So I listened in on my first webinar today, a roundtable discussion hosted by Digital Book World. Today’s topic was about editors’ roles in the digital publishing space.
I learned several things:
1.) There is an awesome “new” blog called The New Sleekness. It has a lovely look and very interesting publishing punditry.
2.) I wish I had a winning scratch-off ticket so I could go to the Digital Book World conference. My budget dictated that I choose between Tools of Change and DBW, and a colleague I greatly respect suggested TOC. But the DBW organizers have impressed me with their ability to be everywhere I go and to talk about everything I’m most interested in. Do you think they’d let me check coats or clear tables in exchange for a free afternoon of conferencing?
3.) Stories are stories are stories. One participant, when discussing the role of a multi-media editor, said that many book editors look at the digital space (video, Web sites, etc.) and think, “That’s something else. That’s not what I do.” But others are beginning to think about their authors’ stories in a more integrated way.
Every editor I’ve ever worked with analyzes all stories, whether in TV, film, books or online. Most of us also see narrative arcs when others don’t (the beauty of the right political timing, for example). Once you learn to find and manipulate narrative, it’s hard to stop. Maybe multi-media editing is just an extension of this, with different tools.
4.) There is passion out there in this new publishing world. Book lovers are called lovers (and not buffs) for a reason. We love reading. We love stories. We love words. Most of all, we love to share all of that with others. The greatest boon of combining books with digital media is the ease of connecting with other book lovers and sharing our passions.
5.) If you want to go digital, love to learn. So, count me in for the next webinar, and this upcoming February talk with Richard Nash and Colin Robinson.
Stacy Boyd's Blog 