Short Titles are the New Cliffhangers

the curse of history

Quick note: Last week’s (subscriber’s only) newsletter elicited a lovely stream of very kind notes, including one from someone at another indie press, unknown to me beforehand, that spelled out the process they use to deal with the problem I discuss. It turned out that we, too, could use this process! The problem was solved. I am *thrilled* and so grateful!

Back when we were all freaking out or saying stop freaking out about how the digital age would change print books, the arguments centered around issues of form and the technology of the book per se: would reading on a screen differ from reading on paper, would we miss the feel of printed books; would people read less closely or carefully; would the internet threaten print books; was this all a horrible tragedy, the end of the Gutenberg era, or a leap into a fecund, exciting time for books and writing (I was in the latter camp).

We missed, as futurology always does, changes to books that the internet has indeed wrought. These have…