Author Richard Mason (The Drowning People) created a huge buzz among booksellers attending ABA's Winter Institue at Friday morning’s Small Press Breakfast when he unveiled his new company’s debut release, a “literary app” entitled The Gilded Curve: History of A Pleasure Seeker, literary fiction written by Mason himself. History of A Pleasure Seeker is being released in hardcover and in e-book format by Knopf on February 14. The Gilded Curve, which is an adaption of the Knopf release, will be released by Orson & Co. as a digital original in April or May.
During his presentation to the booksellers, Mason insisted, “This emphatically is not an e-book. This is a whole new artistic form.” The literary app enables the reader to delve deeper into the text with just a few taps onto the screen of a mobile device. For instance, the reader can view interactive photographs and illustrations accompanying the text, or listen to evocative music while reading. One of the most provocative features of the literary app is that one can hear Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens (Matthew Cawley) read the text. The literary app can be annotated; notes by readers can be shared with others through social media websites.
“It’s all about fanning the imagination,” Mason declared, “You are seeing and hearing enough to stimulate your imagination.”
While not wanting to disclose specific details about distribution while he is still negotiating with a major corporation, Mason told PW that booksellers will make a profit of $4.00-$6.00 per sale; he anticipates that Orson & Co. literary apps will retail for $17.99-$24.99. “We think the value is the same as a hardcover,” he explained to PW, “We’re creating a quality product. The audio [of The Gilded Curve] lasts 20 hours.” Mason explained that Orson & Co. intends to work with independent booksellers to create a “real-world distribution channel.”
Reaction among booksellers was mixed. While one bookseller was overheard saying, “We don’t need that crap,” and another said, “I don’t want another e-thing in my store,” others were more receptive to the idea, especially the audio features included in the package. “It’s mind-blowing,” Patty Vunk of the Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington, New York, told PW, “It made me think there’s a renaissance going on, not that the book is over. The book is being reinvented.”
“Think about older people, or readers with disabilities,” Sue Boucher of Lake Forest Books in Lake Forest, Illinois, said, “I think there’s a lot of potential. I think my customers will be interested. And it’s really beautiful.” But Lisa Baudoin of Books & Co. in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, questioned whether literary apps would go over in her store, when she can’t sell audiobook downloads through the Indie Commerce website. “It really enhances the book, but what about the distribution?” she asked, “It’s not about the medium, it’s about the distribution.”
Orson & Co, which was founded by Mason, who serves as publisher, and Benjamin Morse, who serves as artistic director, employs four in their New York City offices, with plans for another three employees to be added this spring. The company will release its debut list of literary apps this spring: The Gilded Curve for adult readers and The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever for children, written and illustrated by Morse. Orson & Co. will release 15 literary apps by different authors over the next year. While the company will emphasize adult fiction and nonfiction on its list, it will also release children’s titles.
To preview the two literary apps to be released by Orson & Co., visit www.orsonandco.com
