I have a few friends that are in the book industry – authors, publicists, and retail employees. The word on the street is that the book publishing industry has loads of problems. From archaic logistics chains to antiquated beliefs about publicity, authors are getting screwed.
But it looks like some authors are coming along (Okay, okay. This example came along in 2008). Gary A. Ballard produced his first Cyberpunk novel, Under the Amoral Bridge, as a series of 14 blog posts.
Brilliant!
Here’s why:
- It builds credibility and an online presence for the author.
- It builds an audience for the author (not just the book).
- It builds anticipation (word of mouth) for other forms of content, products or services.
And yet, the question of theft still abides. People (or bots) are going to scrape your stuff. If you give it all away then it’s not really theft is it? You’re giving a gift that spreads your presence across the web. Perhaps the better question is, “How do you make sure you make money?”
Some possible answers to the question:
- You sell something else – t-shirts, speaking gigs, stickers, comic books, special versions not available on the blog.
- You go multi-verse on their ass. Instead of just the book, you can create an entire multi-modal experience.
- You get real nichey with it, offline. Hell, Jack White of the White Stripes is selling vinyl records now. Vinyl. Do you even own a record player? There are people out there who do, and he’s serving them creatively.
Authors have incredible options for creating, promoting, and selling their own work now. Embrace them.
Image credit: Laughing Lion Design
