Friday, August 14, 2009

The Eleven Axioms of 21st Century Book Publishing

1 - All publishers are information engines, not producers of objects

2 - A book is no longer a thing in itself

3 - Connections between books add value to all books

4 - A non-fiction book is only the beginning of its story

5 - Even fiction books connect to all other books

6 - A book's deep metadata is worth more than the book itself

7 - Every dollar invested in deep metadata is worth a hundred dollars in future sales

8 - A book's function dictates its file container

9 - Readers are no longer passive customers

10 - Readers sell more books than any publisher

11 - To see only today is to forfeit tomorrow

12 comments:

laura said...

Excellent. As I read these, I find that the word "book" seems out of place. Maybe we need to find another name for written works in the 21st century.

Mike Cane said...

I used the term "book" on purpose. It still has a respect that "eBook" lacks.

Unknown said...

great post, Mike! books connected to other books, as well as other information and media sources will be awesome.

Neil Anderson said...

Exactly! Succinct post.

Fiona Joseph said...

Hi. I think that No 10 has always been true but Word of Mouth is powered now more than it ever has been. As for No 4, it may be that a non-fiction book is the middle part of the story, i.e. not the end OR the beginning, but sitting somewhere in between.
Good points to think about - thanks!

Unknown said...

The list is great. I have two books ready to publish and for the first time my main focus will be on online publishing. Then I'll consider print publishing. Things have changed alot and are still changing.

Kimberly Davis said...

This was a great post, and boiled down a lot of what I've learned over the past year since I started Kim's Craft Blog. These bullet points were very cryptic and "zen," but start to point the way towards how I need to apply what I've learned to my own writing. I feel like I need to think about my writing much more the way I think about my blogging, if that makes sense.

Dean said...

Do authors have a place in 21st century book publishing? No mention of them in these axioms . . .

Mike Cane said...

>>>Do authors have a place in 21st century book publishing? No mention of them in these axioms . . .

That's because it was addressed solely to publishers.

Anonymous said...

these "axioms" are jargon-laden marketing by another pseudo who hides behind obscurity and misuse of scientific or mathematical terminology -- the "deep" meta-takeaway is "BS".

the anti_supernaturalist

Mike Cane said...

>>>these "axioms" are jargon-laden marketing by another pseudo who hides behind obscurity and misuse of scientific or mathematical terminology -- the "deep" meta-takeaway is "BS".

You'd do better not to parrot the constipated bleatings of a temporary and very minor celebrity who within five years will be best known as "Who?" Or, indeed, are YOU he?

Sean Cranbury said...

2 things:

Authors are obviously a huge part of these axioms, implied though it may be. They provide the raw materials, there is no industry without them, let's move on.

As for the anonymous comments, I've never understood why someone with something to say on a thread like this doesn't have the courage of their convictions to put their real name down?

Cyber courage is meaninglessness.

The 11 Axoims are designed - to my mind - to provoke thought and discussion and to kind of itemize some of the changes that we are seeing in book publishing.

Not only does 'anonymous' not have the nuts to stand and be counted but he hides his mediocre ideas behind flimsy language.

Come again, anonymous, this time with 2 things: your real name and some real ideas.