Last night, the Soft Skull Twitter feed directed readers to Business Week columnist Sarah Lacy‘s five-point plan to revitalize book publishing, which includes more effective use of social media and other technologies, along with smarter development of offline promotional events, to work with “rising stars” to cultivate and retain enduring readerships in a more fiscally responsible manner—without, it should be noted, skimping on financial incentives for outstanding results in audience retention.
In addition to Twittering about the article, Soft Skull publisher Richard Nash went to his own blog to expand upon his belief that Lacy offers “one of the best summaries of what trade book publishing can be doing,” although he challenges her assumption that $50K is a realistic default level for advances. He evens adds some follow-up advice: “Share the love generated by the above amongst all your writers, and ultimately convert it into subscriptions.”
What do you think: Is this viable advice? If not, what would you recommend instead?