IN PICTURES
“A ‘book’ is a set of written, printed, illustrated, �or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, �or other materials, fastened together to hinge �at one side.” �
Wikipedia
The goal of Editions At Play is to allow writers to create ‘books that cannot be printed’. �Books that are written to change dynamically on your phone or tablet using the internet.
Editions at Play is an initiative from Visual Editions and Google’s Creative Lab in Sydney, with an identity created by interactive design firm Universal Everything.
LEFT to RIGHT: Anna Gerber & Britt Iverson, Visual Editions | Google’s Creative Lab, Sydney | Matt Pyke, Universal Everything
Working with developers, editors and designers, four books by international authors will be released over the next few months (Feb-Apr 2016) with further follow-ups slated for later in the year.
“Books can seek to engage the next generation on their phones as well as in print.
“E-reader use is declining* while phones offer countless new ways to construct narrative and read deeply. These are books that can compete for attention on your phone via incredible, dynamic literature.”
T. L. Uglow, Google’s Creative Lab
*Source: Pew Research Centre
The team behind the books used paper prototypes to understand the issues opened up by a move from physical to digital reading.
Physical books have qualities that do not transfer well to digital. �Editions at Play demonstrates that digital has narrative qualities that cannot transfer to print.
Each book uses different aspects of web technology to explore the possibilities of digital books. “Everything we see that doesn’t work for readers is as helpful as seeing what does work” says the team. “Obviously the most important thing is that the book is easy to read and enjoyable.”
The books are sold through Google Play Books to make the transaction simple for both publishers and readers. Buying a book allows access to special mobile websites (‘digital books’) that use the unbound, data-led qualities of the web. They are designed to be read on Android and iOS.
The team set three principles for any book project to be considered for Editions At Play: �1. Books must be envisioned as ‘mobile-first’ �2. Books should have pages�3. Books must use the dynamic qualities of the web
In the first wave of books is Entrances & Exits by Reif Larsen. A book set ‘inside’ Google Street View in which the author imagines a fictional narrative set around a set of real locations, captured in time, which the reader can navigate.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs by Sam Riviere and Joe Dunthorne is a dual narrative where the reader can move between the words of the two authors as they engage in a cultural rivalry, inviting readers to take sides. Giving the reader the power to move between two viewpoints creates a complex emotional connection to the protagonists.
Penguin Random House UK is the first major publisher to join, collaborating with Lex on a March release. STRATA is a book that creates its own mini-universe, directed and illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards, with music and sound design by Tara Busch. Comprising science fiction and essays by eight stellar writers, each story is a portal that will take you deeper into STRATA; each essay will reveal another layer of science that underpins the world.
At completely the other end of the spectrum is the quiet and gentle exploration of the progressively deteriorating state of a father’s mind. Created by Alan Trotter, All This Rotting features text that changes as you read, evoking the fragility of reality and challenging our certainty in the written word.
On the site are a number of additional concept books from authors, soliciting suggestions from readers. They range from the improbable “books that are implanted in the neurocortex”, to infinite stories “like 1001 nights, except forever”, to a historical novel built around a chess app where your moves change the narrative.
“We commissioned authors with open minds and a sense of adventure”, says Anna Gerber [Visual Editions]. “But it’s not about changing writing, this is for readers and exploring new possibilities of the book as a form and how we read.”
Dynamic digital books are also known as electronic literature (eliterature archive) and have been online since the earliest days of the web. Editions at Play is an attempt to introduce new digital writing in beautifully designed digital books for a new mobile-based audience.
LEFT: 253 is a hypertext novel by Geoff Ryman, created as a website in 1996 then published as a paper book in 1998.
RIGHT: Editions at Play website provides a way to find and buy books that cannot be printed using Google Play
“Text or words on a screen are not a book; that is a blog, an app, a quote, a gas bill. But a few folded pages, even without text, is still ‘a book’.
“The pages in Editions at Play books can change like the weather, or have words that disappear or transform. So we needed something traditional, like pages. Pages mean books.”
Anna Gerber & Britt Iverson, Visual Editions
Reading is at the heart of the project. We hope to promote new reading experiences. The early books are short and are perfect entry points for digital literature. Success means the books are read and enjoyed by many people. �Editions at Play are in discussion with other amazing authors for 2016/17.
The Editions At Play team is aware its approach may ruffle a few feathers. We are not out to challenge conventional publishing. We just want to open some doors to new ways of reading and writing literature that may fit better with 21st century sensibilities.
“The first step to creating books for your phone is to describe the book, not the technology. The experimental geeky parts are not the book. Books are the alchemy in the mind of your reader.
“Nothing interesting happens if we keep talking & writing about tech but not making anything. We need to put our toes in the water.”
Tom Uglow, Creative Director, Google’s Creative Lab in Sydney