Publishing & E-Publishing

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Barnes & Noble recently released the Nook -- its new e-reader -- as a direct competitor to Amazon's Kindle. The folks at Wired are pretty excited about it and its shiny new features, which you can read all about in their review. I'm one of those cranky young men who will never be caught dead with an e-reader so long as I live (and have the option of dead tree). My opposition to them is mostly personal -- I enjoy the sensual experience of holding a physical book, turning its pages, feeling the grain of the paper, scribbling notes in the margins, underlining here and there. For the books I love best (or which came with a paper assignment), you can trace the dialogue I had with the author, characters, and/or ideas through those marginalia and exclamations of approval or puzzlement. I like having a desk cluttered with books in various states of completion. I love having bookshelves stocked with color and inviting leisurely perusal. For me, an e-book is anathema to the experience of reading, which encompasses far more than the text.

Which is not to say that I think e-readers are the end of the world. I think it's likely that e-literature (or whatever you want to call it) is going to become much more popular, but I highly doubt that it will eliminate the dead tree model. E-readers and bookstores will probably end up in some sort of uneasy coexistence. I just think it's too early (as a book "traditionalist") to freak out about the end of print, just as it's too early for the futurists (for lack of a better term) to gloat about the inevitablity of virtual print.

I bring this up in response to a really thoughtful and fascinating post by Two Dollar Radio's publisher Eric Obenauf over at The Rumpus about the difference between the two models. As good as Obenauf's essay is, the comment section opens up a wide-ranging discussion about the role of the artist in contemporary society, the monetary value of art versus its personal and aesthetic value, and what the future of publishing will signify for writers' art and wallets. Stephen Elliott, Brian Spears, Andrew Altschul and other writers and Rumpus editors join the fray. Definitely worth a full read!

Oh Dear Heavens

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Politicians sometimes use naughty language!

I'm sure this deeply-researched analysis will help stave off print media's looming demise.

Attn: Sens. Lieberman, Landrieu, Lincoln et al

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There are, uh, real people who will be affected by your bought-and-paid-for wankery. DougJ's rant pretty much nails the sick world in which our oligarchy sips its martinis:

I realize that if you’re poor in this country, then everything is your fault. If you take out a loan you shouldn’t have taken out, it’s proof that you’re too much of an idiot to handle money, whereas when rich people are fleeced by Bernie Madoff it’s proof that Madoff is a super-genius monster. If you’re hit by a stray bullet, you were probably in a gang. If you’re sick, it’s because you smoke and you’re overweight. And whatever trouble you have getting a job, it’s all because of your genetically determined low IQ. And if you weren’t poor, overweight, genetically deficient and so on you wouldn’t have trouble getting disqualified because of preconditions and you’d never get scammed by bogus insurance outfits.

In Which the New York Times Book Section References Us...

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Major slacking on my part around here apparently hasn't stopped someone from noticing us. I just about fell off my chair when I read this article in the New York Times about Electric Literature. Check out the second paragraph:

In its first two issues, this year, the magazine showcased some of the country’s best writers — Michael Cunningham, Colson Whitehead, Lydia Davis, Jim Shepard — and created the kind of buzz that is a marketer’s dream. With a debut issue in June and an autumn issue out last week, each consisting of five stories, the magazine has racked up complimentary reviews everywhere from The Washington Post to a blogger on Destructive Anachronism, who wrote, “High quality content + innovative marketing + multimedia could just equal the new model for literature, post-print.

Guess that's some kind of sign I should take this more seriously. I'm pretty humbled and kind of stunned. Thanks Felicia Lee, whomever you are!