Publisher's Weekly reports that publishing house Dutton has paid "millions" to Anthony Zuiker, creator of the hugely successful "CSI" TV series for what they are calling a digi-novel.
It's actually a three-book series, with the books sending readers to a web site that features video footage relating to the plot. It sounds like the footage will be crucial to advancing the plot, not just the kinds of extras that already appear on many book sites, although it will also have spin-off story lines with additional characters.
Dutton says the site will be a portal where readers/viewers can "consume countless ancillary levels of story enrichment."
Do people want to go back and forth between a book and their computer screen? How will they feel when--in the middle of the story--the characters they had imagined one way in their minds turn out to be played by actors who look different? Am I being too old-fashioned here?
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