At the bottom of this post, I've provided a link to a pdf excerpt containing the first five chapters of my new "book", Overshare.
For quite a while, many bloggers and digital media mavens have been asking when authors are going to start exploiting the possibilities ebook formats have to offer, and when they're going to start redefining the meaning of the word, "book". My new "book", Overshare, is my answer to those questions. I put "book" in quotes, because this novel takes a form unlike any other ebook you've ever read. I'm calling it a social media novel, because its content consists exclusively of simulated screen shots of the protagonist's public social media updates. This makes reading the book a voyeuristic experience, and has the added bonus of making the read lightning-fast since most of the content consists of images and one- to three-line status updates.
Through this book, I hope to explore today's omnipresent concerns about online security and privacy, and inspire the reader to re-examine his own use of public social media. Perhaps, just as my protagonist Michael Ayres, some readers will find they're revealing far more about what's going on in their lives than they intend. Here's that link to the first 5 chapters of Overshare in pdf format. The file is large, so please allow several seconds for it to load. Here's a link to buy the full book on Amazon.
Enjoy, and please do come back here to comment. Because this book is so different, I anxiously await any and all feedback. =')
Enjoy, and please do come back here to comment. Because this book is so different, I anxiously await any and all feedback. =')
4 comments:
What a truly fascinating idea! The freshest I've heard since I heard about the PowerPoint chapter in Welcome to the Goon Squad. Will definitely check it out.
While reading your "book" in chapter sequence, I realized just how much information is available to anyone who can gain access to any, or all of the social media sites.
Whether a person is a fan, friend, family member or foe; an outsider of any sort can see into a person's life from a screen.
Should we all live in a pure existence, in a pure and uncoveted world that would be one thing, but we do not. Most people do not realize the intent that "others" have for us. Whether that is someone who wants to make inroads into a person's life as a friend, or a co-worker who wants to steal your job, bump you from supremeness, or perhaps take away your luster at the job site; or a audulterer who wants your significant other, even perhaps just someone who is of the demented mentality, (i.e., serial predators, rapists, murderers,etc.)of which they will stop at nothing to throw a wrench into your menagerie of every day life. It has led me to believe, and recalculate the risks that I have taken, thinking all of the while (until now) of how safe I though my life was....now realizing how unsafe my life has become on these social networking forms of communication with the world.
You, April, have written a compelling story...which has broadened my vision for myself and the "close" but "not-so-close" 175 friends I have claimed on one social media site, not to count if I were chirping many of my thoughts and plans and bits of puzzle pieces of my life on another social sounding board.
Well done! Can't wait to read the final "book."
Thanks for reading and commenting, Elly and Breezy. I'll be sure to put a follow-up post here when the book is published --- I'm hoping that will be by the end of this week. =')
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