the future of books

The Refinement ClubMating Ideas

#MassRefinement 04

THE FUTUREOF BOOKS


The Refinement ClubStarted out with Johannes Rummelhoff and Gro Larsson, meeting to solve problems and publish concepts, but evolved into being a forum for sharing ideas. We brought in Benedikte Kluge to help organize what we now call Mass-Refinements.

Mass-Refinements are about bringing people together to share their ideas and thoughts on a certain subject. We then take the input from the session and put it in context. This time we talked about the future of the book.


How can we expand & enrich the reading

experience and keep the art of the book when/if we leave paper behind?


‣ Quality What will happen to the quality of literature if self-publishing takes over? The future of publishing houses and editors were a big part of the discussions.

‣ Sharing Social reading and its possibilities.

‣ Context Getting information that is relevant to what you’re reading, which in turn can enhance your reading experience.

INSIGHTS


‣ Enrichments Enrich the reading experience beyond the written word.

‣ Co-creation New ways of writing.

‣ Distribution How, where and what’s the price?

INSIGHTS


SMART CURATIONMaking publishers relevant in the future

Imagine when a book is like a video on Youtube. How do you find the book you should read? A video might only take a few seconds for you to realize if it’s any good or not, but a book needs more time.

This is the perfect opportunity for a publishing house to stay relevant by using their expertise to guide you to your new literary experience.


Smart curation learns by your behaviour and reading habits and adds your peers into the mix.

Smart curation works a bit like the iPad app Zite, and suggests new books for you to read. The proposals depend on the your pre-selected preferences in genres, authors and books you like, but it also learns by your behavior within the application and your reading habits.

By blending in your friends’ preferred readings, and suggestions, the perfect read is almost guaranteed...

http://www.zite.com/

http://www.zite.com/


Expert curation, browsing and micro-payments.

Last we add a premium option, an expert with vast skills and knowledge within your interest fields. This expert organizes, optimizes and refines the algorithmic and social curation. This retains and expands the bookstore/library experience and gives the user a unique opportunity to dive into a perfectly tailored book journey.

All the books are browseable and utilize micro payments, so if you find a book you think you like, you can read the first chapter for free. You can then decide to buy the book or pay a small amount to read a little further into the book, if you’re still undecided. The transaction takes place directly in the app / website.


EXPANDING THE BOOKEnriching the reading experience

When you’re reading books, you often want to understand more about the content, from the meaning of a foreign word, pictures/ maps of the scenery, to encyclopedia descriptions and author's notes.

Like Kindle books are linked to Oxford English Dictionary, which let's you look up words, there should be a link to a user generated reference guide, edited in the same way as Wikipedia, with references, analysis, sound tracks, cultural references and historical events.

The combination of Wikipedia policy, granting quality content, inline and accessible in the book, makes this unique.


Contextual connections - connecting books and passages with other content and passages based on the context of the book.

By expanding and linking the content of books and knowledge in a meaningful way, a more fulfilling and elaborate reading experience will occur.

A contextual book connects the analogue book to the cloud and leverages the collective intelligence of all the users on the internet and gives the reader a deeper insight of the book and its theme.


‣ Literary references For example, if you’re reading a book where the main character is reading Moby Dick, the contextual book will show you the passage that is most relevant to what you are reading.

‣ Soundtrack Listen to the music that is picked to set the mood, or music that is featured in the story you are reading. There can also be user generated alternatives

‣ Film & photos See footage that is relevant to what you’re reading.

EXAMPLES


‣ Notes & comments Share notes and comments, public or specific for certain individuals or groups.

‣ Plot & characters Easily get an overview of who’s who and did what in lengthy, character rich novels.

‣ Cloud connected Search for any word or sentence, and find relevant websites.

EXAMPLES


DEMOCRATIZING THE BOOK BUSINESSCo-creating books and self-publishing

The business of books and literature is a hierarchic business where it’s difficult to get your books published. It’s time to take a look at how we write and publish books in the world of tomorrow.


Co-creation - books tapping into the collective intelligence.

A system that facilitates and encourages authors to collaborate and share experiences and expertise. Books written by many authors can exceed in quality and engagement, by providing a broader foundation, than books written by just one author. You could call it open source writing!


Self-publishing - embracing the long tail.

There are already a lot of services available for self-publishing and we think there’s a lot of potential in this segment, but there’s also some things to consider. Like how do we retain the quality?

One idea could be if the self-publish service would also provide expert editors for a premium fee, or to crowdsource it.


THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS. WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK?


Ideas conceived at The Refinement Club’s Mass-Refinement v.04


‣ KATACHI MAGAZINE‣ Benedikte Kluge‣ Gro Larsson‣ Johannes Rummelhoff

FACILITATED BY:

Thanks to all the participants!


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