“Forget E-Books: The Future of the Book Is Far More Interesting”
Adam Penenberg, contributing writer at Fast Company and author of Viral Loop, has written an thought provoking article about what books may look like in the not so distant future. Not surprisingly his vision includes the integration of rich media such as audio, video, wiki features, social media etc. We are already seeing signs of this in some transmedia books recently published such as Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine, both published by Scholastic in 2009. This early-stage transmedia series is written in the form of a journal with sketches and notes pasted in. Throughout the book the author has included a URL with passwords that lead to video clips, which give a new dimension to the story about Ryan McCray and Sarah Fincher who want to find out how their town, Skeleton Creek, OR, received its name. Research takes them on a nighttime expedition to a mechanical dredge, where Ryan breaks his leg. The teens think the dredge is haunted by Joe Bush, a miner killed there. To see a sample of the videos, go to http://www.sarahfincher.com/ and type in “houseofusher”. This simple inclusion of video dramatically changed the experience of reading for me by making it seem more real and also making me feel a part of the story somehow.
Also from Scholastic is The 39 Clues series, each of which are written by a different author. This wonderful mystery comes with cards containing clues (more cards can also be purchased separately) so readers can play The 39 Clues game online where over a $100,000 in prizes are up for grabs.
But these were not the first, back in 2006 Cathy’s Book by Running Press sent readers to phone recordings and URLs. Readers could explore a little packet of assorted papers tucked into the book and there were, and probably still are, blogs and fascinating links that helped answer the many questions related to uncovering the mystery.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Like Penenberg, I firmly believe our books will one day be highly dynamic worlds with many rich layers of information for us to digest and even interact with. To read his article, click here.
And I was just beginning to get “comfortable” with the e-book paradigm! Ah well, the future will just have press on without me and let me catch up the best I can.