reaching readers online

Four Things for 2008.

Peter CollingridgeMD, apt

www.aptstudio.com

Who Are We?

1. Case Studies: Building authors and communities online (x4)

2. Where we think publishing is at

3. Four Things for 2008

4. Questions

Today

1.1 Case Study:Author Series

Stephenie MeyerTeen vampire novelsOutselling HP7 in USAObsessive fanbase

1.1 Case Study:Stephenie Meyer

www.canongate.net1997-2002

“at last - a publisher’s site that feels like a cool club stocked with well-read friends, rather than a lazy corporate exercise” The Guardian

5/5 - The Book Lover’s Guide to the Internet

1.2.1 Case Study:Community and Publishers

4th Estate / Press BooksSimple, achievableFlawless execution

1.2.2 CommunityFifth Estate (2006)

CommunityFifth Estate

James FreyAnita ShreveElizabeth PisaniMitch AlbomJeff Howe

1.3 Building an author online

WIRED EditorLead Random House Business Books, Summer 2008

“Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.”

Jeff Howe CrowdSourcing

CoversourcingConnect marketing to audienceRaise profileMedia coverageCommunityDebateInnovationSell the book?

Life of PiSalam PaxThe Revolution Will Not Be TelevisedHey, Nostradamus!LondonstaniFor One More DayThe Long Tail

1.4 Case StudySingle Book Sites

The Long TailChris Anderson

2008Where do we see publishing at?

2008Snapshot

2008Snapshot

2008Snapshot

2008Snapshot

2008but yet....

2008there is hope... online

2008indeed...

From where we are, the web is the future of the book. And publishingAnd booksellingAnd marketing books.

You just need to try much, much harder.

But...it’s not all bad news. In fact....

2008 is crunch time for publishing, on many (if not all) fronts

- Relevance- eBooks- Self-publishing- Free distribution- Amazon / Waterstones- Apple- Polarisation of high street

2008Summary

Four things

Identify (or hire) and empower the digital natives in your organisation.

Listen to them. Trust them.Learn from them.

One

“How do I want to change the way I talk to people?’”

Two

Start a blog (for your most valuable, popular property)

Three

Get a digitisation strategy.Four

Best thing ever for finding readers & making more money out of them. And giving them what they want.

Try to do it well, with an open mind.

But do it with passion.

SummaryWhat is the web?

all images by russell davieshttp://flickr.com/photos/russelldavies/russelldavies.typepad.com

thanks

hello@aptstudio.com

# Comment by anon @ 1:40 pm, January 12, 2008: |Edit This

Paint a future of what the world might look like if we don’t engage now? How many comparisons to other companies / cultures that might tell us what the future looks like?

How nobody is yet investing enough in UK publishing to really understand what the potential upside could be. How differentiation continues to be all and yet we insist on aping and homogenising. And by the time someone is really making money out of a community or brand, it might be too late to catch up.

I’d be as apocalyptic as possible. I think even the publishers who have bought into the idea of this are unsure how brave or committed to be.

Anything you can do to move the debate on beyond one where we’re all paralysed by the speed of our own irrelevance and just prefer to keep our head down til the Tsunami hits. Please do anything that really get them talking / thinking at least…

# Comment by Lindsey @ 3:47 pm, January 12, 2008: |Edit This

Let’s face it - last year’s seminar was atrocious and showed how far behind a lot of the industry are.

Most publishers won’t fully embrace digital until they are completely convinced it’s worthwhile and risk-free. And you’re never going to have a brilliant campaign/community/or content unless you take a few risks. Perhaps you can persuade us to experiment and take some chances. And even if things don’t go to plan and aren’t successful it’s not the end of the world, you’ll have learned something that will benefit you in the future. Persuade publishers to stop playing it safe and get involved.

# Comment by George @ 10:43 pm, January 10, 2008: |Edit This

I’d be interested in discussion of building communities from scratch versus leveraging existing communities and networks - quite different challenges in my experience.

What should I talk about?

www.aptstudio.com/TimesEmit