If you attend a publishing conference these days, you’ll hear about curation, a critical element in publishing that puts someone else – usually an editor – in the driver’s seat, deciding what you will read. Now comes BookRiff, a Vancouver based start-up that wants to make you the creator.
As CEO Rochelle Grayson tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally, BookRiff does for published book content what iTunes did for compact discs, making it easy for the end-user to combine chapters (think, “tracks”) into an original and new package.
“Not everyone is a writer. But a lot of people are really great thought leaders and curators, and can pick the best stuff, and highlight the content that matters,” Grayson explains. “Why shouldn’t they be able to create a book, or curate a book of what they think are the most important things? A lot of faculty members do this with their faculty course packs, and they highlight articles and chapters for their students to learn. Why should it be limited to the academic arena? Why can’t it be opened up to the larger consumer base?”
Frequently named among Canada’s leading new media executives, Rochelle Grayson became BookRiff CEO in June 2010. In addition, she is an instructor and industry chair at the University of British Columbia Social Media program.
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