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'Level 26': The World's First Digi-Novel
Last year's writers strike led me down a path that became the multimedia "Level 26" - a novel, movie and website all in one.
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Anthony E. Zuiker is the creator of television’s "CSI" franchise, which now includes "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York." Zuiker continues to delve into the worlds of gaming, publishing and cross-platform storytelling with the formation of his Dare To Pass production company. His most recent creation is the Digi-Novel, which takes readers across different media. Published by Dutton/Penguin Group, the first Digi-Novel in this crime series is titled "Level 26:Dark Origins," which will be in stores on September 8, 2009.
The writer’s strike changed everything for me.
For one, it gave me a chance to actually complete a thought. Day-to-day television has a way of stripping you of that. When we were picketing for those months, I was able to tap inside why I wasn’t a very good reader and did something about it.
So I invented the Digi-Novel.
"Level 26" is the the world’s first interactive crime novel that facilitated a “need." The need to make the reading experience easier and more enjoyable by providing levels of engagement beyond just endless white pages.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a champion of the imagination. That’s how I created the most successful television franchise in history with “CSI”.
But I’m not the greatest reader. Sure, I read scripts for a living, but I find the experience laborious. So, if I could find a way to make reading “entertaining” like I made science "entertaining,” maybe I’d read more and others would too.
The publishing industry is going through a major transformation due to the technological revolution. People are reading and consuming more and more online. Overnight, we all woke up to “attention economy” disorder. We want our entertainment on the go, anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Everything is changing. More and more businesses are converging. Companies are downsizing. Especially publishing. If you don’t think so, pick up a Variety or Hollywood Reporter. The running joke in Hollywood is that it weighs the same as a table napkin.
Point is, this form of media is dying. The New York Times will shut the presses down within the next decade. There is no profit attributable to print anymore. Publishing, for the most part, is headed towards extinction. Music went through it. Television is walking the plank. Industries are failing.
But it can all be saved. All it needs is a reinvention. In publishing, the Digi-Novel is that reinvention.
Now I’m not saying it will ever replace traditional book reading, but it will give it a run for its money.
The Digi-Novel is a novel, movie, and website all in one. Imagine, a horror crime novel written with the same pagination style as James Patterson.
Comments
Sanderson Palmer Says
I think this digi-novel thing is possibly the best idea ever. A lot of people have difficulty reading more than a few words at a time, and books are so archaic and rectangular.
I remember when that guy invented the printing press and all of a sudden talking went out of style, and for hundreds of years it was really quiet. Now that reading is on the way out, I think word-assisted pictures using digital media in place of horse-powered gramophones and puppets is brilliant, if not more.
Anyway it's pretty exciting to be here on the cusp of the dawn of something really new. I for one will be first in line at the clicking button area to purchase this, as long as the author signs my copy.
Murt Cromwell Says
I think this digi-novel thing is possibly the best idea ever. A lot of people have difficulty reading more than a few words at a time, and books are so archaic and rectangular.
I remember when that guy invented the printing press and all of a sudden talking went out of style, and for hundreds of years it was really quiet. Now that reading is on the way out, I think word-assisted pictures using digital media in place of horse-powered gramophones and puppets is brilliant, if not more.
Anyway it's pretty exciting to be here on the cusp of the dawn of something really new. I for one will be first in line at the clicking button area to purchase this, as long as the author signs my copy.
NOT NOT CHARLES Says
"Inventing" the digi-novel might be a little over-stating. - Interactive/online companion books have been around for years and the "cyberbridge" is just another form of "cinematic cut scene" that video games use to progress the story. "Orchestrating" might be a bit more realistic.
Anthony, I'll definitely check this out when it arrives, but I won't be surprised if you somehow find a way to invent a "creator's commentary" audio track to the damn thing.
Not Charles Says
Yeah, Charles, what's with all the hate?
After all, when Zuiker modestly mentions how he "created the most successful television franchise in history" and then proclaims how he "invented" the digi-novel, it's not like he's being an arrogant jackass. He's just laying down THE TRUTH. (Most people don't feel the need to toot their own horn so loudly and list their own credits in self-penned articles, but that's beside the point.)
Then in the comments when he proclaims: "try not to judge abook by its cover," that's just a free sample of the stellar writing that's made all his carbon-copy TV shows so successful. (That's right, he wrote: "abook" not "a book." Spaces are for pussies who aren't as rich and successful as he is.) I'm sure you'll find more examples of this caliber of cliche recycling when you read Level Whatever.
So lay off, Charles!
Mel Says
Gee, CHARLES: you haven't read it and you've not seen it but you're sitting there behind your computer deciding you know what you're even talking about based on a story introducing the idea of something completely new to the industry? Wait until it comes out. No need to player-hate so early in the game.
anthony e. zuiker Says
Charles, try not to judge abook by its cover. Just like I won't judge a hater by his blog.
Zuiker
WwwtWt
Charles Says
So what you're going to have is a crappy novel(ization) along the lines of one of those Stephen J. Cannell things, with some videos and an online forum. Big deal. People want to read good novels, and any good novel develops its own online community naturally anyway, whether at the Amazon discussion forums or the author's Web site or wherever.
Publishers went for it because of the CSI connection. The plot seems cut from the same cloth, and they can market it that way, just like any television novelization (X Files, Star Trek).
CP Says
With thinking like this, why not cut out all the middle people - unions and management - and let each creative mind deal with distribution on its own terms? If you have a good idea then producers and platforms will pick it up - kind of creative darwinism. Don't understand why writers/actors/directors, even management would want to give administrators a cut of the action on new media.
Even the best creative folks will always need the dollars, the distribution networks and yes, the steadying hand, that management provides but if you have the goods, you don't need anyone telling you when you can work or with whom.
Look to the future at all levels - a creative collective, perhaps?
Let's talk about it without the name calling and the hyperbole, just good, clean, forward thinking ideas.
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