I’ll need your help with this one. [And you came through, big time! The goal is already reached, in less than three hours. Thank you. The Kickstarter is open for another four weeks, and there are plenty of rewards still–check it out.]
Books take a long time to invent, produce, ship and go on sale. Almost all of that work happens on faith, and it’s then followed by a frenzy of promotion and anxiety, as the publisher and author try to find out if there’s actually desire for the book. Activating the tribe at the end of the process is nerve-wracking and inefficient. For the reader, it’s annoying to hear about a book 32 times from a panicked author who has her back against the wall, and then in every media outlet you turn to.
As part of my 25-year quest to find a better way to make and promote books, I’m launching a hybrid experiment today. The idea is to do it in public, and to use widely available tools that can be emulated by other authors and other publishers if it works.
The problem with traditional publishing is that you do all the work and take all the risk before you find out if the audience is ready and willing to buy the book. And you have only a few days to go from “it’s new” to “it’s over.”
I think there’s a new way to think about this, a hybrid of old and new, one that activates true fans and makes it easy to spread the idea through the tribe and beyond.
It starts with a Kickstarter* page. A lot of the details of what I’m describing are on that page, so feel free to check it out when we’re done here.
A successful Kickstart is great (Amanda Palmer is our hero), but what happens after that? How do you take the buzz and connection and scale it?
My idea: Kickstart + bookstore + ebooks.
The publisher (my key to the bookstore) is only willing to go ahead with the rest of the plan if my Kickstarter works. No Kickstarter, no distribution, the stakes are high. (As you saw at the Domino Project, the ebook part is easy now, but the bookstore is still critical to reach the many readers who find and buy books in stores).
If the Kickstarter works, then all the funders will get to read the book before anyone else, plus there are bonuses and previews and special editions. A few weeks after the early funders (that would be you) get to read it, the book will be available to book buyers for purchase the traditional way (wherever fine books are sold in the US, including digital readers). Of course, the Kickstarter funders get a better price, get it first and get unique bonuses, plus the pleasure of being in early–and knowing that they made it happen. The only way this book becomes real is if my readers get behind it now.
By using Kickstarter early in the process, we eliminate book publisher/bookseller skepticism and create the excitement they need to actually stock and promote the book. Those books you see stacked up by the front window at the bookstore? That’s not an accident. That’s a promotion planned months in advance, based almost entirely on how optimistic the publisher is about a book’s prospects.
So that’s the idea–a way that any author with a following can divide the publishing process into three pieces–get the true fans on board early, give them something to talk about just before the book is in stores, and then use online and offline bookstores to do what they do best and distribute far and wide. It moves the power in the process to where it belongs–to motivated readers and their authors.
It's not easy to build a following, and it takes time, but I hope you'll help me show authors and publishers that it's worth it. Here's a short link you can share: http://kck.st/KvkY4h
I’ll update you four times in the next four weeks about how we’re doing. Thank you for helping me make this work, and for publishing your own great idea as soon as you are ready.
* [Three Kickstarter details:
Kickstarter is a free website that allows artists to give their fans a chance to show their interest in a new project.
Kickstarter doesn’t charge you (or me) a thing unless the project meets its minimum. After that, you're charged for what you pledged and you are guaranteed to get the reward you signed up for.
This is the rare Kickstarter where there’s not an unlimited inventory of rewards–every item is limited. When a reward is gone, it's gone.]
I'm listening to an obscure CD of the Silver Beats, a group of four Japanese lads who play note for note renditions of Beatles songs. They don't speak a word of English. And yet they sing beautifully.
I saw them as an opening act a few years ago, and the novelty was extraordinary.
The thing is, I don't want to see them again. Why would I? It's note for note. No chance for random rhapsodic moments. No chance for total disaster.
Part of the magic of our work is that it's not guaranteed. As soon as it is, we can digitize it or mechanize it or outsource it.
The most efficient way to get the behavior you're looking for is to find positive deviants and give them a platform, a microphone and public praise.
The tribe is hyper-aware of what's being celebrated, and when you celebrate those that are moving in the right direction, you create a powerful push in that direction. It's tempting to spend your time extinguishing bad behaviors, but in fact, spreading the word about the superstars is far more likely to change the culture of your market.
This is the fear that kills brands and b2b sales and individual creativity. It's the fear without a name, without a face, without false facts that can be shot down or arguments that can be reasoned with.
This is the amygdala firing, the lizard brain being triggered without rational explanation.
When we are wrestling against the elusive and resilient fear with no name, often the only choice is to live with it, to care enough about forward motion and practical progress that we can come embrace the inner trembling that won't give up.
In market after market paralyzed with fear, this trembling might be the very best sign that you're on to something.
Impatient… great marketing takes time. Doing it wrong (and rushed) ten times costs much more and takes longer than doing it slowly, but right, over the same period of time.
Selfish… we have a choice, and if we sense that this is all about you, not us, our choice will be to go somewhere else.
Self-absorbed… you don’t buy from you, others buy from you. They don’t care about your business and your troubles nearly as much as you do.
Deceitful… see selfish, above. If you don’t tell us the truth, it’s probably because you’re selfish. How urgent can your needs be that you would sacrifice your future to get something now?
Inconsistent… we’re not paying that much attention, but when we do, it helps if you are similar to the voice we heard from last time.
Angry… at us? Why are you angry at us? It’s not something we want to be part of, thanks.
Jealous… is someone doing better than you? Of course they are. There’s always someone doing better than you. But if you let your jealousy change your products or your attitude or your story, we’re going to leave.
Of course, they’re not marketing sins, they’re human failings.
Humility, empathy, generosity, patience and kindness, combined with the arrogance of the brilliant inventor, are a potent alternative.
The easiest way to sell yourself short is to compare your work to the competition. To say that you are 5% cheaper or have one or two features that stand out–this is a formula for slightly better mediocrity.
The goal ought to be to compare yourself not to the best your peers or the competition has managed to get through a committee or down on paper, but to an unattainable, magical unicorn.
Many big organizations have full-time employees who scan the social media, looking for people with a complaint. They swoop in and grease the squeaky wheel, solving the problem of the person who spoke up.
The theory is that these loud complainers are a problem, and the easiest solution is to give them something to make them happy.
Of course, that doesn't do anything for the 95% of the population that has the very same problem but isn't speaking up, right?
When Jeff Jarvis blogged about Dell Hell, he hurt the company very badly. Mollifying Jeff (and those like him) did the company no good in the long run, though, because they didn't deal with the underlying cause, they merely gave the loud ones an excuse to be quiet.
The purpose of the bell is to point to a fire somewhere else. Worry about that instead.
June 9, 2012
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