Bestselling author and blogger, Seth Godin had a rather fascinating post recently on how the dying magazine publishing industry should create micro-niche magazines and by doing so would find a much greater success.
We wondered how could book publishers apply this business-model? Would it work? To answer that question, we asked Godin his opinion and in our interview, he explains:
Seth, in your blog you talked about how the magazine publishing industry should create micro-niche magazines that are customed for a specific audience. How can a book publishing company use that format to create micro-niche imprints for a specific audience?
Here’s the thing, Jeff: the model of most traditional publishers is completely wrong for what works online, and until that’s fixed, most of what I write about is going to be hard to apply. Publishers have traditionally had zero contact with readers, and in fact often publish a range of books that no single reader could be interested in–their customer was the bookstore, not the reader.
So, what should publishers do Seth?
If you want to switch to a consumer/reader focused world, that means looking at it through their point of view. I don’t care that you only publish SOME cookbooks. Why would I want to read about just yours? I don’t care about your authors or your new books. I care about me, my interests and what’s happening in my world. That’s why Fortune Magazine writes about books from all publishers, not just Warner. They have to report to the reader, not to the newsstand or a bookstore.
So, with that caveat, there’s a huge opportunity here, because who knows better about ideas that matter than book editors? If a book editor stepped up and covered a micro industry, reported on important conversations and excerpted important books (from all publishers), then sure, maybe someone in that industry might want to read it.
And if you become the voice of that tribe, then yes, you will profit by selling more books, organizing conferences, etc. But as I said, this is a little like selling pork in the shtetl. Not an easy sale.
Why would that be more effective and profitable for a company? I mean, what’s wrong with just blast a bunch of general books out there like a confetti gun and seeing what sticks?
The problem with the blast is that the reader can duck. Nothing sticks if we ignore your spam.
Are there any examples of publishers you think that do this well now?
Almost none. O’Reilly is one, and there are people out there who go out of their way to hear Tim, connect through him (foocamp) etc. That’s a fabulous example, one that most skeptics will write off because it’s ‘just technology’ books. And by the time they figure it out, I’m afraid it’s going to be too late.