The first Book Camp Toronto (aka Book Camp TO or #bcto09 for Twitter devotees) was nothing less than a smashing success.
So What Are the Big Questions?
Bookcamp: An Unreview
So it is inevitable that when you are involved in an unconference that it is impossible to adequately provide a synopsis of what was covered. There are too many threads, not to mention dead-ends that many of the conversations can take. But there was an enviable comraderie where everyone present felt invested in solving the problems at hand in the publishing industry. And maybe classifying them as problems is unfair when really what they are is something the human race is pretty good at solving—challenges.
Stimulating E-Books: Part Two
Like identical twins, just because e-books and print books are born from the same material does not mean they behave or even look like carbon copies. Finding ways to bring out the different but equal potential in each will allow for well-adjusted creations who don’t need literary therapy at a later date.
From the IDPF 2009 Digital Book Summit, three major considerations came to light.
E-Book Stimulus Plan: IDPF 2009 (Part One)
In the Beginning, There Was EPUB Boot Camp
It’s finally happening. The eBook is coming to fruition as a thing that some people want. It didn’t work with Rocket EBook, but with new technologies—eInk, wireless readers, smart phones, etc—people are reading books off of a screen.
BookNet Canada and the Association of Canadian Publisher’s EPUB Boot Camp was a great introduction to the format and general overview of the available tech.
EPUB Boot Camp: Get Your Hands Dirty
No Country for Old Media: Why Technology Is Important to Small Publishers—BNC Tech Forum '09 Intern Report
Before I joined the BookNet gang as their wily intern, I was (and still am) a coordinating editor at a small literary press. Admittedly, I had seen the electronic book and the online world to some extent, a dystopian literary landscape composed entirely of celebrity scandal pics and text-message shout outs to various boo’s across the cyber-sphere.
I learned a lot. The BNC Technology Forum 2008 was a great conference and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of the future, and specifically how small presses have an incredible advantage right now. Publishers need to embrace the new mediums and prosper. In that vein, I’ve created a list of five things every small publisher should consider when evaluating their place in this brave new world.
What's Next After Tech Forum?
You know that feeling you get the day after your birthday when you wake up feeling slightly groggy to stare at the day-old cake plates and empty libation bottles littered about your people-less abode? At BNC, we’d like to shield you (and ourselves) from that ‘big event is over now what do I have to look forward to’ feeling by pointing out there is more! so much more! coming up in the next few months regarding books, tech, books and tech, and tech and books both.
Downloadable PPT of Michael Tamblyn's #BNC09 Tech Forum Talk
I awoke Saturday morning to a bunch of requests for this, so here it is. The Slideshare version has been updated to allow downloading (but only if you have Keynote). You can also grab a PowerPoint version here.
