Digital > Matters

"What is a publisher anymore, anyway? A blog is a magazine. A magazine a blog. A newspaper a..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:37:31 +0100

“

What is a publisher anymore, anyway? A blog is a magazine. A magazine a blog. A newspaper a WordPress install. A Twitter account a journalist.

The physical and experiential boundaries that defined mediums have dissolved, continue to dissolve. Differences in types of content are now largely semantic.

There was a time when “blog” was a word derided by journalists. There was a time when nytimes.com would not host a blog.
Would not dare put bloggers beneath their banner. Not place them within their shrine. The Atlantic, too. Others, also. Now, many of their sections look like blogs. Feel like blogs. Are run atop blog software.

It’s not that blogs were bad and newspapers confused. It was that blogs were fast, are fast—really fast. Even faster than newspapers, which were the fastest printed thing. Blogs have gotten better at thinking slow while publishing fast. Newspapers have figured out how to tame and shape the wild essence of a blog.

”

- Craig Mod in Contents Magazine

LINCOLN'S BEDSHEET

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:50:32 +0100

blackcrownproject:

Presented by The Widsith Institute, the below short story was written by Steven Douglas. Please visit www.blackcrownproject.com for more information.

Read More

jonyiveredesignsthings: Jony Ive redesigns iOS (pre-release...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:42:17 +0100

jonyiveredesignsthings:

Jony Ive redesigns iOS (pre-release version).

Credit @Flayks

"Fan fiction is the first native literary form of the network. It has existed for a long time, before..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:58:40 +0100

“Fan fiction is the first native literary form of the network. It has existed for a long time, before the internet, but it finds its best home there, out with the domains of copyright and fixed authorship rigorously enforced elsewhere. It seems native to the network because it embodies the network’s inherent disposition towards hacking and world-building, overlapping fictions which take from anywhere to generate new stories. It reproduces not only the characters of other fictions, but the concepts of the network itself, open sourced and widely distributed. When it delves deeper into other realms of technology and sexuality, into slash and posthumanism, it produces new operating commands for ourselves in a technologically-mediated world, new cyborg ways of being.”

- James Bridle in DAZED AND CONFUSED - Hack Your Future/Hack The Word.

Recovered Suitcases from an Insane Asylum - via Salon. Entirely...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:24:07 +0100

Recovered Suitcases from an Insane Asylum - via Salon.

Entirely unrelated to the Black Crown suitcase, but interesting nonetheless.

Blacklist Publishing has released a free sampler of its upcoming...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:35:06 +0100

Blacklist Publishing has released a free sampler of its upcoming books - some titillating titles indeed.

Find out more about Blacklist over at their website.

Photo

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:24:13 +0100

“Some people say the best revenge is living well, I say...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:09:00 +0100

“Some people say the best revenge is living well, I say it’s acid in the face”

Mindy Kaling’s book - Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? - is available from Random House Audio now, read by the star herself. Buy it now, lol later.

Interview with Rob Sherman, author of BLACK CROWN

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:16:00 +0100

Learn about the dark beginnings of THE BLACK CROWN PROJECT, as Rob Sherman answers some questions about his incubation strategy. The first in a series of posts about Black Crown’s development.

1. What are the origins of the suitcase?

The suitcase came out of a lesser and a greater wish, respectively; the lesser wish was to do something that would net me a good mark. I’m nothing if not a lap-thing for teachers.

The greater wish was to do something that would interest me in the process, as well as in the imagining and construction of the writing itself; I rather arrogantly decided that, by using objects to tell stories, I had invented what I christened “artefact fiction”, when really it was just a piece of art, with extra waffle. But the suitcase, as far as I can recall, was the only firm point in the resulting map; all I knew is that my character was a traveller, and would need something to hold his possession. Like every junk shop everywhere, Sarah’s (the owner) was weighed down with beautiful old steamer trunks, knapsacks and carry-alls. After finding my suitcase, which was pelted with (a rather disgusting, if I am honest) faux red leather, and had a slightly disturbing, silky interior, I began to look at the surrounding tables for anything else that was interesting. That was the only prerequisite. There was no process, really, other than what looked good on the day. Much of the resulting bizaare mythology surrounding Loss came from trying to justify these object’s existing, whereas others I chose specifically because I had a use for them.

The gas mask came later. I went to the neighbouring army surplus shop for that, and the guy gravely told me that these old Russian models often still have a caulk of asbestos in them, but that I was, to paraphrase, “probably alright.”

2. What were the opportunities and challenges adapting this physical work into a digital one?

The challenges are fairly numerous. One is learning to use Storynexus, which was, and remains, a daunting task. It is an excellent example of a system with a few core tenets that can be extrapolated in almost infinite ways.

Another was the amount of extra work the digital sphere creates. A writer usually has their own clutch of worries; meter, rhythm, pattern, symoblism, voice, message, humour, tragedy. These are worries from which I am only just escaping. But the idea of bugs? They make me shudder just writing this. They are the most stressful feature of writing like this. The idea that your writing can just break, in a binary sense, with absolutely no way to retrieve meaning or clarity or even the next part of the bloody story without fixing that specific problem, is a sleep-stealer, that is certain.

Opportunities? I think that how we have managed to create a slick of content, rather than a block, and use the flat nature of the internet to spread ourselves out like some unspeakable, gravid sac, shows what online presentation affords something like this. The software gives us reach, and the writing gives us depth.

3. Can you describe the relationship between the original experience and the Widsith framework of Black Crown?

The two are extremely different. In fact, if you would like another challenge, creating the mythology of the Widsith Institute almost on the fly, while grafting it to all the capillaries that I wanted to keep from the original experience, caused more than a few facial saline distributions.

What I am most proud of is how the Institute still has a corporate atmosphere, but now it is far more allegorical and unique. Originally, the Institute was only a framework for the experience, a point of reference and an excuse for it even existing. If any of you have played Portal, and then read the original piece, you would see the overlaps very plainly. But shadowy corporations, while fun to write, are getting tired, and so the Institute is almost a relic of one, using the argot while couched in this lush, very old landscape.

Of course, there is more to it than that, but you will just have to be patient.

4. What are your views about non-linear reading experiences? Has their time come?

They have existed before, and to act otherwise would be a disservice to the people who created them. I think it is interesting, because the literary world has a pedigree of excellent writing, whilst, in the gaming world, non-linear storytelling has been around since engines could support the concept. I think barriers have certainly lowered, with software such as Storynexus, and… well, I cannot think of anything profound right now. People are interested in them, and what I think needs to happen, in orbit to this, is for the idea of art produced digitally, and presented digitally, to seep a little further into the public consciousness, for snobbery to haul itself up and retreat (because we will never get rid of it), and for things to become more acceptable. I see this as necessary from more of a practical point of view. Rather than the acceptance of the establishment, what this will predicate is more money finding its way into the sphere, and thus more experimentation, and exposure, and perhaps a change in the culture. Gaming has a lot of that money, and exposure, but the uptake of story over pattern replication is slow, in those parts of the industry that require it.

But then again, perhaps I am too late to the party. That change has happened already. But it feels wonderful to have the opportunity to put something that is not (let’s say) accessible out there, and for people to hear about it, and give it a consideration.

PLAY BLACK CROWN NOW

You may ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Dance of Death, Michael Wolgemut, 1493. “You cannot begin...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:47:09 +0100

Dance of Death, Michael Wolgemut, 1493.

“You cannot begin to understand how much fear plays a part in the lives of the ordinary Elizabethan man and woman. The very word ‘God-fearing’ says it all. There is a decided fear of the judgement of the Almighty – whether that is a fear that you will be sent to Hell after death (and Protestants do not believe in Purgatory, so it really is a case of Heaven or Hell) or simply a fear that God will smite you down with a terrible sickness so that you can atone for whatever terrible sins you have committed through physical suffering.” The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England : A Sensory Ride.

Follow Vintage Design for the chance to win some extremely...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:35:16 +0100

Follow Vintage Design for the chance to win some extremely beautiful books…

Find out what it was really like in Elizabethan England as Ian...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:23:00 +0100

Find out what it was really like in Elizabethan England as Ian Mortimer takes you through its sights, sounds, smells and frights in The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England: A Sensory Ride. - Now a major BBC series.

Literature and gaming collide to create new opportunities for book publishers, startups and writers - video

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:34:54 +0100

Literature and gaming collide to create new opportunities for book publishers, startups and writers - video:

The Media Network visited Digital Enterprise Greenwich to find out how two startups and one well known book publisher are using digital technologies and matching up disciplines from publishing and gaming to transform literature and storytelling.

Artwork from Black Crown author Rob Sherman’s website -...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 10:45:24 +0100

Artwork from Black Crown author Rob Sherman’s website - www.bonfiredog.co.uk - by Jack Teagle and Sarah Alice . We don’t know who these fellows are, but like their hats.

See more at Rob’s website.

"The idea is that, rather than leading you by the nose through a story, having a non-linear..."

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:27:13 +0100

“The idea is that, rather than leading you by the nose through a story, having a non-linear collection of documents, artefacts and interactions will encourage players to gradually tease out a story of tragic love and exploration while uncovering more about the nature of the Institute and its Black Crown project.”

- ‘Black Crown marks book publisher’s first foray into gaming’ - WIRED.CO.UK

Black Crown begins!

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:23:11 +0100

Black Crown begins!

Mour, Mour, Mour - coming soon to an ebook retailer near you.

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:25:09 +0100

Mour, Mour, Mour - coming soon to an ebook retailer near you.

vintagebooksdesign: VINTAGE RIDER HAGGARD Limited Edition...

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:24:16 +0100

vintagebooksdesign:

VINTAGE RIDER HAGGARD

Limited Edition Posters

To celebrate the release of She and King Solomon’s Mines, we have two limited edition posters to download. Simply click on one of the images above, and save to use as you wish.

Our new Vintage Classic covers were inspired by classic movie posters, along with pulp magazines from the early 20th Century.

Hot.

It’s an uncertain world out there, at least if you’re perched at...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:33:40 +0100

It’s an uncertain world out there, at least if you’re perched at the top of a publishing house.

Everyone always presents the past as orderly and the future as chaotic. But the exact same debates came up when radio was first introduced, and then again when television was introduced: The previous Cambrian die-off of newspapers came when TV pioneered the evening news and people went home to watch TV rather than buy an evening paper. So the people who are confused about the multiplicity of platforms are the people who aren’t used to multiple platforms. People who wrongly believed that the way the world happened to be reflected how the world really was at a deep level, they get upset. But they always get upset anyways; they are conservatives. Young people aren’t confused at all.

Clay Shirky in The European - discussing institutional inertia, censorship in the App Store, and what it means to be a journalist in 2013.

"Carl’s tired, and that’s OK. That’s how he must be. That’s part of the..."

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:08:21 +0100

“

Carl’s tired, and that’s OK. That’s how he must be. That’s part of the zeitgeist of the Web, as Carl once explained it to me. People don’t surf the Web to find “cool” stuff, he said, they do it for the pure joy of the hunt.

The Web is a place where you go, without ever getting anywhere. And that’s its infinite beauty, says the always-dreaming, ever-searching, totally tired Carl: “It’s the journey, not the destination, on the Web.”

”

- A fascinating window into the early days of the internet and its radical pioneers, way back in 1996, on longform.org - from Wired’s 20th anniversary ebook