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What is a book in the middle of the 21st century?

70Media invites authors, thinkers, designers, researchers and other curious minds to propose ideas for new publications.

70Media is changing.

We began as an experimental publisher, exploring new subjects, formats and ways of communicating ideas. We are now taking the next step: becoming a platform where books relevant to our age and its technologies are developed. And that starts with a question. What is a book in the middle of the 21st century?

 

We live in a world of artificial intelligence, instant information, social media, podcasts, video and an almost limitless flow of digital content. Information has never been easier to obtain. Perhaps that means the role of the book is no longer primarily to provide information. Perhaps its role is to do something more difficult. To make us stop. To make us think. To allow an idea to develop slowly enough that it changes the way we understand something.

 

We are looking for ideas

We invite proposals for books that:

• Provoke thought and give the reader a deeper understanding of a subject.

• Start with a strong and original idea, rather than simply filling an established publishing category.

• Connect with the major changes of our time, culturally, socially, technologically, environmentally or creatively.

• Can become more than a publication. We are particularly interested in books that can be connected to an event, exhibition, debate, walk, workshop, conference or other shared experience.

• Use the physical qualities of the book deliberately. Photography, illustration, typography, graphics, materials and format can be as important as the written word.

• Have relevance beyond the moment. Digital media are extraordinarily good at telling us what happened five minutes ago. A book should be capable of asking what it means.
   

We are not necessarily looking for finished manuscripts. And we are definitely NOT seeking autobiographies. In fact, we would often rather encounter an unfinished but exceptional idea than a completed conventional book. 70Media wants to work with authors and other creative people at an earlier stage: questioning the concept, developing it, challenging it and discovering what form the publication should take.

A future 70Media publication might begin with an essay, a collection of photographs, a piece of research, an architectural idea, an observation from everyday life, an exhibition, a journey — or simply a question that refuses to go away. The important thing is that there is an idea worth developing. Because in an age when machines can generate almost unlimited quantities of text, the scarce resource is no longer words. It is ideas worth spending time with. That is where we believe the book has a new future.

If you have such an idea, we would like to hear it. Simply use the CONTACT menu here on the website.

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