YOU GOT YOUR CHOCOLATE IN MY PEANUT BUTTER...

(Raise your hand if you remember that ad campaign...)

I guest blog at: http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com/2011/11/sum-of-parts.html regarding my plan to fuse books and TV and, along the way, revitalize them (and their writers) both.

An excerpt:

But, this is where things get tricky. Just because the technology is now available to enhance all books, does that mean that all books should automatically be enhanced?

If by “enhanced,” you mean what a majority of publishers are doing, which is adding an interactive table of contents, some photos, and maybe a critical essay on the main work, then yes, sure, why not? All of those things are useful and not particularly distracting.

If by “enhanced” you mean non-fiction books incorporating maps and period film footage and video interviews with the key players in their story then yes, absolutely, a more complete picture is always preferable when it comes to fact-based tomes.

But, if you’re talking about fiction, it’s not nearly as cut and dried.

In my humble opinion (and, at this stage of the game, everyone is simply making their best guess, the concept hasn’t been around long enough to mint a single expert who might claim superior knowledge) the only reason to introduce enhanced elements into any novel is if it serves the story – nothing else.

Does this enhancement improve the reader’s experience? That’s it. Not: Does it fluff the author’s ego, show off a cool, new gadget, or even pad the bottom line? Does it make the story we are trying to tell better?

Read the entire piece at: http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com/2011/11/sum-of-parts.html