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NEW TECHNOLOGY, OLD METHODS
The Star, In.Tech, Dec 4, 2003
WE ARE lucky – we live in a technologically advanced world where there
are many devices and gadgets that make our lives so much easier.
A lot of the things that are available to us today were not around in
our parents’ and grandparents’ generation.
If we want to, we can find and e-mail our favourite singer, we can find
their songs online, buy the songs, and download them to our portable MP3
players.
We can find products and even buy them online, and have them shipped
right to our doorsteps.
Almost everything is at our fingertips.
Writers no longer have to wait for that big break.
The technology is here today for them to put their works out there – to
reach the public.
Sure, it may not give them the recognition or the fat cheque they hope
for, but imagine writing a story here in Malaysia which is then read by
people in Croatia, New Zealand and Mexico!
There are so many avenues to market and sell creative works. Writers
could put their works online for the whole world to enjoy. They could
offer PDF downloads at a price, or offer a subscription service for a fee.
They could even burn their stories onto CD-Rs to be sold to interested
buyers.
Yet, it is sad to note that writers in general are still not embracing
technology and using it to the best of its capabilities to help harness a
bigger audience for their works.
Most writers still wait to be discovered, to find that one publisher
who will be the answer to all their prayers.
At the recent Asian Children’s Writers & Illustrators Conference 2003
held in Singapore, not one writer who had ventured into the online world
was to be found.
Every participant fancied himself a writer or illustrator and every
participant was waiting for that golden opportunity to be “discovered.”
Obstacles
Why are writers not embracing the technology available today?
Partly, the problem lies with the technology which has not yet
fermented itself in the minds of writers. Singaporean self-published
children’s writer Jessie Wee says, “I am a computer dinosaur. It is a good
suggestion (to publish online) if I can find someone to help me and advise
me on how to do this.”
Others like Indonesia’s Dr Murti Bunanta, children’s literature
specialist/ lecturer/ editor and writer, and Britain’s Diane Taylor admit
being interested in exploring the Web a bit more (perhaps for marketing
purposes), but say the lack of time is a major factor.
Bunanta says she is the only children’s literature specialist in her
country. Looking at her calling card which lists all her jobs and
functions, one can hardly blame her for not having the time to explore the
digital domain.
She is also the founder and president of the Society for the
Advancement of Children’s Literature.
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Taylor: "People are still very worried about getting their work stolen.
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Taylor, whose book Singapore Children’s Favourite Stories was recently
published and is available in Malaysia, says: “Firstly, I haven’t given up
on finding a publisher. Secondly, people are still very worried about
getting their work stolen.”
Another author Geneieve Kwek says that nothing beats holding a book.
“Turning its pages, feeling the texture of the paper and admiring the
illustrations is part of the romance of reading. I can go back to this
lifelong companion and re-read and put other thumb prints on it because it
is truly mine. I can’t say reading an e-book would have the same intimacy.
“From the writer’s point of view, a published book is nearly as eternal
as life beyond. I don’t know where my work will be through the electronic
web.”
Susan McKenzie, an editor at Berkeley Books Pte Ltd, believes that most
children’s writers do not make their stories available online because of
various reasons, including lack of relevant know-how and technical skills,
fear of works being easily copied, and because it would be harder to make
money from stories published online.
“I think if I was an unpublished author and did not have the technical
skills to set up a website virtually for free then I may not feel it is
worth the money to do so,” says McKenzie.
“Web publishing is definitely worth thinking about but I am not sure
what print publishers would think about that — does this increase or
reduce sales potential, should you then take your idea to them?”
McKenzie, however, points out some benefits to publishing online. “At
least you see it in a ‘published’ form, you get feedback and you can use
the medium to practise your writing skills and hopefully improve.
“I was inspired by what (storyteller and author) Tanya Batt said at the
conference — there are many ways to get the expression out. I won’t deny
that if you can be published by an international publisher the exposure is
far greater and also longer — some children’s books have been in print for
over 50 years, for example The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown.
“But if you really believe in your work, then giving joy to a small
crowd is better than nothing and who knows where it might lead.”
Publishers not convinced
Both Radhika Menon, managing editor of Tulika Publishers (www.tulikabooks.com)
of India, and Michael Katz of Canadian publisher Tradewind Books (www.tradewindbooks.com),
agree that online publishing – be it in the form of e-books, or
downloadable PDF documents – is not going to take over from the good old
hardcopy book.
Radhika suggests that e-books could help reach more people in her
multilingual country and help to alleviate the literacy problem that is
rampant there.
Says Radhika of e-books, “It is happening, but it is not happening big.
Obviously there are problems with it – the technology, the accessibility
of the technology. It hasn’t yet become popular.
“I think with children’s books, accessibility is a major problem
whereas maybe with academic books and adult books it’s easier (to sell
digital books) because with universities and libraries, accessibility is
not such a problem.”
On the other hand, Radhika says, perhaps online books would be a better
way of reaching people in a country that is as big as India where all you
would need is a computer in a village for the children to access books.
“A very real problem with books is where do you store them,” points out
Radhika. “There are schools without walls (in India), so how do you access
books then? Maybe if you have one computer somewhere and children can go
there to read, maybe (this will help). In fact there are very backward
areas in India that have gone completely online and it’s really made
remarkable progress in terms of literacy. So I wouldn’t dismiss
(electronic books).
“In fact I am looking at it the other way — not so much for the upper
class or elite market, but really for a much wider reach at the
grassroots. I think technology can play a major role there.”
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Katz: Academic, scientific and reference books might be ideal for online publishing.
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Tradewind’s Katz, on the other hand, suggests that academic, scientific
and reference books might be ideal for online publishing.
“Maybe academic books could be published online,” says Katz. “Academic
books are very expensive and only for three or four hundred people, so
maybe publishers could make them available (as e-books).
“I think certain kinds of books (could be produced as e-books); not
novels, not for recreational or entertainment books, but for specific
purposes.”
Katz believes online publishing has not taken off because people want
real books. “What is being published online more and more are pamphlets,
even company reports, things that really don’t need to be in print, that
people throw away afterwards. You can get a PDF of it, read it, then dump
it in your trash. It doesn’t waste paper.
“But a book … I don’t even think novels … people aren’t reading them
online,” says Katz shaking his head contemplatively.
“I think computers are good for games and interactive things. They
tried interactive books. Paul Allen put a lot of money into interactive
books, but it was so expensive to develop and people didn’t use them
properly. They virtually became games, so you might as well develop
games.”
Networking tool
While online publishing has not taken off in a big way, the benefits of
the Internet cannot be discounted.
Author Taylor praises the Web for giving children today more choices of
which medium they want to read from.
Personally, she says, the Internet has helped her network with people
of similar interests.
“I think when you are very busy and you haven’t got time to go to
writers’ groups, it’s a way of linking up with other people with the same
interests. It’s also quite good if you’re shy and you’re kind of worried
about meeting them. On the Net you are anonymous and nobody can freeze you
out. I really like the online groups that reach writers in other countries
and not just where I live.”
Tulika’s Radhika agrees that the Internet has made networking a lot
easier. “Whole books have been worked on online; the entire book happens
through e-mail from the author to the publisher,” she says.
“We make our contacts through e-mail, because going to international
bookfairs is very expensive and a lot of followup is done on the Net. It’s
invaluable. For smaller companies like us, selling books online may not
generate too much business, but in terms of networking with writers and
illustrators or with other publishers and distributors it’s been quite
good.”
Tradewind’s Katz adds that the Web makes work easier for publishers as
whole catalogues can now be put online. “Basically it’s good for the small
publisher, because everyone is equal online. If you do a search for
‘children’s publisher’ you have as good a chance of finding me as you are
of getting HarperCollins. Customers can see your books, they can see what
you do, you can have a profile online without spending a lot of money.
Everybody around the world can find you fairly easily.
“It’s a marketing tool. Also for selling rights, it’s very good. I’ve
sold book rights over the Net without sending anything over. It’s
expensive sending things over by courier to Australia or wherever. I’ve
sold books without people even seeing the physical copy, just pictures on
the Web.”
Citing an example of how the Web can help authors get published, Katz
suggests authors have websites where publishers can view their work.
“Writers sometimes try to send me manuscripts through the Web. I
sometimes look at them, but I don’t get back to them. I don’t think it’s
very polite. But they could set up a website where you could go and choose
a manuscript to read if you wanted to. It’s better to give publishers a
choice instead of sending manuscripts to them,” he says.
Not the end
There’s no denying that the printed book is still very much preferred
over its digital cousins. Reading online or in digital format is just not
the same when it comes to books.
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Betten: "I think people are more interested in real books, not online publishing." |
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Says Lioba Betten, project director of Books for All in Munich,
Germany, “I think people are more interested in real books, and not online
publishing. Maybe (online publishing) is coming in the future.
“If the book market is not so good in the future, if book prices are
too high and people cannot afford to buy books, or libraries cannot afford
to have books, maybe then online books will become more popular.
“I think (the Internet) is a good tool, but not for books. I think the
computer and the Internet can never take over from the good old book. It
is different. A digital book is still new. Maybe the next generation will
get more used to electronic books.”
Tulika’s Radhika agrees with Betten and singles out the example of the
advent of television.
“With television they said newspapers and magazines were going to
disappear. In fact what statistics show is that there are more newspapers
than ever before.
“It would work in a complementary manner, but I don’t think it means
the end of the print medium.”
Says Tradewind’s Katz: “When your book is printed in hardcopy, somebody
has decided your work is worth publishing, and they’re willing to go to
some expense to a printer to make it into an object that really does last.
Some other person has said this is really good.”
Although digital or electronic books and stories might reach a wider
audience, offer more interactivity and even be more accessible, it looks
like it will still be a long while before it replaces the printed book.
Katz sums it up plainly: “People don’t want to read a book on the
computer. What could be better than a paper book? It lasts a long time.
These books are designed to last 200 years without degrading.”
•The Asian Children’s Writers & Illustrators Conference 2003, organised by the National Book Development
Council of Singapore (www.nbdcs.org.sg)
was held on Nov 20 & 21.
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
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Still waiting for the smarthome, July 19, 2005
Appealing to old and young alike, June 23, 2005
Debunking the geek myth, June 16, 2005
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Tech Doors Opening to the Blind, Oct 14 , 2004
Learning The PC Starts At 60, June 10, 2004
The HTML's On The Blackboard, May 25, 2004
Soaring Into Digital Art, Apr 15, 2003
Santa Goes High-Tech, Dec 24, 2002
Bringing Art Home, Oct 01, 2002
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