Personal predictions and a message for 2011

January 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So what am I hoping will happen to me in 2011? I’ve looked at the three main areas that interest me and will form the bulk of this blog’s niche, however I’ll also be using the blog, as I have done before, to share some personal thoughts and goals.

First off I’d like to make it to 2012. So I’ll be adopting a much healthier outlook on life. Something happens when you reach a certain age. You begin to think about your mortality. Below this age you think you’ll live forever, but at some point, and it varies for everyone, you begin to see that isn’t so. So in will come Lose Weight Exercise and a careful watch on what I am eating. (Actually this started at the end of last year, so it will be a continuation.)

Secondly I’ll be re-launching !maginality. It is going to be a fun place to help anyone interested in being creative. I got into a rut over the last few years with the site and so I’ve been thinking about how to liven it up a little. So look out toward the end of January for some fun, creative inspiration.

Thirdly I will be getting my music out into the wide world. No more hanging around and waiting for the right time and the right equipment. It is all go in 2011 and I’ll be posting here when the first bits are available.

But…

… most of all I hope that 2011 is good for you. I hope it is filled with health and happiness, with the bizarre and the beautiful, with creativity and creations, with moments and eternities, with stories and revelations, with love and joy and a little pinch of amazingness. Live long and prosper; create and be fulfilled.

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Publishing predictions for 2011

December 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I think 2011 will see the fall and rise of the publisher. If publishers take note of what is happening and embrace the changes that have been creeping up on them.

Ever since the emergence of desktop publishing we have seen more and more creative people publishing their own content. To be honest it has been going on for a long time in zines and other cheap publications, thanks to photocopying. But with the advent of social networks and digital formats these publications can now be distributed with ease.

For the first time in history an author can create content and distribute it direct to their readers. This is the digital revolution, and it is here… now.

So what role can publishers have in this direct to reader scenario? Well there are two areas that they need to address.

Publisher as service provider

Any good author knows that they need a good editor. Authors can write a good story, they are ideas people who can craft these ideas into an engaging narrative. But they need to be shaped and honed into the final, focused and grammatically correct books that they should be. A decent publisher can provide this as a service to the author, and together they can provide a product that neither could create on their own.

Publisher as brand

A publisher can draw an audience to themselves if they have a defined and strong brand. Publishers will need to make sure they have clear and obvious lines of publications for readers out there. A publisher who, for instance, has a number of good horror books on their list, will draw horror fans to their brand. As this happens, authors will see that that particular publisher has a fan base that they could write for. All this is emphasised in the socially networked world we now exist in.

As we head into 2011, I think it will be publishers who are able to offer both of the above, that will continue to play a role in this publishing revolution.

But then this is only my opinion, what do you think?

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Digital prediction for 2011

December 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I am writing this as a prediction but I hope, I really hope I am wrong about this. So call this a warning, a premonition or just me being digitally paranoid.

I fear that 2011 could be the year when we see more and more digital content being controlled, although it may be spun to us in the guise of the redistribution of the free.

So where is this fear coming from Darren, I hear you ask. Well, it has been there for a while. Governments around the world have been trying to filter what we can and can’t access for a while now. This has generally been the more ‘closed’ governments but the signs of more widespread filtering are now coming to light.

This year has seen both government and big business make their voice heard. The Pirate Bay and Wikileaks are just two sites that have been on the receiving end of retribution. And as business and government continue to exert pressure on service providers there is a danger that more and more content will be filtered.

My predictive example is that service, or platform, providers will offer a range of accepted sites and content in their package. All the content that they think is okay for you and me will be given for free. But try and step outside of what they approve (or what they’ve been allowed to approve) and you’ll either be paying more or you’ll find your access denied.

Both the technology and the will, in the form of government and business, exists. It may come down to you and me refusing to accept the packages offered by the main players and seeking out those who still embrace the freedom of the web.

The Internet, is there an app for that? There may not be!

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