

Godin to no longer publish books - aik
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/authors/new_york_times_bestseller_seth_godin_to_no_longer_publish_books_traditionally_171395.asp

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patio11
If I can recommend a link for context: jakonrath.blogspot.com I spent two
hours reading about this author switching from print to ebooks (primarily
fiction on Kindle) and how it changed his life. He _gets it_ like nobody in
that business I know, and I think he is good reading for many here.

Anyhow, Godin has been doing non-traditional things with his books for
forever. He gets marketing (one would hope, right) and brings a dedicated
group of followers to anything he does, even the bad ideas like Squidoo. I am
at a loss to name anything a publisher gives him of comparable value to what
he gives a publisher.

~~~
dagw
_I've read from several sources that ebooks are currently 8.5% of the total
book market. By the end of the year, they may be over 10%._

I wonder if those are US or global numbers? One downside of going Kindle only
is that you've basically killed any chance of selling books outside the US.

~~~
smiler
You do realise that Canada, the UK and most of western Europe have Kindles and
iPads too right... we're not backwards!

~~~
kilian
The offering here in Europe is abysmal though. iBooks is just guthenberg (in
NL at least) and most kindle ebooks go for between 10 and 20 euro. _20 euro
for an ebook_. So actually, there is some room for improvement ;)

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brianwillis
The original announcement:
[http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/08/moving-
on.ht...](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/08/moving-on.html)

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swatermasysk
On one hand, you do need to remember that Godin is not your average writer. He
already has a huge following, a very popular blog, and he specializes in
creating buzz.

Having said that, this is great news and I suspect (like in music) we will see
more authors cut out the (middle man) publishers.

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knodi
I'm pretty glad that he's going to stop putting out books that state every
thing from the TED videos and nothing from his own experiences. But I don't
think he's going to stop telling people to stop working hard.

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vaksel
I think there needs to be a more one of book publishing model.

Where I can get the ebook...read it...then if it's something truly valuable, I
can spend $10-20-30 to have it printed as an actual hardcover book and shipped
to my house.

I know there is on demand publishing now...but most of it is just so cheap.
There needs to be a more premium solution where you get something you'd
actually feel good with putting on a bookshelf.

Personally I think the only reason to publish traditionally is to get on all
of the bestseller lists...which help drive more sales.

~~~
kilian
I would very much like it to be the other way around. If I buy a dead-tree
book, give me the ebook along with it.

I like reading books for their bookiness and the way I can quickly reference
them by walking up to my bookcase and pulling one out. However, if I want to
read on the go, I don't want to drag along a big hardcover book when my iPhone
is perfectly capable.

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c1sc0
That's got to be one of the most unflattering pictures of him I've ever seen.
Looks like something that crawled out of 70's Star Trek episode.

I get it why he does it, he is a marketing machine all by himself and
effectively does not need the publishing industry anymore, whose role has been
reduced to pure marketing now that distribution has been completely
disintermediated.

~~~
bartl
>Looks like something that crawled out of 70's Star Trek episode.

My first thought when I saw that picture was: "He looks like a Ferengi
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi)>.

~~~
Rexxar
He looks exactly like an "olmec" in the cartoon "The Mysterious cities of
Gold".

[http://thumbnails.hulu.com/18/915/93693_512x288_generated__6...](http://thumbnails.hulu.com/18/915/93693_512x288_generated__6NDrj2O7zEyuWIvUuwvPIg.jpg)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Cities_of_Gold>

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petercooper
Godin's "new dynamics of book publishing" talk from several months back makes
for great listening, even for non-publishers:
[http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/publishinggodinkeynote-1....](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/publishinggodinkeynote-1.mp3)
[MP3]

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adnam
There is a God

