Is This the Future of Book Publishing?
This clever video was brought to my attention by my literary agent, Bonnie Solow, who also happens to be the literary agent for Harv Eker, Jack Canfield, Phil Town and others.
A lot is as stake in the book publishing world these days, so if you have a “traditional” book in your heart; or, if you’re in the process of getting your manuscript published, watch up to the 1 min, 7 sec mark – then notice what happens ;-)
You’ll be glad you did.
In the meantime, take a look at what my friend, Geneen Roth is up to lately … she has a new runaway best-selling book titled: Women Food And God. I’m conducting a VBT with her in April … and you’ll get to see her on Oprah in May!
What To Do Now: Please comment and share how you feel the future of book publishing change the way we consume information in the next 10 years. Be candid, brief and speak from your own experience.
Tags: alex mandossian, amazon, barnes & noble, book promotion, book publishing, borders, geneen roth, harv eker, Info Marketing, Jack Canfield, literary agent, oprah, phil town, women food and god
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 7:11 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Please comment and share here. If you’re an author or info marketer, you probably have a few thoughts about this very clever video.
~ ALEX
Hi Alex,
Yes that was a clever video.
My personal reading habits over the past 10 years in the digital age have changed. Changed for the better actually. I am not reading any less paper book, in fact, maybe more because the internet makes me aware of more niche topics of interest to me.
Online I also read a lot too. Especially in the past year on my iPod Touch. No doubt I will have an iPad soon and my reading will expand even more. Will my use of paper books decline? As you say Alex, “We shall see!”
All the best and thanks Alex for great material you presented at Guerrilla Business School last week.
Terry
That was amazing! I never saw it coming and the surprise was well worth the two and a half minutes. Thanks for bringing this to all of our attention!
This is very cleverly done! I wish I could be that clever. Bravo!
That is stunning! Best bit of publishing marketing I’ve seen in ages though I’m not sure it completely addresses the reality.
My daughter – she’s 17 and off to uni in the autumn – and her friends spend very little time with books, either for pleasure or as part of their studies. They just don’t have the “book habit”; it’s not ingrained in them as it was for my generation. And it’s not through want of trying – my daughter has been surrounded by books from birth, read to, listened to, encouraged all the way. She will occasionally pull out a book and get immersed, but generally she prefers to gather in information online, and seek entertainment there; that feels more natural to her, and to her friends.
She’s obviously not alone, and while the advent of devices like the Kindle shifts the goalposts, it seems to me the publishing industry has yet to tease out a way of engaging those for whom books (the concept and the actuality) are simply not sufficiently compelling.
Watching with great interest and thanks for posting this!
- Eugenie
I love this. It’s so clever and clearly shows that everything in life is all about perspective. It’s never the same looking in as it is looking out. So to be clear about who your selling to, it is important to look through their eyes. Thanks for the reminder!
What a brilliant video :-)
Simple delivery, well executed and very well thought out.
Being a writer, a reader and a marketer I agree with the second message (post 1:07), take care of your customer community and they will take care of you.
Thanks for sharing Alex,
AJ
–
AJ Silvers
I love it Alex. This is similar to one that Joel Comm has shown in a seminar (I think it is different content in the same reversable style). Great message!
Beautifully done. That reinforces one of the most important things I learned last week at GBS: It’s not about me, it’s not about my business; it’s about the customer and what they want. Learn what they want, give it to them, and you will be successful.
Just forwarded this to my agent and publisher at Crown (Random House)
I LOVE the creativity of this video — truly ingenius!
Selfishly since I have a book coming out on the so-called Impostor Syndrome in 2011 I also LOVE the message that publishing is indeed not dead!
Will definitely do an Alex-style virtual book tour when the time comes. Thanks Alex!
Valerie Young
Dreamer in Residence
http://www.ChangingCourse.com
http://www.ImpostorSyndrome.com
Excellent video Alex. Thanks!
It’s great because it cleverly reminds us of the importance of how we see things. I shift in context is transformational, rather than informational, and these are the differences that add a new dimension to experience.
Didn’t mean to sound SO philosophical, but how we choose to see a subject is everything.
This was very clever and well done. Simple and to the point.
@Karin – You are this clever and more! :-)
I believe books will survive, however the digital age is here.
I mean just look at how we are communicating on this post.
Thanks for sharing the video. I will pass it on.
Keep reading!!
Darrell Ritchie
I think this is great Alex, thanks for all your help.
Wonderful video. Very well done. I love the message that you have to listen to your customer, which you get in both halves of the video. We have to remember that there will be people who love books and those who do not. Neither is right or wrong, just preferences.
My personal belief is that there will always be a market for paper books, and not just because I love the feel of a book in my hands! I’m definitely part of the digital world, online all day, and have almost 150 books (so far) in my Sony ebook reader, which fits neatly in a large pocket or purse. I love the convenience of digital, and the ability to search the digital format.
BUT, digital is horrible for skimming or scanning through some content. With books I know well, I may just want to refresh my memory on something. With a paper book, I can pick it up, estimate where to open it based on the physical location of what I’m looking for, and quickly find the material I need. It takes me much longer to find the material in a digital copy unless I can remember a word or phrase that only appears in that section.
I find digital books are not fast enough for me in many instances. The refresh to the next page is slow compared to turning a physical page, and online, various network issues may slow down the rate I can receive the material. When I’m reading something that requires a lot of concentration, I find the slowness of digital to be quite annoying. Sometimes a “page turn” is so slow, I have to go back and re-read the previous page to pick up the train of thought again.
Another problem with digital comes when I’m reviewing large documents. I typically need a lot of pages spread out to review at once, and even with 2 large monitors, I cannot get enough pages on my computer screen.
For all of these reasons, I think paper products such as books and documents, will be around for a very long time. I can see that perhaps magazines and newspapers could go all digital, since the sections are pretty short and you don’t have the issues with slow refresh or lack of space that I find with my technical material.
If we have both digital and paper, we can use each in the situation where it is best, and also support both markets – those who read paper and those who do not.
Thanks Alex for the engaging and entertaining video!
Geri
I love it! Clever and powerful–and brief. Thanks, Alex!
Warmly,
Joel
You have a book inside you. I want to help you set it free!
http://www.joeltrainsauthors.com
650-969-6752
America’s Empowering Book Coach
Twitter: joeltweet
Now why didn’t I think of that concept! :-)
Very clever.
Our customers shape what they want, how they want it and when they want it!
It’s our job to faciliate and to offer solutions with how they consume information and what they need.
It’s not the tail wagging the dog any longer!
Sean
My opinion is that those who are bright enough to create a community, and a ‘movement’ around their brand/book/message and make the effort to consistently connect with their community in various ways (social media, teleseminars, webinars, video, live events) will experience the greatest success and longevity. Those who ignore these avenues will experience a small portion of what is possible for them.
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
America’s Top Goals Coach
http://www.TheGoalGuru.com
What a interesting and surprising twist in this story. Magnificent Example of a Palindrome Story.
Will definitely share this video with my friends.
Thanks for posting it.
Cheers Ruben
Very clever video.
Clearly younger people will read in droves if the book catches their imagination–you don’t have to look any farther than Harry Potter or Twilight for an example of that.
I’ve heard a lot about e-books lately from their proponents–none of whom seem to think paper books will disappear completely. But I think publishers do need to pay attention to what their customers are asking for, and not cling for dear life to “We must come out in hardcover first, and only later release paperbacks and e-books.”
I’ve heard you and Paul Colligan talk a lot about being wherever your market is, however they want to get you, and I think it’s a lesson the Big Six need to learn.
Thanks for the sharing the video with us all. It should be a big eye opener to the traditional media channels.
If we don’t give the people what they want then we will be left in the dust!
Garrett Pierson
Excellently delivered.
A good question to filter is, “What did you feel as you heard it through the first time? What do you feel the second time in reverse?”
I’ve seen this remarkable execution of knowledge applied to other movements and it’s been inspiring.
Thanks Alex.
Kellie Frazier
dot com
This video capitalizes on two truths:
1) People want to be right and so they search for things that match with their current beliefs.
2) The law of polarity which states that for every positive idea there is a negative idea.
When you can recognize your need to be right and understand that there is truth in every idea both positive and negative you can walk away from the extremes and into the center where you can be in balance with all ideas around you, and that is a personal victory.
For more ideas about creating personal victories and breaking through old limiting beliefs see my web site http://www.triumph4.me.
Kathleen Maxwell
Life Coach, Speaker and Certified LifeLine Practitioner
http://www.triumph4.me
http://www.lifeline4.me
Great video and content!
We see that it’s based on the YouTube video “Lost Generation”
Check the original => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
It has over 12 million views.
As Alex says “Never Invent, Always Improve” and this is a great example of that.
~ Pat & Lorna Shanks
http://TheCoolestCouple.com
That video was brilliantly written! Thanks for sharing it Alex.
No onto your question about the future of physical books … I think the answer is “it depends” … it depends on the kind of information.
For good fiction there is nothing like having a hard cover book in your hands. This seems to hold true for all age groups … just look at the success of the Harry Potter series.
For researching and a lot of non-fiction topics, however, you can’t beat the Internet … viewing information online is much faster, easier and less expensive than buying physical books.
[...] Alex Mandossian posted a link to this video in his blog Alex is a guru in information marketing so you might want to check out his other posts. The video is fun, and it’s an optimistic reframing that would probably have Seth Godin nodding his head vigorously. [...]
It is awesome – I have to admit I didn’t see the switch coming! I love reading and I haven’t gone down the path of a Kindle yet – I still love to hold the physical product (a hard cover book) but I may have no choice if that is the way the publishing industry is going.
Thanks for sharing – I loved it.
Carol Stewart
http://www.LookingForScholarships.com
This is genius and very true. I love the way this has been laid out. It reflects how we think, and then proposes how we should think. This would go with just about anything wee deal in life too.
Thank for sharing this with us Alex.
it is like the old Paul Harvey, now you know the rest of the story. Excellent message in a unique format. Thanks for sharing.
I Love the way that the awareness occur. Finally We will noticed that POSITIVE thinking will be always more Powerful then negativity. Joel Comm has a same type of video that make you aware how we can make anything happen when the Heart n Soul life in they Higher Self. Anything possible just to put the mind away and have fun. That the real Game of Life and how to Play It. Enjoy your Adventure in this wonderful place we call Mother Earth.
Thanks Alex for all the Awesome work you do. I love it. C U Soon
Rasta Ralph Tondreau / Master Sound Engineer
Wizard Audio
Peak Potentials Training
This video totally blew me away. Wow! Absolutely loved it. Thanks Alex.
Brilliant. One different comment: I have read (on paper) is that paper is actually more durable than memory. There are many old programs that have been converted to paper “bits” to store the code, in a braille-like format. Paper, if handled properly, can last for a hundred years or more. Digital memory decays naturally over time. Sooo, books and paper will be here for decades to come.
Paul Cronin
Successful Transition Planning Institute
http://www.successfultransitionplanning.com
Alex,
Great video. Definitely gets one thinking.
It’s interesting, that my husband and I were have a conversation this
morning about the world and books and publishers.
I own a Kindle and I absolutely love it!
In 10 years will there be any book stores?
Will there be any book publishers?
Will they go the way of the record industry that were displaced
buy Apple and iTunes?
Will there be a need for libraries with so much information available online?
Can’t say for sure what will happen but it will certainly be different from where we stand today.
Suzy Weiss
http://www.datingsecretsfordivorcedwomen.com
The future of publishing is bright. The formats are expanding, and the supplements that are added to books are exploding.
In 1981 I created what became the best selling college text in America for over two decades. “Becoming a Master Student” is now in it’s 13th edition, because I followed the principles outlined in this message. The book is this video.
Thanks, Alex!
Thanks Alex for this very clever video. The concept and the delivery are just so good. It captured my attention in both directions.
Superb work!
Niyi Adeoshun
This was great. Posted it to my facebook wall. Truth is an interesting thing… opposites can both be true simultaneously… kind of how I can’t wait for the kids to get out of the house, and I never want them to leave at the same time.
Thanks for the food for thought,
Dawn
http://notequeen.com
[...] this video which I originally found on Alex Mandossian’s blog and just had to repost. (Just make sure you watch at least to the halfway [...]
Alex, one of the many things I appreciate about you is your authenticity and how you encourage people to make that connection to theirs. Thank you for this video! And thank Bonnie Solow for bringing it to yours. She is also one-of-a-kind!
As you know, I see poker lessons everywhere, and this video speaks to me about poker as well as publishing. It is a caution against making assumptions rather than staying in the moment and raising your awareness to what is happening right here and now.
Regardless of your industry, there is a message here for anyone open to it. Many thanks, Alex!
Donna Blevins
Poker Coach, Motivational Speaker and Consultant
http://BigGirlPoker.com
OMG…what a shift in perspective! It truly is all about what we believe, how we feel about what we believe, and what we are willing to do about it. Now, carry on writing your book about what speaks to your heart and Soul because the world wants it. Woohoo!
Thanks Alex. Great creativity.
I loved the way they “turned it around”….one common aim througout the world, which we all have the potential to do, if we havent done so already and continue to, no matter which way the publishing industry goes.
What is the quickest, most effective and highly significant method (digital, paper, both or another new invention) that enhances “turning it around” so we live peacefully throughout the world, forver ?
Kate Burke.
Very clever. A shift in perspective makes all the difference in what we see, hear and feel. I am working on several book projects right now. I attended the BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Association) conference two weeks ago and learned that books are not dead, how we read them is changing.
I learned today on AdobeTV that it is fairly easy to convert documents to epub and Mobi formats.
I love books. I think this is an exciting time for authors.
Thanks for sharing this gem.
All bets are off until the iPad comes out. If it turns out to be as big or bigger than the iPhone, it could very well signal the end of paper-based books.
Outstanding video Alex! The right reading is so important to the growth and intelligence of the next generation. If we can get the right books in their hands and make them understand what they are truly capable of I know the future holds great things!
I do my best to encourage my friends to read more and I often give them some of my favorite books to get them started. It’s so much fun when you can share a book with someone and see the change in them as they read through it. I know that younger people still enjoy reading…the important thing is keeping them interested and involving their imagination.
After this last week at T. Harv Eker’s Guerrilla Business School I have started writing my book and I am looking forward to publishing it in the next couple of months.
Keep up the great work Alex!
Brandon Campbell, BS CSCS*D
Thats is good. But I believe if you are in for some serious reading you will still sit with a book and learn. Online is for skimming. Hence Online someday will get 80% of our reading but still for critical 20 we will rely on books
In a way, this is true. In some ways, it is not. What we have now are people that are being offered mixed choices of learning whether that be books, the Internet, audio or beyond—
The bottomline is perhaps in the distant future there will only be digital copies of everything, as our needs evolve but still the love for learning and books: ebooks, audiobooks, hard copy, etc. will be there or not- the quest for more knowledge will stay on.
Suffice to say that we will stay hungry for better content with better packaging, real heroes from daily lives that will touch us directly or indirectly and a future generation yearning for meaningful living.
Alex…
Outstanding! love it.
Very clever video… more to the point, it made the point. Regardless of what the internet world brings, books will always be with us.
If all thegreat heros of our time, had access to the internet, they would still stick their head in a book and ponder it contents.
Again great video. I enjoyed it.
John
Beautiful,
I first saw this a few months ago, but even in that short time I’d forgotten it. So sad it is that we’re so bust doing “things” that we often look over that which is *really* important in marketing – people!
Alex what a brilliant, assumption-changing piece of advertising!
My late wife and I made it a rule to read to our daughter from the time she could look at pictures. It was a nightly ritual. I believe that if this interest in stories is nurtured throughout a child’s formative years that adult will remain a person who reads books. My daughter is 21 and rooted in 21st Century technology yet she is an avid reader of books and I know that her children will be the same.
I agree with Ken Steven’s thoughts on fiction verses non-fiction and in line with Paul Cronin’s comment on paper I suspect that books will be around for a long time.
I agree with Brandon about nurturing the next generation. The new technologies are not accessible to the vast majority of people and as long as books exist they will be the most cost-effective means of transporting a person into another world and hopefully transforming their life.
Graham,
Books are a “simplicity on the far side of complexity” medium to consume content. I enjoyed your comment because it celebrates the genius of what Gutenberg’s vision was over 500 years ago.
Reading a book on a Kindle or any other reader pales in comparison to curling-up on my sofa and opening up my favorite book to read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
~ ALEX
Paul,
Back to the basics. Books still are appealing.
~ ALEX
My personal reading habits were not as great as they could have been until 4 years ago when i started on my personal development journey.
I do search and read articles on the Internet, but no Kindle here.
I enjoy the book itself, and books can be shared!!!
Illiteracy is bad enough in North America, we can’t do away with books
not everyone can afford the latest technologies.
and who wants (or is allowed) to lend their Kindles to there friends
To each he’s own as long as we ALL get the chance to READ and LEARN.
This is a great post, I stumbled across your article while looking for new lyrics. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to recommend this site to others.
John,
Clever, isn’t it? Glad you enjoyed it.
In the meantime, take a look at a my productivity videos available at http://www.ProductiveToday.com and click the VIDEO tab on my Fan Page.
~ ALEX
Eunice,
Books are just one way to repurpose. There are many other ways to repurpose content such as ebooks, teleseminars, articles, blog posts (like this one), replays online, iTunes audios, etc.
I think the book library is here to stay, but the book publishing and distribution industry is about to go through a meteoric change and shift to the next level of delivery that’s more efficient and effective.
~ ALEX
Himanshu,
That 80/20 may work for you and I also have thousands of other students who prefer books, books, books. So the nuance of the video is to remind us that being prejudice toward new technology may blind us about how valuable traditional technology – the “perfect bound book” – can be to our learning and growing.
~ ALEX
Did you create your own blog or did a program do it? Could you please respond? 39
Perfect! This is, as they would say, “spot on.” Yes it’s all about content and, yes, it’s all about paying attention to your customers desires but, more importantly, it’s ALL about perception and how you choose to view a given situation. The glass is always more full than not.
Héhé :D
Another excellent post.
Alex, you’re doing a great job.
Sweet, I like that. If we listen to the public and their feedback, there is a good chance we’ll deliver what the market wants. More importantly, once we’ve found what it is they are looking for, our brand goes viral. Thanks for sharing this video.
Fantastic Video! Just as I was about to have a ‘hissy fit’ about the younger generation – the reverse kicked in. Brilliant! Restores my faith in all humanity! The only thing is… I think it should have mentioned a bit more about the exciting new aspects of the future of publishing – like digital delivery – even video-enhanced books, etc. Then it could be a great add for any of the new digital readers coming out.
Isn’t it just wonderful when something brings such a smile to your face and it makes you tingle all over?
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Very clever video! This goes to show that presentation of information has a huge impact on the viewer. This video contains the same information presented in two different ways – each of which creates very different emotions.
Keep this in mind when presenting any type of information to your customers or clients.
Steve
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This video is amazing! Very well done! Love the message, and the added encouragement to us Authors to continue writing our books.
I have to agree 100% with Geri Winters (March 30).
Although I bring in income through my onlne writing, when it’s time to relax, I don’t enjoy my time in front of a computer. I want to get off that chair, curl up on a comfy sofa or sit on the front porch in the sun, and turn paper pages between sips of coffee. Or — leaf through glossy, oversized pages to immerse myself in stunning photography or art while bundled up in front of the TV.
I don’t know why, but it just FEELS better. Laptops etc just don’t ‘do it’ for me.
Even when it comes to my business of online journalism, I find I only use the computer because I have to.
Why?
It’s frustrating, physically uncomfortable, and tedious. Even though I can get most of the information I need (about wildlife, bugs, birds, forests, oceans etc.,) online, when I have a choice, I will reach for a book, field guide or magazine every time.
I love going to the mailbox and seeing a brand-new, holdable, treasure-filled magazine within. I feel like it’s a gift. And, as pricey as magazines have become, I still enjoy newstands, and will plunk down the money for a magazine that srikes my fancy.
OK, I’m an ‘old timer’ nearing 50. I have a lifetime of positive, comforting associations with physical paper books and publications. It’s not something a lot of kids grow up with anymore.
But so many ‘retro’ themes come back into favor. My home is now decorated with replicas of radios and phones that I grew up with, some harking back to my grandparents time. Maybe paper books will be making a come-back soon, too.
And — even though it is not just politically correct but environmentally critical to limit logging and save our old-growth forests — and all forests, for that matter (since tree-farms are NOT replacements), I’ll admit that publishing books the old-fashioned way is something I don’t want to see disappear.
Maybe, by proceeding with intelligence and respect, we can keep both.
Fun video, and I love the voice-over talent. Glad I took to time to watch.
Congratulations! You have just won a new rss reader :) .. really cool post, Mike.
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