Feb 04 News

    NZ Libraries Unite to 'strike Digital Gold for New Zealanders'
    Research into Digital Rights Management (DRM), Malaysia
    Updating Information for Australian Books in Print 2004

    Digital Storytelling - a UCLA Graduate Conference, USA
    Machinista 2004, Art and Machine, Call for Entries, Glasgow
    Moon Radio webTV Curator sought, Nottingham, UK
    Talking Pictures, a website devoted to Films, seeks Writers

    Canadian eAuthors Association
    trAce New Media Article Writing Competition, Nottingham, UK
    Int Fiction Review, Canada, seeks reviews, particularly of NZ Lit
    Still Mag - UK Cultural Magazine seeks Contributors
    PEN Washington's events, talks, and workshops for writers, USA

    20 books by Sam Vaknin on the Web as free downloads
    Graphic designer seeks freelance Cover Design work
    Backing sought for a fun book of articles on interesting places

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Welcome to the February 2004 edition of the e-publishing quarterly from Artmedia, a publication with an Australasian focus and a global perspective, now reaching more than 8,500 writers, publishers, bookshops, libraries and media-smiths in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, England and worldwide.

I make a bold prediction in the ePublishing Report, that this will be the year that the digital publishing revolution actually starts to happen - and by this I mean Print on Demand, as well as the two existing eBook formats - and in this spirit, we are re-launching this newsletter with a new HTML format and with a more global perspective.

I have to apologize that it has been six months since our last newsletter, and explain that no 4th quarter newsletter was produced last year because I was touring festivals in Canada and the US with my novel 'Believers in Love', having a wonderful time and meeting many good friends. Thank you all for your warm hospitality, and inspiration. Since my return, I have dived into the re-write of my new book, Angels can Fly, which I will publish early next year, and I have been revamping the artmedia site and this newsletter.

In this issue, in the publishing news section, we have information on an interesting new initiative from the National Library of New Zealand, we have a request to help with research into Digital Rights Management from Kelvin Bong in Malaysia, and information on a new web facility for updating information for Australian Books in Print.

In Media news, a website devoted to films seeks writers, we have information on a Digital Storytelling Conference in California, and a call for entries for Machinista 2004, an online exhibition and an off line festival in Glasgow in May, and Moon Radio webTV seeks a curator interested in using 'web streaming technology in a hybrid arts context' in Nottingham, UK.

In writing news, contributors are sought by the International Fiction Review based in Canada, particularly reviews of NZ fiction, and by a cultural email magazine from the UK called Still Mag, which has 'a large subscription list that includes important members of the art world'. Plus we have information on the trAce New Media Article Writing Competition, on the Canadian eAuthors Association, and on PEN Washington's events, talks, and workshops for writers.

While in the noticeboard, 20 books by Sam Vaknin are on the Web as free downloads, a graphic designer in Sydney seeks freelance cover design work, and backing is sought for 'a fun book of articles on interesting places'.

Feature advertising and Sponsorship opportunities are available in this newsletter to promote your product or service for as little as Aus$50, and you can find more information at the bottom of this page. In this issue I feature my novel 'Believers in Love', as an example of the Aus$50 Feature. Yes, images are now also possible with our new HTML format.

We aim to provide an avenue of communication for the growing electronic publishing community worldwide, so please put us on your mail list, and send us information for inclusion in the free sections of this publication. Please also forward this to somebody else who may be interested.

On the Artmedia site you can find a list of links to electronic publishing resources, awards and festivals all over the world, and you can subscribe to this newsletter, and our physical theatre newsletter, and find a copy of the latest issue of both newsletters. We also have a new site search tool, to enable you to quickly find the information you need, and have created an archive of the last ten issues of this newsletter, which you can check out at www.artmedia.com.au/ebooks.htm

While you are there, check out the Physical TV site, which has information on Richard James Allen and Karen Pearlman's Dance Films, and books, including Performing the Unnameable, an anthology of contemporary Australian physical performance scripts. www.artmedia.com.au/physical_tv.htm
South Australian author Adrian Rogers, has three fantasy novels published as e-books - on CD Rom or by direct download. Check out his free short story. http://www.artmedia.com.au/cathar.htm

Find details of advertising rates for newsletters and site publishing at the bottom of this newsletter, or check out www.artmedia.com.au/services.htm

Alan Clay's third novel, 'Believers in Love', is available on order through bookshops and on-line stores. Order the paperback, or download the eBook.

"When picking up his daughter at school, Sax proposes a game where they won't do anything they would normally do, and with this game plan, father and daughter start out on an adventure that leads them to New Zealand, as well as to their hearts. Using short chapters told from the character's varying voices, Clay brings the reader along in the magic of the adventure. Seeing things from each viewpoint propels the reader into the enjoyable magic of both the outer and inner journey." www.inscriptionsmagazine.com

Repeated Lessons

    Sax and Sarah were standing beside a pool of water at a pedestrian crossing and a car cut the corner a little too closely, spraying them lightly with water.
   They burst into laughter from the shock.
   "Did you see that?" Sax exclaimed. "That car just sprayed us with water!"
   Sarah was moving away as her father spoke. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bus approaching.
   Sax brushed the water off his clothes. "I can't believe that," he said, unable to let go of his surprise.
   The next moment the bus cut even closer than the car, and a big splash of water drenched him, while Sarah managed to jump out of the way.
   He looked at her, the water dripping off him, and she grinned.
   "Do you believe it now?" she asked.

"Novelist Alan Clay breaks the mould of traditional romance to make it an art of creation, in Believers in Love. The light tone of the narrative belies the profound observations of life, art and love. Believers in Love is a powerfully creative work, with prose that sings like poetry. Beautifully told and evocatively rendered, this novel comes highly recommended." www.wordweaving.com

To get a free promotional eBook of 'Believers in Love' in Microsoft Reader format, simply send an email with 'Believers in Love' in the subject line to promotion@artmedia.com.au and we will email the file to you, on the simple condition that if you like it, you buy the paperback or you tell a friend to buy it. Find more information on Alan Clay's three novels on the artmedia site. Find information on Moontan, at www.artmedia.com.au/moontan.htm , on Dance Sisters, at www.artmedia.com.au/dance.htm , and on Believers in Love, at www.artmedia.com.au/believer.htm

I make a bold prediction at the outset, that 2004 will be the year that the digital publishing revolution actually starts to happen, and by this I mean Print on Demand, as well as the two main eBook formats. There are several signs that we are almost at the watershed moment when electronic publishing goes from the obscure new technology phenomenon, to the fashionable early adopter technology.

Contrary to public perception, eBook sales continued their strong growth into the third quarter of 2003, according to data released late last year by the Open eBook Forum (OeBF), the eBook industry trade and standards organization ( www.openebook.org ). Total units sold for the first three quarters of 2003 (Jan - Sept) surpassed one million for the first time in a single year and were up 64% over the third quarter figures for 2002. Revenues reported by retailers for the third quarter of 2003 were up 37% over the same period in 2002. These figures are compiled from data submitted by 30 of the world's leading eBook publishers and retailers.

This double digit growth shows the strength of this industry and, in fact, eBooks represent one of the fastest growing segments in all of publishing, however while I am clearly an early adopter, and I have just bought my first MP3 player, I have yet to buy a dedicated eBook reader. It hasn't arrived, as far as I'm concerned, although there are a range of alternatives on the market.

I think we can learn a lot by looking at the way the photographic industry is adapting to the digital revolution, and the riot that is occurring in the music industry, to give us perspective on the changes in the publishing industry. The difference between the publishing industry and the photographic and music industries, is that in the photographic industry the development work was in the technology that made the art, the cameras, and so could be controlled by the photographic companies.

The finished work was printed on existing technology, printers, which were enhanced for the purpose, and now we are starting to get digital printing shops and kiosks where you can get your digital snaps professionally printed, so for the consumer the photographic experience has stayed largely the same. They take photos with a camera, and end up with printed photos, nothing has really changed, so the digital take up has been a steady progression.

In music we have a different story, because from their inception, MP3 files have been able to be played by the consumer on their computer sound system, generating the same or a better experience than other music mediums, with the benefit of instant acquisition and largely free acquisition, because of the music industries chaos in dealing with the change. The digital take up in the music industry therefore has been an avalanche, helped along by the young market and their ease of adaptation to change. It has taken a few years to get affordable portable MP3 players, but this is starting to happen.

Pirating shows what is actually working, and in the publishing industry the Print on Demand pirates are doing much better that the eBook pirates. Those who have been on the list for a while will know that I have been following the probable Print on Demand pirating of my novel Believers in Love in America for some time. Print on Demand is electronic publishing which is printed into a paper book, so the reader has the sort of experience we talked about above in photography, no change in their experience, except easier access, but they must look for it, and will not just stumble over it in the shop, so the publisher has to work in different ways.

I have begun to see the promotional benefit of this pirating of my book. In a sense I am not loosing sales to these people who are buying pirated copies, because unless the pirate was selling them a cheap deal, they probably wouldn't be buying it. And from my perspective the work is getting a wider distribution, more people know about it, and I just have to find a way to leverage this, by say selling my next book to them at the real price, because they already know and like my work. I was reinforced in this view recently, when I toured to the Ottawa and Winnipeg Writers Festivals in Canada and the Putnam Storytelling Festival in New York, a paid promotional tour, which would probably not have been possible, if my book had not been attracting attention through the pirating.

So the Print on Demand technology is like the photographic industry, no change for the consumer, so we can predict a steady take up, but eBooks present a different proposition. The technology is there to produce the eBook, and to distribute it cheaply and effectively worldwide, but consumers must read the work on devices that have been designed for other things, like computer screens, or PDA screens. I love electronic publishing, because it is freeing the small operator to publish to the world, but I have yet to buy an eBook reader. I do spend about 5 hours a day in front of the computer, and if I'm not composing, I'm reading, so despite our protestations to the contrary, all of us read electronic publishing all the time, even if we are just reading an email from a friend. You are doing it now. So it is already happening in a big way, but we call it something else, because it doesn't yet give us the real book experience.

However in the middle of this year we should start seeing the first prototype eBook reading devices which look like a book and is composed of thin pages on which electronic ink forms the words that we read, in other words the eBook reader will look the same to the reader as the print book, with the advantage of instant acquisition, and higher interactivity, accessing references, or linking to other resources.

Will this be enough to kick this industry into gear? My 18 year old son, Michael, is studying media and communications, and in a recent assignment on 'Reinventing the Book' he discussed Marshal McLuhan's passive and active mediums in relation to eBooks. According to McLuhan a hot medium is one that extends one single sense in high definition, hot mediums are therefore low in participation, and cool media are high in participation. The traditional book is therefore a hot medium, and the interactive facilities of the eBook transforms it into a cool medium, transforming the audience, in the process, from a passive 'reader' to an active 'user'.

I think this accounts for a lot of the resistance and denial in the general public to eBooks, however the internet has been preparing us for this change for the past few years, so the market for eBooks is not the general public, they will first buy Print on Demand, the market for eBooks is amongst the online community, and this is a sizeable market and growing exponentially, so the transformation occurring in publishing to 'cool' eBooks is inevitable in the long term, but will probably face a steep learning curve for some years to come.

"Dear Sirs; My name is Kelvin Bong. I am currently doing my Master Degree Program by Research in The Northern University of Malaysia. I am interested to look into the Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues in eBook industry and one of my research task is to study the statistic of the successful and unsuccessful DRM implementation of eBook publishers, seller and all parties related to eBook business. I visited your website, and I would like to kindly asking for your help to assist me for data gathering in order to complete my statistic research. Could you please kindly reply to me and provide me with the following information; 1) Do you implement DRM technology in your eBook business? (Sale and distribution of digital content). If the answer is "NO", can you tell me why not implementing the DRM technology? 2) If YES, can you tell me is it successful/unsuccessful? What are the reasons and criteria you evaluate the successful/unsuccessful of the DRM implementation into your business? 3) What are your expectations, suggestions, and experiences with DRM? I would appreciate it very much if you could spend some time to help me for the data gathering process. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you very much and Happy New Year 2004 to you!" Yours faithfully; Kelvin Bong, s85011@ss.uum.edu.my

"Dear Publisher, Are you updating your publisher and book information for Australian Books in Print 2004? Are Angus and Robertson bookshops getting up-to-date information on your publications? Are you providing accurate and advanced information to booksellers and libraries through Thorpe-Bowker's Global Books in Print website and CD-Rom? Using BowkerLink you can achieve all the above, and more. BowkerLink? is a free online portal that enables you to update your company and product details, enhance existing data, add new publications, and even upload jacket images. You can also provide details of your publications and distribution in markets outside Australia. Data submitted via BowkerLink is used in Global Books in Print, Australian Books in Print, New Zealand Books in Print, and Bowker's US Books in Print, as applicable. The data is also provided to Angus & Robertson bookshops. Unless your books are in the Thorpe-Bowker database, Angus & Robertson will not order them. Register today for BowkerLink on our website." Kevin Mark, Thorpe-Bowker's Data Collection Manager. Find a link to the Australian Books in Print site under resources at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

NARR@TIVE: DIGITAL STORYTELLING - a UC Digital Cultures Graduate Conference, April 22-23, 2004 at UCLA. How is digital culture transforming the stories we tell and our modes of telling them? Panel Sessions + e-Literature Reading/ New Media Performance Digital technology is frequently invoked as a trope of both continuity and rupture in our time. Digital cultures articulate and are articulated, speak and segment, transforming bits and pieces into stories and stories back into bits. But how? Motivating the focus of this conference is a questioning of how our practices of reading, writing, creating, analyzing, publishing, teaching, and thinking are being transformed by the Digital. This UC graduate conference addresses the narratives in and surrounding digital cultures, addressing the topic across such disciplinary fields as: literature and poetics, copyrights and archiving, e-journals and publication practices, games and interactive narratives, code and linguistics, scholarship systems and networks. The final evening of the conference will feature an evening of student work --Electronic Literature Readings+New Media Art Performances-- held at the UCLA Hammer Museum as part of the "HyperText: Explorations in Electronic Literature" Reading Series, co-sponsored by the Electronic Literature Organization. **DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS- MARCH 1** Send submissions of paper abstracts and/or electronic literature+ new media art to: Jessica Pressman, jesspres@ucla.edu , UCLA English Department, LA, California, USA. Find a link to the Digital Storytelling Conference site under Festivals and Conferences at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Moon Radio webTV Curator sought. An opportunity for a committed individual to develop a cutting edge arts project, who is excited by the prospect of managing a growing project and the potential of web streaming technology in a hybrid arts context, and with a passion for audience development. The curator needs to be able to work within a flexible and co-operative environment, and enjoy the challenge of implementing risk taking ideas. A full job description and details is on the website. Freelance Temporary Contract for 3 months, with potential for an extension to 12 months. Location: Nottingham, UK. Deadline for applications: Friday 13th February 2004." Rachel Jacobs. Find a link to the Moon Radio site under Media at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Call For Entries - Machinista is a yearly unmediated open-submission online exhibition. Creative and technological practices including visual and software art, science and design projects, moving image, experimental music and performance are featured in various scales and stages of development ranging from documentation of prototypes and exploratory installations to fully operational systems. In 2003 there were 128 submissions featured in Machinista plus offline events in Moscow and Perm in the Urals. Machinista Glasgow : An offline festival each year in a different host city showcases key entries to the online exhibition. Participants are commissioned to travel and present/ exhibit/install/ perform to wide audiences. This year, Machinista takes place in Glasgow, Scotland on the weekend of May 7-9 2004 with some additional events later in the year in Perm, Urals. For Machinista 2004, submissions for any of the following three themes are welcomed in all media. 1. "Art from the Machine: gleams of the inhuman" Works created completely or mostly by a machine or an artificial intelligence system. 2. "Artists Against Machine Standards" Breaking, destroying, hacking, unexpected (non-utilitarian?) usage of customary programs as an art experiment. 3. "Full-Screen Robovision" Moving image works (experimental/scientific imaging, audiovisual code, short films, animation and VJ mixes) illustrating "the world as seen by machines" Deadline: 28th February 2004." For more details and to participate, use the link to Machinista 2004 under Festivals at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

Talking Pictures is an independent website devoted to films, tv and mass media topics in general. We feature interviews, reviews, columns and essays and we are always seeking new writers and reviewers for our pages. If you want to contribute to the site please email us. No payment is available but all work is credited to the author." Nigel Watson, Talking Pictures, Plymouth, UK. For an intelligent look at film and television. Find a link to Talking Pix under Film and Video at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"The International Fiction Review is seeking contact with scholars and associations to receive articles and reviews of contemporary fiction. We would like to send out a call for papers in your Artmedia Newsletter, if possible. We are desperate to receive good reviews of contemporary New Zealand literature and writers. The editor invites essays on contemporary fiction by international writers, new and established, including minority writers. Equally welcome are essays on literary and narrative theory, comparative studies of world fiction, and surveys of contemporary national literatures or writers. Contributors are invited to explore all narrative forms in any interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and critical context. Particularly welcome are essays and reviews on contemporary New Zealand literature and writers. Please send submissions to the editor via mail or e-mail. The International Fiction Review, now in its thirty-first year, is a reviewed scholarly periodical devoted to international fiction. It publishes articles and book reviews. The journal has a world-wide circulation and a diverse readership which shares an interest in fictions of other cultures and language groups. The journal is available online to subscribers ." Thank you, Gabriel V. Laforge Editorial Assistant, International Fiction Review, University of New Brunswick, Department of Culture and Language Studies, Canada. Find a link to the International Fiction Review under On Line Magazines at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Still Mag - Cultural email magazine requires contributions . Artworks, poetry, essays, stories, photography, or anything else that is interesting, different, wonderful... This is for the third issue of the magazine. Contributions are unpaid but the exposure is huge, with a large subscription list that includes important members of the art world, media and culturati (is that a word?). To view the magazine, please visit our site where you can get back issues and subscribe." Thanks! Find a link to Still Mag under On Line Magazines at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"On the third Tuesdays of the month (except July, August and December) PEN- Washington, and co-sponsor Richard Hugo House, hosts events, talks, and workshops of interest to writers and open to the public. They are Free. For directions and further information contact Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue, Seattle, USA. PEN-WA is a nonprofit organization of writers, which was formed (in June 2002) to provide support, encourage and recognize creative literary excellence. As part of PEN-USA and PEN INTERNATIONAL, PEN-WA works to protect writers' freedom of expression throughout the state, country and world. PEN Washington, the state chapter of PEN USA, is part of an international organization of professional writers founded in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott. Early members included: D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. Today, PEN is composed of 130 centers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas with a total membership of approximately 15,000." Find a link to PEN Washington under Writers Groups at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

Noticeboard and Feedback

"Hello Alan, I just wanted to send you an email to firstly say thank you for your excellent site and newsletter. It is always filled with something of important interest and great events. So when I saw the Sydney festival, Kaleidoscope, mentioned in the last newsletter with a link from your site to ours, I was flattered and very grateful. Thank you do much for this targeted and meaningful coverage of Kaleidoscope." Kind Regards, Have loads of fun, Katrina Beck, Director. Find link to Kaleidoscope under Festivals at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Dear Alan, Thank you for a great resource. This is just to inform you and your readers that Narcissus Publications - an English-language publisher in Macedonia - has placed 20 books by Sam Vaknin on the Web as free downloads. On his site you can also find Sam's articles about electronic publishing - originally published by United Press International (UPI), InternetContent.net and eBookWeb.org. Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International." Thank you again. Lidija Rangelovska, Narcissus Publications Republic of Macedonia. Find a link to Sam Vaknin under our new heading of Free eBooks at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Hello, I am a graphic designer, working in Newtown and have recently designed a number of Book covers for Federation Press, Pluto Press and Harper Collins. I was wondering if anyone on your list contracted any freelance work for cover design, and if so, could I offer my services?" Thank you, Stuart Horton-Stephens, Newtown, Sydney, Australia. Find a link to Book Cover Design under our new heading of Services at www.artmedia.com.au/links1.htm

"Hi there, My name is Belinda Croft and I am a trained primary school teacher from New Zealand currently on my big OE in The United Kingdom with my fianci. Since my arrival I have had an idea of writing a fun book of articles on the interesting places I am visiting around the world. I believe with my teaching knowledge and traveling experiences as well as a good sense of humour, I could produce some really interesting articles and resources. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in backing my idea? I have created a mascot which I have been photographing on my travels called ?Jack? I have been trying to photograph him in places which I believe people would find of interest. I am writing in the hope of finding funding to produce my idea whether it be in the form of books, puzzles, games or toys." Thank you, Belinda Croft, Milton Keynes, England. lindycroft@hotmail.com

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