But what about the children...?

There was a conference in Auckland recently on digital publishing. As well as Graham Beattie attending and blogging on the experience, someone I know personally who is involved in the publishing industry was going and I wondered (yet again) how I should feel about this topic and how it might affect me and my writing. Should I be worried? afraid? resigned? fatalistic? ecstatic? blase? all of the above? - you get the picture.

There has been intermittant press on this topic for as long as I have been blogging and no one seems to be entirely sure how it will go, when or whether technology will be the main format and when or whether the traditionally printed word will disappear completely. But yesterday it occured to me that as a children's writer, it is entirely likely that the impact of e-books, kindles, and all that is digital publishing will take a very different pathway when it comes to children's books. Can children learn to read via a kindle? Will teachers read aloud to a classroom of children via some electronic medium? How will new entrants (and older students) learn in the future and how, if at all, will books feature? It only occured to me yesterday that most of the conversations about this topic that I've been eavesdropping on so far have been about books for a mature audience. All my questions have changed and I wonder who out there might have any answers. What do you think?

On a related topic I have sometimes considered whether I should have a facebook page and be a twitterer (already being a twit, its only one small step further). After all, I have already been completely seduced by blogging. I don't know if there are any benefits to my writing career in doing this but I have come to realise that this would be a happy accidental by-product of something that for me is all about joining a community of like-minded people who enjoy discussing writing, publishing and all associated issues. I love knowing things and learning more about them (tick), I love making friends with people who care about the same things I do (tick), I love writing (tick), I love sharing information (tick) and I love figuring stuff out by talking it through (tick). I have resisted facebook etc... because they function in different ways that don't tick all those boxes for me and it seemed to me they suck up a large amount of time disproportionate to any potential advantages. If i needed further convincing that my instincts were right on this I need look no further than the lovely clip (those green glasses are quite distracting) recently posted on Wellington writer Maureen Crisp's blog (although I am disturbed by all that housework Maureen - thats not healthy).

By the way I was interviewed by Gordon Harcourt on National Radio yesterday. I am still feeling a little PTSS over this but may post a link at some point if I can manage to get over myself.

Over here, Look at me...

Time for a wee rock on one of my hobby horses - here is a blog posting from the Urban Muse on 'why writers should blog' (thanks to Janet Reid for the link). The influence of the internet is increasing all the time. One of the hardest things about being writers is getting people to sit up and take notice of us and our work. Blogging is just another form of me standing up and waving my arms around and saying, OVER HERE. LOOK AT ME. Of course, the greatest benefit is that I can do it in my jammies and slippers with a pimple on my chin and no one will know except for anyone who reads that last bit. Oh well. Now you know. The other benefit is that this is a medium that utilises one of my better skills. And I can post when I want, and edit it at will. The alternative is public appearances and I get nervous and a little tongue-tied speaking to a group of strangers. And it is unlikely that I could ever reach such a wide audience through public appearances. My blog has been checked out by people from the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Tonga and all over New Zealand(hi there!). And did I mention, it can actually be fun, and I don't get interrupted, and there aren't any awkward silences (well maybe there are but I am blissfully ignorant of them). You might look at the internet and think but I'm just going to get lost amongst ALL of that information, more of which is being added every second. Okay you do need to be a little savvy and make sure your name and/or book title are in your blog title and blog address and are mentioned as much as possible but I can confirm that people are finding me. And yes sometimes that's by accident, but other folk are finding me and my books on purpose and although my books aren't on bookshelves around the world yet, if I didn't have an online presence you might not know about me at all. And that would be a shame because I think you'd like my books. But I have a blog and some of my books are popping up on Amazon and places like Fantastic Fiction in the UK. See how cool this is? The internet is not a hard tool to use. And using it, I believe, gives me an advantage. Okay enough rocking, I'm getting off now.

But before I go I just want to say congratulations to the Kiwi's, who against the odds and expectations, beat their biggest rivals the Kangaroos to win the Rugby League World Cup on the weekend. And by a healthy margin too :)

Blogging keeps me (relatively) sane....

Today it is Justine Larbalestier's blog that is driving my thoughts (http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/ ). Her latest post talks about the statistics behind her blog and how over the past 3 years comments have grown from almost nothing to 13 per post. That gives me hope that people may one day leave comments for me. I dream about having to turn on the comment moderator.

The other thing Justine said that really struck a chord with me was that blogging is her antidote to the glacial pace of publishing. Everything takes so long (measured generally in half years and years) when you are a fiction writer, in terms of submissions, responses, editing, and if you are lucky enough, actual publication. Blogging is instantaneous. Have a thought you want to share? You can blog about it and it appears immediately. Your thought can provoke a discussion or send someone off on their own thought process (www.fificolston.blogspot.com ) and it all happens very quickly. Ms Larbalestier says blogging keeps her sane in the slow world of writing and I can only agree. My sanity has too long been at the mercy of the vagaries (or should that be vagueries) of the publishing business and here at last is something under my control. I love you blog world, you are my life preserver.