H+ Writers Network

[David]

The reason I ask is because I’m in the planning phase of a project ”A25B”, to turn material from the Anticipating 2025 conference (held in Birkbeck College, London) into a book.

I’ve described this book as follows (I’ll be happy to share my work-in-progress planning document with anyone who thinks they might be interested to help the project):

>>18 speakers gave presentations at the event in Birkbeck College. The book is expected to contain chapters based on at least half of these presentations. The book may also contain:

• Material based on content from the two preview Hangouts On Air held in the lead up to the Birkbeck conference: Which technologies will have the biggest impact by 2025? (held on 3rd November 2013) and Priority actions for a positive 2025 (held on 16th February 2014)
• Material contributed by other writers who were not able to speak at the event in Birkbeck College.

In all, a total of 12-20 chapters is envisaged, collectively addressing the stated goals of the conference:

• To elevate serious analysis of the potentially radical scenarios that may unfold between now and 2025
• To explore both the potential upsides and the potential downsides of these scenarios
• To compare views as to which future scenarios are technically feasible and desirable
• To debate the best steps to take to bring the desirable visions into reality, despite the many roadblocks that are likely to be encountered en route.

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However, instead of a single book with 12-20 chapters, a different idea would be a number of books, each with a much smaller chapter count each (e.g. following the “100 page max” principle that Sam Harris supports nowadays). Shorter books are easier to produce and easier for readers to consume, but might be viewed by readers as providing less value. We should be free to break out of the normal constraints that the traditional publishing industry has evolved.

Does anyone have strong views on this?

[Author]

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