Friday, May 04, 2012

Digital Storytelling 360°


Tomorrow (Saturday May 5th) I will be talking at the 2012 Ontario Writer's Conference which is taking place at the Deer Creek Golf and Banquet Facility.

I will be doing a plenary session with Cynthia Good, Director of the Creative Book Publishing Program at Humber College.

Our overall topic is called Storytelling 360°: Storytelling in a Digital Age and the description is here:

Publishers have already begun to embrace the notion of multiple platforms by casting off those expectations we’ve grown up with – that a story is… text on a page, actors on the stage, special effects on the screen or a narrator reading. In our digital and connected world it’s now a natural step to dictate how we want our stories delivered – whether we want to read, listen, watch or ‘do’.

This is an era of abundance. Choices for readers, for publishers – and for writers. The traditional physical book still retains its primacy, but electronic publishing offers opportunities that we had never dreamed possible.

Our session runs between 11:30 and 12:30. We be speaking for about 20 minutes each and then offering some time for questions and comments from the audience.  Cynthia and I discussed how we would split this up to ensure that we didn't cover the same ground and I'm looking forward to the experience.

I will be talking a little bit about the overall evolution of storytelling, offering a few examples of trans-media storytelling, multi-platform storytelling experiences, how apps, and various social media tools are allowing authors and publishers to both promote their work but also offer readers exciting new ways to discover and experience the worlds they are creating.  I will also draw from a few of my own experiences as a writer that fully draw on the concept of 360°.

And I will, of course, also be talking about how digital reading allows for a fully immersive reading experience, the interesting ways that ebooks companies are engaging readers, as well as some new opportunities that Kobo offers which allow authors to connect with readers in bold and dynamic new ways.

The presentation will be fun -- but the real joy will be getting to spend the day with so many writers.

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