The Future of Fantasy: Clickable Links, Interactive Maps and More

[D.H.]

There is no doubt technology has changed the landscape of reading. Goodreads is only one such example. Not only are books no longer confined to a physical paper copy, they can be enjoyed any number of ways, from reading them on your e-reader to listening to an audio version over your iPod.

And authors and marketers are going even further than that. Technology opens the door to many new and innovative ways to enjoy a story. Some fantasy ebooks now include links to interactive maps, character descriptions and even alternate endings. Some hook you up with music that compliments the reading while others send you to watch a video clip.

What are your thoughts about these new trends? Is it just a fad or do you think it will catch on? If you have read a book with any of these features (or one that I didn't list above - please share with us what it was!), what did you think of the experience? Did it add to or detract from the story?

[Heidi]

As a reader it is an interesting concept, though it annoys me becauyse I like good old fashioned books. As an author I pray that it doesn't catch on and become "the thing". It is becoming more and more difficult to be an indie as all this new technology comes out. I am a team of a very, very few and it is sooooo hard to keep up with all this new stuff needed to even have a hope of selling books... and yet... off I go to make a book trailer and book marks and work on my audio book! Gotta give the public what they want!!

[Travis, Moderator]

I keep hoping to see a platform come along, be it web-based or simple and cheap downloadable software, that allows someone proficient in basic word processor skills to drop and drag images and links and video into the middle of a publication.

I think Fantasy as well as many other genres could benefit big-time and create an awesome, rich ebook experience for readers.

Today, to create that kind of interactive ebook, you would easily spend hundreds, if not thousands on the content creation, formatting and conversion, and still there would be many retail platforms and ereader devices that would not support all of the interactive content.

We are on the cusp of a whole new kind of book, but the technology providers and software providers are doing a crappy job of enabling this.

I see a huge whole in the market and a massive opportunity for a software/solutions provider to come up with a simple to use ebook creation tool/platform.

Nothing that Amazon or Nook or any other place has ever come up with allows for quick and easy ebook creation including music, video, GIF's, flash imagery and expandable images.

A smart software provider could literally make millions in months by setting up this platform for ebook creation, with zero content oversight. Let us make what we will and just pay a flat fee for use of the platform to create our little projects.

It needs to convert out to mobi, pdf, html, prc, and epub, and if they were smart, they would also retail ISBN's, solving all ebook creation problems in one package.

Its like a massive blackhole vaccum in the ebook creation industry.

[Heidi]

Interesting point. You would think that if web designers can figure it out, the next logical step would be to put together something like this. But again, without knowing the viability of the market, it is kind of a crap shoot.

[Travis, Moderator]

And the software is really there already. Look at blogs, they way you can drop in imagery and text and html plugins and other stuff.

If a blog software setup was used with an ebook conversion service, anyone capable of posting to a blog could make an ebook with live links, video, music, images, GIF's, widgets, html plug-ins, the whole 9 yards.

All we need is to mate blog creation software with ebook conversion.

Its that simple.

[Heidi]

Lol, my husband is in software development and it is nowhere near that simple (though one would think that it should be!) I wouldn't be surprised if Smashwords wasn't working on a product like this, what with their meatgrinder system making conversion "easy". (Though, in my experience it rarely works so nicely, even when you follow all the rules!)

[D.H.]

Readers, does the thought of picking up an interactive book intrigue you? Have any of you read one and if so, what did you think?

[Travis, Moderator]

You know what would be cool, a real ebook version of those "choose your own adventure" books, where the chapters are hidden, inaccessible, until you unlock them with a decision of what you want to happen next.

Once you click, then BAM, the next chapter is available based on what you chose. Instead of going to "page XXX", the ebook auto-aligns and off you go.

But those other chapters floating out there are inaccessible if you haven't unlocked them with a certain decision.

That would be a fun ebook to both read and create. (mid-grade fantasy)

:)

[Xdyj]

I've read a few hypertext fantasy fictions which allow readers to jump between paragraphs & story lines & tend to make extensive use of non-linear narrative, cross references, fonts, images & various metafiction techniques. I think Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl is one which is very well written, however it's written in the 90s & probably would not run on many modern operating systems.

Also, I think technology changes has enabled more intensive interaction between authors and readers, so maybe in the future some fantasy fiction will be "published" in the model of fanfiction.net or wikipedia, as collaborative projects without clear distinction between creators and audience.

[D.H.]

I'm glad you brought up that point, Xdyj. I have a few author friends who write in a similar way. For example, Nancy Brauer wrote the sci-fi / dystopian a chapter a week and posted each chapter online. Her readers then wrote in and gave suggestions on how they wanted the next chapter to go. She would then write the next chapter based entirely upon reader input. Each new chapter would be written this way. So in essence, Nancy became the ghost writer for a collaboration of readers. Very interesting concept!

[Angela]

Please no maps! Avoid maps at all costs! If you want to read what I mean, please refer to The Tough Guide to Fantasyland Why can't where the hero needs to go ever be next door?

[Mia]

Hey Travis,

here's an old article from "The Guardian" which has a number of those "choose your own adventure" type books, you mentioned.

Another book that has a lot of interactivity is the "Deathbook"-series by Andreas Winkelmann, but it's in German. ;-)

[J.A.]

D.H. wrote: "There is no doubt technology has changed the landscape of reading. Goodreads is only one such example. Not only are books no longer confined to a physical paper copy, they can be enjoyed any number..."

Isn't it interesting that we're discussing all these innovative technological additions to reading in a fantasy stream, when fantasy, traditionally, has been a backward-looking genre, usually set in a medieval past? Ironic that readers want to read about a simpler, pastoral era, but with all the bells & whistles of the future.
I mostly agree with Heidi here, though Travis's ideas are fascinating. But you have to start with a good story, well-told. All the rest is costuming. And I worry that it would be easy to get caught up in the tech gimmicks and lose focus on the basic elements that make a good story. Readers might find that cool at first, but without the solid underpinnings of a great story, they'll soon get bored with the technological innovations, which will only be innovations for a very short while, and then be "sooo last year". Me, I like to get lost in a good story, and would find all these pop-ups annoying distractions. But AFTER the story, when I'm still caught up in it & don't want it to be over yet, that's when I wouldn't mind the videos, the alternate endings, the interactive additions. I like to watch the "bloopers & cuts" at the end of a GOOD movie, although I don't bother if the movie itself didn't entertain me. And I wouldn't want those distractions in the middle of the movie, taking me out of the story.
However, it's impossible to tell which innovations will catch on, and which won't. Hemmingway's move to a simpler, clearer writing style changed the way we write forever. James Joyce's move to inner, stream-of-consciousness writing didn't. A generation that become used to a new way of experiencing story might come to demand them, and find an ebook without them boring.

[Stan]

At some point I plan to create Google Docs of all the chapters in my free book and make links to Wikipedia entries. For example if I mention Baker's Point Lookout, or a particular kind of woodpecker, the link would go to the Wiki entry.

[Troy]

I actually find it quite interesting. I agree that with the rapid increase in technology, it was only a matter of time. But I can see many innovative creations in the future...