Patent Application
20080118903
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
A portion of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does not hereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintained in secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37 C. F. R. §1.14.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to publishing printed matter, and more particularly printed matter having inserts to enhance the reader's experience.
2. Description of Related Art
Printed publications, such as books, magazines, etc. generally comprise a series of printed sheets or pages of paper bound within a cover. Generally, very little extra is provided to enhance the readers experience other than the printed text or illustrations. In recent years, pop-ups have been used to add dimension to the story, but generally are merely 3-D illustrations of some aspect of the story. Pop-ups don't add realism, and are traditionally reserved for children's texts.
Photographs added to various pages of the text may add some elements of realism, but also are merely illustrations of aspects of the story.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a bound publication tangible indicia to enhance the storyline and reader's experience.
An aspect of the invention is a published work (e.g. book, magazine, etc.), having a publishing medium having a plurality of pages of text that form a story. The published work has an insert, or plurality of inserts, configured to be disposed within the publishing medium. Each of the inserts comprise an object that is a life-like reproduction of a physical entity, such as a theatre ticket, handwritten note, claim check, etc., that relates to an aspect of the story to enhance a reader's a reading experience upon viewing the object.
The object may be referred to in the story, or not be discussed in the story, but rather provide additional information in support of the story.
In one embodiment, the insert is configured to be located between two of the pages of the work. Preferably, the location of the insert is predetermined (by the author, editor or like individual) to correspond to a timeline of the story.
In another embodiment, the insert comprises one of the plurality of pages configured such that the object is attached to the page.
In a further embodiment, the published work comprises a book having a binding configured to hold the plurality of pages, and the insert comprises a planar sheet having a binding edge disposed in the binding within the plurality of pages, such that the object comprises at least a portion of the planar sheet.
Preferably, the object has material properties distinct from the bound pages, e.g. is has a different thickness, texture or composition.
In an alternative embodiment, the object is releasably attached to the publishing medium so that it could be removed by the reader.
Preferably, the insert comprises a means for concealing the object until desired to be viewed by the reader. For example, the object may be covered in shrink-wrap or other enclosure material that may be removed by the reader when desired.
Another aspect of the invention is an insert for a bound publication. The insert comprises a planar sheet configured to be disposed within the publishing medium. A physical object is coupled to the planar sheet, wherein the object comprises a life-like reproduction of a physical entity that relates to an aspect of the story to enhance a reader's a reading experience upon viewing said physical object.
The planar sheet may be configured to be located on the inside cover of the book, or between two pages at a predetermined location that corresponds to a timeline of said story. Alternatively, the planar sheet may comprise one of the pages of the bound publication, with the object attached to the insert page. The physical object may also be configured to be concealed within the bound publication until it is desired to be viewed by the reader.
A further aspect of the invention is method of publishing a bound work. The method includes the steps of providing a manuscript comprising a story; and identifying subject matter that relates to an aspect of the story from the manuscript that is conducive to physical representation in planar form. The method further includes fabricating an insert comprising a physical reproduction of the subject matter, and inserting the subject matter within the bound work.
In one embodiment, the method also includes identifying a location along the timeline of the story where disclosure of the subject matter is desired, and locating the subject matter at a page in the bound work that corresponds to the identified location.
Further aspects of the invention will be brought out in the following portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations thereon.
The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:
Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in
The present invention includes apparatus and methods for publishing printed matter wherein information relevant to the story or focus of the printed matter is made available to the reader in a tangible form to enhance the reader's experience or understanding of the story. The invention generally comprises tangible, life-like indicia or inserts which add an element of surprise and/or intrigue when a reader comes across or locates the insert. The insert may provide evidence or further corroborate or add credibility to the story to engage the reader in ways not available with existing publishing methods.
Referring to
The insert 10 may be configured to comprise a number of different tangible objects relating to the book. Preferably, the insert 10 is generally planar shaped to allow for practical placement within the pages of the book. For example, the insert 10 may comprise a retail purchase receipt, coat claim, handwritten letter by one of the characters, dry cleaning ticket, theatre ticket or sporting ticket, ribbon, fabric, credit card, personal check, or like object that relates to the content of the bound work.
The insert 10 may also comprise a variety of different material characteristics to distinguish it from the pages 10 of the book 16. For example, insert 10 may comprise card stock, vellum, cloth, or paper having a different texture or thickness than the bound pages 18. It may also have a different thickness or texture that the pages of the book.
The insert 10 is configured to provide information or evidence that relates intimately to an aspect of the story to add depth, realism and reader engagement. The evidence may relate to aspects of the story that are of particular significance to the author and the message, plot, or theme that the author is trying to convey. The evidence provided by the insert 10 may be specifically mentioned in the book, or may not be mentioned, but may rather provide additional insight or information, essentially providing a different medium for communicating the author's message.
The insert 10 may be inserted or bound to the book via a number of techniques generally available in the art. For example, for books having a binding 22 running along the spine 24 of the book 16, the insert may be positioned at a certain location within the pages 18 of the book 16. For example the insert may be located at a particular spot in the text, and oriented such that a binding edge 14 is flush with the binding edges of the text pages 18, so that the insert is bound with pages 18 into binding 22.
Alternatively, insert 10 may not be physically attached to the book 16, In some cases, insert 10 may be inserted manually or through a ‘blow in’ in a somewhat random location between pages 18, as opposed to gluing, tacking, or otherwise binding the tangible indicia as a less costly way to insert clues of light weight (like a mock receipt, etc.).
The insert 10 may be specifically positioned by the author as to the proper location in the book, e.g. between pages 158 and 159. This may provide a timing element to the dispensing of information at a time in the story that is preferred by the author. For example, the author may want to reveal to the reader, as a predetermined point along the storyline, that a first character was in the vicinity of a second character during a pivotal event. In this example, the insert 10 may comprise a sporting event ticket with the first character's name on it, and the seat location that puts the first character in eyesight of the second character.
The insert 10 may also comprise information that leads the reader to an external source (e.g. website, reference book, etc.) that provides additional clues or insight in to the story.
It is also contemplated that the book 16 may comprise a plurality of inserts 10 disposed between various pages of the book according to the timeline set by the author.
Alternatively, the insert 10 may be positioned on the inside surface 26 of the front cover 20. In this configuration, the insert 10 may act as a prologue to the story.
Referring to
Because the object 44 may delineate the pages it is between, it may have the effect of drawing the reader to the object 44 prior to the reader actually arriving to the location in the book via reading. In cases where the information or subject matter of the object 44 is time sensitive, i.e. specifically designated to be revealed at a certain point along the timeline, the object 44 may be concealed or enclosed from the reader's view. In one embodiment shown in
The object 74 may also be shrink wrapped with a colored plastic or the like to cover or conceal the contents therein. Envelopes, or similar packaging systems may also be incorporated into the binding or on particular pages of the book.
In the method of the present invention an author may write a story with or without the intention of placing predetermined evidence or storyline related objects within the book. Once the manuscript is written, certain evidence or other information are identified that add depth, realism and/or reader engagement to the story. The evidence may or may not be mentioned in the book. For example, a private note between or about characters may not be included in the manuscript, and it may be preferred to do so, so that the reader does not read the same material twice. Next the location of the information bearing objects within the book and storyline are determined. Each object is then evaluated to determine the best method of fabrication and insertion (e.g. packaging) into the book to maintain authenticity and also keep manufacturing reasonable.
Different versions of the inserted evidence may also be provided so as to provide a unique experience among different readers. For example, the evidence may 1) be mentioned in the manuscript, 2) not be mentioned in the manuscript, but obviously be associated with the manuscript, or 3) not be provided at all. A random distribution within a lot of books may also be determined so that within one outlet all versions (no matter how many) would be represented.
Referring now to
Referring to
Although the description above contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”
