The Sprint Beyond the Book is complete! You can read the main text of our publication, Beyond the Book, on this website by using the links below. You can also download the Intel Labs PGE Reader to access the book with a fully-designed layout featuring video interviews, images and additional text crowdsourced from attendees at the Frankfurt Book Fair and participants around the world. We’ll be updating Beyond the Book with additional essays and other content soon, so check back frequently to experience the latest version of this living text.
The Sprint Beyond the Book was a great success: we wrote, edited and published a collaborative multimedia book exploring the future of reading, writing, editing and publishing in just 72 hours! We are extremely grateful to everyone who made this possible: our collaborators here on the ground and around the world. Thank you to our writers – Charlie Stross, Dan Gillmor, Jane Friedman, Brian David Johnson, Corey Pressman and Lee Konstantinou – to the many people who shared their thoughts in text and video contributions, to our colleagues from Intel and at ASU, and to the many supporters who stopped by to show their support at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Beyond the Book isn’t a finished product – it will continue to evolve. You can join the conversation on Twitter at the hashtag #beyondthebook. You can also contribute your ideas for future editions of Beyond the Book and our other experiments with the future of publishing by responding to our 7 big questions.
Beyond the Book
Introduction
Lee Konstantinou, “Why I’m Here”
Charlie Stross, “Why I’m Here”
Brian David Johnson, “The Future of _______: A Cautionary Tale”
How will people read in the future?
Jane Friedman, “The Blurring Line Between Reader and Writer”
Dan Gillmor, “Readers and Anonymity”
Lee Konstantinou, “Reading and Our Addiction to Distraction”
Charlie Stross, “Reading Machines”
How will people find new books to read in the future?
Jane Friedman, “The Importance of Metadata in Book Discoverability”
Dan Gillmor, “What Are You Reading? Reading and Reputation”
Lee Konstantinou, “The Future of Bookstores”
Charlie Stross, “Feral Spambooks”
How will books be produced in the future, and who will produce them?
Jane Friedman, “The Atomization of Publishing”
Dan Gillmor, “An Author-Centric Ecosystem”
Lee Konstantinou, “Our Friend the Book DJ”
Charlie Stross, “Publishers: What Are They Good For?”
How will books be written and edited in the future?
Jane Friedman, “The Future of Editing: Beta Readers and Agile Publishing”
Dan Gillmor, “GitHub for Books?”
Lee Konstantinou, “What Is the Future of the Editor?”
Charlie Stross, “Why Microsoft Word Must Die”
How will the concept of the book evolve in the future?
Jane Friedman, “Book as Fluke: A Thought Experiment”
Dan Gillmor, “What Is a Book? Discuss”
Lee Konstantinou, “Building Worlds Out of Books”
Charlie Stross, “Do Zimboes Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Corey Pressman, “Ancient Marginalia: The Watershed Manifesto”
What will the economics of authorship be in the future? In what new ways will authors engage with their readers?
Jane Friedman, “The Idea of the Author Is Facing Extinction”
Dan Gillmor, “Authors Develop Communities, Not Just Audiences”
Lee Konstantinou, “Two Paths for the Future of the Author”
Charlie Stross, “Google Should Buy the Entire Publishing Industry”