Of all the entertainment industries, book publishing is the most traditional. What could be less high-tech than a book*? Since the dawn of the printing press, the industry’s interest in technology has been largely focused on the making and distributing of books. As computers entered the workforce — ostensibly as time- and labor-saving tools (ha!) — staff at publishing houses took sides: techie and non-techie. Those roles have been bleeding into each other with increasing frequency. Today, we can laugh at the notion of that the birthing, care, and feeding of a publisher’s website was ever the domain of IT.

It’s been a year, hasn’t it? We’ve had some really good times and some shake-us-to-our-core times. Even if you aren’t personally impacted by the current economic downturn, you can’t help but feel its reach. Some of us more than others. Yet, this is the season of giving (and, yes, tax deductions). Every year, we here at Booksquare make a pitch for our favorite causes, hoping some of you, like us, will find a little something extra to give this now and in the future. If you have a favorite cause that relates to literacy, reading, or education, let us know

[BS: Today, we host podbook pioneer and published author, Seth Harwood. Seth, who boldly went where few authors had gone before, podcasting his novels as they were being written (and bravely handling real-time feedback!), is now trying a new adventure: online education. See how he’s approaching this new challenge.] Having taught on-the-ground creative writing and English classes for seven years now, I used to be one of the first to pipe up and defend the face-to-face experience as invaluable for literature and creative writing. That’s right, even though I do most all of my writer’s promotion online and have gotten