It is our ongoing mission to introduce our readers to other innovative web-based projects that indicate new tools and techniques for humanists.  One such website worth checking out is the UK-based The Literary Platform, which was recently written up by the Guardian Books blog.  The Guardian editor calls the site, “an inspiring browse around some of the innovative and collaborative experiments taking place in the exciting physical-to-digital realm.”

The Literary Platform describes itself as a "showcase," that "will demonstrate how traditional publishers and developers are experimenting with multimedia formats, how established authors are going it alone, how first-time novelists are bypassing publishers and how niche literary magazines are finding wider audiences."  The site offers an edited compendium of these experiments, each described in a brief profile complete with screenshots and links.   

Browsing the different projects in their showcase, the theme is e-publishing, and the emphasis is innovative web and iPhone/iPad apps.  They have culled together a fascinating selection of different tools and sites that might change the way we read. Further, they suggest significant developments in the way authors are making a living these days. 

 A website called BookSeer, for example, takes the last book you read and recommends your next, based off searches in a number of online bookstores and reading lists.  The free iPhone app, "zehnSeiten" streams videos of new authors reading 10 pages from their latest works.  These are just a few of the fascinating projects in e-publishing and online reading that you'll find at the Literary Platform, and as you'd expect, the site is steadily growing.