LEVEL 26, THE BOOK 2.0

“It’s not just a novel, or a movie or a social community; it’s all three wrapped into one”.

This is the teaser of Level 26, “the first digital book” of Duane Swierczynski and Anthony E. Zuicker, creator of the famous television series Crime Scene Investigation (CSI). Thus publishers propose again a hybrid literary form using all possibilities offered by multimedia.

Each time, the same operating mode: an 8mm roll of film, a cassette, a written letter send to the FBI. On these documents, the brutal murder of an elusive killer. The fact is that “Swegeel” is a psychopath of level 26 in a dangerousness scale which can not normally go above 25 … He is a monster who can kill everyone, everywhere, every time without any cause. He is limitless in killing, without any operating mode, and no nationality. Only one man can stop this murderer and his name is Steve Dark. Previously the monster had slaughtered Dark’s family, and he promised himself to stop hunting psychopaths. But he will no longer have the choice with “Swegeel”. This is the exciting plot of Dark Origins, the first section of a three book collection.

What is the Concept?

Everything is recognized and understood merely from the words “digital book”: Indeed Level 26 is first a real book that you have to purchase in your favorite bookshop, but after reading the first chapter, roughly 30 pages, the reading is interrupted and the book gives you a code to enter in the Level 26 website. This code enables the reader to continue the experience by watching a three minutes movie, the visual rest of the story before moving on to the next chapter. You will find this kind of cyber-bridge every two chapters. That’s a perfect model of “Transmedia”.

Moreover the Level 26 website offers also a forum where readers can actively participate to the story by giving their ideas for the two following books, planning to be published in 2010 and 2011 in the United States, or discuss with other readers. They can also download music; get production stills, get access to the creator, watch the behind-the-scenes footage, or have access to some articles related to the future of digital book. More than a simple book, Level 26 seems to be a movie-book but also have created a real social community. The reader is now an investigator too and participates to the story. Whereas the first book Dark Origins was written by Duane Swierczynski, the two following books are going to be collaborative books thanks to the feedback of active fans on Internet; this is a perfect example of “Produsage”.

For the author who confessed to not being able to read a 250 pages book, the aim is clear. Digital books are produced to encourage the youths, the “YouTube” generation, to read a book by involving them in this new experience of reading.

So far it seems to work; the plot is entertaining and the reader is anxious to see the movie and continue the process. The setting can take some of the credit as an atmosphere of sex and violence keeps the audience engaged. Everything is there to keep the teenagers hooked, and with more than 300 visitors a day to the website Level 26 is proving it’s a success.

However the reading isn’t easy and Level 26 still has to address those who don’t have access to the internet. Even with a Smartphone or a computer it is hard to devour the book in one reading comfortably sitting in an armchair, you have to stop reading and catch your computer or your phone to know the following of the story. Even harder when you are reading in some quiet place like a library or the doctor’s waiting room… Paradoxically each link is a way to get back to reality and to stop the reading instead of continuing it.

The solution for this kind of book will be the real development of eBooks so that the reader can sit everywhere with its digital book. This project seems to be particularly bold considering the development of eBooks at this time. Indeed “reader’s” manufacturers are currently hard fighting to sell their new gadgets: Sony with its “E-reader” and Amazon with its “Kindle” (according to a study by Forester Research, Amazon has already sold 3 million of its readers on the American market) and now the so much waited Ipad from Apple.

To combine digital books with eBooks, what a good idea! EBook is now on its way…

Clémence Rempenault