ok but who DOESN'T have a book-writing fetish
There’s a New Yorker cartoon to be made out of the man I saw on the train a few days ago, reading a ~printed book~ titled “The Future of Publishing,” but it’s definitely clear that, at least for a long time, books aren’t going to just, like, disappear. (At least, not before wifi can be piped into subways and doctors’ offices stops shaming you for being on your phone.) Which brings us to the question -- what’s the point of books rn??
Two links to mull that over w/:
1. “Writing the Stepping Stone: Why You Haven’t Written Your book Yet,” wherein a blogger offers some nice “just sit your ass down and write” advice but also interestingly brings up that maybe we/our J-school peers should stop fetishizing writing a book as like, the ONLY path to literary achievement, especially in this day & age.
And if you’re still hellbent on putting your name on a hardcover one day, I also liked the idea of first writing the “stepping stone” instead of just casually expecting to wake up one day and bust out a Pulitzer-winner, as literally no one does.
2. “Books in the age of the iPad,” which is a super cool perspective from a former bookbinder on the type of content that books will always pwn other forms of media in, and it makes you think about ~pagination~ and ~physicality~ and is guaranteed to make you sound super fuckin smart next time someone whines “ughhhh print is deadddddd.”
Deez Links wishes you a happy, boozy weekend!!!