The Book as Directory

By Silvio Lorusso, May 29, 2013

[Originally posted on Doppiozero with the title “Quando il lettore diventa utente”] The debate around the *future* of publishing never lost momentum. For decades writers, publishers, programmers and designers have been discussing the revolutionary possibilities of the electronic book in terms of rich media, non-linearity and augmentation. The iPad just gave a new boost to [...]

NOTES ON EPUB DEVELOPMENT IN ADOBE INDESIGN CS6

By Silvio Lorusso, May 21, 2013

Version: 0.1 – May 11th, 2013 Abstract These notes focus on the ways an InDesign CS6 file should be arranged in order to be appropriately exported as ePub. Further insights are provided in order to improve quality of the exported ePub in terms of file size, metadata, layout. Required Knowledge Adobe InDesign CS6 Basic HTML [...]

A Layered Book

By Silvio Lorusso, May 20, 2013

I am not advocating the sheer accumulation of data, or arguing for links to databanks—so-called hyperlinks. These can amount to little more than an elaborate form of footnoting. Instead of bloating the electronic book, I think it possible to structure it in layers arranged like a pyramid. The top layer could be a concise account [...]

Testing the Unlike Us Reader ePub Version on Kobo Mini, Sony Reader PRS-T2, Cresta CEB665

By Silvio Lorusso, May 17, 2013

Preview of the Unlike Us Reader, mobi version

By Silvio Lorusso, May 13, 2013

Available digital versions of Cory Doctorow’s “With a Little Help”

By Silvio Lorusso, April 28, 2013

As a strategy for dissemination, the novel “With a Little Help” by Cory Doctorow is provided in 5 different official formats. Some fan-converted versions are available as well. http://craphound.com/walh/e-book/browse-all-versions

“EBooks violate the fundamental promise of the Internet”

By Silvio Lorusso, April 25, 2013

EBooks violate the fundamental promise of the Internet. Anyone can publish a website. Anyone can offer content for free or sell whatever they want from a website. Small commissions to payment processors and web hosting costs notwithstanding, the Internet empowers a seller to engage directly with a buyer. Ebooks break this promise; the writer should [...]

Ebooks and Ownership

By Silvio Lorusso, April 15, 2013

In current research for Microsoft, Sellen has learned that many people do not feel much ownership of e-books because of their impermanence and intangibility: “They think of using an e-book, not owning an e-book,” she says. Ferris Jabr, The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens, Scientific American

Publishing Companies Are Technology Companies

By Silvio Lorusso, April 13, 2013

It’s true that success for any individual experiment is far from guaranteed, and the form and marketplace are still evolving. But there are rewards for early investments in a nascent medium: ownership of repeatable workflows, an understanding of how authors can bridge the creative divide, creation of reusable technology, and most importantly pioneering the development [...]

Paper + Digital Access

By Silvio Lorusso, April 6, 2013

It makes sense to have a third tier of book: paper + digital access. I am more than willing to pay a little extra for a book if it means that I have a copy for my library shelves and I can read it on a tablet on the subway. Amazon in particular is well [...]