My $100 Million Dollar Secret
Dave Weinberger (Joho the Blog, Small Pieces Loosely Joined, The Cluetrain Manifesto, etc.) has just published a new novel for 'young adults' (previously known as kids) called My $100 Million Dollar Secret. It's about a kid young adult named Jake who wins the lottery, but has to keep it a secret! Sounds cool, but this isn't a book review. I just wanted to share a little bit about the way he's gone about publishing the book, because I think it's pretty sweet.
First of all, he self-published the book through Lulu.com (which I blogged briefly about here). So people can either buy a real dead-tree version of the book there for $13.90 + s/h, or they can buy and download a PDF version for $4.
That's a pretty nice bargain since when it hits bookstores (including Amazon and BN.com) the retail price will be nearly $20. But here's where it gets really interesting. He's also letting people read it for free on the website. And he's offering his own free PDF version that you can download from there as well.
Does this whole 'sell it and give away thing' really work? Seems to have worked for Weinberger pretty well in the past. Oh, and that Seth Godin guy too. And Wil Wheaton had a lot of success with his self-published book Dancing Barefoot. Call me crazy, but I think these might be an excellent alternatives to traditional publishing game.
Of course it's not just self-publishing the books and offering electronic versions for free. There's the blogging and the mailing lists and the Google Groups and all the rest of the buzz-building efforts that get people interested. Not everybody who does that is going to end up with a best-seller. But they might have a lot more success than if they went the traditional publishing route. And they might have a lot more fun doing it.
First of all, he self-published the book through Lulu.com (which I blogged briefly about here). So people can either buy a real dead-tree version of the book there for $13.90 + s/h, or they can buy and download a PDF version for $4.
That's a pretty nice bargain since when it hits bookstores (including Amazon and BN.com) the retail price will be nearly $20. But here's where it gets really interesting. He's also letting people read it for free on the website. And he's offering his own free PDF version that you can download from there as well.
Does this whole 'sell it and give away thing' really work? Seems to have worked for Weinberger pretty well in the past. Oh, and that Seth Godin guy too. And Wil Wheaton had a lot of success with his self-published book Dancing Barefoot. Call me crazy, but I think these might be an excellent alternatives to traditional publishing game.
Of course it's not just self-publishing the books and offering electronic versions for free. There's the blogging and the mailing lists and the Google Groups and all the rest of the buzz-building efforts that get people interested. Not everybody who does that is going to end up with a best-seller. But they might have a lot more success than if they went the traditional publishing route. And they might have a lot more fun doing it.
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