Book Business EXTRA! Q&A--National Book Awards’ Executive Director Chats about the Impact of One of the Industry’s Top Honors.
EXTRA!--How do you see the transition to digital-based works altering the way titles are eventually selected?
Augenbraum--Another complex question. Since selection of the National Book Awards is based on content and not on delivery method, it shouldn’t make a difference. However, I think it will open the selection process to varied forms of narrative structure, especially as the judges become more familiar with the uses of technology. Digital works will also change the way we look at narrative in general. We, as literary consumers, already read differently from the way we did in the past. Literary people read graphic novels, novels with embedded graphics, typographically pliant novels, novels that reflect our reading habits as consumers of Web site material. As we continue to read digital work in other genres (like newspapers--what do you call a “newspaper” on the Web, since there is no paper?), it will change our expectations of narrative structure.
- Places:
- New York