We've come a long way
I have just reached a bit of a milestone and sent my galloping yarn off to the printer. In the US. From my dining room table. In New Zealand!
The internet and everything hooked up to it never ceases to amaze me. But it permeates our lives in so many ways, we seldom stop to think about it.
Without a shred of specialist knowledge I have managed to turn 92,727 words on a Google doc into several paperback copies which are now making their way back to Cambridge. That I find truly amazing.
I followed instructions from a website on how to format my document. I learned which font types and sizes were best to use for my genre. Amazon Kindle has a book publishing tool that gives you an ISBN number and barcode for free. It creates the copyright words for you. It let me design the cover, choose the book size and select the paper stock. It will turn it into an e-book for me when I’m ready. Then put it on its store and sell it for me. Both print and e-book versions. All transmitted wirelessly from my laptop to the other side of the world.
When you stop to think about it, that is quite incredible. Imagine telling a typesetter 50 years ago this is how things would work. They would have said you were delusional and referred you on for a bit of shock therapy.
If we step back just a few years, I would have had to outsource everything. And pay through the nose for the privilege. The internet has democratised book publishing. The same as it has done with movies, music, calling and shopping to name a few. It has stampeded through industries in a way they never foresaw.
Not always for the better, because people can be stupid and evil, sometimes both. It has given the fringes a voice - which in many cases is a good thing given our cloistered lives, but it has also normalised nutjobs. The world does not need to hear more from conspiracy theorists. And who knew competitive eating would become a thing?
I feel lucky to have experienced pre and post internet life. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle now. Unless you want to move to Outer Mongolia or somewhere similarly remote, an unconnected upbringing is no longer an option. I am thankful that social media was not around while I was a student (for my friends’ sake). But I’m also thankful for the connected convenience it gives me. Location sharing is not a bad thing when you puncture miles from home having forgotten to take a spare tube (thanks Tess).
I find it a strange dichotomy that despite the ridiculous abundance of information and ideas on the internet, my best ideas come when I’m not connected to it. Maybe it is because I’m not a digital native, or that my brain is too small to talk and chew gum (I know what the popular vote will be). Anyhou, enough rambling. There are cat videos to watch.
