Like so many of us, I watched and enjoyed the recent Booknet Canada talk by Richard Nash that’s been pinging around the Internet this week. By far, his thoughts on the publishing industry are the most forward-thinking and insightful I’ve yet heard. In particular, the observation about Oprah really illuminated the supply/demand inversion that he advocates. And the “15 hours in someone else’s head” idea really expresses, better than any explanation I’ve encountered, why reading is a fundamentally communal activity.
My question, and one that he even seemed to acknowledge before taking questions, is: What now? As an industry philosophy, his perception about reading as a community endeavor is both heartening and seemingly irrefutable. But what practices, specifically, does Nash advocate? Has he outlined these practices elsewhere?
I’ve followed Soft Skull for some time, including when Nash managed it; I’ve read his comments and listened to recent speech; I have no reason to disagree with the breathless assessments of his publishing-industry acumen. But I am really, at this point, more interested in a specific model to follow. On his website, Nash lists a couple of forthcoming projects, including “a start-up called Cursor, a portfolio of niche social publishing communities.” He then says,
Its two key attributes are:
One, that it is designed to be profitable in a universe where the price of digital content has fallen to zero (and if it doesn’t, well, it’ll be that much more profitable, won’t it…?), and
Two, that it is designed to offer the feedback loop that the supply-chain structure of publishing currently thwarts.
Again, lovely. I’m rooting for him. But why so coy?
John: I feel like Nash has been slowly elaborating his ideas in various venues (this publishing talk being the most recent), which seems like a smart way to build buzz and slowly lift the curtain.
My guess is that it will look a lot like some of the best web communities going right now . . . I’m thinking something like the level of viewer participation you get on DailyKos or Huff Post, and probably using some of the techniques pioneered on those sites.
I think also that Nash has talked a lot about multiple price points, and it seems that this will be a big part of what he does. basically, find a way to sell a book for $1,000 to the people who will pay $1,000 for a book, as well as selling a book for $0.50 to those who will pay that for a book. Obviously price discrimination like that is hugely difficult, but I’ll be interested to see what Nash attempts.
And lastly, I’m guessing he will be pulling some plays from the book of great indie bookstores like The Booksmith that are focusing on building communities of readers around different interest groups as part of their business model.
What Scott says (multiple price point, community-centric) and also: I’m mindful that I’ve been doing a lot of talking. And a good deal of it has been pretty general. Now, in part that’s because I’m typically talking to a fairly diverse group of folks, each with a different situation, and no-one wants to hear me pitch my own business. But also, no-one especially wants to hear a pitch for a business that’s not launched yet, since they can’t even act on my spiel.
But I’m mindful that I’ve gotta deliver something concrete, too. Not just philosophical principles. So I’m feeling that now’s the time for me to shut up and put up, put *it* up, let people kick the tires, fail, fix, fail, fix, etc. With everyone working for free to start, things go slow, but I think the beta should be public by the end of June…
There is no set path because we are in the cyber wild-west. Publishing, just as we have seen in the music/film/commerce industries, is being changed by digital network living.
The beauty of this time is that many formulas will work. There is a path for small brands such as a band and for mega-brands such as a major publishing house.
The way to be successful in this new networked world will be clear once we have walked it: no book or speaker is the definitive answer.