The literary and publishing ecosystem is facing a major transformation, an uncertain future that Kosmopolis has explored on other occasions. Bookcamp 4 looks at the limits and possibilities of the book format from different viewpoints. What opportunities does the digital surround offer to expand stories? Why is there a resistance to exchanging print for e-books? How are major publishing mergers and international sales platforms combining with the boom in new publishers and local bookstores? Can we all be authors? What about the rights of the reader?
The Lessons of Fiktion, an International Model Project on Digital Literature
Fiktion.cc is a publishing project set up in 2013 by German- and English-language writers to explore the digital distribution of challenging literature. In cooperation with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), and funded by a grant from the German Federal Cultural Foundation, Fiktion publishes German- and English-language literature simultaneously in the two languages, free of charge. Fiktion is experimentally rejecting the economic needs of the publishing business and working on the creation of an international network of writers that currently includes Elfriede Jelinek, Tom McCarthy and Momus. Ingo Niermann, co-founder of Fiktion, talks about Fiktion’s experiences so far, particularly about the development of a new e-reader that is supposed to enhance our concentration by challenging the analogy of the current e-book format with the printed book.
Innovation and Digital Narratives for Writers and Editors
How are authors and editors adapting to storytelling in the digital age? Why should publishers start experimenting with this type of narrative? What are the challenges and opportunities? Nathan Hull answers these questions with examples of his experience at Penguin Random House UK and Mofibo, including YourFry, the recent multilingual global platform set up with the collaboration of Stephen Fry.
New Business Models in The Publishing Industry: Abundance of Content, Forms of Access and Revenue Generation
The coincidence of the economic crisis and the change of paradigm brought about by the irruption of the digital into the publishing world, the difficulty of managing the attention economy in the face of an abundance of all manner of contents in a variety of formats, and the changes undergone by both our content consumption habits and the value we accord them are major challenges for the publishing industry. Publishers are having to come up with new business models and turn around existing ones to generate revenue in order to guarantee their survival in the short, medium and long term. In this lecture, Carmen Ospina (Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial) talks about new business models in the publishing industry.
The Book: from Print to Pixel. The State of Play
When the electronic book came into being, it seemed as though the print version would have to bow out. Recent news items and studies confirm that, for the moment, this won’t happen, but the influence and importance of the print book in the digital society continues to decrease. Is the publishing sector doing everything it should to encourage the demand for e-books or is it pleased about the supposed stagnation in digital sales? Do we really believe that the print book will be more important than e-books in the digital era? What can we do to increase the percentages of e-book readers? How can we enhance the physical experience of discovering and buying books in bookshops by incorporating all kinds of technologies? Javier Celaya talks in this lecture about all these questions.
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