Breaking the Page: Transforming Books and the Reading Experience

Do books need to change as they move from paper to screen?

I've written "Breaking the Page" to answer that question. My investigation isn't a blank survey of what technology makes possible. It's a study conducted on behalf of those who care most about books: writers and readers.

I cover the fundamental aspects of the reading experience. How we become aware of books and come to know what's inside them; how we comprehend, retain, and recall what we have read; how we share with others the parts we love.

As a guidebook "Breaking the Page" aims to serve those with a professional interest in bookmaking. I have included many specific design ideas, including new kinds of opening sequences, text and video integration techniques, and multi-scale document designs.

But I think general interest readers will also find the discussion worth their attention. The transformation of the book has implications that range from the personal to the political. Books shape how we raise our kids. They control how ideas spread and how we change the kind of person we have become. Understanding this epic shift from paper to screen...

- what we gain,
- what we lose,
- what is to be done

...is a topic worthy of its own book.