What do you think of the idea of "INTERACTIVE BOOKS"?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

What do you think of the idea of "interactive books"?

The following is from an ad for _Personal Effects Dark Art_
by J.C. Hutchins, Jordan Weisman:
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"The book includes phone numbers you can call where you’ll get a character’s voicemail; characters and institutions that have actual websites; and art and printed artifacts that give you additional information the characters themselves don’t know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthony E. Zuiker (Creator/Executive Producer of the CSI: Franchise) says:
"This is the future of storytelling, and it’s a thrilling ride."

See more at:
http://publicradiomarket.publicradio....

I'm not sure I want to see things get more complicated than they are already.
How about you?

[Jim]

I wouldn't call to get a character's voicemail, but I did see a book, Precious Cargo, that the author had a website hooked up to something like Google Earth, so you can zoom in to the area where the book happened, see where the story moved geographically & close up pictures. Kind of neat. It looks like the author has left GR though. His web site is: http://clydeford.com/

It's a nifty idea & might be really cool for some. Others it wouldn't work with. I also think it's more of a gimmick - cool advertising. If it becomes a necessity, I'll skip the book.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I wouldn't call to get a character's voicemail, but I did see a book, Precious Cargo, that the author had a website hooked up to something like Google Earth, so you can zoom in... ... It's a nifty idea... ... If it becomes a necessity, I'll skip the book."

Jim, I agree with you. It's an interesting gimmick but , IMO, the book should be enjoyable on its own, without the gimmicks... in case readers have no time for the extras.

For some readers who like to really get into their books, it might become more like a game or a cult, just as the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Ring" series have their aficionados. It even reminds me of those games kids play on their computers like "Dungeons & Dragons".

As you mentioned, the idea of seeing the geographic location of the story's setting on Google might be enjoyable and educational. (Better than a map on the inside cover the book.) It might be like travelling vicariously. I guess we never know until we try out these new ideas.