Avi Blog » online http://www.avi-writer.com/blog Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:40:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 Serials in the 21st Century http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2013/01/serials-in-the-21st-century/ http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2013/01/serials-in-the-21st-century/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:50:13 +0000 Avi http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/?p=859 Continue reading →]]> Keep Your Eye on AmandaThe first serial I wrote was Keep Your Eye on Amanda. Chapter 1 appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph on October 3, 1996. Readers loved it. Authors found new readers. (I recall riding a NY subway, watching an old man read a chapter of The Secret School in the NY Post.) Other newspapers joined in. Readers clamored for it. Teachers used it in classes, grandparents shared it with distant grandchildren. 

Though I remained the nominal head of the company, Linda Wright took it over, transforming it into a unique publishing venture. The name Breakfast Serials was introduced. Other authors joined in. Katherine Paterson. Linda Sue Park. Joseph Bruchac, among others. Illustrators Brian Floca, Emily Arnold McCully, Timothy Bush. 

Under Ms. Wright, the growth of Breakfast Serials was extraordinary, eventually reaching a circulation figure of thirty-three million! It probably became—in terms of readers—the biggest publisher in the world. All, as it were, beneath the radar. But just as Breakfast Serials expanded around the world, the US press—under the internet onslaught—virtually tanked. What to do?

Instant Serials

Ms. Wright regrouped and has now invented a way to make serialization available online, as Instant Serials. Here, terrific stories and great art are available in serialized form, along with a means of chatting (online, with no smack talk) about the stories. The reader (parent, grandparent, and teacher) sets the release dates of successive chapters. Which means readers will still have to laugh, cry, and wait … a little. Quite amazing.

]]> http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2013/01/serials-in-the-21st-century/feed/ 0 Books by their covers http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2012/09/559/ http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2012/09/559/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:01:52 +0000 Avi http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/?p=559 Continue reading →]]> I was recently talking to a highly successful editor, and she was telling me about the recent aesthetic evolution of book cover design. The essence is this: With the increase in sales of books on the internet, it has become important to design a book cover so that it can be read. Previously, one saw the book in a book store—and there it was—with carefully (one hopes) designed graphic art. Yes the title and author’s name were there, but they were embedded in the art. Now, online, we see very small images of the cover. The need to present author’s name and book title becomes more important. As a result more attention is being paid to cover size, font, and design of the type. I suspect that this will be less a factor in books for young people—surely picture books, and middle grade novels. But there it is, the latest word. But I suspect it will influence the title itself—for that will tend to attract (or not) the reader even more. It will also favor known writers over new or lessor known.

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