Aidan
Chambers's iPad App |
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Tablet
Tales |
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The
portal to some of my new writing for the iPad along with
some old books republished as my own ebooks. The app is
free. Whether the content is free or priced is indicated
after the description of each book below. |
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Description |
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This
app gives access to some of my ebooks, and some new writing
specifically for the iPad. A major development, the iPad
is bound to generate new forms of literature, and I intend
to explore the possibilities. I begin with a new book specially
prepared for this app and some out of print books that are
still worth reading. |
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Trying
It On is the new book and is my opening attempt
to write for the iPad: 'trying it on' to see if it 'fits',
and whether it leads to more developed iPad work, and to
find out what readers make of it. Readers can respond directly
to me, privately, one-to-one, by using: Tablet.Tales@gmail.com
and via my website, links of which are embedded on all pages
of the book. Available for purchase in app. |
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Essays
and Articles. Eight essays dealing with various
aspects of writing, publishing, and children's literature.
Subjects include translation, adaptation of novels for the
stage, reading education, the poetics of youth literature,
flash fiction, and substantial interviews with Alan Garner
and Robert Cormier. Some are included in the app., others
are inexpensively priced. |
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Old
books made new as ebooks are: |
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Funny
Folk: A Book of Comic Tales selected from the long
folktale tradition of British humorous writing. Most of
the tales are retold; some are adaptations from original
sources. Suitable for young readers from 10 years old, and
for adults. Available for purchase in app. |
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The
Reluctant Reader, first published in 1969, argued
the case for a special youth literature appropriate for
young people who could read but were unwilling readers of
fiction. I would not now support some of the views I held
at the time or accept the way these were expressed, but
as a historic document, much of it again pertinent in the
current state of education and reading among the young,
I'm told the book is still of interest to students of youth
literature. Included in the app. |
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Intentions |
Several
TT readers have asked me to explain what I'm doing - or
trying to do. Here is a brief summary: |
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New
forms of writing; new ways of reading |
Whenever
there is a major development in the technology of writing
and reading, new forms of literature become possible. The
obvious example is the arrival of moveable type. Before
that, when all books had to be written by hand, no one wrote
novels. |
It
seems to me that the iPad is a development of major significance
which is bound to breed new forms of writing and different
ways of reading. |
A
simple example: Built in to the iPad is the possibility
for instant private communication between the reader and
the writer. Surely, this will have important influences
on what is written and the reader's responses to it? |
The
only way to discover the possibilities is to write for and
read on the iPad. |
My
main intention with Tablet Tales is to begin that exploration
and see where it takes me. |
Trying
It On is a first attempt. I could have published it
as a printed book. It isn't very different in any obvious
or extraordinary way. But I wrote it for the iPad, and I
found this affected my thinking, the choice of subjects,
the length of the passages, the order in which I arranged
them, and - an important feature - how they looked on the
screen. |
I
haven't included pictures or any of the available, stunning
audiovisual effects because I'm interested in words, language,
literature. I'm starting minimally with words only. In future
I'll use whatever resources the subject requires. I already
have two books in mind, one of which will include pictures. |
But
before I do more, I'm waiting to hear what readers think
of Trying It On and my app. |
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A
new way of publishing |
A
second intention. |
The
digitalisation of books has created the eBook. So far, publishers
have made their eBooks look as much like printed books as
possible. The text is only a digital copy of the printed
text. |
And
each book is available individually on Apple's iBooks or
Kindle or the other devices. |
I'm
not doing that. |
Tablet
Tales is a portal to the writing I want to make available
in this format, except for those books which I would include
but are already available as eBooks from my publishers.
My app is a one-author library and bookshop. In it you can
see the books together, receive updates, news, any other
features which I add in the future, and you can communicate
with me privately, if you want to. |
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Eternal
verities |
I'm
going back to the basics of print and applying them to the
iPad. |
The
iPad isn't a book. What are its own aesthetics that are
different from those of a paper book? What makes it good
to look at and use? And what effect does this have on what
is written and on the reader? |
It
is true that the design of letters, the length of the line,
the number of lines on the page or screen, the spacing of
the words and between the lines, the colour of the background,
all these and more have a profound influence on the reader's
feelings and thoughts. Often this influence is unconscious.
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The
aesthetics - the art and craft of print - have been worked
out over centuries. We know what is best for the eye to
look at, the brain to assimilate, the hand to hold (reading
and writing are physical - visual and tactile activities).
These verities remain as true for the presentation of words
on a screen as they do for traditional book print. |
I
am trying to apply this knowledge to the presentation of
the 'print' in Tablet Tales. |
The
pages are fixed and numbered. They cannot be altered by
the reader. Turning from single-page 'portrait' to double-spread
'landscape' changes the size of the print but doesn't change
the page or the layout. In that sense, they are like a printed
book. I'm trying to create an object that has its own integrity.
In other words, I'm attempting to make a work of art. |
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New
and Old: an author's own iPad publishing |
In
this first collection, Trying It On is the new. Funny
Folk, an entertainment, and The Reluctant Reader,
a serious study, are the old, newly presented, and included
because people have asked for them or because, along with
the Essays, they represent other aspects of my interests
as a writer. |
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For
Tablet Tales application support go to SUPPORT
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