I'm mildly curious how studios think they're going to be able to turn this material into multimillion dollar movie franchises. They're popular for a very specific reason. They also are books, which could be read at any time of day, on a whim, when one is feeling, let's say, amorous. Note the trend of the MAJORITY of these books is to NOT have steamy romance cover novels. The covers tend to be intentionally ambiguous at best. Anyway, didn't mean to flip to rant mode lol. Just wanted to share Gilbert Godfried reading 50 Shades of Grey lol -- http://www.jest.com/video/174214/gilbert-gottfried-reads-fifty-shades-of-grey

The digital or print aspects are just the means of delivering the book. In other words - a "book" isn't the paper its printed on or the pixels - a book is the ideas contained within, and Hollywood has always been a place that has traded on the big idea. I love ebooks. I love print. So much so I became a publisher after years of being a screenwriter/writer/ producer/ marketer. It's really cool that I can greenlight a book without having to consult with anyone else. I know what sells to my audience and my job is to give it to them. It also means that I don't have to approach Hollywood to see my goals realized, which some days can be the best part. Will I turn down a Hollywood offer? Hell no! Not if it's the right offer... But the fact that we have a bunch of books actually "produced" and sitting on my shelf and in my tablet is a really cool thing and gives me and my other authors a real sense of accomplishment.

No doubt. I actually think ebooks, tablets, smart phones are helping push a new wave of voracious readers like we've never seen before in history. The fact that I can literally be anywhere, decide I want something to read this very second, turn on my phone and dl the latest from whoever I want simply floors me. Literally a library at your fingertips, available on a whim.

Part of the reason I call my company Pulp 2.0 is that I think we are in the second iteration of pulp. However, instead of flecked wood paper today's cheapest distribution methodology is digital... and it encompasses not only prose but comics, animation, video, audio and even games.

James, that Gottfried thing is hysterical. I read today where "Grey" is most popular in Nebraska and Mississippi. Odd...

I just checked out your site, Bill and I love it! You're way ahead of the game. Now all you need to do is find the undiscovered Philip K Dick or Asimov. The only difference between then and now is then the audiences weren't neatly divided into special groups. Looking up at those published books must feel awfully good at the end of each day.

Thanks, Michael. I appreciate it. I love it when someone discovers us! We have a lot of books and graphic novels coming out this year in a variety of formats... MONSTER ISLAND by Graham Nolan THE COMPLETE AGENT 13 by Flint Dille and David Marconi (which was recently set up as a movie with Charlize Theron) FRANKENSTEIN: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Martin Powell and Patrick Olliffe THE NEW ADV. OF FRANKENSTEIN COLLECTION Vol. I by Donald F. Glut THE BIG BANG COMICS COLLECTION Vols. 1&2 and if I can get more hours in the day many, many more.... (removes bullhorn from mouth and quits barking at the crowd for a moment)

Bill, that's a big difference between an ebook and a spec script: An ebook can exist as a finished product and even result in revenues [even though I've read that the average ebook only sells in the mid-hundred copies]. A spec script functions as a great doorstop. But what I really wanted to say was good for you! In this era of 'content is king,' you're involved on the front of that dynamic. More power to you!

Bill, feel free to post a link to promote your site.

Thanks for the opportunity, Scott. Pulp 2.0 is based at www.pulp2ohpress.com You can "like" us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pulp2ohpress And I'm on Twitter at @madpulpbastard (which is also my official company title) All of our books are on sale on Amazon, Createspace or Barnes & Noble either as print or digital editions.

I follow the blog of literary agent Kristin Nelson of NLA (I suspect there are quite a few of us following news on both sides of the media divide). This past Christmas was, by her estimation, the beginning of the tipping point beyond which e-book sales will begin to matter more, given sales of e-readers. Publishers still have control over print distribution channels and are still the best quality control mechanism out there, but the prospect of someone being able to self-publish e-books means we might (*might*) see more material that would otherwise have slipped through the cracks in a traditional publishing model. Note that WOOL was not someone throwing a book out there onto Amazon all on their own, though -- it was done through NLA's new digital platform for their existing clients. Another measure of quality control overall. ...I'm not actually saying much. I just find the business aspect on both sides endlessly fascinating. Can't wait to see how everything evolves. I don't think we're going to see an avalanche of self-pub e-book film rights options, though, because the writing/story quality is still absolutely not up to par across the board. We'll see more, but I doubt it will be the norm for a long time, if ever.

I'm fascinated by it like you, mommyfollows. I'm certainly no expert on ebooks or transmedia, but it seems to me like there are two major forces at work here. One is simply technology and the evolution of multiple screens upon which to watch video content or read written content [and with 'smart' books emerging, both at the same time]. The other is consumers demanding through their buying habits to see and read what they want, where they want, when they want, and how they want. For content creators, I can't imagine a more exciting time than now. Assuming the Internet stays free and open access to all, it is a global distribution system. What's more traditional rules or conventional wisdom about what constitutes "TV" or "movies" or "books" are all blowing up. Why does a movie have to be 100 or more minutes long? Why can't it be 50 minutes? Or 25? Or 10? Who says a novel has to be 250 pages? Why not 100 pages? Or 50? Who says TV episodes have to be 20 minutes of content (1/2-hour with commercials)? Why not 5 minutes? Or 2? I guess the point for a writer or filmmaker is you can do whatever you want. And with existing technologies create some pretty sophisticated stuff, pretty much all on your own. But the challenge is still the same, perhaps even more so: Find something in what we create that draws attention, creates a connection with viewers and readers. Maybe it's the concept itself. Or the visual style. Perhaps the characters. Or even one incredible moment everyone talks about. I feel like we should be talking more about this, widening the conversation beyond simply writing screenplays for Hollywood.

Again, it's another reason I call it Pulp 2.0.. like the 1930's magazine explosion we are seeing an explosion of novels, short stories, animations, films and so on that are not only being distributed via the web, but produced with tools from the web. I was so surprised the other day when i logged into my youtube account to see the interface had changed and they've added several features that have changed things. You can now edit your videos directly through Youtube. It's a simple interface for now, but I can see it growing in sophistication. That's going to change things. But not only distribution, but financing. I'm talking about Kickstarter, Indie Go-go and the like. And of course we have 5 sprockets and those other online screenwriting tools with collaboration capabilities... It's changing... fast. (thank goodness)

Hadn't occurred to me the power that the YouTube video editor might one day have. If it replaced Premiere Pro and AE, I could totally see creating a workflow through that, than the current model. What's interesting -- and some TV historians pointed this out... The medium of television never went through this process. Because the radio companies became the broadcast companies, the TV model, rules, regulations were simply those that had existed for radio. We think of all technology behaving in this manor, but the truth is that television was the anomaly. When major new technologies arise, most businesses go through growing pains like what we are seeing with television and publishing having to deal with the internet. Studios and publishers can't dictate terms like they could with television. It's not "business as always" because creators and consumers can simply go around them via the internet. I'm not saying shows on the internet and ebooks are synonymous with their predecessors. But they sure are an appetizing alternative for both the creator and consumer.

"What’s more traditional rules or conventional wisdom about what constitutes “TV” or “movies” or “books” are all blowing up. Why does a movie have to be 100 or more minutes long? Why can’t it be 50 minutes? Or 25? Or 10? Who says a novel has to be 250 pages? Why not 100 pages? Or 50? Who says TV episodes have to be 20 minutes of content (1/2-hour with commercials)? Why not 5 minutes? Or 2? I guess the point for a writer or filmmaker is you can do whatever you want. And with existing technologies create some pretty sophisticated stuff, pretty much all on your own." ---- You ought to read Seth Godin's POKE THE BOX if you haven't already. The erasing of conventions due to unconventional access is one of my favorite results of the growing pains we're observing in media right now. And it opens so many doors for creators. They can make their own rules, so long as they do what they do very well and connect with an audience. This does make other areas such as marketing and promotion more important for creators than it has been in the past. It's even increasingly important for writers pursuing traditional publishing due to budget issues on the publishing side. The financially successful writer (someone able to write for a living) will probably have an entirely different skill set 5-10 years from now than was standard even five years ago. Anyone making short films or web series etc. will be following the same path, as well...

mommyfollows, thanks for that recommendation. I will put that on my list. I love movies, but this site is also about stories of all types and anything which opens up doors for writers to express themselves and generate revenues, I should be covering.