But it was exhilirating to try anyway, and to know that it would always be worth it–the quality was so consistently high.

I think part of what this post is pointing out is that there’s no one way to blog a book (of creative writing). Is it written with eventual publication in mind? Does publication happen after the fact? Is it continuous or is it interrupted by other things? Is there a community of regular readers? Is the subject sharply defined, and is it episodic or plot-based? All these things affect what gets written.

There are those projects that play to the strengths of the medium (brevity, regularity, photographs) and find their success in that. This was true of my first book. Then there are those that play against the medium, curious to see how far things can be pushed, curious to see, even, if the strengths of the medium can be redefined. If something like Cibola garnered relatively little attention, it’s less its fault than that of the readers and what they are prepared for.

In thinking about my own projects, I have to rely on the cliche of each child being different but equally loved. I definitely feel as if the ongoing book is pushing me and my readers. It is a record of certain risks taken. It has been harder, but I think it will be less “informative” than its sibling and more rewarding.

Their fatal flaw is that they use proprietary software, require a computer running Windows to synch with, and are filled with copywrite protection safeguards for current commercial titles. Project Gutenburg texts or your friend’s manuscript won’t “play” on them.

So it seems that the technology for a usable electronic book already exists, but the computer companies want to control how they are used, and what books are read.

I have faith that eventually someone will hack some of this equipment to make a good electronic book reader. If there were as many hacker-poets as there are hacker-video-gamers, we’d be all set.

Good point about photography. And the joy of curling up with a physical book – even if I had a laptop, I probably wouldn’t carry it out to the porch with me when I drink my morning coffee.

Another big advantage on the web, though, is the inclusion of photography as an integral part of a manuscript.

If you’re right about the magnitude of this problem – and I suspect you are – then one implication is that I ought to get my ass in gear and upload a bunch more audio versions. Another thing I’d like to do is provide a print-on-demand option for each book.

Teju – I think your first book project was a bit more engaging, I guess because it emerged with greater regularity. I also find lengthy paragraphs and fully justified margins a little daunting. I do think that the key to building readership for literary works on the web is breaking things into bite-sized pieces; lyric poems are often less than 500 words long. On the other hand, I would hate to feel as if I am pandering to an audience, so it’s not like I really disagree with your sentiment about two or three readers.

It’s an interesting subsitute for now, especially with the large potential audience, but the problem of the audience’s reading habits seems to me an intractable one.

My priority when writing a book online–”open city” is my second such–is to make the site simple. I want the reader to have the presence of mind for something that isn’t written at newspaper level. I employ a minimum of bells and whistles. I’m obsessed with lowering the level of visual noise.

If I only end up with two or three real readers, that’s fine by me.

I don’t feel as if I read well enough on a computer screen to really appreciate poetry, or literary prose. I read text on a screen much the same way newspapers are meant to be read. A lot of skimming, skipping around. Even when I try to attend closely, I find myself mis-reading significant words.

I’ve been playing around with this problem using Project Gutenberg texts, trying to find a way to “really” read. Laptops and hand-helds are a little better than desktop screens.

I wish I could get this to work. A complete set of Dickens doesn’t take up much hard drive space, but it really fills up the bookshelf, where it’s bound to get dusty. Plus, I’d love a “string search” capability in every book I read.