Flipping Publishing

It is conventional wisdom that old-fashioned ink and pulp publishing is either in its death throes (“about to slide into the sea,” one author opined) or very, very sick. Yet this diagnosis results from seeing publishing at odds with new technology, with the internet, with the digital present.

What if, like Khan Academy (which is “flipping” the educational model), publishing instead figured out how to embrace new technology and “flip” the publishing model in a way that preserves what is good, adopts what is new and useful, and filters out what is harmful and useless?

I think we have found that way, and I invite you to join with us – our Tribe of Russophiles and bibliophiles – to prove it can be done.

First, some background. According to the old publishing model, knowing editors, agents and publishers decided what was right and good for the public to read. They labored for months and years creating their products before unleashing them upon the world as the Next Great Thing we have all been waiting for (but which until five minutes ago we did not even know existed).

Of course, because it’s pretty hard to predict in advance what people will like, this system results in lots more misses than hits. It is highly inefficient and leads to tons of unsold books being remaindered or destroyed.

There has to be a better way, one that doesn't waste so many trees, so much money, so much time. So, what if the decades-old model were flipped?

What if, when we publishers had a great idea, we fleshed it out, then – thanks to the new efficiencies of communication – pitched the idea to our Tribe online, asking for feedback and improvements? If one’s Tribe likes the idea, you produce the book. If not, you start over and try something else (or take it to a different Tribe).

There are all sorts of implications to this manner of publishing, not least of which that it involves the end user, the reader, in publishing’s creative process as partners, rather than simply consumers.

So that’s what we are doing, starting right now...

We have an ambitious, exciting new publishing project called The Silk Road Trilogy. It is a series of richly textured historical espionage novels that we think could be hugely, wildly popular. Problem is, the books are in Russian. And translating and creating a quality product of this scale is a major investment. So we are turning to you, our Tribe of Russophiles and bibliophiles, to ask you to partner with us to make this project a reality.

If, based on your experience with us, you feel we create quality products, things that you find interesting and that you want to have in your home library, you can join with us on this publishing project at the front end.

Essentially, you’ll be pre-buying a book (or the whole trilogy). But you will also be involved on the publishing process as it unfolds, as we prove our model for the transformation of publishing.

To find out more (we even made a video) and join with us (the deadline is July 15, 2012), just visit Kickstarter and search for "Silk Road Trilogy."

Join us, won't you?