Jake Ludington

I’m ambivalent about Google’s quest to scan all books into a searchable universe of human knowledge. The idea of an Encyclopedia Galactica, ala The Foundation series, fascinates me on one level. On another level, I think book rights holders should have the right to be excluded if they don’t want their books included. But what about those people who desperately want whatever attention they can get for their book? One of Jason Kottke’s reader’s is a book author who wants her book included in Google’s archive. Her publisher is suing Google to keep their books out. As someone who works to spread the word about any of my own projects, her reasoning makes perfect sense and I find it hard to believe Simon & Schuster will lose a dime as a result. Ironically, I predict the letter to Kottke.org will result in a massive spike in sales for the book in question, Field Guide to The Apocalypse.