Papertrail by Biblish
A Note Taking Companion for Literary Life
In my capacity as a publisher of writing, I put a lot of thought into how to increase the survivability of literature in the 21st century. As a writer, I have a fairly refined understanding of my creative process, both in terms of reading and writing, and of what facilitates my work. My twin roles have lead me to help develop a suite of tools to augment the process of reading, writing, publishing, and distribution of literature.
The first of these tools is called Papertrail. Papertrail allows you to keep digital marginalia for the books you are reading in print in a way that is accessible and shareable. If this seems useful to you on the face of it, then you can dive right in.
If you are uncertain about the usefulness of such a service, here is some of the thinking that has gone into its development.
A writer’s reading is an asset and the primary driver of their work. That reading, however, exists in the background, and is only made useful to the writer’s readership when it is synthesized into a work of fiction, an essay, or a book.
Papertrail allows you to present your reading in a clear and accessible manner, as it happens, so that potential readers can see at a glance what your influences are, or even read your notes directly, which may foster their interest in your work.
You can see what I am reading and my public notes by visiting my profile on Papertrail.
Professors, even in excess of writers of literature, or writers of nonfiction, represent people for whom extensive and lifelong reading is of vital importance to their vocation.
If you are a professor, you can keep marginalia in Papertrail as a matter of course, and this can be directly integrated into your classes, in a way that reduces a significant portion of your organizational efforts.
If your students make use of Papertrail, you will be able to see your student’s thinking on the curriculum as they read. They can ask questions or begin discussions that can be brought directly into the classroom.
Going forward, your students can continue their relationship with your teachings, and this dynamic can evolve beyond the books that were specifically included in your course.
Writers of non-fiction pitch their ideas to publishers, but it is difficult to stand out in a crowded and competitive field.
Papertrail can be made a part of the pitch process so that publishers, in addition to the query letter, can learn more about your research and the development of your thinking on the subject.
One of the reasons that I feel contemporary literature is not simply better is because reading books used not to be a solitary undertaking, not, at least, so much as it seems to be in the 21st century. Books were topics of discussion, whether in person or in letters, and I hope that Papertrail can restore a facsimile of epistolary life.
Reading alone becomes a choice, rather than the default. You can stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues by reading together.
Using Papertrail will help you to reflect on your reading as you do so. Our hope is that this fosters a healthier relationship to reading for those that struggle to set the time and mental space aside for it.
Your bookshelf will come alive as other readers read works you have previously read and respond to your notes. Books that you have not read for days, weeks, months, or years, will suddenly become objects of interest again.
Books often have an important influence on an organization. For Biblish, the entity behind Papertrail, The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking were particularly influential.
Don’t just write the memo. Propagate important books and important ideas across your organization in an interactive and evolving way by creating a robust and accessible manifest of your reading in Papertrail. The book’s influence can continue to evolve as other employees participate in readings on Papertrail and describe specific implementations of the thinking in your organization’s operations.
This is just what we came up with, but we are interested in learning more about how Papertrail can be of use to you.
-Russell