|
| Zvonimir
Bulaja |
| Electronic
publishing - opportunities of a new media
In March of 1999 something new appeared at the Croatian book market:
CD-ROM "Classics of Croatian Literature - Epics, Novels, Stories".
The CD-ROM includes full texts of 67 most famous works of Croatian
literature classics, from the "father of Croatian literature" Marko
Marulić (15-16th century), to modern classics like Matoš, Kamov
and Krleža; more than 15.000 pages, or, so to say, almost everything
worth reading from our national heritage. Together with plain texts,
the CD includes comments, dictionaries, author's' biographies etc,
with basic interactivity to make reading and using easier. There
is also a possibility of printing complete works or just sections,
searching trough texts etc. Probably the greatest surprise was its
price: it costs less than an average book on Croatian market.
This was the first time something as traditional as literature was
published on a new media in Croatia. Reactions were diverse: from
glorification in reviews, that made us even embarrassed, to fear
and misunderstanding, especially among other publishers and some
traditionally oriented journalists, scared that this cheap and simple
"piece of plastics" will "destroy" their beloved books and take
them all into bankruptcy. However, it sold great, in a circulation
that books here reach rarely.
Of course, publishing the works of literary classics on CD-ROMs
is not our original idea. In "grand" languages and literatures such
titles appeared not long after CD-ROM was invented, in the late
80-ties. Just like this CD, they included works of older authors,
that are no longer under copyright and can be distributed freely.
For example, one of the first CD-ROMs of the kind included complete
works of Shakespeare, and today it is possible to get more than
a thousand titles on one CD-ROM for as little as 10 USD.
The possibilities of using this media for archiving purposes are
almost unlimited, because of its large storage capacity. But, putting
older texts into a new media is only a small part of much wider
horizons that CD-ROMs, Internet and computers in general open for
the publishing industry and writers.
At this point, it is not easy to predict the possible consequences
of the new media for national literatures and small languages. It
is still, as a global phenomenon, in the phase of emerging and exploration,
even in countries that are technological and cultural superpowers.
Some recent events, more than other the major success of Stephen
King's first book that was published exclusively electronically,
"Riding the Bullet", are only interesting precedents that raise
even more questions about the future of books.
Without any doubt, we may state that this technological shift will
change and democratise the traditional publishing process. Almost
everyone will be able to publish themselves, because the high costs
of traditional printing will be eliminated. Books will be distributed
and sold in electronic form, buyers will be able to read them on
the screen of their computer or on a special new electronic gadget
that is still in development: electronic "paper" onto which the
text can be downloaded; they will also be able to print a copy at
home. Also, thanks to the digital printing press, there is a possibility
of producing and publishing only a hundred, a couple, or even only
one single copy of a book, on demand. But, the questions is: will
the author-publisher still be able to reach his readers, although
their potential number will be unlimited? The similar happened to
Web sites: after the initial phase of enthusiasm with the fact that
"anyone can speak to the whole world", today maybe only couple of
hundreds or just a dozen of sites make real profit and have worldwide
popularity. Few dominate, the others are on the margin.
The problem of small issues and narrow and undeveloped market is
present especially in small nations, which most of European countries
"in transition" are. In some former Soviet Union republics, literature
production in national languages is technically dead: only one or
two books get printed yearly, there is no distribution, bookstores
are closed. The situation in Croatia is not so disastrous, certain
production exists, although it is far from being satisfactory. Books
are printed in small issues, yet still too big to sell, which makes
publishing, especially of new production and not affirmed authors,
very risky business. Therefore, production is significantly limited,
and without help from the government and funds, it would hardly
exist at all. Even if its intentions are the best, it is not good
to have the government and its bureaucracy as supreme arbiters of
what will and what will not get printed. The new electronic publishing
options might be the ideal solution of this problem, but, of course,
it requires the education of the audience and all the other parties
included in the process of literarry communication.
The new media are more than just ideal means of storage of existing
knowledge and existing materials. The feedback from this new way
of expression in literature might be as significant in future as
the impact of film in the 20th century. We will be, or better, we
already are, witnessing the birth of new genres, new forms, that
mix features of what we today call literature with visual expression,
graphic design, computer programming, moving pictures and music,
in a multimedia mixture. These new ways of expression stand between
the classic notion of "passive" literature on the one end, and computer
games on the other, offering interactivity and a real active role
to the reader.
And finally, there's one more fact that we must not neglect: traditional
paper books are produced from a natural resource that is limited
and will eventually be exhausted: wood. Each year, on planet Earth
deforestation happens in an area approximately the size of Croatia.
The price of paper at the world market has increased significantly
in the last decades. Among others, this is the reason why some of
world famous newspapers, like Le Monde or The Times, are in financial
difficulties. Whether we like the new hi-tech stuff or not, we might
be forced to use it, because of environmental reasons. This, of
course, doesn't have to mean that paper will be abandoned - although
even this might happen when we find adequate electronic replacement
for it, one which resembles it but can be re-used - we will use
it only when it's really necessary.
Changes imposed by technology will not always be for good, but even
for the most conservative traditionalists, there's nothing to be
afraid of.
|