Microsoft Windows Help File Content | 1992-01-28 | 82KB | 1,421 lines
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Introduction
-- A Modest Proposal for Publishers
-- Why Electronic Publishing Makes Sense
-- Questions and Answers About Electronic Publishing
-- EXAMPLE Publication: Ruby's Pearls (Excerpts)
-- EXAMPLE Publication: Files and Stuff (Excerpts)
-- Electronic Publishing is Environmentally Smart
-- Selected Electronic Publications
-- ANNOUNCING: The Disktop Publishing Association
-- ANNOUNCING: The DPA Bulletin Board System (BBS)
-- Where and How to CONTACT the DPA
:Introduction
This
electronic_book
that is intended to be an information
packet for anyone interested in the subject of "electronic
publishing." More on that terminology later but, for now, that
means writing, publishing, and distributing any type of reading
materials that is computer-readable. Electronic publishing is
destined, by some accounts, to become more important and
prevalent than paper publishing by the end of *[the]* this century.
We agree with these projections for reasons that will become
clear as you read ahead.
This explanatory/informational/promotional file was put together
with the hope that those who read it will become aware of the
wealth and quality of electronic publications available to them.
Further, we hope that the readers will be moved to support
electronic publishing by making authors and publishers aware of
their interest. After you read an electronic publication, drop the
author or publisher a message - either by traditional mail or
through one of the modem-accessible networks (usually listed with
the publication). Only through your input, can those in the "e-pub"
industry be aware of your interest and support.
>.HotSub[Disktop 8]
We also encourage you to join the
Disktop Publishing Association.
The DPA is not just for writers and publishers but is also for
readers. Currently, it costs nothing to join and, by joining, those
who work hard to produce free or low-cost reading material will be
encouraged to continue.
I invite you to read this material with an open mind and to feel
free to reproduce, share, and republish the text found here. We
ask only that you refer to the "Disktop Publishing Association"
or the individual copyright holder as the source. The material
is protected under
copyright
, but we encourage you to use it
for any non-commercial purpose. Thank you for your interest and
support of disktop publishing.
>.pause
>.topic[ Contents ]
:electronic_book
"Electronic publishing," to me, means the authorship and
production for general consumer access of any materials which
are primarily read by computer and viewed on computer monitors.
Electronic publishing - also synonymous with "paperless,"
"digital," and "on-disk" publishing - includes fiction and
nonfiction works that are stored and distributed on
disk or available by modem access on "bulletin board systems"
("BBSs").
>.pause
>.return[]
:copyright
This is copyrighted material. However, individuals and groups
may reproduce any and all materials as they see fit, as long as
republication is not for commercial intent. We encourage
distribution on "bulletin board systems" and commercial
networks as long as the files remain intact and unaltered.
Individual papers may be reproduced in user group newsletters
and other publications as long as the original author or
copyright holder is credited.
>.pause
>.return[]
A Modest Proposal
by Ron Albright
In the December 17, 1991 issue of PC Magazine, a reader wrote *[to]*into
the "Letters to the Editor" with the following suggestion:
"It would be a good idea to let your subscribers know how we can
upgrade books from different publishers, once a new version of a
product comes out. It is foolish to have to pay full price for *[new]*
a new book when an application is upgraded. Computer book
publishers should provide upgrades for their readers just as the
software does."
The reader is expressing - from a personal view *[a much, no of]*- of a much larger
problem - *[ I would simply say, "The reader is expressing a personal view of a much larger problem - typical of*] mwhat is a typical of a growing dissatisfaction with the
current state of the publishing industry. Book and magazine
publishers simply have not made provisions for coping with the
fast-paced, ephemeral nature of publishing high-technology
information. It is my guess that unless they adapt in the near
future, they will be reduced to publishing first-edition novels and
the increasing volume of high-technology literature will be
published in "alternative" formats.
Why so?...
The amount of available information on technological topics - like
medicine and computers - is doubling at increasingly dizzying
rates. Some suggest that, for example, medical information doubles
every 3-4 years. I would guess that computer technology advances
even more rapidly. The tidal wave of information has spawned a
great number of problems. Trying to keep up with the growth of
technical information is one. Trying to get the information
published in a timely fashion is even more of a problem.
The book and magazine publishing industries have done little to
adjust to the demands of publishing in the so-called "information
age." Paper publishers continue to put books through a snail's pace
developmental cycle of 6-12 months (or longer) from manuscript to
finished product. Fully half that process is involved in
typesetting, editing the blue sheets, editing the edits, resetting
type, printing, binding, and distribution. The traditional methods
of publishing trade and scientific journals are doing no better.
Monthlies have been supplanted by bi-weeklies, which have been
replaced by weekly newsletters. The process of paper publishing was
acceptable in a slower age*[,]* when scientific and technological
discoveries were less furious. But, in the information age, it is
clearly unacceptable and self-defeating.
It appears as if the publishing houses are guilty of falling in
love with the form and not the content of their materials. Rather
than conforming to demands to speed the process of moving an
author's composition to its readership, they are content to make a
cookie-cutter product. Steeped in the traditional publishing of the
classics with their leather covers and gold-leaf imprinting (a
perfectly honorable pursuit, by the way; it is just inappropriate
for technological publishing), they are applying the same process
to print information that is clearly different. It made little
difference when a first-edition Hemingway novel made it to the
bookstores. But time is of the essence to the distribution of
technological materials.
An obvious solution...
The solution to the problem of time delays in publication is, of
course, a simple one. Continue the editing, reviewing, and
perfection of the words. But bypass the lengthy, wasteful, and
unnecessary process of printing and binding and, instead, make the
material available in computer-readable format. The material is
already being produced on word processors running on computers. Why
must it be transformed to the same medium produced by our
forefathers who set type by hand, inked the plates and pressed the
pulp. We have taken *[one]* two steps forward and one step back. All in
the name of tradition and the beloved "status quo."
For years, the publishing industry has argued - when they discussed
the possibility at all - that electronic publishing could not be
profitable. The installed base of computers was simply not large
enough, they said, to support on-disk publishing. Well, that has
changed, right before their eyes. The distribution of the computer
has reached critical mass. The argument that there are not enough
computers in the home to justify producing reading material in
digital format*[simply no longer applies?]*.
FACT: According to a 1989 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, America
has become "a nation of computer users." The study reported 74.9
million people have regular contact with the information machines.
The study, based on a 1989 survey, said 32 percent of Americans age
3 and older used computers at work, home or school. That was a jump
from the 21 percent, or 46.6 million, found in a similar survey in
1984. Fifteen percent of all households had a computer in 1989, up
from 8 percent five years earlier. Forty-six percent of children in
schools had access to computers, up from 28 percent in 1984.
FACT: More recently (October, 1991), a Gallup poll showed one in
four families plan to purchase a computer system in 1991. The
survey reported that seven in 10 households would be buying a
computer in order to bring work home or improve their children's
education.
The "lunatic fringe"...
While the New York publishing houses continue to sit on their
collective hands and ignore the expanding market for computer-based
publishing, new pioneers are beginning to realize that the time -
and the market - is ready. They are out in the unexplored frontiers
of "alternative publishing," actively exploring and setting up new
outposts to lead others to more practical ways to close the gap
between writer and reader. These are the pioneers of the "paperless
publishing" underground.
Many of these new-age publishers, like Henry Barfoot and Lupe
Tingle's "Files and Stuff," write and publish about the computer
industry. Others, like Del and David Freeman's "Ruby's Pearls,"
take non-fiction short stories and poetry to the electronic medium.
Ryan MacMichael's "Stanza" carries poetry. Neil Shulman of
"SoftServ" has an entire line of full-length fiction and non-
fiction books (including works by Harlan Ellison, among other
notables). There are dozens of other examples of modern *[modern-day]*day
Gutenbergs, carving out footholds in this untapped marketplace.
By simply creating their works using a computer and word processing
software (does anyone still compose with a typewriter?), these
author/publishers are instantly "published." The words are stored
in files on computer disks. From there, they can be sent to other
computers using phone lines and simple electronic technology. Large
national communications systems like GEnie and CompuServe, with
their hundreds of thousands of users, serve as modern-day "National
Libraries" for their works. Smaller local computer systems, called
"bulletin board systems" (or "BBSs") function as the local public
libraries for additional thousands of readers. For those not privy
to the world of modems, the material can also be distributed on a
computer disk, directly.
The words of these writers can be read by anyone with access to a
computer. The words can be sent from the author to their readers
within seconds, literally, of their creation. Trees don't die, ink
never stamps a page and, yet, the words reach an audience eager to
read the new creations. As Del Freeman wrote in a recent issue of
"Quill" magazine:
"Electronic publishing is the medium through which writers can
avoid the so-called experts who seek to predetermine public taste.
For serious writers, electronic publishing is the means to lay
their work before the public and let that collective body act, not
as a secondary concern behind some publisher's reader, but as the
first and ultimate judge. Even without the financial rewards,
electronic publishing offers the ultimate reward for the struggling
writer - plenty of constructive feedback and absolutely no
rejection slips."
Lest you think this is some occult process undertaken only by the
computer "nerds" and radicals whose compositions are too bizarre to
be accepted into the publishing "mainstream," consider this: the
prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science has
announced they will use similar technology for a new electronic
medical journal. The electronic journal, to be called the Online
Journal of Current Clinical Trials, is a joint venture with AAAS,
the world's largest general science organization, and the Online
Computer Library Center, a nonprofit corporation with a computer
network linking 13,000 libraries in 46 countries. AAAS also
publishes the journal Science.
The journal will be available to physicians, hospitals and clinics
by way of a computer-telephone connection and it will publish
research within hours of its review by experts. In making the
announcement, Dr. Edward J. Huth, editor of the new publication,
expressed the obvious benefit of the format. He said it will be the
first medical journal "to make immediately available findings that
could save or extend the lives of critically ill patients." By
submitting articles over computer networks, Huth said the system
will eliminate the weeks of delay that usually occurs in printed
journals between the time research passes peer review and the
article is printed and distributed.
Conclusions...
Clearly, things are changing. The message to the publishing
industry is clear: adapt or perish.
In response to the lament of the "Letters to the Editor" reader
above, I pose this question to computer book publishers: how
difficult would it be for them to "publish" revisions to books on
disk? After a consumer has laid down $30-40 for a book, why must
they buy a new version in 12 months for another $30? We know, from
experience, that the "update" will have 10-20% new material and 80-
90% rehashed text anyway. How much did books on MS-DOS really
change when version 5.0 replaced 4.0? Have a card in the back of
books to send in for a $10 upgrade when a software package is
revised and a new book is needed. They get one cheap upgrade and
pay only for the new material at a fair price.
That would get the publishers to at least put their toes in to test
the "electronic waters." Who knows? Perhaps they will like what
they feel. I think they will.
>.pause
>.return[]
Why "Electronic Publishing" Makes Sense
by Ron Albright
With the whole computer world using the term "desktop publishing"
as one of it's catch-phrases for the 1990s, I'd like to propose a
new one: "disktop publishing." Let's start with a definition.
"Disktop Publishing" is the production of books, manuals,
anthologies, and other written materials in a format readable
directly from disk. The reader format may take any form *[,]*from
rudimentary ASCII files that can be read from DOS*[,]* to more complex
"hypertext" documents that require special reader software. No
printed materials are used*[,]* but may be produced from the application
if desired. I want to center this discussion on the latter variety
and offer a specific example.
When I self-published my third computer book, "The Communicating
Computer," in 1988, I was fortunate enough to sell out of the 1500
copy run in short order. Feeling that my potential market had yet
been reached (the advertising budget was, shall we say, "meager")
but not wanting to spend another $2000 or so for a second run, I
let the project drop. Recently, I ran across a software product
that has enable*[d]* me to revive the publication with little expense.
Dubbed "Black Magic" (NTERGAID, Inc., 2490 Black Rock Turnpike,
Suite 337, Fairfield, CT 06430; 203-368-2174; $99.95), the project
allows for some sophisticated hypertext production of materials and
its public-domain reader program allows widespread distribution
with no royalties or expenses (other than disks and mailers). As a
result. I am releasing "The Communicating Computer[EE]"
("Electronic Edition") as a new "publication."
Hypertext, most famous as implemented on the Mac line of computers
with Hypercard, is now available for the PC in several formats (see
Vulcan's August issue and "Hypertext: Head To Head"). The well-
known "Guide" software system is useful but expensive. With Black
Magic, Iris/Prism, xText, HyperHelper, and other packages now
available, price is a minor hindrance to anyone who wants to
electronically publish in hypertext for the PC.
Hypertext is a hard concept to explain. It's basic premise is that
traditional reading materials - books, articles, etc. - are put
together contrary to the way people really think. We have to read
these publications in a linear fashion while we think in non-linear
form. Linear reading means we start at the beginning and finish at
the end. Non-linear means we start anywhere we wish, jump around,
make connections, and end up wherever our minds finishes. Hypertext
allow just that. Using "links," you can read a piece of material,
click on it with a mouse or keyboard, and see more material
connected to it. We can follow chains of thought in published
materials just as we make logical connection when we think. All
free-form - all self-directed.
Hypertext authoring tools allow just such composition of documents.
I took the text of "The Communicating Computer" and added links to
related materials here and there and, now, the reader can click,
bob and move, and read wherever he wants more information or wants
to follow a line of thought. Hypertext is more like human thinking
and makes reading a more natural process.
I think this sort of "disktop publishing" is destined to be the
wave of the future. I foresee a day when electronic publishing will
become more common that printed materials. With it, anyone with
thoughts to share can be their own publishing house. Advantages
are:
- cost savings (disk copying costs less than a run of books)
- no waste (you can produce disks as they are needed and not be
stuck with unsold books destined for the pulp factory)
- the ability to produce materials fast (a book takes 6-12 months
to produce; writing the materials is the least time-consuming
aspect)
- a corollary to fast output is fast revision - you can update and
correct materials without having to rewrite and republish the
entire tome
- and, of course, the ability to use varied formats - hypertext
being only one - as the medium.
Graphics can be added electronically and displayed on screen. Sound
can be linked; even speech can be incorporated. "Electronic
multimedia" will come to everyone. The only real limitation is the
argument is that you cannot "curl up by the fire with a computer
monitor." With the advent of smaller and smaller notebook
computers, even that will argument will fall to the wayside.
I can see a day when books will be on disk. Everyone will be a
publisher. Whole books and even series of books will be available
for downloading from electronic publishing houses. You will be
billed for downloading. The authors will get royalties based on
electronic sales. You will get updates quickly and easily.
Bookshelves will be replaced by disk cabinets.
I am excited and I think, sincerely, you will come across more and
more of this type of publishing in the near future. "Magazines On
Disk" are just a start. They are currently crude, but cute. As
hypertext and more sophisticated methods of presenting materials
are developed, we will see more and more electronic publishing.
Anyone with a computer will be an author - if they chose to be.
>.pause
>.return[]
1. What is "disktop publishing?"
Well, first, it is not a misspelling of "desktop publishing."
Disktop publishing in its broadest sense, means the authorship and
production for general consumer access of any materials which are
primarily read by computer and viewed on computer monitors. Disktop
publishing - also synonymous with "electronic," "paperless,"
"digital," and "on-disk" publishing - includes fiction and
nonfiction works that are stored and distributed on disk or
available by modem access on "bulletin board systems" ("BBSs").
Examples include newsletters, anthologies, books, and other
materials which can be read by modem or from computer disk.
2. Why is this form of publishing becoming so popular?
We like to think of disktop publishing as a natural progression of
publishing technology. If one looks at the history of publishing,
it can easily be broken down into three specific periods or
"waves." The "First Wave" of publishing was restricted to hand-
copied manuscripts, copied by transcribers and available only to
the rich. The "Second Wave" started in 1455 with Gutenberg's
printing press which made books and other material widely available
to all. The "Third Wave" is the wave of "electronic publishing." We
sincerely believe*[,]* that*[omit coma,]* well before then end of the 20th century,
disktop publishing will be the predominant method of getting all
forms of written materials into the hands of readers and consumers.
3. What are the advantages of disktop publishing?
There are several. Let's examine a few:
- cost savings (disk copying costs less than a run of books)
- no waste (you can produce disks as they are needed and not be
stuck with unsold books destined for the pulp factory)
- the ability to produce materials fast (a book takes 6-12 months
to produce; writing the materials is the least time-consuming
aspect)
- a corollary to fast output is fast revision - you can update and
correct materials without having to rewrite and republish the
entire tome
- and, of course, the ability to use varied formats - hypertext
being only one - as the medium.
Graphics can be added electronically and displayed on screen.
Sound can be linked; even speech can be incorporated. "Electronic
multimedia" will come to everyone. The only real argument against
on-disk publishing is that you cannot "curl up by the fire with a
computer monitor." But, with the advent of smaller and smaller
notebook computers - now there are even laptops with built-in CD-
ROM capabilities - even that will argument will fall to the
wayside.
I can see a day when books will be on disk. Everyone will be a
publisher. Whole books and even series of books will be available
for downloading from modem-accessible electronic publishing houses.
You will be billed for downloading. The authors will get royalties
based on electronic sales. You will get updates quickly and easily.
Bookshelves will be replaced by disk cabinets.
4. What are the disadvantages?
The major disadvantages relate to the medium itself. Since disktop
publications require a computer to read them, the problems are due
to the current limitations of computers, themselves. They include:
- Electronic publications are less portable than paper models.
However, with the popularity of laptop computers and the associated
industry attention to these type of machines, one can expect some
major developments. It is not unreasonable to expect that laptops
will continue their trend toward smaller size, better displays, and
longer battery lives. We already have seen the prototypes for the
hand-held computers *[of]*if the future with the Atari Portfolio and the
Hewlett-Packard HP95-LX. Within the next few years, I expect to see
hand-held computers with backlit VGA (or better) color displays.
When these appear in the marketplace, limitations on portability of
disktop publications will be eliminated.
- Computer illiteracy will be a problem for the next few years. The
segment of the population which is comfortable using a computer,
while growing rapidly, is still a minority. However, all available
surveys show that the number of people who use computers and
families that have computers in their homes is rapidly increasing.
So, while the market for authors and publishers who sell electronic
publications will be relatively small to start, it will grow each
year as more and more potential consumers become computer literate.
- Lack of standards for disktop publications will, perhaps, be the
most difficult of the limitations to overcome. When a reader buys
a paper book, there is little guesswork about how to read the
material. Virtually every book is laid out the same and is read in
the same manner, from to back, chapter by chapter. The same is not
true for disktop publications. With the variety of not only the
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