Social Publishing – A Model to be Copied?

Posted by John Saddington on Nov 21, 2008

Someone shot me this link a few days back and I just sat there and did a “thinking man” pose in my seat.

Essentially, this book publishing company (Concord Free Press) is giving their stuff away for free, which isn’t a new idea (and if you haven’t seen Thomas Nelson Publisher’s Program, you’ve gotta check it out), but they’ve got an interesting twist to theirs.

They require a “voluntary” donation, but not back to them. Rather, the money goes to a charity, cause, or someone in need of their choice.

In addition, they ask the receivers of the free book loot to pass the book on after they finish reading (which wouldn’t be good for me since I mark my books up until they are unreadable).

But this so-called “new experiment in publishing and community” got me thinking about “social publishing” and the power of both the on and offline viral groundswell.

I think it’s got merit, and one that, perhaps, could be copied. But, I don’t think it’s a complete idea… yet.

I think they could really take it one step further and leverage the power of the internet, establish something like Thomas Nelson, but also add additional community features that might extend the life of the buzz.

But, Church, let’s take a close look, because I think there’s something here. Thoughts?

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About the Author

John Saddington

John is the Chief Editor @ The 8BIT Network and Senior Blog Junkie here at ChurchCrunch.He enjoys Triple-Tall Americanos, developing Wordpress Themes, and a few other Random Things.

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16 Responses to “Social Publishing – A Model to be Copied?”

Rhett Smith
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 1:39 am
I have the Kindle. Got it for a Father's Day gift….it's pricey, but I think in the short term, the money you save on the Kindle books (cheap, cheap for the most part), it eventually pays off for the cost of the Kindle. I bought a Bonhoeffer book the other day for about $2, that was like $20 something in the hardcopy/paperback form.
Plus…do I take 5 books with me in my backpack…or one?
The search does sort of stink. Takes a little while to get used to navigating back and forth, but the note, and highlight feature is great.
After a few months of adjustment I really love it. You can't just assume it's like a real book, etc. Very different experience. Oh, and it has headphone jack for audio books, and a place to put a hard drive to store more books on.
rhett
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human3rror
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 1:42 am
here's a good question for you then… will the kindle have software upgrades to better the functionality?
bonhoeffer on the cheap… that's wickedly cool.
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sullied
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 4:16 am
this idea is awesome
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Adam_S
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:16 pm
The free idea in books can work. I primarily read electronically (upgraded to a kindle recently but I have been reading on my phone or PDA for almost a decade.) Baen a sci-fi publisher has had a policy of giving away lots of books and selling the rest electronically without DRM. I have purchased a lot of books from them because I was introduced to new authors. I disagree with Cory Doctorow's position that he only gets money from paper books and doesn't want to sell electronic books because he considers that a "tip jar" form of support. His fundamental issue is the DRM and that since all DRM is wrong and breakable he gives away ebooks with the hope that people will buy paper books and invite him to teach or speak about his ideas. I think we are moving toward more ebook people so there will have to be a viable market for ebooks, but DRM is a real problem. If I buy a book from Amazon for my Kindle and I decide to buy a Sony Reader later, the kindle version is lost unless I break the DRM (which is illegal and right now no one has figured out how to break Amazon's DRM).
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Christopher
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Very interesting model. I mentioned to Michael Hyatt when I signed up Lightvox for the Thomas Nelson program I would be donating the retail cost of the book to charity. Since the books I select, would most likely be ones I was going to buy anyway.
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human3rror
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:19 pm
snap, you've got a kindle? ah… i've been thinking about it!
can you sell it to me in 20 words or less?
oh… snap about the DRM issues. i can imagine. it's like… apple and their ipod…? doh!
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human3rror
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:21 pm
that's awesome. i just passed michael the link and he mentioned the definitive question that any good businessman would ask: business model…!
that michael is genius.
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Adam_S
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:37 pm
It is a very good ebook reader. I really does look almost like paper when you have enough light. The browser sucks so I am disappointed about that. The DRM is a real issue, it is very locked down. But if you buy books other places (where you can break the DRM) then you loose the benefit of the Amazon store and integration (which really does work well.) I really am having a problem buying books on Amazon because I am concerned about the DRM.
It has integrated wikipedia fairly well. Honestly I am 5 days from the return period and might send it back, not because it isn't a great reader, but because it is $300. It also has integrated Audible.com content very well. (Another group that has DRM, but is so flexible that I have never had an issue with it.)
In the end I will probably keep it. I really do like reading on it. The screen works well, I like being able to change font sized depending on how tired my eyes are or how low the light is, and with the SD card I can carry well over a hundred books, hours of MP3s and a dozen audiobooks and not think about it.
I have a longer (equally mixed) review posted here http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ctsvy
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human3rror
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:40 pm
wow, thanks for your thoughts… 300 price tag has been the #1 reason… they've gotta drop it… seriously.
thanks for the good entry too.. PEOPLE… have you ever considered getting a KINDLE?
please converse.
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human3rror
Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 12:48 pm
yeah, perhaps. who knows… still thinking about it.
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