"Depending on your point of view, this is either a great breakthrough or the end of civilization as we know it." Calvin Reid, Senior news editor at Publishers Weekly.
Have you heard of Nimble Books?
Oh, yes, this is where the slippery slope of technology has taken us: from e-books to self-publishing to robo-books. Not only have we gotten rid of agents and editors, we have now removed the two final industry requirements: original writing and, finally, the author. (Chris Wright)
I have said it before: the underlying belief of society is that technology means progress. But, what if we're wrong? What if instead of advancing civilization we are destroying it? In an age that worships "ME" above all else, can we trust that the decisions we make regarding the use of technology are for the collective benefit of mankind?
Are robo-books a step forward for publishing, for writers, for the advancement of ideas, reason, language, story, and wisdom? Is this progress?
Really it comes down to just this: God-forbid that someone should tell ME that my writing is not worthy of publication. By golly, I'll publish myself--without paper, without ink, without any real investment at all, and finally without writing a single damn word.
Or, maybe we can find some robo-readers for these robo-books, and then we won't have to do anything at all--we can just sit back and brag about all the books we've "read".
Have you heard of Nimble Books?
"The idea behind (Nimble Books) is simple. To see your title in print, you need only log onto nimblebooks.com and enter your proposed subject into a box. After this, bespoke software goes looking for relevant stuff on public domain sites, pulls it all together, and slaps on a ruidmentary cover." from, "Introducing the Robo-author: It's My First Book And I Didn't Write a Word of It", by Chris Wright. Published in the Boston Globe on Sunday, September 23, 2012. (Note: To access the article Google: Chris Wright, author, Ideas. The article will appear as the first item).You choose a subject and title and the rest of the work is done for you. Voila! You are a published author without writing a single word.
Oh, yes, this is where the slippery slope of technology has taken us: from e-books to self-publishing to robo-books. Not only have we gotten rid of agents and editors, we have now removed the two final industry requirements: original writing and, finally, the author. (Chris Wright)
I have said it before: the underlying belief of society is that technology means progress. But, what if we're wrong? What if instead of advancing civilization we are destroying it? In an age that worships "ME" above all else, can we trust that the decisions we make regarding the use of technology are for the collective benefit of mankind?
Are robo-books a step forward for publishing, for writers, for the advancement of ideas, reason, language, story, and wisdom? Is this progress?
Really it comes down to just this: God-forbid that someone should tell ME that my writing is not worthy of publication. By golly, I'll publish myself--without paper, without ink, without any real investment at all, and finally without writing a single damn word.
"The real trick for readers, then, may simply be to work out how to find the real, useful books amid all the meaningless chatter." (Chris Wright)Makes you want to run right out and buy a new book, doesn't it?
Or, maybe we can find some robo-readers for these robo-books, and then we won't have to do anything at all--we can just sit back and brag about all the books we've "read".
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