Already our third book sprint has distinguished itself: new faces, new approaches (delving much more deeply into design, aesthetics, and music), and some important new questions. Our authors here at Stanford cited science fiction, alternate reality games, typography, and design in their self-introductions; we have an exciting three days ahead of us.

One of the major topics of discussion is the process itself. What are we producing while we’re here, and what should the ultimate outcome be? Will we be satisfied with a static PDF or EPUB document, or should we be aiming for some new model?

This is one of the key reasons I am here: to push the envelope of writing and publishing as performance. But, now that we’re arriving at the end of our roadshow, it’s time to start thinking about the long shadow of publication. Books are spaces of performance not just in the immediate process of authorship, publication, and reception but in the long tail of reading and circulation. How can we keep this gift moving?