Competitive Reading, Marketing appeal and Intrusive Publicity.

I'd like to apologise for my long absence. In my defence, I've been quite busy, but also I don't like to write useless posts, just for the sake of it! I like to be interested in what I write and at least -hopefully- contribute to the hottest debates.
So, I was attending a few very interesting sales meetings by some of the publishers we represent with the agency. I must admit I'm a sucker for conferences, I love them. I could spend my life taking notes and eating at buffets. But, yes, there's more to it than food and free tea and coffee (weirdly enough)!
What happens at these conferences is that the editors present their products and the ideas behind them. The marketing team will then explain the campaign that will be in place in order to sell, sell, sell. Hopefully. I must say that apart from a couple of big, fat marketing campaigns for big titles, the rest was pretty much confined to 'social media marketing'.
Is social media marketing still the big thing? I don't know if you could simply rely on it, fact is that you need your title to go VIRAL. This means that the more the title is out there - through a transmedia campaign -, and people talk about it, the more that title should be well-known and ultimately sell more.
Anyhow, a publisher, speaking of targeting sales, came out with a name I had read around the net a few times, but never really bothered to check out: KOBO.
You might have heard of it for its readers and apps, and the fact that it allows you to buy ebooks on any given device. But Kobo is so much more than this. For what I understood, it allows readers to check-in their books, earn badges, and keep track of their reading stats — and share all of these activities to their Facebook profiles etc. It's a proper Social Reading Device!
There are many social media communities focused on books out there. For instance I've been registered with Anobii for ages and, even though I'm not really using it anymore, I thought it was a great idea! A way to share your passion for books (physical ones at the beginning!) with other readers. Exchanging reviews and rates, and the thrill that comes with seeing your huge virtual library right in front of you, for the world to see (and for you to brag about!).
I love how it's possible to search the books you have in real life and add them to your virtual shelf. I have a lot of fun writing reviews and rating titles, discovering books I had forgotten and comics I wish I had known already.
So let's see, would you like an app on your reader, or even just an option on your Anobii profile to suggest you what to read next?
Sure, they already tell you, Amazon-style, what other people who have already gone through the book you're reading just now, moved to next - but is that enough? What do you think if they actually tracked you down, compared notes (FB, MSN, four squares, G+) and made their own profile of you and send you personalized suggestions? And what if they sent it to you via email, in your own personal space, when you're a few pages away from the end of your beloved book?
If you're like me you probably have another 50 books lined up for the next read, and you'd be terribly disturbed by the invasion of technology, but I bet a lot of people would actually pay attention to it. Maybe people who are pretty straightforward in their literary choices and preferences.
I'm definitely not that easy to read or to study, my dear tech device. I have trouble finding something I like in a book shop. I'm so bad I get desperate before going on holiday because I don't know which books I should bring with me, and consequently end up with random stuff. An example? My latest holiday in Greece randomly featured a thriller by Rick Mofina, the autobiography of a lesbian-feminist-republican writer, a fantasy tale by Neil Gaiman, and a fictional story of violence and incestuous relationships in London. (I can give you the titles if interested!).
I mean, not very common, straightforward stuff!!
But in a world where everywhere you go and wherever you buy (especially online) things get suggested to you non-stop, would book suggestions make any difference?
I probably wouldn't like it. Reading is some sort of past time for me, something I do to unwind and relax, something I do in the privacy of my bedroom or in a solitary corner, and I don't want any intruders. That's why maybe I wouldn't register to a website that tracks your reading progress. This is not a competition! I can be a terribly slow reader (it depends on the book and on how tired I am), or a tremendously fast one, but I don't need to push my limits in order to impress my peers online or in real life. Because we all know how it works. You start befriending your co-workers, your friends, and then people you don't really know but who are working in the industry and you're following on Twitter.
That's probably why I'll never have a reader. It'll happen, you'll see. You buy and download your ebooks, and they'll send you first chapters of this and that. Sure, you might discover some amazing new books you would otherwise never hear of, but it's more likely something big publishers have paid big money to publicize.
It'll be like fake suggestions in bookshops - well, in chains like Waterstone's and WhSmith - where the publishers pay quite a lot for their books to be in the front shelf, or in the suggested list.
I don't want that. I want to get lost in a book shop and being attracted by a cover, a title, a format.


Am I just an old, grumpy elitist?

Books or Videogames? Gamebooks!

While I was twittering along last week, I came across the tweet-up of the Book Hackday which took place in London on the 14th May.

I was quite taken aback by some of the topics and ideas expressed there, even though I had anticipated them in my head a while ago.

The main idea that really has made me think, for a while now and even before finding this tweet-up, is that of a customised book.

During the Book Hackday one of the mentioned projects was the House of Stories, an app that transforms the book into an interactive and gaming experience for the reader. For what I understood the stories are commissioned and customised for the reader.

@DigitalDanHouse (at the conference) then tweeted about a book that would re-arrange itself in order to follow the twists and turns of the reader's mind. Basically the book that reads the reader's while this one reads. Easy-peasy right? I think this is quite scary in a way, but that it would also be amazing if well put together!

One thing came to my mind straight away, a recollection from my childhood: a Gamebook or CYOA (choose your own adventure books). This was very famous in the 80s and I remember having a few of them, mostly D&D themed (I was a geek at the time as well!). 

They're books which allow the reader to participate in the story by making choices that affect the course of the narrative, which branches down various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Easier done than written, trust me. You're simply facing a choice - like at the labyrinth you go left or right - and from then you just go to a different page and something happens.

I never really liked that sort of books because I thought that it was awful to leave so many unread pages behind, therefore I would go back and read also the other option consequently getting confused a million and losing the plot. I'm like that, I need to know.

It really is like role-playing, but you have to play by yourself - for what I know - and obviously you can't have infinite choices. So books have been trying in a way to imitate videogames since the late 70s (and then kind of quitted), so what would the result be with digital books? I think if we had a graphically enhanced book, then, yes, it would probably be the same thing as a videogame and the book would lose its literary connotation, preferring the more interactive visual elements.

But if the ebook content was 'merely' written and you could just decide to skip to different chapters, then it would be more similar to a Gamebook. The format would then allow the author to write more twists and different plots, and the reader could re-read the book again and, depending on his mood, make different decisions whilst read a totally different work of literature.

Would this format suit any literary genre or only thriller/horror and adventure? I don't know if women would ever buy a Mills&Boon book where they decide how the Sultan cheats on his belly-dancer...actually, probably they would!

Do you think it's possible for a gamebook to ever win a Booker Prize? And if not, wouldn't that be literary racism?

There's also another practical issue that concern me. How many ISBN would you need for one book if, at the end of the day, it's more than one depending on who reads it? Things get even more complicated if the author gets to update and add plots once the e-book is online and you can download updates (or upgrades like in videogames!).

I don't think we'll ever reach the point where the e-reader reads the reader and changes the story accordingly. That would be extremely creepy, but also extremely fascinating because the stories would differ from reader to reader, depending on their levels of fantasy and imagination. 

If this could actually happen, then, what would the role of the author be? Would we need an author if we could read our own fantasies?

Think people, think!!!

A Night at...Kim Scott Walwyn Prize

Yesterday night I had the honour to join my fellow SYP committee pals at the award night for the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize.

Kim Scott Walwyn

The prize was set up in 2003 in memory of the late OUP publishing director Walwyn, and it recognises not only the professional achievements of women in publishing, but also a promise of their future success. 
This year the price of £1000 was offered by the Society of Young Publishers, along with a one-day course of her choice, courtesy of the Publishing Training Centre (PTC) in Wandsworth. 
SYP Chair Ella Khan introduced the guests and candidates with a lovely speech, and then introduced Helen Fraser, former Penguin UK m.d. Ms Fraser delivered an amazing and touchy speech, which I think touched all of us deeply. She stressed how important it is to be strong and courageous in publishing, especially when you're a woman. She said that women tend not to show off their talent and get enough credit for their achievements, whereas men tend to be more out there and 'in your face', let's say. I loved how she compared men to the little boys in the classroom, waving their hands at the teacher asking for their attention once they've done something - in their eyes - spectacular. I think this is quite true, it's a men's world, but publishing is prominently a female one and we need to grow a set and totally go for it!
I'll try my best to follow this advice, be warned! :)
Anyway, after Helen Fraser's moving speech it came the time for Kate Jury, the Committee Chair, to present the lovely candidates:

• Lucy Cuthew, Commissioning Editor, Meadowside Children’s Books
• Jessica Leeke, Fiction Editor, Simon & Schuster UK
• Sarah Norman, Senior Editor, Atlantic Books
• Kay Peddle, Assistant Editor, The Bodley Head; Vintage Publishing; Random House

The award went to Kay Peddle, who generously decided to offer her check to a woman entering the publishing world, and could not afford to work as an intern. Because we all know that internship=enslavement!  Well, she was very excited, obviously, and emotional. Loved her genuine surprise when she was called on stage. Kudos to her!
It was a really nice evening, got to chat to some interesting new people, and to the 'old' SYP people. I also got the chance to work behind the 'bar' - I was filling glasses with wine, A LOT of wine. Gosh, gotta love the ever drunk publishing heads!


Pics from the amazing, and always useful Booktrust website!