Sunday, September 15, 2013

Start with the world and the present, not yourself and the past

"The question is, 'what are the premium resources that the publishing industry can provide that someone can't get on their own'. 
The publishing industry until now, as all media industries have, has been approaching the question from the opposite direction, which is 'how do we slowly evolve what we currently are, and what ways to step into these new areas. 
And I think that's the human condition in general, we think of what is now based on what was a moment ago. [...] If I was to write a book called 'The End Of The Book', I would still publish it as a book, I suppose, and that says a lot." 
Sam Ford, interviewed on The Kindle Chronicles.

In other words, forget about yourself and what you are/have been doing, and look at the world and what is needed.

Then you look at how can you provide this. It may be that only a completely different entity can provide it, or it may be that you can provide it with minimal changes of attitude and procedures, or anything in between.

It should be said that this is easier said than done! "Forgetting yourself" goes against the very grain of the character of the human creature.

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Sam also talks about the shift between a world where information was scarce, to a world where information is in abundance, to put it mildly.
I think personally that the best solution to get heard is also in many ways the most difficult: it is to create something that simply is better and more unique, something that others can't do, or at least haven't done yet (the latter is more time limited, because others will try to emulate it and steal market share). Harry Potter became the best selling book in the world not because of smart marketing, but because Rowling had created something that others couldn't make and which people really loved.

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