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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Books / Teh Internets Neal Stephenson's New Publishing Platform Launches Soon

Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:01 PM

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This interview in the New York Times provides a look at a new take on e-books from Seattle sci-fi authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear.

Author Neal Stephenson has been credited for inspiring today’s virtual world startups with his novel Snow Crash. Now he’s launching a startup himself: Subutai, where he is co-founder and chairman.

The company, based in Seattle and San Francisco, has developed what it calls the PULP platform for creating digital novels. The core of the experience is still a text novel, but authors can add additional material like background articles, images, music, and video. There are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with other readers.

(I wrote about this back in June, but it's exciting to see it nearing fruition.) Calling the platform PULP is a special kind of throwback genius on Stephenson's part. ~~I have signed up for e-mail updates at the Subutai website, and I will let you know when the first novel, The Mongoliad, starts serializing.~~ Wait! It's live now! It will be available on the internet, on Kindles, on Apple's devices, and as an Android app.

Thanks to Slog tippers Cedar and Patti. (Patti writes "This is the kind of book that would make me get an e-reader or iPad." I agree.)

Comments (6) RSS

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Actually, we're serializing right now.

Posted by Erik Bear on September 1, 2010 at 1:05 PM

Wow, this sounds really, really interesting...!

Posted by Peter F on September 1, 2010 at 1:06 PM

I can imagine spending a year going through all the materials connected with a book like Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves, this is the first fascinating thing I've seen regarding an e-reader.

Posted by Josh Bomb

on September 1, 2010 at 1:19 PM

Do Ping and PULP intersect?

Posted by stinkbug on September 1, 2010 at 1:29 PM

The Mongoliad website went live this morning (http://mongoliad.com). The novel will be published in serialized weekly chapters over a year, and the first chapter was released today, but you have to subscribe to read it. Subscriptions are $5.99 for six months or $9.99 for a year. The apps for iPad and iPhone will be released as soon as Apple gives final approval.

Posted by Lisal on September 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM

Awesomeness! Meanwhile, over at the corporate site: http://subutai.mn/team.html

Neal: "I Am Still Waiting For My Order Of Baked Tofu Sticks"

Jeremy: "I Feel This Parking Ticket Is Unfair"

Posted by yelahneb