Stories just as powerful and compelling as those Waiting for Superman put in the spotlight are confined to the printed page instead of being unleashed across multiple platforms for people to connect with, share with others, and inspire action.
Tag: Culture
DIY’s Great, But WHO Are We Doing it For?
"Just do it!" was definitely an underlying theme of the day as the deceptively sexy notion of the "democratization" of content creation and distribution was frequently noted, but I realized towards the end of the day, what was missing was any reference to the issue of access, and the ever-widening digital divide.
Why I Love Librarians, and Publishers Should, Too
I find it somewhat ironic that, at the same time publishers are scrambling to fill ill-advised budget gaps left by their blind co-dependence on Borders, HarperCollins decides to play hardball with the one channel that offers the maximum combination of discoverability and NON-RETURNABILITY.
On Inception, The Passage, and Writing in The Obama Era
The weakness of "It's all a dream" — why we hate that, why we feel cheated when narratively anything is revealed to be all a dream — is that you've just asked me to spend so much time and emotional capital investing in the stakes of this, and you've now swept it away with the … Continue reading On Inception, The Passage, and Writing in The Obama Era
Shout-Outs: Lanier, Wendig and the Robots
"The combination of hive mind and advertising has resulted in a new kind of social contract. The basic idea of this contract is that authors, journalists, musicians, and artists are encouraged to treat the fruits of their intellects and imaginations as fragments to be given without pay to the hive mind. Reciprocity takes the form … Continue reading Shout-Outs: Lanier, Wendig and the Robots
Hanging with the Estefans on Ellis Island
One of the best things about working for a publisher based out in the Midwest is that I sometimes get to play Peter Parker at events in New York City when no one from a particular magazine can attend. A few weeks back, it was the NY Round Table Writers Conference thanks to Writer's Digest, … Continue reading Hanging with the Estefans on Ellis Island
History of the Bronx, For Kids
I have very mixed emotions about the Bronx, where I grew up for the first 12 years of my life (1969-1980), and which remains the closest thing I have to a place I consider home, in a cultural sense. Being able to live there again while my kids were still young was very important to … Continue reading History of the Bronx, For Kids
Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus] "We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots that don't care." [1:30] I've never seen Louis CK in action before, but my favorite humor is the insightful observational kind and this clip is hilarious, primarily because it's all so true. I say burn it all … Continue reading Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy
On Twitter: Always Add Value
I find it hard to believe that as recently as six months ago, I was dismissing Twitter as a pointless ripoff of Facebook's status update, without any of the extras that make Facebook a "real" social network. From what I'd seen, it lived up to its negative reputation of mindless updates about eating lunch, waiting … Continue reading On Twitter: Always Add Value
The Future of Publishing in 4:33
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g] We have to rethink...everything. (h/t: HarperStudio)