Reading on mobile devices: Sarah Franklin interview

Sarah Franklin

Sarah Franklin is the founder and host of Short Stories Aloud, described as ‘one of the most successful, most joyful, regular literary events in Oxford’. She is also speaker at BookMachine Oxford on 10th June 2015.

1. Do you read books on mobile devices?

I personally rarely read books on a mobile device; I need to see the words outside a screen, somehow, for them to sink in. Mind you, I do wonder if this would change if I did a lot of commuting by public transport; you can see how easy it is.

2. How do you think mobiles are impacting reading generally?

In a funny kind of way, I think mobiles are probably increasing reading. All the people strap-hanging on the train weren’t previously reading War and Peace, after all. Now, regardless of whether they’re reading the latest thriller, the FT, or their sister’s escapades via Facebook, more people are engaging with the written word and I find it really hard to mind that, even if it’s not my chosen platform for longer reads.
The thing that concerns me more is that it’s not ‘quiet’ reading. There’s so much noise on a mobile device, so many other distractions competing for your time. None of this is new; it’s not like any of us take our leather-bound manuscripts to a wildflower meadow to read in splendid isolation, but it does mean that the content has to work harder, and that’s not necessarily a good thing for a book.

3. In your opinion, which apps and sites facilitate mobile reading well?

I know they’re the devil, but the Kindle app which enables you to read on a iPad is fiendish genius.The New Yorker has spent a lot of time and effort recently on mobile, and it really shows; everything looks fantastic on there and they have an incredible archive of short stories read by amazing people. Closer to home, I’m loving what the new platform The Pool is doing with their ‘Book at Bedtime’. Each night at 10pm, 15 minutes’ worth of story goes live on the site; over the course of a week, you get really hooked on that week’s book. It’s costing me a fortune. This week, in readiness for next week’s Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction announcement, they’re featuring an excerpt from each of the shortlisted books. It’s a total treat.

4. Do you think there is a stigma towards short stories in the literary publishing world?

I honestly don’t. I think there’s probably a reluctance towards publishing something which doesn’t have good sales figures, and with my publishing head on, I have a lot of sympathy with that. If we want more short story collections, we need to buy more.

5. Are there any issues around young people reading shorter stories?

This is going to sound flippant, but I don’t have a problem with young people reading anything as long as they’re reading. We need to count every reader as a welcome member of the book world, and not worry too much about whether they’re reading what we want them to be.

Meet Sarah at BookMachine Oxford

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