The Writing Center

Now that the iPod supports both audio and video content, why not add books to the mix?

Well, because that little iPod screen is too small to read much more than a sentence at a time (and, for those with vision as poor as mine, not even that much). However, should Apple release a new iPod with a larger screen, anything is possible.

According to the tech blog Engadget, at least one publisher has sent its archive of digitized books to Cupertino (Apple’s headquarters).

The rumor is the next iPod will feature a much larger screen, which would provide a more usable form factor for displaying books. It won’t be as crisp as the screen that Sony has cooked up, but then Sony is so far behind schedule on releasing is much-hyped Sony Reader that I could see Apple and Sony releasing competing products at right about the same time — and my money would be on Apple winning that bout. As much as I would love to have a device designed purely for reading books, when I travel I would like to have just one device that does everything.

The good news from all this is that we would have three different eBook readers hitting the market, which means competitive pricing and, hopefully, a wide selection of eBooks to choose from.

UPDATE: The Sony Reader has been officially delayed yet again, this time until the fall.

Midge’s short story “Aftershock” was published today in West Magazine, the Sunday magazine of the Los Angeles Times.

The great thing is that it has been freely posted for all to read (after registration). You can check it out here.

A couple of weeks ago, John and I led a business writing seminar for an international technology corporation, at which we emphasized clear, concise, precise communication. Sometimes the best way to do this (and the most fun) is to show what bad writing is … and one of the surest ways to communicate badly is to use doublespeak. As we know all too well, this is often the modus operandi for many corporations (and governments), especially those that find themselves with a bit of explaining to do.

Take Dell, for example — yesterday’s New York Times published a photo of a flaming computer that apparently exploded due to a malfunctioning battery, as well as the accompanying statement from Dell’s vice president for corporate group communications, calling it a “thermal incident.” We wish we’d had that example a couple of weeks ago for the seminar. It’s one of my new favorites.

During the presentation, we offered some popular examples — “impacted with the ground prematurely” (crashed); “human remains pouches” (body bags); “waste disposal engineer” (garbage collector) — that got the point across. And while the notion of avoiding doublespeak may be news to non-writers, like our seminar students, we assume that those who work in corporate communications know something about good writing. But I am beginning to suspect that once they get out of journalism school, they go somewhere for an advanced degree in how to use doublespeak, not how to avoid it.

In his book On Writing Well, William Zinsser devotes a chapter to clutter as one of the enemies of good writing, reminding us of Digital Equipment Corporation’s “involunary methodologies” (layoffs) and General Motors’ “volume-related production-schedule adjustment” (plant shutdown). How many times have we heard “Details were overlooked” or “Mistakes were made”?

I’m wondering why spokespersons from virtually all industries continue to use this sort of language. I believe that people are smart enough to know when they’re being manipulated — and there’s certainly nothing subtle about doublespeak. I, for one, would respect and appreciate any company (or candidate) that dares to speak plainly. Straight talk has nothing to hide. Obfuscating the authenticity of veraciously challenged statements, however, causes perturbation and incertitude.

Today’s Wall St. Journal features an article on new ways to sell fiction: by reaching into niche markets.

Those who frequently visit The Writing Center have probably noticed our fascination with the innovative ways authors sell books, from giving readings at casinos to finding a platform. This is all for good reason — as this Journal article reports, more than 5,000 new novels are published each year, even as sales are slowing. Publishers and authors have to be inventive.

This article reports the myriad ways publishers can find readers, from cable-TV shows to nonprofit organizations to businesses. While some of these approaches are risky (approaching autism reaearch groups to help promote a novel about a boy with autism) and some fall flat (a novel about a woman who runs a bed-and-breakfast didn’t sell well in the B&Bs the publisher targeted), publishers are clearly finding it necessary to go beyond bookstores to capture readers’ interest.

And I really enjoyed reading about how authors themselves are thinking ahead — the article highlights a writing pair whose mystery novel is tied to scrapbooks, a growing market that the authors, as well as their agent and publisher, are specifically targeting. Traditionally, this sort of marketing analysis has been the concern of nonfiction writers, who sell book proposals rather than finished manuscripts. Novelists, we like to believe (especially if we are novelists ourselves), only have to worry about the writing itself.

But it’s becoming clear that novelists would be wise to think like nonfiction writers when they’re getting ready to approach agents and editors — that is, to look for innovative ways of reaching new readers. As the fiction market grows more competitive, writers with ideas that go beyond character and plot might find themselves with a big advantage…not to mention bigger sales.