January 2003 News ArchiveLots of new formats for downloadingVolunteers have sent in copies of the novel in multiple file formats (PalmOS PDB, Apple Newton PKG, PalmOS Palm Reader, and Microsoft LIT). They're linked off the downloads page. Comments (4) | Posted on January 9, 2003 11:50 PMOver 20,000 downloads so far24 hours after launching the site from which you can download my novel for free, the book has been downloaded over 20,000 times. It's been Slashdotted, blogged to hell and back, and I've done a number of press interviews about it. What's more, the title is currently sitting at #304 in the Amazon Sales Rank. Let's call this one a success. I could not be more stoked. Damn.Comments (3) | Posted on January 9, 2003 11:26 PMDownloads mirror in AustraliaThanks to Jason Andrade for setting up a mirror of the downloads page in Australia for your antipodean convenience.Comments (0) | Posted on January 9, 2003 10:24 PMInterview with me on Creative CommonsI've done an interview with Creative Commons about Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom in which I go into some depth about the motivation for releasing the book online, gratis.Well, in some ways, this novel is a parable about Napster, and about the reputation economies that projects like Ringo, Firefly, Epinions and Amazon hint at. In a world where information is nonscarce, the problem isn't finding generic information -- it's finding useful information. There's an old chestnut in online science fiction fandom that the Internet "makes us all into slushreaders." ("Slush" is the unsolicited prose that arrives at publishers' offices -- a "slushreader" wades through thousands of these paste-gems looking for the genuine article). This has always struck me as a pretty reactionary position. Comments (4) | Posted on January 9, 2003 09:07 AMAutomated cut-ups of Down and Out in the Magic KingdomModesty has used a cut-up engine called Alice -- named for Jeff Noon's brilliant Automated Alice -- to slice and dice Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom into a bunch of random, interesting chunklets. It's damned weird stuff and it warms my cockles."Honk!" she said, after a short queue of older men, then there was no way of mirrors and into hers as we stood by the time alternately moping, drinking, and plotting terrible, irrational vengeance on Debra for killing me, destroying my relationship, taking away my beloved (in hindsight, anyway) Hall of Presidents over for a couple glasses from the Bitchun Society didn't need to convert its detractors, just outlive them. The first time I debarked for the patchy red welts from the computer where it disappeared into the discussion. If I needed to do that, too." Was I really advocating being more like you and start playing. Others would pick up their own jokes, and even though he blew his spiel about half the time. "Lillian," he said, cautiously. "Doctor Pete is a couple of days, starting the rehab is a terrific attraction, and it's going to live, I'd like to have a backup made before she did. Comments (0) | Posted on January 9, 2003 08:46 AMDown and Out in the Magic Kingdom webringMy pal Bill Shunn -- a hell of an sf writer and top-notch geek -- has started a Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom webring for fansites devotes to the book. I am beside myself.I anticipate a desire among fans of the book to visit the sites where it (took/will take) place, sort of like hitting the Stations of the Cross in a Catholic cathedral, and snap photos proving they were there. Hoping to be the first to do so, and maybe thereby accumulate some whuffie of my own, I present the "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom Whuffie Ring," a web ring to let people link up their Down and Out fan pages. Comments (0) | Posted on January 9, 2003 12:11 AMWelcome to the siteSo, the book launches today. Theoretically, cartons of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom are arriving in bookshops all over the world, even as you read this. I'm pretty psyched.This site is a way to keep track of the goings-on with the book: stores that are carrying it, new reviews, and general news about the book. I am immensely grateful to Mena Trott and Ben Trott for putting this site together, using their wonderful Movable Type blogging tool. Most importantly, perhaps, is that this site is a place where you can download the whole goddamned book, completely gratis, in a variety of open, standards-defined formats. These books are licensed under a Creative Commons license. This is a somewhat novel idea. Not a lot of writers have published a free electronic edition simultaneous with their dead-tree-edition novels, and so perhaps a word of explanation is in order. "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" is my first novel. It's an actual, no-foolin' words-on-paper book, published by the good people at Tor Books in New York City. You can buy this book in stores or online, by following links like this one. I'm releasing the entire text of this book as a free, freely redistributable e-book. You can download it, put it on a P2P net, put it on your site, email it to a friend, and, if you're addicted to dead trees, you can even print it. Why am I doing this thing? Well, it's a long story, but to shorten it up: first-time novelists have a tough row to hoe. Our publishers don't have a lot of promotional budget to throw at unknown factors like us. Mostly, we rise and fall based on word-of-mouth. I'm not bad at word-of-mouth. I have a blog, Boing Boing, where I do a lot of word-of-mouthing. I compulsively tell friends and strangers about things that I like. And telling people about stuff I like is way, way easier if I can just send it to 'em. Way easier. What's more, P2P nets kick all kinds of ass. Most of the books, music and movies ever released are not available for sale, anywhere in the world. In the brief time that P2P nets have flourished, the ad-hoc masses of the Internet have managed to put just about *everything* online. What's more, they've done it for cheaper than any other archiving/revival effort ever. I'm a stone infovore and this kinda Internet mishegas gives me a serious frisson of futurosity. Yeah, there are legal problems. Yeah, it's hard to figure out how people are gonna make money doing it. Yeah, there is a lot of social upheaval and a serious threat to innovation, freedom, business, and whatnot. It's your basic end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario, and as a science fiction writer, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenaria are my stock-in-trade. I'm especially grateful to my publisher, Tor Books and my editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden for being hep enough to let me try out this experiment. All that said, here's the deal: I'm releasing this book under a license developed by the Creative Commons project. This is a project that lets people like me roll our own license agreements for the distribution of our creative work under terms similar to those employed by the Free/Open Source Software movement. It's a great project, and I'm proud to be a part of it. Here's a summary of the license. I sure hope you like my book. Comments (7) | Posted on January 9, 2003 12:00 AMWhuffie: One of the notions for 2003Writing in The Guardian, Ben Hammersley identifies "Whuffie" -- the reputation currency in "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" -- as one of "25 technologies and notions we think hold most promise over the next year."WhuffieLink (Thanks, Gnat!) Comments (1) | Posted on January 5, 2003 04:06 PM |
Doctorow is more than just a sick mind looking to twist the perceptions of those whose realities remain uncorrupted - though that should be enough recommendation to read his work. *Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom* is black comedic, sci-fi prophecy on the dangers of surrendering our consensual hallucination to the regime. Fun to read, but difficult to sleep afterwards.
[Read more quotes about the book] ISBN: 0765304368 |