Book publishers, on the other hand, have traditionally either focused on “digital” as a secondary medium, or worse, not even as a distinct medium at all, simply a fascimile or marketing channel for their print products. In doing so, they’ve effectively positioned themselves for easier disintermediation, being seen as container manufacturers instead of content curators and community organizers.
Tag: Platform
Dumb Pipes, Devaluing Content: It’s All About Context
On the publishing side, the devaluation of content isn’t anything new, with publishers themselves as guilty of it as the technology vendors they often rush into bed with without thinking through the ramifications.
Bookish vs. Amazon, Goodreads: Community or Commerce?
Of course, last week’s much hyped and completely vague announcement of Bookish, a new joint venture between three of the “Big 6? – Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Group — caught my attention, not for its unusual (but not unprecedented) collaborative angle, but for its disappointingly unimaginative and shortsighted value proposition.
When Content is Everywhere, Marketing is Queen
Right now, the relative ease of digital publishing — not yet the equivalent of blogging, but getting closer every week — and the exceptional successes of a relative handful of authors masks the larger challenges ahead for authors and publishers alike, regardless of their business model: discoverability.
Marketing Yourself in the Digital Age
It doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring writer, traditionally published or going the DIY route, marketing is every writer’s responsibility, and it takes the same level of commitment, dedication and self-discipline as sitting down and actually writing does.
2011: Are You a Writer or Creator?
10 questions writers should be asking as they look ahead to the future of publishing—and where they fit in.
The Atlantic, Electric Literature, and the Digital Future
If your core pitch is your “innovative” business model and not what you publish and for whom, your 15 minutes are almost up.