As an editor and writer who saw his first published story set in hot metal, I marvel at Amazon's new Kindle reader and its role in the future of the "printed" word.
No traditional book can offer the interactive platform I've created for the Kindle edition of my novel Brazil or open the door to actively sharing the magic that goes into the making of a monumental novel.
Linked to the e-text is a unique and free online guide with more than 200 images and illustrations, providing an indispensable companion on a fictional journey through five hundred years of Brazilian history.
Captions drawn from the narrative enhance a reader's sense of time and place. Here are a few examples from the Guide:
THE KINDLE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO BRAZIL
Now the men in the clearing began to dance around the pagé, stamping their feet in such a way that the seedpods tied around their calves shook in unison. from many mouths came the cries:"Now speak, O Voice of the Spirits."
Men who lived to tell of this day would never forget the horror. The blood attracted thousands of the deep-bellied fish, their triangular shaped teeth snapping at those who thrashed about frantically to escape this ultimate enemy. The piranha feasted and the mighty Rio das Amazonas became a river of blood.
"Maria was married to an ugly little man, Senhor Richard, a miniaturist of repute. All summer Senhor Jefferson courted Maria, but when winter came, her husband took her home. Her lover was left behind with a broken heart and a damaged wrist." He laughed. "The minister was promenading with lovely Maria in the Cours la Reine along the Seine when, out of joy, he leapt over a fence, fell, and cracked his wrist." "Ai! The poor thing! I love him for it. This god of liberty, with a heart for sweet romance."
Cadmus Rawlings had come to Brazil after the Civil War, along with several hundred families of Confederate exiles now scattered from the banks of the Tapajós to the coffee lands of São Paulo. Some emigres struggling in ramshackle dwellings in the Amazon jungle were demoralized but others were making a go of it in their new homeland, especially a group of farmers at Santa Barbara, who had achieved success growing a succulent watermelon, the "Georgia Rattlesnake."
"God's Thunderer," a Whitworth 32-pounder brought to silence the voice of the false prophet...Thin-legged and scrawny, Teotônio shot forward at the heels of the leaders. The jagunço and three other men carried spluttering grenades, but they threw them too soon, and the missiles exploded in front of the Whitworth.
Arací painted Tajira's face with lines of red urucu dye. Then she helped him put on a headdress crowned with the brilliant red and blue feathers of Macaw...
"We ask God to forgive the sins committed against the human rights and dignity of the Indians, the first inhabitants of this land, and the blacks who were brought to this country as slaves..."Pataxo, Xavante, Nambikwara, Yananomi and Indians from all over Brazil listened solemnly by the sands of Coroa Vermelha, as descendants of the discoverers asked forgiveness for the sins and errors of five centuries.
There was no Tupiniquin to hear the apologia.
I've also linked the Kindle Illustrated Guide to Brazil to an archive of my working notes, plus a journal kept on a four-month 20,000-kilometer trek across Brazil. What better way for the reader-explorer of an epic as vast as Brazil to discover a totally new an
d original world beyond stereotypes of samba and Carnival!
Were Gutenberg here to see the Kindle, he would have one word to say: "Bravo!"
Don't have a Kindle yet? - You can access the Guide online at my website.
[Note: Kindle's browser currently displays images in b&w.]
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Comments: 16
I love my Kindle & tend to read more now that I have it. Although I still have to make my way through some "regular" books that I have a huge stack of~
Emilio,
I've posted four novels & two short stories on Kindle. While doing so I thought it would be neat to have author's notes available to the reader but have found no instructions on how to do this. Could you point me in the right direction, please?
Thanks, Mac (E. J. McGill)
My book was converted into five different e-book formats. The endnote/footnote function was taken care of during the conversion process. It is a labor intensive process. It isn't something that the author can do after the conversion.
Thanks for the prompt comment. Right now I also have a nonfiction military history in traditional form (paper) and others that I would like to publish in e-book format. These books contain copious endnotes that really shouldn't be eliminated. I was thinking html might provide the trick but I don't know what happens when html is converted by Amazon.
I agree with Emilio about it making it more likely that people actually read endnotes. Electronic format is really good for that.
What were the specifications to have your work published in that format? Did it have to be in Adobe Acrobat (or am I thinking of something other than Kindle)?
I think there's a place for both the written word and the e-written word.