Archive for the “Book Publishing” Category

In doing a YouTube search, I found some great videos where Seth Godin spoke to the Digital Publishing Group regarding the future of the publishing industry. You can tell the employees are not happy about what Seth is telling them.

Part 1 of 3.

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Part 2 of 3

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Part 3 of 3.

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Partial Q&A sessions

I have a prediction that within 5 years, only 25% of New York Publishing as we know it will survive.  The other 75% will be acquired, move into a different business, or simply shut down.  The economics of the present model will not be able to be sustained and the technological advances in publishing continue to advance at a rapid rate.

There will continue to be celebrities and other people who have large platforms that will continue to make the remaining New York Publishers viable.  But the Long Tail effect will continue to lengthen shattering the current obsolete book publishing and distribution models.  There will be much more free content produced by authors that will monetize their efforts in other ways than from their books.

As more authors become more empowered and understand their position in the new publishing marketplace, even the best authors will consider moving off in a different direction UNLESS New York publishing accommodates them or moves with them. But I see very little of that because most employees are fundamentally not entrepreneurial. Or if they are, they are not in an environment that will support them.

Many employees within New York Publishing will find their skills obsoleted in much the same way old-style typesetters were put out of business when desktop publishing software became popular.

Those employees who continue to chase positions with the big publishers will be participating in a game of musical chairs except that the chairs being removed will taken away dozens if not hundreds at a time.  Their only hope is to find another career or morph into providing contract services to empowered authors.  However, I believe most authors will NOT take on New York publishing’s ex-employees.  They expect too much pay and the culture shock will be too great. It will probably be better for many to home-grow their own professionals or find those people who are experienced in being independent contractors.

Book publishing will continue to have its place.  Books won’t go away.  But with many more authors producing more independent titles, it will dilute the power and influence of most New York publishers.

And if you are bothered by this article, ask yourself why?  I am only one unknown guy writing on little-read blog right?  There is no power in this one lonely blog post, right?  After all, a prediction does not make it fact.  If I am wrong, I have little to lose.  But if I am right, there are LOTS of people in for a lot of financial and career pain.

Word of the the day:  TITANIC

Seth Godin, one of my favorite and insightful authors, has discussed the future of the publishing industry to its employees dismay. The flip side is that independent authors and would-be-authors are going to LOVE the changes.

Here is a fairly substantial video from TOC Conference 2008 that was brought to my attention on Twitter.

Yesterday, I was surprisingly contacted through email by Jack Sallay, Vice-President of Marketing of Vook.com, reaching out to me to ensure I had a proper experience of their new Vook product. I assumed he either saw my harsh comments on my blog or my Twitter account.

Without fully divulging the details of our email exchange, Jack Sallay did bring to light some information I did not previously know regarding the company and founder, Brad Inman and how the Vook company interacts with the major publishers.

I asked some pointed questions. He answered some and disregarded others. I did tell him that that I had every intent of being fair and accurate in my review. But I did make known that my biggest issue with Vook had mostly to do with their proprietary and closed approach to incorporating video with the book experience.

Quite frankly, I credit the folks at Vook for hugely accelerating my plans.  There is so much press activity right now with the newly-announced Nook by Barnes and Noble and the just-released Vook.  As an underdog publisher with my own plans, there was no way I could be silent especially when their plans are in direct conflict with mine.

Although Vook and I are not direct competitors in the traditional sense and actually agree on many of the larger concepts, I think we are significantly different in our approach. I believe they have a niche that will be suitable for certain clients, publishers, and authors.  But make no mistake, open standards will rule the day.

Even Bill Gates and mighty Microsoft could not stop the open standard movement that started in the 1990’s until today with the Internet, Linux, Internet Browsers, and the like.  The mighty music recording industry has been brought down to their knees in recent years with the iPod and MP3.  The giant old-school newspaper industry are collapsing around us with free news sites and active bloggers.  And now the traditional publishing industry is next in the economic crosshairs for their eventual erosion and perhaps even collapse with the advent of print-on-demand, self-marketing, ebooks, and other innovations.

In its place, there will be a HUGE movement of self-published authors and independent, non-traditional publishers will rise in its place.  It is already happening but most employees within New York publishing and traditional publishing are oblivious.  But that doesn’t bother me too much because it works to my advantage.

What I won’t let go without a big fight is let the proponents of the traditional publishing industry dictate and brainwash the lesser-resourced and perhaps less-technically-oriented self-publishers and the independent publishers that the “big guys” can “takeover” and establish the “new standard” and conversation of including/incorporating video with the book reading experience.

The standards and the open technology exist today. The technically-savvy already have insights of what I am planning.  But what does NOT YET exist is a professional sample of the true-to-life implementation. In the absence of anyone stepping out, I have decided I will provide a Version 1.0 implementation that will work from Day 1.

I don’t really have time to wait for “someone else” to do it.  I intend to take my case direct to self-published authors and independent publishers and empower them by showing them my version.  With all the creativity and mindshare, they can then take what I have done and build and expand upon it.

Stay tuned for more updates in the days to come.

This post was first published on the MatthewChan Blog.

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This is a teaser post. I don’t have much I want to reveal at this time except for a couple of nuggets.

I am working on a project called the CEO Publishing University.  If all goes well, it will launch in Spring 2010.  This is a work-in-progress.  Don’t assume anything you see on the website will be in the final version. Don’t read more into the project until I officially announce.  I am making no promises to anything or anyone until I make it “official”.

Yes, it is very much related and tied to my current published series, “The TurnKey Publisher” Series.

I am very excited about this project and I am currently assembling a team of advisors.

Again, all of this is a tease but it isn’t a joke.

As the names implies, educational marketing is a specific type of marketing where you engage potential customers and clients through education and consultation.  It is about taking a leadership but also an expert, instructional, and training role in engaging customers and clients.

Done well, it is a collaborative well and there is goodwill on both parties.  Done poorly, customers and clients feel that the power of knowledge and expertise is being used against them as an unfair advantage leaving them feeling dissatisfied from the experience.

Educational marketing is often used in large businesses where a high degree of technical understanding is part of the customer-buying process.  The computer hardware, computer software, Internet, medical, and pharmaceutical industry are large-scale examples of businesses that engage in educational marketing efforts.  Even late-night infomercials engage in educational marketing when they demonstrate how to use new, innovative products.

In smaller businesses, doctors, attorneys, accountants, electricians, plumbers, and auto mechanics also actively engage in a form of educational marketing.  They have to educate their customers and clients as they market and sell to them.  Done well, everyone is happy.  Done poorly, it becomes a distasteful experience especially for the customer and client.

Educational marketing is quite pervasive in many businesses even though business owners and managers do not necessarily use the term educational marketing.  They simply know they have to teach their potential customers and clients.

In this article, I focus on discussing educational marketing as it relates to consultants, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and other high-achieving business professionals.  Doctors, attorneys, accountants, small business owners, and entrepreneurs all fall into the group of people I focused on and work with.

These are people who often represent the human face of businesses they own or work for.  How they perform as individuals is a direct reflection of their business.  The individual-company relationship cannot easily be separated with the business.

Fundamentally, there are four basic ways potential customers and clients learn during the educational marketing process.  They can read, listen, see, or do.  They can read text information such as books, brochures, newspapers, ads, and other media.  They can listen to a live or recorded audio program such as a speech, training, or presentation.  They can see (watch) a video (such as instructional tapes, videos, and DVDs) or a live demonstration through a class, workshop, or seminar.  Or they can practice on or work with the product itself such as product and software trial periods.

I believe powerful educational marketing tools include published books, audio programs, and videos.  They are powerful because they are also the same tools used in credibility marketing.  In fact, successful educational marketing efforts result in a dual benefit.  Good educational marketing also translates to good credibility marketing. (You can read more about Credibility Marketing in another article I wrote.)

Even in a seemingly irrelevant business such as leasing single-family homes, we have had great success with ongoing educational marketing efforts using our website. Everyday, we “teach” our applicants through our website using text information and videos and our dedicated telephone information hotline through pre-recorded audios.  We expend relatively little information on a personal level but we “teach” our potential customers 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

We actively use publishing principles in the real estate side of our business.  We don’t publish books per se for our potential customers but we do publish information on our web pages.  We don’t publish formal audio programs for our potential customers but we do create audio recordings on our dedicated telephone information hotline.

However, if I were to actually sell our homes for commissions as real estate brokers do, I would not hesitate to write and publish a book and audio program on the subject.  They are great business calling cards, symbols of my expertise and credibility, and they would teach my potential clients what they need to know to buy, negotiate, inspect, and finance a home.

I am an advocate of using published products as part of any educational marketing strategy. Even if books don’t get read, they command the highest respect out of all the media available including newspaper ads, brochures, radio, CDs, videos, and TV.  This stems from the academic and scholarly symbolism we attach to books to this day.

An author is often bestowed by the public with expert status on the subject they have written and published on. I often say, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree. Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor’s, Master’s or even a PhD degree.  The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.

Publishing a book or an audio program are excellent ways to engage in educational marketing.  In addition to being great business symbols and calling cards, they help teach and spread your message. They empower your potential customers and clients with your expertise, knowledge, and wisdom.

In closing, I am a huge advocate of Educational Marketing.  Large or small business, you will have to educate your customers and clients about your business, product, and service before you can sell them.  Educational marketing should be part of your overall marketing strategy.

Despite what you might have heard, credibility marketing is about marketing your brand, company, mission, and yourself. Credibility marketing is not about directly promoting your products and services.  And it is certainly not about the hard and quick sell.  Credibility marketing is about investing and reinvesting in your company brand, message, and mission.

Credibility marketing is about developing and enhancing your presence, stature, authenticity, and respectability so that when you (or your company) has something to say, potential customers and clients will not only listen, they will believe you with minimal skepticism.

Often, this is about sharing information about your mission and what values you stand for.  You are also measured by the authenticity (believability/honesty) of the message you convey and portray.  Authenticity can sometimes be hard to determine but listeners look to their gut to determine if someone is authentic.  However, it is true that good acting can deceive others into thinking that you are authentic when you are not.

Closely aligned with authenticity is congruency.  You will also be measured by your congruency.  Congruency is the measure and appearance of how you (and your company) behave, act, and respond as it relates to your public message.  Are you company actions and responses always consistent with your company’s mission, brand, and messaging?  If not, how often are you inconsistent?  If your congruency factor is low (less than 70%), your company may be perceived as inconsistent or, even worse, hypocritical.  The polar opposite of congruency is hypocrisy.  Many have a high distaste for hypocrisy.  It is the fastest away to kill credibility marketing efforts.

I believe a powerful way of enhancing and building credibility is the willingness to acknowledge imperfect aspects of yourself and your company.  A willingness to express humility, self-deprecation, and imperfections can greatly enhance your credibility. It humanizes your company in the face of other marketing campaigns that say they are “perfect, flawless, the best, the greatest, etc.”

I am not subscribing to openly sharing your critical weaknesses and Achilles Heel so that competitors and others can take advantage of you but showing that you have an ongoing philosophy to self-improve can be an asset to building credibility.

Another powerful way of building your credibility is through education.  Educating others is about sharing expertise, knowledge, wisdom, and empowering others with valuable information so they can make an informed decision even if that decision means not buying your company product or services.  Short-term, you may lose a sale but in the long-term, you will create goodwill and be remembered favorably for the next buying opportunity.

People who educate place themselves as an authority and expert figure when they teach, train, and instruct others. As a teacher, trainer, instructor, and expert figure, your credibility is almost automatically enhanced.  People are listening and learning from you.  They are opening their minds to you.  They are more receptive to you.

One reason I am a huge proponent of publishing books and audio programs is that authors are often considered experts and teachers in what they write and speak about.  Of course, that is not true in every case and every person.  But in the professional and business world, authors are still much fewer in number than college graduates.  In fact, for most “average” people, their chances of personally knowing someone who is an author (even an unknown one) is much lower than they knowing someone who is a college graduate.

Becoming an author is one of the best ways to build, enhance, and even jump-start your credibility.  Holding a book you authored and published in your hands is a powerful symbol that shows your expertise in a subject matter or field.

As I often say, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree.  Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor’s, Master’s or even a PhD degree.  The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.

In closing, I am a huge advocate of Credibility Marketing.  Large or small business, if you don’t have credibility, people will not believe what you have to say or sell.

With the recent and tremendous growth of independent publishers, a newly emerging niche of independent publishing is CEO Publishing. CEO Publishing, as the name implies, is a specialized form of business publishing that is focused on CEOs. CEO has traditionally stood for “Chief Executive Officer”. However, with the growth of entrepreneurship and professionals working from home offices and smaller offices throughout the U.S., CEO also stands for “Consultants, Entrepreneurs, (business) Owners”.

Many modern CEOs no longer work restrict themselves to working for Fortune 1000 companies in a corner office on the top floor of a skyscraper in a metropolitan city. Today, it is not uncommon for modern CEO’s (Consultants, Entrepreneurs, Owners) to work in smaller offices of a company they own located in the suburbs of a modest city.

This special group of CEOs are fresh, innovative, unconventional, and daring in their approach to business. They recognize the need to represent themselves and their companies with Credibility, Excellence, and Optimism. They also understand the growing importance and significance of having their own powerful calling card, their own published book.

Ambitious CEOs know they are not only chief managers for their company, they are also figureheads. They are the most important symbol and, subsequently, the public “face” for the company and the products and services they offer. They must also become Celebrities, Experts, and Opportunists as part of their ongoing marketing efforts, not simply be the traditionally-recognized Chief Executive Officer.

Moderns CEOs are beginning to recognize the role of having a published book as their business calling card for their credibility marketing and educational marketing efforts. For Consultants, Entrepreneurs, and business Owners, having a published book is the new business calling card for the 21st century.