somersault

The Somersault blog invites guest bloggers to share their observations and thinking on the state of publishing and where it's headed. Today's guest blogger is Jon Hirst, co-founder of Generous Mind LLC.

Every generation consumes content differently. In many ways the content doesn’t change that much. There are still suspense thrillers, historical biographies, how-to books, etc. But the context in which we interact with ideas is in constant flux.

For this new generation, the context for most content will be a cause. I define a cause as an idea owned and acted upon by a community with the intent to bring about change. (Read my white paper on Publishing in a Cause-Oriented World)

If my prediction is right, then the way we acquire, edit, produce and market content will have to fit within this new and very dynamic context. One of the main evangelists for this coming shift in publishing is Seth Godin, author and marketing guru. He recently gave a talk on “The new dynamics of book publishing” at an event for the Independent Book Publishers. This is a “must listen” for any publishing professional!

In that talk he shared several key activities that he believes all publishers will perform as the models for content creation, marketing, and consumption change. They are:

1.     Content Curation: Publishers will seek out and develop key content based on tribes they are committed to serving.

2.     Leadership: Publishers will lead out and build tribes and causes. They will then find the authors that bring value to those audiences.

3.     Connection: Publishers will connect the communities they start with each other and with new content.

4.     Launching Movements: Publishers will be responsible for launching movements of thought and action (aka causes).

As I review the summary I just wrote of Seth’s ideas, I realize how far away from this new reality we are in the Christian publishing space. But as I see how much we must change, I see a glimmer of hope. That hope is found in the second point on Seth’s list – leadership.

I firmly believe every author is a thought-leader whose book is the tip of an iceberg that represents a cause that could change the world. I also believe a publishing professional is a seasoned leader and mentor who has the ability to come alongside these thought-leaders and empower them to make a difference in their causes.

In Christian publishing we’re uniquely prepared to lead for two reasons:

1.     Part of our biblical worldview is a mandate to lead out in the things that matter to God. Christians have an impetus and drive to lead because our obedience to Christ drives us to act.

2.     Many of the causes that are taking the world by storm are Kingdom issues that God cares about and demands that we act upon.

But what keeps us from taking this leadership role as publishing professionals? Well, let me go back to another idea that Seth Godin always talks about. He often uses the word “just” as an example of how we marginalize our thinking or efforts. That word creeps into our vocabulary with surprising ease!

In reality, many in Christian publishing are “just” people. They are “just editors,” “just authors,” “just publishers,” or “just marketers.” And the frustrating thing is that I am “just” as guilty as everyone else! It is a word that captivates us in an insidious and almost invisible way. The word’s whole purpose is to limit or diminish something. When an author says, “That was just my first book,” he/she is saying this amazing idea created and labored over for many hours isn’t really as great, wonderful, and powerful as you might think. It’s “just a book.”

The word “just” reduces us as humans. We loose our passion and creativity and become “just” another writer, editor, executive, or sales rep. But what would happen if we were to take out the “just” from our publishing work?

I think removing this one word would put us in a position to lead the causes that are on God’s heart and in our hands to act upon. There is no time in history where ideas have held so much power and driven so much change as this moment. The question is this, “Who will lead these causes?” My answer is, “Why not the Christian thought-leaders of our day!”

So that’s my dream and “just” is my enemy. Have you lost any battles recently to the word “just”? What can you do to remove this force for reduction in your life and see clearly what God wants you to do with your ideas, skills, relationships, and passion?

Jon Hirst

Co-Founder of Generous Mind LLC

www.generousmind.com

www.twitter.com/generousmind

http://generousmind.blogspot.com

This article in KMWorld explores the complexity of comprehensively digitizing print books. Here's an excerpt:

We’d all like to have a way to move the contents of a book into an ebook and from there into a Web page and then into a display suitable for the tiniest of screens and then have it read itself aloud to someone with impaired vision and then have it automatically decompose into daily blog posts and then reassemble itself into a book, all without any loss of data or metadata. Of course, we’d all like that to be done with nothing but open source tools.

Well, not all of us share the dream. Some of the leading manufacturers of dedicated electronic reading devices view themselves as content companies, not as device manufacturers. They want to vertically integrate themselves so that they are the sole source for the books we read on their devices. They also want to make it difficult to move a book from one device to another, for fear we might share it, the way we share physical books. For if there is one thing we want the digital revolution to provide us, it is more restrictions on how we use what we buy than we have in the physical world. At least that’s what we want in Sarcasm World.

You'll want to read it in full.

Through our blog postings, Somersault's recognition of the wide-ranging set of changes in the publishing world is reflected, along with our particular attitude of embracing the future in response to those changes. We're creating a service firm for the publishing world that will lead the way in responding creatively and aggressively to the new parameters of publishing. We invite your interaction with us in this blog, so that we all learn from one another and move forward with confidence.

You can see what publications Somersault is following on our own alltop page at http://my.alltop.com/somersault

HA! So that's why! David Frum quotes a literary friend in Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish in The Atlantic:

It's summer, and publishers take the summer off, starting about April 15 and resuming shortly after Labor Day. They work hard through early September until the Jewish holidays, which they observe for the full three weeks from Rosh Hashonah to Shemini Atzeret. Columbus Day and Thanksgiving pretty much wipe out October and November, and December is of course gone to Christmas. Their offices are open at greatest length for a couple of weeks in each of January, February and March before they shut down again for the summer, as noted, in April.

http://frankandernest.com/

In this New York Times article, ereaders are predicted to soon be as flexible as today's print newspapers -- and as socially shared. Here's an excerpt:

Clive Thompson, a science and technology writer and columnist for Wired magazine, said that if “publishers are smart — and readers lucky” the content of the ebooks of the future will be more open and collaborative.

“You’ll be able to cut, paste and exchange your favorite passages, using them in the same promiscuous way we now use online text and video to argue, think, or express how we’re feeling,” Mr. Thompson said.

In other words, ebooks will become social experiences, with sharing among readers and even the ability to see the most popular passages as other readers highlight and comment in real time. “Ebooks will display their social and informational life,” Mr. Thompson said.

We wonder if print books will eventually take on the same charm currently reserved for antiques!

 This New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/fashion/11AuthorVideos.html?ref=media) explores what it means for reclusive authors to have to go before the unblinking eye of the camera in search of readers. Here's an excerpt:

In the streaming video era, with the publishing industry under relentless threat, the trailer is fast becoming an essential component of online marketing. Asked to draw on often nonexistent acting skills, authors are holding forth for anything from 30 seconds to 6 minutes, frequently to the tune of stock guitar strumming, soulful violin or klezmer music. And now, those who once worried about no one reading their books can worry about no one watching their trailers.

Yet...authors recognize the necessity — even the opportunity — of technologically upgrading their marketing efforts. “Any way we can reach out to readers is worth trying,” [says one author].

The Mobys are awards for book videos. This year, Dennis Cass won best performance by an author for his satirical look of "the groveling expected of modern writers." Very funny!

Mike Shatzkin of The Idea Logical company analyzes recent statements by publishers and predicts that sales of books through brick-&-mortar bookstores will decline by 65% over the next 5 years. Here's an excerpt:

We have definitely passed what Michael Cader has dubbed “peak bookstores” in the US. Shelf space for books is probably dropping faster than the number of stores as book retailers look for other items to keep their customers more satisfied and give those items space previously devoted to books. And shelf space available for publishers who don’t own bookstores is dropping faster than that because Barnes & Noble, the leading provider of bookshelf display space, is aggressively sourcing their own product both to improve their margins and to develop proprietary product not available to their competitors.

 Read this in full at http://bit.ly/bKOLp7

Noted novelist Dr. Randy Ingermanson prognosticates on his blog about where book publishing is headed. Among his predictions:

• eBooks will surpass pBooks soon
• Publishers will no longer accept returns
• Agents will stop reading slush

Read Randy's post in full at http://bit.ly/9DtSAe