Friday, November 13, 2009

Flutter by Butterflies

Well, I guess that I'll come right out and admit it - I've got a serious case of nerves going this weekend. It's the good kind of jitters, the excited kind, but still I feel like I may be getting in a bit over my head. Why? Because this coming Monday evening I've been invited to speak on a panel at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on 'The Future of Books." And yes, tickets are still available...

It's not that I'm without opinions on this subject. And certainly, I've got a crystal ball and I know how to use it. It's just that not only will I be the lone soul at the table representing the glories of the organic tome, I'm also the only one there without my own wikipedia page. O.K. maybe it's not quite that bad, but we're still talking about heavy hitters like Jared Friedman, co-founder of Scribd and Brewster Kahle, co-founder of InternetArchive.org. Actually, two great sites that I frequent regularly.

This is certain to be a great experience for me - I just hope that the listeners on over 350 radio stations across the nation will feel the same way. So, I'm hoping that some of you might throw some ideas, facts or figures my way so that we can work together and insure that the future is bright enough for us to read by. How can books (or bookstores) compete in a future that seems doomed to rely on extention cords? Why should books survive?

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