Ever since the days of 3rd Rock from the Sun and his Hanson-like hair, I’ve had a secret crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt. As his acting career has grown in popularity with movies like Inception, (500) Days of Summer, and soon The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt has not forgotten where he came from. Especially lately, it seems that he can do no wrong. I was ecstatic when Harper Collins emailed me about Gordon-Levitt’s new book, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, and his hitRECord project, and they sent me over a copy right away.
This literally tiny book, being around the size of a postcard, contains 8,569 contributions from over 60 contributors on the hitRECord website. Back in the spring of 2010, hitRECord started encouraging artists to upload their work – both writings and illustrations – to the website. Then all members of the site were invited to edit and remix others contributions, making it a true community collection. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the community matched up and remixed the tiny stories with illustrations, creating The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories.
Each page is a new and different story.
Click here for a video rendition of our favorite tiny story:
“His hands were weak and shaking from carrying far too many books from the bookshop.
It was the best feeling.”
At the end of the tiny stories comes my favorite part. There is a resources section which directs you to webpages where the original artwork was uploaded. Once there you can find more information about the artist and their other artwork.
Check out this video from a few weeks ago of Gordon-Levitt himself, talking about the project. The book actually became available to the public last week on December 6th. Profits from this book are split 50-50 between the hitRECord company and the book’s contributing artists. To help contribute to the artists, check out the hitRECord store.
So, if you’re looking for the perfect gift for the young writer or artist in your life this holiday season, pick up a copy of The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories and share with them about how to join hitRECord, so that they too can be a part of the process of uploading their work, including music, videos, text and drawings, and collaborating with other members.