Apr 8 2011
RT 2011: Mini Conference Wrapup
I’m not sure what day of the conference it is but I think Thursday is day 2. I came in on Tuesday to attend the RT Bookcamp unconference. I attended two sessions. First a session about social reading with Patrick Brown, the community manager at Goodreads; Callie Miller, blogger and literary fiction reviewers; and Ami Greko of Kobo. There was much discussion and debate about inter-book discussions. Are readers interested in having discussions inside books (like in the margins)? Are inter book discussions a distraction? Do they take a reader outside of their reading experience? There were no answers given, just discussions.
Another session was led by author Jeannie Lin who asked about readers and reading. This became a discussion about the benefits of digital reading and the drawbacks of digital reading. There were some that suggested that the lack of physical books could erode the educational advantages for children. There were other comments about how digital reading has opened doors for them. There were a lot of differing opinions and it was interesting to hear a number of points of view.
I cornered (literally) Patrick Brown after the unconference to talk about Goodreads. There are new changes coming including genre centric pages which I am excited about. You will be able to sign up for updated information from Goodreads based on your favorite genres.
Ellora’s Cave hosted a Bollywood party and gave away these shawls with coins to tie around your waist. I got an orange one. I actually loved this party favor. Instead of hiring strippers or bringing in the cave men, Ellora’s Cave had an LA Bollywood dance troupe entertain the crowd and after performing, the dancers came onto the dance floor and taught some dance moves. It was a great party and there was a ton of positive energy there. I think this conference is night and day different from the infamous Philadelphia one. I haven’t seen a ton of readers so I don’t know if that is in decline but overall, there is much much less emphasis on man titty and far more emphasis on books and fun. (not that man titty and fun are mutually exclusive).
I’ve taken a bunch of pictures:
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- Vivi Anna
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- Lacey Savage, Beth Kery, Fiona Jayde
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- Elizabeth Hoyt’s Trading Cards
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- Angela James and Lauren Dane
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- Sahara Kelly’s LCD nametag
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- Renee Bernard, Amanda McIntyre, Samantha Gail, Sahara Kelly
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- Jackie Barbosa, Kevan Lyon (agent), and Caridad Pineiro
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- Ann Aguirrie, Patrick Rothfuss, Kate Elliott, and Laura Gilman
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- Christie Ridgway and Veronica Wolff
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- Outside EC party
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- The EC party favor
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- The EC party favor
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- Allison Pang, Jeffe Kennedy, and Marcella Burnard
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- Dancing at EC
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- Barry Eisler and Victoria Dahl
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- Promo Alley and KB Alan
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- Romance Trading Cards
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- Andrew Shaffer, Courtney Milan, and Kate Smith
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- Liz Maverick and Megan Frampton
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- Meljean Brook and fans
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- Please click on this because…it’s kind of arresting and frightening
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- Heather Osborn, Editorial Director and emcee of the Samhain Steampunk Party
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- Alisa Kwitney
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- Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Ally Carter, Carrie Ryan
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- Jayne Rylon, Mari Carr, Jess Dee, Lexie Cooper, Rhiann Cahill, and Sami Lee
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- Elizabeth Hoyt and Jade Lee
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- Jeannie Lin and Amanda Berry
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- Bella Andre, Monica McCarty, Barbara Freethy, Jami Alden
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- Christie Ridgway and Veronica Wolff
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- Erin Quin, Gennita Low, Sylvia Day
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Apr 08, 2011 @ 10:58:37
Jane, the four women under the Elizabeth Hoyt and Jade Lee photo are: Bella Andre, Monica McCarty, Barbara Freethy, and Jami Alden.
Apr 08, 2011 @ 10:58:54
Pictures! There haven’t been nearly enough pictures being sent from RT.
I’m left to wonder, however, if you stand on top of things a lot or if you’re nine feet tall. :)
Apr 08, 2011 @ 11:00:13
Also, interesting that they gave out Mid-eastern bellydancing scarves at the Bollywood nite.
Apr 08, 2011 @ 11:03:35
@Shannon Stacey: I was wondering about the very same thing! You are one tall lady, Jane. ;)
Apr 08, 2011 @ 13:26:59
That O’Connor cover is . . . awkward. I really wouldn’t want to be that heroine.
Apr 08, 2011 @ 15:34:26
Thanks for sharing!
Apr 08, 2011 @ 17:06:32
Thanks for the pics.
FWIW, I would not want to have inter-book discussions while I am reading a book. Is that the latest enhanced feature publishers want? Just give me a well formatted book!
Apr 08, 2011 @ 19:32:45
@ library addict: I believe the Master Plan is to burden ebooks with memory-guzzling useless crap until there is a great reader outcry of “I would pay $100 for a plain ol’ ebook!”, at which point publishers will graciously offer such a thing at that price point.
Apr 08, 2011 @ 21:20:59
Aw, it looks like RT was in my favorite Los Angeles hotel ever. I wish I’d been in L.A. for the conference!
Apr 09, 2011 @ 20:05:35
@Shannon Stacey I stand on things. I heard that it is more flattering to take a picture when someone is looking up.
Apr 09, 2011 @ 20:31:20
Sigh. Jealous of all the fun. I’ve never been to RT, in part because I’m really uncomfortable about objectifying men. If a male-dominated genre had chicks stripping and doing pole dances as part of their conference, they’d be up shit creek.
I know, I know. My friends made fun of me in high school.
Apr 10, 2011 @ 16:56:26
@library addict:
Agreed. I had forgot to turn off popular highlights in a Kindle book I was reading this weekend on my iphone and found just that even the little bit of underlining to be distracting. I don’t mind going to a web site and joining in a conversation about a particular book after I’m finished, but I rarely talk about a book while I’m in the process of reading– unless there is something very, very annoying about the book– then I want to tell everyone.
Apr 10, 2011 @ 17:57:29
@Gretchen Galway I don’t disagree with you.
Apr 12, 2011 @ 09:28:19
I’ve actually thought about, and tried to figure out if, inter-book discussions would be something I would enjoy. It never really occurred to me until Shadowfever (by Karen Marie Moning) was released. I wanted to experience this book with someone else (a good friend of mine that lives on the other end of the country). So we decided to stop every chapter and chat through email about thoughts we had.
It took us a day and a half of solid reading/discussing to finish the book. And it was one of the best reading experiences I’ve had. To have talked about it when I was done, things that struck me early in the book would have gotten lost. Our emotions and experiences as we went through the book were able to be shared, almost real time. It led to an entirely different reading experience than any I’ve had before.
Maybe in-book discussions wouldn’t be as manageable, and there are already other ways to handle this (as evidenced by how I did). I think that the discussions around this would have been extremely interesting.
Apr 12, 2011 @ 09:40:25
I don’t want any kind of interaction while I’m reading. I just want to read.
One thing I’ve noticed, as technology does make reading more interactive, is that readers can tweet/share lines from books as they’re reading. And on the book’s Amazon page, they show the most highlighted passages. As an author, I have to confess this makes me cringe a little. On the one hand, it’s gratifying to write lines that move readers to want to highlight and share them. It really is. But on the other, they’re almost like mini-spoilers. They’re the best lines of the book (including punchlines and the I Love Yous) taken out of the context and posted up.
I guess, even though I’m a digital-only reader, I still want the book to just be a book. No videos, hyperlinks, pop-up character photos or conversations. Just a book.