halfway through it. I pause. I let this sink in. This is a guy who, though related to me, simply doesn't read much. What has changed? The Nook is what's changed. He got a Nook a few months ago and has been reading more than he's ever read before. What did he love most about his beloved new Nook? That he could finish reading a book and download another one immediately. He is digging the "I want to read it right now" vibe his Nook is all too happy to support.

 

• I had to read Wolf Hall. I am nearly finished with my Murakami re-read project. I have each book in print form as they are much-loved. I even purchased several at Vroman's recently so I had fresh copies without marginalia to experience them anew. I traveled to San Diego with two of them. Of course, I finished them both. I promised a group of lovely folks that I would read Wolf Hall for an upcoming discussion, yet I did not bring my Kindle, did not have an iPad, my phone coverage was spotty at best (AT&T, I'll say no more). Fine, I thought. Perfect. I will simply go to the Barnes & Noble and pick up a print copy of this international bestseller. And yet - Barnes & Noble did not have a copy of said bestseller. I was told they could order it for me and I'd have it in just over a week. No dice, I said, I needed it NOW.

 

• I went to a soon-to-be closed Borders. And guess what? They had four copies of Wolf Hall. In paperback. 30% off. I had it NOW, just as I had wanted, but I felt dirty. Dirty because I didn't want a hard copy in the first place (where was my browser-based solution for all this?), dirty because I wanted Barnes & Noble to succeed on this front for the sake of their business but they didn't, dirty because I went to a closing Borders and feasted off its almost-carcass just to satisfy my NOW reading need.

 

• The cloud I complain about delivers. I work with a lot of tech clients. Instead of "paradigm shift" and "fostering engagement" the new buzz word at the tippy top of the boardroom bingo list is "cloud." Cloud computing. Let's put it in the cloud. We'll retrieve it from the cloud. Will our customers understand the cloud? Ad nauseam. So, while I absolutely "get" THE CLOUD, it has yet to remind me of reading. Until today. Hello Kindle Cloud Reader. You are just what I needed this past week in San Diego. Because you know what I did have with me at all times? My laptop. And what could I have done if I knew about you then? I could've read Wolf Hall NOW.

There is much to be said about how reading devices are not just changing how we read but how writers write and as you all know, I'm fascinated with every facet of this conversation. I want to support bookstores of every stripe, yet if this past week is any indication, we can no longer ignore the fact that immediacy could be the difference for some people (even me!) and, well, are we going to bury our heads in the sand or are we going to embrace this?

I'll caveat all this with the privilege debate (eReaders for the rich et al) as well as the critical library debate as well as the third world debate as well as the bookstores as community hubs debate. All of these are vital pieces of the conversation and many must co-exist with the cloud for a truly robust online/offline reading/writing world.

However.

If having a book NOW, as opposed to a week from now, means the difference between reading it and truly engaging with the content or not - what would you rather champion? For yourself? For your children? For future leaders of this very messed up country? It's a topic I'm exploring in all different ways and I'd love your take on it.

Read More, Write More, Share More, Learn More

A few months ago, I gave a brief talk about all the incredible tech tools and communities that have sprouted up in the past few years (or weeks or months) that help readers read more, writers write more, storytellers tell more, book lovers love books more, and give those without access to books a chance to read them so they can learn more.

I'll be kicking off a new blog series in August that will look closely at one of these tools/apps/communities -- the good, the bad, what's working, what's not -- each week.

We talk a lot about how technology has been a challenge for bookstores, publishers and readers, but I'd like to celebrate all that tech is allowing us to do when it comes to reading, writing and sharing our love of the written word.

Some of the tools/sites/communities that were in my brief talk include:

• Online Reading Communities: Goodreads, BookGlutton, Byliner, Shelfari
• Short on Time?: Storyville, Five Chapters, Electric Lit, DailyLit
• Tell Your Story: Broadcastr, Figment, Red Lemonade, BookCountry

There have been new entrants to the game on all levels in the past few months so this is just the limited first blush of all that the new series will cover. As many readers know, I'm also obsessed with the idea of social reading as it relates to geolocation. Anyone who has attended any kind of bookish party with me in the past two years has certainly heard my impassioned cries about it being vital and it being possible. Short of launching my own start-up to address this (never say never), I'll be testing out some tools that are not traditionally viewed as reading-related but that I think could be kick-ass in furthering my vision of social reading via check-in.

I look forward to an ongoing dialogue about the intersection of technology as it relates to how we read, how we write and how we share the books we love. I hope you'll join me.

Lit Bits & A Bit About Crit

The tech-y bookish bits have been piling up. A few bits that have caught my eye and have worked their way into my thinking about my not-so-secret social reading project:

• Publishers Plan a Joint One-Stop Book Site: Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group have announced the impending launch of Bookish.com which is intended, it seems, to be a "one-stop book site" though I struggle to understand how it can truly be one-stop if, you know, all the books you'd ever want aren't actually represented on said one-stop shop site.
• Kobo Rides the Shockwave of Interest in E-books: Eoin Purcell directed my attention to this bit on Kobo: "It took us 10 months to get to a million users, and about 90 days to get to 2 million,” CEO Michael Serbinis said in a recent interview. “Getting to 3 million took about 60 days, and we are close to 4 million now.” These figures and this ramp up says as much to me about e-books as it does about so many clients I work with --> how scalability is often getting over that first initial hurdle of customers and then the next thresholds are infinitely easier to achieve. I've seen this in every industry and am somewhat pleased to hear the same growth is happening for Kobo.
• Interesting Problems in Publishing Series: Eli James at Novelr started an excellent series about several much-talked about "problems" in publishing but pulls together disparate information in a way few do when chatting about these problems at cocktail parties and conferences. Well worth your time. I'm not sure I agree with every point or possible conclusion, but there is much to be considered here. The first two posts: Disruption and That 99c eBook Thing & Writers Are the New Publishers.

I've also read some excellent pieces recently that have turned my attention to something of a sore subject for me - the critical analysis of the critical analysis. The takedown of the takedown. I will post about this on Wednesday, but here are two pieces that I've enjoyed reading and that have sparked ideas I'm still struggling to sort out:

• What Criticism Might Be: Darby at Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks succinctly and eloquently says what I've been wondering and unable to clearly state for over a year. Well worth a read and has informed my further thinking on the subject.
• Freedom Revisited: Matthew Specktor and Joshua Hardina at Los Angeles Review of Books not only take another look at Franzen's Freedom (I know, I know) but take a look at why we all got so annoyed with the previous looks.

There are other bits, of course, and I'll share them once I've at least gone a full round one with this lit crit bug so I can begin to sort out why I'm so damned annoyed by the takedown of the takedown these days.

Sign of the (April 4th) Times

A curious thing happened yesterday. As I continued to plan for the RT Book Camp & Cocktail Hour, I noted the home page of Yahoo! was proclaiming that several industries were ripe for withering. Though bookstores weren't the main thrust of the piece (they were mentioned at the end of a view on why record stores are no longer thriving) it struck me as particularly ridiculous-but-of-course that Yahoo! had chosen this particular image as photo bait for a click. Hmmm.

I go about my day, juggling a thousand things. I quickly check email again before heading out to a meeting. What should happen to be in my inbox? This:

An Unconference for (Book) Lovers

The Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention is in town next week. I know, this really has nothing to do with me or the books I read, right? Oh, but it does. When it comes to digital rights, to innovative thinking about digital presses and eBooks, the publishing side of romance fiction is leading the way. On the reader side, romance readers are among the earliest adopters of eBooks (Amazon's kindle sales lead in one category only...romance), and are often the most vociferously passionate about their books, which makes them among the most powerful community members in the reading world.

These are things I care about a great deal. Romance novels or not.

So - I've been working with a few brilliant ladies to put together a Book Camp on April 5th from 1:30pm - 6pm that will bring together all those passionate about publishing and digital rights and eBooks and reader experience in one place to let our bookish freak flags fly loud and proud to discuss whatever it is that you want to discuss. Bring your ideas, bring your fears and lay them bare, bring a sense of humor and get your tweeting fingers ready. It promises to be a fantastic afternoon and I look forward to seeing you all there.

There will be a delightful cocktail hour afterwards that I'm working on...so sign up for both and you can not only discuss bookish changes to your heart's content, you can witness my cocktail party planning skills up close and personal. Not something you get to see every day so, you know. Make it happen.

Lit Bits and A Bit About Indies in a Digital Age

Per my social voting --> social reading post, I think the shift in digital reading can mean big things for our indie brick & mortar bookstores if they're hip to what's going on and can find inventive ways to engage hyperlocally in their communities to foster more reading. This seems to be a trend as others are writing about it in a way they weren't even a few months ago. Does that mean I'm on to something or...?:

• Is There Hope for Small Bookstores in a Digital Age? - a primer of sorts from USA Today
• Bookstores Now, More Than Ever - a more considered look at the matter from Kassia at Booksquare
• Books: Onward to the Digital Revolution -a look at John B. Thompson's Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century that includes this money quote: "What if digital technology spawns a radically new mode of distribution with few of the present industry’s fixed costs, one that delivers content in both physical and e-book form directly to readers wherever they may be."

In other bookish news:

• More Bolano is coming soon. In serial form. In the Paris Review.
• Kindle's Collective Highlights can now be made public - I have oh so much to say on this as you might imagine from my previous Kindle Highlights ponderings, so I'll have my thoughts sorted on this soon.
• ...but not before I have my thoughts sorted on my died-before-it-got-going Roundtable on The Instructions. I'll start-off with a first post...tomorrow. Really. (For the four of you still waiting for the blessed day to come, I thank you immeasurably for your patience. I have my learned my lesson about planning Roundtables during the busiest work time of the year. But I got us to read it, right? That's certainly 70% of this particular battle, no?)

Can Social Voting Lead to Social Reading?

Last November, our nation voted. Foursquare developed a very cool interactive graphic (thanks to the constantly fabulous work of JESS3) that offered a real-time look at Foursquare check-ins at polling stations across the country throughout the day.

I know this was months ago, but I can't stop thinking about its implications for reading.

I screengrabbed the site throughout the day, sure that by November 3rd I'd have a brilliant solution for how something like the Foursquare social voting site could lead naturally into a real-time view of what people are reading all over the country. You'll notice it's February 2nd and I'm no closer to a big fancy answer.

I know we have lots of book sales data. There are devices that can share this data as well as what-we're-reading-in-the-moment data (and do), there are online reading communities like Goodreads that help us connect with others reading the same books we're reading. Heck, I bet Goodreads could make some gorgeously trussed up JESS3 maps with all the data they have about who is reading what at any given moment. I know all of this. I use all of this (sporadically, I'll confess) and I'm still thinking about the Foursquare election day map.

Why?