[stylist] Here it is - FW: MacGuffin - a new platform for writers and readers

[Robert Newman]

Some of us have been talking about this new service: Here is what was sent into several of the NFB lists:

 

 

From: Sam Clark [mailto:sam at macguffin.io] 
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 6:16 AM
To: newmanrl at cox.net
Subject: MacGuffin - a new platform for writers and readers

 

Dear Robert

I’m contacting you from Comma Press, a non-profit independent publisher specialising in short fiction.

We’re building a self-publishing platform for fiction and poetry. We hope it’s going to be useful for blind and visually impaired readers and writers, as all content will be available in text and audio form.  

We’re just about to release a beta version, to give people an opportunity to try MacGuffin out and help improve it before we launch. We would really like to invite some blind and partially sighted readers and writers to tell us what they think.

I’d be really grateful if you could share the information below with members of the writers division. 

If you would like to ask any questions about MacGuffin, the beta version, or would like to give feedback, you can talk to Jim on 07891582529.

------------------

Comma Press, an independent publisher, specialising in short fiction and poetry are building a self-publishing platform:

MacGuffin hosts fiction and poetry in text and audio form. Authors upload their text along with an mp3 reading (no specialist equipment needed, you can record on smartphone!); end-users can read or stream audio, and toggle between the two. 

MacGuffin uses Twitter-style hash-tagging: any end-user can tag anyone else's work to describe the content, contribute to a meme or add it to a reading list. 

Examples:

*	I want to share my work-in-progress with my writers’ group. I upload a story, tag it with the name of the group (#mcrscifiwriters), and it’s there for everyone to find
*	 I’ve written a short story and want to target it at readers who will get my work. I tag it #slipstream #surreal #absurd #shortstory #newweird.
*	I tag someone else’s poem #sundaysonnets to add it to a meme.
*	I tag someone else’s story #samsfavouritelyricalstories to add it to a personal reading list.
*	I'm writing an essay on representations of nature in contemporary poetry. I search #poem #nature #seasons #snow #sun to find a range of poems with thematic relevance.
*	I'm a crime fiction fan with a 15-minute bus ride. I search #crime #15minutelisten to find a story to suit my journey.
*	I run a spoken-word night - I upload samples of recent performances tagged with the name of my event. 

MacGuffin will be free to use (it's a non-profit venture), and available as a website, and an app on iOS and Android.

As all the work on MacGuffin is in text and audio form we particularly hope that it will be of interest to blind and visually impaired readers and writers, and would love to know what you think.

It's released as an invitational beta at the end of April. If you'd like to have a play on it, please email sam at macguffin.io <mailto:sam at macguffin.io> . More info at www.macguffin.io <http://www.macguffin.io/> .

Many thanks,

 

 

Samantha Clark

Content Development

 

 

 <http://macguffin.io/> 

 

macguffin.io <http://macguffin.io/> 

@TheMacGuffin <https://twitter.com/TheMacGuffin> 

The MacGuffin Blog <http://macguffinblog.com/about/> 

 

MacGuffin is a digital R&D collaboration between Comma Press (lead partner), fffunction.co and The Manchester Metropolitan University. MacGuffin is supported by the Digital R <http://www.nesta.org.uk/project/digital-rd-fund-arts> &D Fund for the Arts. 

 

Comma Press is a Company Limited By Guarantee (run on a not-for-profit basis), Company Number 6390368.

 

 

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