It Was the Best of Times, It Was... Also Kind of Rough

So my Entry to English Studies class spent the majority of the semester collaborating to create an e-book about the movement of reading and literary study to platforms like Amazon, Goodreads, and the Kindle. If you are about to embark on a similar journey, here are a few tips based off my personal experience:

1. Our process was to first study these platforms through personal use, then choose a meaningful novel in our lives, and then use the novel to discuss a certain point about our e-book's subject matter. If I could do it over, I would have formed a table of contents for our book as a class before we ventured out on our own to find topics. I felt stressed not really knowing which points I should address for the good of our book, and forming the table of contents after having chapters formed is an awkward process. I also would pick your subject matter before you pick your novel (if going this route), and would match your novel of choice to the things that the book as a whole require you include in your chapter.

2. Trust your peers. I learned a lot from reading my classmate's chapters.

3. I don't know how to exactly avoid this, but try your hardest to divide the work load evenly. Also, I hate Calibre with a fiery passion, so I personally would not suggest using that platform to create the e-book. Though, I only had this assignment once, and am told that it was harder because I was using a Mac. It took 10+ hours to create a version of the e-book that we only looked at once before creating the next build. I don't think it's necessary to create a new build with each new round of chapters, so I would also suggest creating one build every two, three, or even four weeks. That being said, it could be tempting to just create an iBook because it is so easy, but I think it is really worth it to create an e-book that can be read on the Kindle.

Overall, I think collaborative learning has its benefits. The fact that we created an e-book as a class of eight and a professor that can now be published is incredible. I will continue to reference our book for many years, and am overall very grateful for the experience.

Evaluating the class, and the project, and the everything.

How does one begin to evaluate a group project honestly, in a place where the entire group can see it and know exactly who said it? Perhaps timidly, or with only praise. It can be difficult to be honest when your anonymity is taken from you. It is as Oscar Wilde said, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

So with that in mind, when it comes to this project I will say what Slaughterhouse Five's protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, desired to have on his Tombstone: 

Digiliterary Analysis

This semester our Analyzing Literature english class has been working together to publish an ebook about becoming"digiliterate" (a term that we thought we coined, only to find that #digiliterate was already trending on Twitter).

The idea behind digiliteracy is that reading as an experience has fundamentally changed due to the influence of technology and the internet. Readers don't read in isolation any more, there is an interconnectedness that cannot be avoided. Our experience with books has changed, from how we find the books we read, how we actually read the content, how we connect with others about the content, and how content itself is produced.

This project became a huge focus of our class and there were of course, various successes and failures. For other educators and students who are considering undertaking a similar project I would share the following from my experience:

Failures:

• The work load fell heavily on some individuals. 
• We weren't able to spend as much time analyzing literature. 

Successes:

• We were forced to perform quality research because we knew we were working towards publication. We learned about new avenues for research that will shape how we do it in the future. 
• We learned about the subject (digital literacy) by DOING it. We were actually engaged in it through the production of our book, which gave us more authority in our writing. 
• We had to be accountable for our own work and progress because when we got behind we influenced the group. This is a valuable experience for life after school.

We hope that there will be long-term effects from our ebook. I anticipate that the effects might be most profound for us involved. I think what we learned about research, team-work, and accountability will influence us more than any other aspect of this project.

Flashbacks: Not just for TV shows

My, my. What a semester it has been! This class has come a long way, dear internet, and you've been along for the ride with us. It's been quite the journey, getting here. We started small. Back in the first week of January, we talked about some of the books that most impacted us. Mine was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I look back at that post and see a version of myself with little experience writing for blogs. It was the first time I had ever written a blog post that was intended to be read by the entire internet. I'm sure it hasn't been read by the entire internet or else I'd have heard about it, but it was the intention that counted.

From there we began to explore various kinds of literature. We began with Poetry. We analyzed some of our favorite works of poetry and even song. We wrote a little bit of poetry ourselves, including my own sonnet written about Warhammer 40k, considered one of the "Four Pillars of Nerdhood." Even that early on, we were exploring the ways that the internet influenced us and our understanding of literature. We were discussing how the internet served to bring new literary works to our attention, and allowed us easy access to works that we had not even heard of only a few days previous. The groundwork for our eBook was already being laid, even back then.

Inspiration, Where to Go?

So I just finished reading the 3rd eBook rough draft that my English class is co-authoring! I was so impressed by all the chapters and especially by Jenna's compilation of all the chapters and for mastering the table of contents. Thanks so much Jenna, it looks great!
Reading all the other chapters helped me to see what I can change in my chapters. I realized that the personal experiences actually really help me stay interested in the chapter. I was a little scared to use personal stories, but Dr. Burton (our English professor) also said during class that I should use that as my introduction. After reading all the chapters I saw a few examples of other students doing this and I am convinced! I didn't want my chapter to sound too much like a blogpost.
Also, I still love the idea of relating literature to what we encounter in this digiliterary age. I loved all of the comparisons drawn from literature to the Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads. It was fun to see how creative my fellow classmates are. All of the chapters were pretty diverse and covered different aspects of the digital age of literature. Most of it was clear, but there were a few times when I did not completely understand the relation of the literary text that was being compared to the argument(Mostly because I am unfamiliar with the piece of literature.) However, most of the time I was impressed by the comparisons.
There was also a lot of great research done! I was overall really impressed by the eBook. Obviously it still needs some editing and finishing touches, but reading our eBook has really helped me to envision where I want my chapters to become. I need to change a few things in my own chapters and I am more excited to change things up this weekend! Thanks for the inspiration!

Jenna Is a Genius

First, I want to start by saying that we need to bring in some peach rings or something for Jenna, a gorgeous blonde in our class, on Monday for being a baller editor and putting out the third draft of our eBook.  That clearly took a ton of time and effort, and she is a champ for getting it done.  It looks pretty spiffy and that table of contents!  Art.  Purely a masterpiece.

I read the whole thing tonight and really enjoyed it!   I definitely think that we have explored a lot of avenues and topics as far as the platforms go.  Something that I liked was that the chapters don't really resemble each other.  There's not a repeat of ideas or information that seems overdone.  So yay for that!  Also, the chapters seem pretty well written.  Obviously there is room for improvement, but they kept my interest and NOT EVEN because I am pals with all of the authors.  That was just a bonus.

Of course, there are a few things that we can still work through.  I tried clicking on the links that were included in a few of the chapters and they didn't go anywhere.  That could just be my Wifi or Kindle, but I want to be sure we're aware of that in case it could be a potential problem, you know?  Also, a few of the chapters kind of oppose each other.  Is that ok?  For example, Jenna's second chapter is fantastic, and is all about the benefits of self-publishing and how it's helping authors so much.  Then my chapter comes in and basically refutes all of that by discussing the negative effects of copyright issues.  So what do we want to do about that?  I think they're both valid points, so should we keep them because they show different perspectives in the same eBook?  I mean, I'm not suggesting scrapping either of them, but it's just an interesting predicament and I'd like some other opinions.

Other than that, it's looking pretty so far!  I did like seeing my name there on the Kindle.  Maybe there is something to this whole self-publishing/digiliteracy stuff after all.

eResearch for the eBook

When something is constantly on my mind, I constantly talk it through with friends and family. This eBook has been on my mind a lot the past few weeks. I talk to several people about it because it helps me get my ideas more firm. Where I struggle the most is through research, but as I did this assignment of creating an eBibliography I found that I haven't done as badly at researching as I thought. 

Escaping the Cinderella Complex through Self-Publishing

Amazon and Goodreads provide the ideal vehicle for a reader to become an author by giving the online users freedom to self-publish and advertise using the features that these digital platforms contain.

Social Graph:

I’ve actually talked to several of my friends about my chapter to see what they thought. A lot of my friends had never heard that authors could self-publish on Amazon. Before this project, I think I knew that you could, but not how. I think that makes this chapter especially important because people should be informed. I also talked to some friends that actually write on the side. A few of them had heard that they could self-publish and were really considering it.

As I’ve been writing this chapter and putting the class book into eBook format, I’ve had to learn even more about what goes into self-publishing. I think the experience I’m gaining by exploring how to put a book in eBook format gives me an advantage and a sort of authority on writing this chapter.

New Media:

There are a lot of sites that will put your book in eBook format for you. Unfortunately, most of them say “free to start” which basically means that “you can download your documents into our site, but to actually get it from us you must pay.”

There are also several eBooks on how to self-publish. I’ve used one that Amazon published called How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon.com: Writing, Editing, Designing, Publishing, and Marketing.

Social Networks:

My mom uses Twitter a lot for her work so when I told her what I was writing about she immediately searched self-publishing articles on Twitter. She gave me quite a few. I actually used a quote for my chapter from this one. There are a lot of discussions out there about self-publishing.

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

I’m working on finding books about the history of self-publishing. I found an article somewhere about how self-publishing is the way it used to be done in the 19th century..I just need to find that article.

The Guardian: Winner of the Pulitzer prize

“America's Cinderella” by Jane Yolen

No Need to Cut Off Toes and Heels When You Have a Kindle Touch 

Unlike SparkNotes, the X-Ray feature creates an arsenal of contextual information about a story without damaging a reader’s ability to read and analyze a literary work on his or her own. This increases a reader’s desire to join the enriching world of the novel on the Kindle device.

Social Graph:

I have never met a single person that has not heard of SparkNotes. Even if they’ve never used it, I think it’s safe to assume that the majority of people that took high school English have heard of SparkNotes. The XRay feature is not as widespread. I’ve asked a few friends that have Kindles if they knew about the XRay feature and several have never known what that link lead to on the Kindle.

New Media:

There are android apps for SparkNotes now. This is worrisome in that students don’t even need to go out of their way to look up a book. They can easily access the cheat sheets on SparkNotes in the classroom for class discussions on their phones.

There are even more sites than SparkNotes too: Cliffs Notes, Schmoop, etc.

Social Networks:

Spark Notes’ tag line that it is the “Most Popular Study Guide” proves true as you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and even Vine. #SparkNotes, everybody.

There are several forums discussing the XRay feature on the Kindle.

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

“The Right Understanding: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes” by Alison Bach

Still working on finding more information here. I'm looking to find more books about the necessity of reading and analyzing literature. 

A Different Way to Research

So I'm excited for this assignment to make an e-bibliography; I honestly have never don research like this before. I feel like it's going to help me put all my thoughts together and help me to make sense of my chapters that I am writing for our class ebook "Becoming Digiliterary."
So here is what I've found!

E-bibliography:

Don't Judge a Device by its Cover

Tweethis: Although Amazon's Kindle appearance is basic, the simplicity of the device revives the reader's reading experience.

Social Graph:

I spoke to my friends mom that I met last night at dinner. I explained our ebook project and her husband piped in real quick "Oh my wife is an avid reader we both have Kindles." She is an ASL teacher and has helped ASL students complete an associates about 16 times. So she does have some credentials. However, she remarked that she recognized that she stopped reading for a while and it was because of her Kindle. She said that the Kindle is just not the same thing as books.

New Media: 

Kindle Vs. Kindle App on Android

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/buy-kindle-kindle-app-android/

Kids and the Best Tablets

http://heavy.com/tech/2015/03/top-best-tablets-for-kids-children-with-wifi-reviews/

Kindle Singles: A New Form of Writing/Reading 

http://www.tylershores.com/2012/03/08/kindle-singles-a-new-genre/

The Science of Sharing 

http://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-science-of-sharing/

Kindle PaperWhite Vs. Nook

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-vs-nook-simple-touch-with-glowlight

Social Networks: 

Twitter hashtag search for #kindlevsipad

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23kindlevsipad&src=typd

Traditional Scholarly Sources: 

Reading Books in the Dark

http://www.tylershores.com/tag/ebooks/

Amazon Kindle App and the Blind

http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1348728211

Children's Books on Kindle App

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=0c01dc63-9b3d-47e5-9363-c570a5ef80b0%40sessionmgr112&vid=0&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=82107618

Preserving the Mockingbirds of Ebooks

The sample option available on Amazon's massive digital library that can be transferred directly to our Kindle from the comfort of our own homes will change the way writers write and how readers read. 

Social Graph:

No Samples in Some Countries

https://kdp.amazon.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=827184&#827184

Customer Discussions: Kindle Samples

http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=TxZ07WXZE7LWEX

New Media:

Kindle Book Samples

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/28/kindle_for_the_web/

Book Vs. Ebook (talks a little about sampling towards end)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlp_K0ww2FQ

Kindle Fire vs. Ipod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryat012X8Qc

Social Networks:

So i posted on my Facebook in regards of Kindle sampling, but until now I haven't received more than a few likes... I will edit this post as soon as I get some responses. 

Blog Post on Kindle Samples Save Money

http://www.jamierubin.net/2010/09/24/kindle-samples-save-money/

Traditional Scholarly Sources: 

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing: Sampling 

https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A25WS075EUM6NF

Reading and Attention Spans

http://www.tylershores.com/2013/10/30/attention-spans/

So these are a few of the sources I have found. I still need to head to the library and check out some printed text, but we are focusing more on the digital aspect of literature,  so why not focus the research more on a digital platforms? 

Sampling and Experimenting Research

So this is my family minus my dad. 5 sisters and we couldn't be more different! 

My Own Mini-Experiment

Last weekend I spent the weekend with my family, and I was talking about our semester project that my English class is doing together. I explained that we would be collectively writing and ebook based on the Kindle, Goodreads, and Amazon.
I thought they would have some interest because my family is a pretty avid user of Amazon, but more for materialistic purchases. However, we all love to read and I became curious as to if my family would be interested in owning their own personal Kindle. So my curiosity took over and I just asked simply, "Hey would you like to own a Kindle? and why or why not?"
Only one of my sisters said an affirmative YES! She responded that she loves reading, and would love to have a device just to devote to reading. The rest with the exception of one were undecided. They simply stated that they would not mind having a Kindle. My sister that responded that she would never want a Kindle had no reason at all.
Although this isn't exactly a well planned experiment, I think it proves the point that the Kindle doesn't get the credit it deserves. It reminded me of my initial reaction to buying a Kindle; I definitely wasn't completely opposed but I wasn't all for it either. With the exception of one sister they weren't really able to explain why or why not a Kindle would be a good purchase. The Kindle is often overlooked by its simplicity.

Facebook Status

As a class we are trying to diversify our research, and an interesting social research would to have a discussion on Facebook. For example to write a post with a somewhat specific question. One of the chapters I am writing for the ebook is just about the Kindle, what it is, features of it, and so on. So I could write a Facebook status like: "If you own a Kindle and iPad which do you use more to read why?" Or something like that... let me know if you have something better in mind before I post my status.

Google Alerts

I have also enjoyed reading blog posts. I found a few blog posts using the Google alerts that I JUST learned about today! So you have to sift through a bunch of useless material but there are some good finds just as Google normally is, that should be no surprise. I have not found any scholarly sources yet... but I have found some appealing arguments, and opinions I had not thought of myself.

So it's been a fun process. I still need to work on the scholarly sources, but the social sources are so fun and surprisingly useful!

The Social Research Resources

I love that our class is taking a new approach to research.  To help along the progress of our eBook project, we have looked at a few different sources in order to find more information to put in our chapters.  As an English major, I thought that this class would require a lot of hours in the library, pouring over giant books with even bigger words that were impossible to understand, just to figure out the hidden meaning of a classic paragraph.

Well, I'm still spending hours in the library.

However, this research is much different than what I thought it would be!  Instead of sticking to the traditional forms of learning, we have been encouraged to check out social sources.  This is basically my favorite activity, because I think that communicating over the internet is super cool.  To find out more about the great innovation of the Amazon Kindle and Goodreads.com, I checked out a few sites that I visit every day, but with a very different purpose!

For example, I headed over to Pinterest to see if there was any discussion or info over there,  While they had a lot of great stuff on teaching how to be digitally aware, safe, productive, etc., I didn't find much about our topic in particular.  However, Twitter turned out to be really useful with its hashtag searches.  There were a couple good articles that I found there about using Kindles in the classroom and how they have affected education.  Facebook was not the best option for me.  I don't think that many people see it as a place for literary discussion quite as much as other forums, etc.  Obviously that's based on my own connections, but I think that the majority of people who are interested in our topic are found on other forums, etc.

So...I went to forums!  I just typed in "Forums about Kindle" into Google and was taken to a ton of sites.  Amazon has one right on their page, but I think that one was pretty biased and they took any negative stuff off.  This obviously makes sense from a business perspective, but isn't the most accurate source.  The other site that I found here had a lot of topics and opinions.  It was cool!

As far as scholarly sources, I could use some help.  I found a few on the HBLL site, but nothing very specific as to what we're trying to write about.  If anyone finds some, let me know by commenting or just putting them on the drive!

A New Direction

I decided to post late, so that I could be one of the last ones to post. We're using this blog to coordinated our efforts in writing an ebook and last night everyone was posting their ideas for the next chapter. I am feeling a little lost, so I wanted to see everyone's thoughts on where they are going to take their next chapter before I moved ahead.

My first chapter is clunking along, I'm running into a few problems using Ella Enchanted as my filter for the chapter. I'm going to use a different novel for my next chapter.

Chapter Template:

Chapter Section: How we read or how we connect

Literary Work: A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Tweethis: Strip Search? Digital reading and the impact on personal privacy

Keywords: Privacy, safety, Terms of Use, awareness.

Scholarly Source: http://go.galegroup.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=byuprovo&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=9&contentSet=GALE%7CH1420006132&&docId=GALE|H1420006132&docType=GALE&role=LitRC

Social Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=%23onlineprivacy&s=typd

Image:

Content Overview: My chapter would dive into how Amazon and Goodreads collect information about their users. It would highlight the positives of surrendering some privacy such as book recommendations and it would hight the negative aspects as well, those things we need to be concerned about and aware of. I would  use Ivan's experience in the Soviet camp as a filter for discuussion. Another possible angle could be a chapter that is designed to quell fears people have about these platforms because they fear losing privacy. I could talk about how our experience is not like Ivan's and why we shouldn't be too worried.

More Ideas

This chapter could probably fit under any section. Once we decide, I'll be more sure of my tweethis.


BOOK PART
How We Read: Kindle


CHAPTER TITLE
Isolated Consumption:


TWEETHIS
Readers are more able to buy and consume and interact with other readers in complete isolation. This phenomenon has its positives and its negatives.


KEYWORDS
Kindle, Isolated Reading, Isolation, Amazon, Goodreads, Isolated Interaction

TOPICAL IMAGE

LITERARY WORK
The Giver

SOCIAL REFERENCES
http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=6813

CONTENT LAYOUT

I want to outline the ways in which isolated access is a good thing and a bad thing. Good things: people who don't have the ability to leave their homes, talk to people in person, etc. can interact and have these experiences. On the other hand, isolation and lack of true social experiences also take their toll. 

Covering the Basics

So as a collaborative team my english class is composing our own ebook based on the Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads! We are still in the preliminary phases of putting it all together but we were asked to brainstorm and pull up a rough template together of another potential chapter based on our chosen book. I chose "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Click here to view the writing, research and drafting process.

BOOK PART
What general part of our book do you anticipate this chapter falling under?

I think it would work best under how we consume literature in the digital age.

CHAPTER TITLE

Don't Judge a Device by its Cover

TWEETHIS

Although Amazon's Kindle appearance is basic, the simplicity of the device revives the reader's reading experience. 

KEYWORDS

Kindle, Appearance, Smart Phones, Kindle App, Iphone, Ipad, Books, Ebooks

TOPICAL IMAGE

CONTENT PARAMETERS

DIGILITERARY VIA AMAZON-KINDLE-GOODREADS CONNECTION

Amazon's Kindle vs. Kindle App

LITERARY WORK

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

TRADITIONAL REFERENCES - (General Literary, Scholarly)

http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1348728211
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=86e50059-e64d-4ae8-aa2f-7882ded3db28%40sessionmgr4002&vid=5&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=82107618

SOCIAL REFERENCES (current conversations, social media, interviews)
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/buy-kindle-kindle-app-android/

CONTENT LAYOUT

When I was thinking of another idea for our ebook and how I could relate it to the the book I chose the common quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird" came into my head,  "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." When we were first required to buy a Kindle for this course I was a little flustered cause I felt like I could already complete the course requirements all on my phone or laptop on the kindle app. However, as I came to understand the Kindle I realized the impact it could have on our learning, and reading and I have grown to love my Kindle as simple as it is! In this digital world we need more simplicity. So I will tie this in with the character of Boo Radley. He is a pretty simple character that no one understand (digital age) but once they know who he really is he just wants to help! 

Let me know what you think!  

Working Working Table of Contents

Phew! It has been so enlightening to go through everyone's posts again and get a better feel for the direction we want to go with our ebook about digiliterism... digitiliteraritism? Anyway! After combing through lots and lots of ideas that our class has come up with, I returned to our original idea, which was an ebook that outlines "how Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads are influencing literacy and literary study today" (Dr. Burton, instructional blogpost). We have TONS of good ideas, but I think there are a lot of things we can shift and combine and cut in order to drive more toward a united purpose. So the broad idea is: how do modern methods of readership influence literacy and literary study? Specifically, we want to comment on the following platforms: Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads. So for the purpose of helping myself to see how many of our chapters will relate to each platform, I divided up our chapters into the following four sections: How We Read: Kindle; How We Interact: Goodreads; How We Buy: Amazon; and Other (for those subjects that don't necessarily fit under just one platform). I think the division is uneven, but I don't know that we need to be concerned about that. What do you think?

Meshing of Ideas

So after brainstorming up our own ideas (click here for mine) for our e-book “Digiliteracy” based on novels and this digital era of consuming literature online we all are putting our ideas together. So in order to collaborate eight peoples’ ideas all together here is a rough draft of the table of contents that I came up with:

Reading in the Digital Age: What it Changes

Saren: “Welcome to the age of Digiliteracy” The Digital age is changing how we read, and we must find our home in this new world.

Shelby: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” There is a sense of nonacceptance to change into the more digital sense of reading on a platform such as the Kindle. 

(I think that this could also go along with Shelby's third idea, click here)

Lauren: “The Double Edged Sword of Digital Reading” We can both gain and lose experiences by only participating in the Digital world of literature.

Nathan: “Reading outside of the book” We are commonly reading books out-of-order, or maybe even skipping to the end. 

Reader Response

Jenna: “Digital Footprints” Goodreads and Amazon use the reviews or "footprints" to tailor our digital experiences.

Nathan: “Digitally Accounatable” Our opinion can be readily shared due to social medias such as Goodreads and Amazon.

Meghan: “The Social Norm” While writing and rating on Goodreads we can be influenced by what is socially accepted instead of voicing our opinions.

Emily:“Goodbye Innocence” We can encounter many spoilers or even fail to read a book because of poor reviews published on Goodreads and Amazon.

Saren: “Watch how you review” The way we review books is different on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Authors  

Jenna: “Who wrote it?” Self-publishing has become increasingly popular, but will this distract us from the rawness of the original work?

Shelby: “Piracy” With the sense of entitlement readers can search to illegally download an author’s work.

Emily: “Readers becoming the Author” Authors are able to communicate with readers, and readers with authors through blog discussions and other mediums. Could the readers voice take away the Authors’ creativity?

Literature Availability 

Meghan: “Book Ownership” There are diverse ways in which we can read books. There is now the option of renting books.

Leah: “Re-consumption” Novels are more accessible on Amazon’s Kindle and therefore allowing us to reread many of the classics.

Meghan: “Piracy Epidemic” Instantaneous gratification is more prevalent and the consumer is becoming entitled and may even believe that they should receive books immediately and free of any cost. 

So there is A LOT of really great ideas in there and even more if you continue reading on the blog! 

Another chapter could be based on reading on the Kindle specifically; like a feature review. For example, there is a vocabulary builder based on words that you looked up in the dictionary. There is also a way to highlight and take notes. So it would be helpful to have one chapter about that. 

We'll Get There. Someday.

Ok!  That was harder than I thought it would be.  Here are a few of my ideas on how we could group the chapters...and they are rough.  But this was a really good chance for me to carefully go through what everyone has come up with and put it together in a working format.  I think that a lot of the ideas relate to each other well, and we definitely have enough content to fill an eBook.

Our “Limitless” Society

Jenna:  Publish Yourself, Not Myself: 

 With more opportunities to self-publish and promote, the temptation to steal the ideas of others is easily within reach.

Shelby: What’s Mine is Mine…or Yours Too? 

  The increased conflict between what is and is not defined as public domain.

Leah:  It’s Not Old, It’s Vintage: 

Creative Commons crosses the generation gap, giving modern readers access to the classics and instilling an appreciation that can withstand time.

Lauren:  Knowledge is Power:

  The possible benefits and effects of unlimited access to information on society.

A World Where Opinion is Everything

Meghan: eBook Etiquette:  

What is and is not acceptable to do, say, like, think, share, or bash on online platforms

Saren:  The Reviews We View:

  By using the review feature on Amazon and Goodreads, we are able to see different opinions and learn more about the perspectives of others by their takes on literature.

Emily:  What Happens When Everyone’s a Critic: 

  How the reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads influence public opinion, even before the work has a chance to be read by the masses.

The Online Relationship

Lauren:  Are We Allowed to be Friends Offline?  

There’s a certain aspect of friendship that is only available through face-to-face communication.  Does that matter in the digital age?

Saren:  Getting our Bearings in the Digital World:

  There are definite tricks and tips to having a meaningful online presence.  Now, people must not only grow up in the real world, but develop their social, online identities as well.

Jenna:  Becoming Internet Nobility:  Learning the Tricks of the Trade to Become Who You’d Like Online:

  Posting a thought online can damage a person’s credibility as a reviewer and tarnish a person’s online identity.

Nathan: “So It Goes,” But Should It Stop?

  At what point is the disconnection between a book and its readers a harmful thing?

The Change Caused by the Digital Era

Emily:  Made-To-Order Novels:  

With open relationships between authors and their readers, consumers have more influence with what goes into their favorite books.

Nathan:  What Came First, the Novel or the Trailer?

  With literature expanding to all types of media, we can be exposed to the whole story of a work before even turning (or swiping) a page.

Shelby:  Once Wasted Time, Now the Most Valuable Resource: 

  How the rising generation is taking a new look at the possibilities of digital resources

Jenna:  They Know Where You Go:

  What are cookies, and how do online algorithms follow them to suggest what we’ll like best? (Echo Chamber?)

Meghan: We Want It and We Want It Now:  

Is the instant gratification of online literary platforms negatively affecting society, or simply continuing the trend?

I agree with Jenna, we should discuss how or if these online platforms will affect academia, as well as what we, as the "authorities" on them, can do to make the best use of them.  I think that a book like this, that discusses a topic is such detail, should have a "call to action" or something like that at the end.  Are we encouraging this, or is it simply a presentation of facts and opinions that doesn't really swing one way or another?

Changes and Beginnings

If you aren't aware, this blog is actually a premise to prepare us (the students) to create a semester long project of a collaborative eBook about using literature in the digital age. If you'd like a basic summary of our goals, go here.

So in an earlier blog post about Harry Potter I was talking about how near and dear that series is to me, and it was my original plan to use that as my book to relate to my adventures into the digiliterary (yes, I did just create that word..) world. BUT I actually decided to take a bit of a different route, and use another book that's been highly personal to me called "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale.

Although I've changed directions, that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to write about dear Harry! Literally everything in my life can be compared to "Harry Potter."

Quick summary of "The Goose Girl:" There's a quiet crowned princess named Ani who's father dies and her mom decided to give her crown to one of her siblings instead and send Ani off to another kingdom to wed their prince. Oh, and she can talk to animals. Which apparently isn't normal. On her trip to the kingdom her lady in waiting overthrows her and then runs to the prince pretending to be Ani. Ani takes a job as a goose girl trying to figure out how to get back her position, and she sits back quietly until she finds out her own kingdom is going to be under attack and so she rushes in to save the day. And there's a prince disguised as a guard who falls in love with goose girl Ani thrown into the midst. 

I didn't do the plot justice at all, but I'll tell you that you need to read it!

And if this sounds like a fairy tale, it's because it's actually an adaptation of a fairy tale called, go figure, The Goose Girl. 

So what ways can I tie this book my digiliterary immersion? Well so far I just have a couple of ideas, but I'm always open for suggestions!

1: The digiliterary age is (for many) a new and strange land, sort of like Ani going to the foreign land to wed a prince. While most of us won't be using the digiliterary land to wed a prince, it is hard to find a way to feel comfortable and find our place within and how to make our presence of worth. This is like Ani finding her place in a new land and finding a way to become her best self through this. Side note, this was also Hale's debut novel, so it's like she was finding her way through a new land. As well as this became a comforting book for me that came to feel like another home.

2. The main platforms we've been working with is Goodreads and Amazon. Through my own experiences, I've been seeing the way that different reviews work between these two platforms, as well as makes a good review. As a princess, Ani has different "reviews" coming from people from all walks of life. When she's under cover as a goose girl, she ends up hearing a very different side of these reviews. I'm not sure exactly how to tie this together, but I think I'm onto something!

3. Okay, when I said a couple of idea, I literally meant a couple. So now we're here. I'm going to try to keep brainstorming, but it's a start!

So pray tell, thoughts on these ideas? Any different thoughts?