Terry Fallis, author of a self-published Canadian political satire entitled, “The Best Laid Plans“, podcasted his book, “chapter by chapter” for free, in order to gain an audience for his literary effort.In June, Terry won a Leacock award and a publisher.
Cory Doctorow releases his books in digital format for free in order to gain word-of-mouth marketing and buzz around his work. In the book Wikinomics, he explained, “Piracy is not my problem, obscurity is”.
Cory has gone on to become a New York Times best selling author with this philosophy. Thanks in great part to his reputation as a blogger but also for trusting, as Terry has, that people would buy the book when they decided if they liked it, instead of the other way around.
Any up-and-coming author (or musician for that matter) could learn a thing or two about this radical trust that Cory and Terry have placed in their readership. Could world famous authors re-ignite the flames and garner current public interest in their books with this approach too?
The folks over at The United Kingdom’s Orwell Prize hope so. Starting in a couple of weeks the diaries of George Orwell, author of “1984″ and “Animal Farm”, will be blogged 70 years to the day he wrote them.
From The Orwell Prize:
“From 9th August 2008, you will be able to gather your own impression of Orwell’s face from reading his most strongly individual piece of writing: his diaries. The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you to follow Orwell’s recuperation in Morocco, his return to the UK, and his opinions on the descent of Europe into war in real time. The diaries end in 1942, three years into the conflict.”
So much can be learned from these examples of trust. First you must trust that your work is worth reading. Then you must trust that an audience can be found much easier if you give it away. Then you must trust that if the audience appreciates it, they will reward you with purchase. That sounds like radical trust to me.
Will Orwell see a resurfacing? What about the letters of Van Gogh? The Diary of Anne Frank? Have you subscribed to Pepys’ Diary? Now those are a few RSS feeds that would be welcomed amongst my favorites.
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5 Responses to “Publishing: Social Media giving new life to an old media.”
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am
[...] Original radical trust: Publishing: Social Media giving new life to an old media. [...]
August 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Great post Collin. The Orwell initiative sounds amazing. You are exactly right about the philosophy. Trust your audience to do the right thing provided the content is good. Thanks for the plug.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
Thanks Terry. Your effort is worth more than a simple plug. It is a valuable contribution to the “bigger picture” of social media. Congrats again on the Leacock and on the book deal with M&S. They are lucky to have your efforts lifting their wings.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Great post Collin – I’ve been trying to explain the same concept to some of my friends in a band. Giving songs away for free online will go a long way towards building a fan base that will want to see them in concert and perhaps buy other albums from them.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I hear you Parker. Send them to these two posts… amazing results from YouTube and Facebook strategies.
Youtube and the Bastard Fairies
http://www.radicaltrust.ca/2007/01/11/bill-o%E2%80%99rielly-vs-little-girl-a-tale-of-the-bastard-fairies/
Jen Gould and Facebook
http://www.radicaltrust.ca/2008/02/11/facebook-group-leads-to-juno-nomination/
Cheers