Bookdrum.co.uk
Anyone interested in the ongoing debate about ebooks and how (or whether) to enhance them may be interested in this site:
What are books?
We feel passionately drawn to them. We fall in love with them. But a book is usually nothing more than text on paper. Sometimes there are pictures, perhaps even a few maps. The constraints of book technology rule out anything more.
Until now.
At Book Drum, we believe even the most wonderful books can be enhanced through selective use of the images, sounds, video and information available on the Web.
Isn’t Captain Corelli’s Mandolin all the more moving when you can listen to the music the Captain plays on his beloved Antonia? Aren’t John Harrison’s inventions more impressive when you can see the actual mechanisms described in Longitude? And don’t videos about the Taliban and kite fighting in Kabul add depth to a reading of The Kite Runner?
The idea of outsourcing the job of enhancement, wikipedia-style, to a willing community of avid book-lovers is certainly a novel one (geddit? groan). In fact, it’s sort of genius - putting the emphasis of providing additional material back on the book fans not only saves time and money, it increases the likelihood of choosing material the core community of book readers would like.
Book Drum is currently hosting a tournament “for writers and editors all over the English-speaking world to help us assemble a collection of Profiles that illustrate and illuminate great books.” Sound like fun? Click here to pick your favourite and find out how to enter.
Meanwhile stay tuned for announcements and exclusives from our own forays into the world of book enhancement.
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