Book-a is a project initiated by Vibok Works, study dedicated to cultivating thinking and critical action on the environments and spaces we live in.

For some time, we’ve been working on a type of format and editorial support that can unite and promote dialogue and critical reflection on subject matters we are interested in. To that end, we’ve come up with an evolutional process beginning with six seed titles and a group of exceptional initiators-caretakers who are in charge of providing the initial perspectives and guiding threads upon which to build the cognitive, creative and human capital that will fuel book-a.

Initially, the idea was to "open" books by using new information technologies to offer creative options to the readers before and after publication. Gradually and at a time when ICT had extended books and democratised edition to such an extent that more editions and copies were produced, reproduced and circulated than were read or used, another question started to weigh heavily on our minds. Although the disappearance of the “traditional” figures of author, editor and reader has led to fabulous productive and creative opportunities, it has also contributed to the disarticulation of the labour of "caretakers" of books, content and knowledge which these agents shared.

A book that does not accompany, that does not advance, that does not affect…simply does not exist!

This concern for books as live processes that need care before, during and especially after production is what has motivated us to create and construct the book-a platform. How can books in construction be transformed not only into open books but also into live and sustainable books?

Based on the premise that "open" is not enough, the "a" in book-a seeks to explore other actions related to live processes such as accommodate, agglutinate, absorb, avail, accompany and afford as well as personal political actions such as appease, attempt, affect and advance. These actions are in turn linked to values such as amity, association and affinity.

We are convinced that ICT can contribute to injecting these actions and values into the coproduction of books. By reassessing the caretaking task, it can help to connect and give visibility to people, work and ideas that have traditionally rotated around books. Backed by technology, we have designed a gradual and evolutional process initiated by a group of engineers-creators-caretakers which will grow as content, media and people progressively come together. This process will give rise to the various sections that will successively open in book-a and its seed content: unique content of the utmost quality.

Similar to the book-a’s it accomodates, the platform in and of itself is a relative and flexible tool that is open to contributions and visions from those who wish to be involved. However, instead of telling you more about it, we prefer to encourage you to explore, discover and imagine on your own what book-a can become.

The wait was worth it… with everyone, book-a is!