Alternative Futures for What We Currently Call Publishing

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i Author, Reader, andPublisher The Relationship Between Dialectic Look Who’s Talking, Really: Academic Publishing Alternative Futures in Up the Bottom Reinventing theBook World from Alternative Futures Introduction andBackground of Acknowledgements The Authors The Chapter Next the Wake of the University’s Collapse Reinventing Academic Publishing in Publish (Openly) orPerish: Publishing Business We Currently call Alternative Futures forthe Three Thoughts aboutthe are different DIY Publishing —All therules —Mark Leslie Lefebvre —Donna Livingstone—Donna —Todd Anderson —Jerome Martin —Jerome Martin —Jessica Legacy —Kirby Wright —Paul Martin

Alternative Futures for Publishing provided by authors–are unsure of thepresent and thefuture. Some are Publishers –peopleorfirmswho create booksorotherproducts from material choices withrespect towhattheyread andhow theyread it. Kindles; othersenjoy theirpaperbooks.Theyand other readers now have Fellow travellers onAirCanadanow read from iPads, Kobo readers, and fire, withabook andaglassoffinewine. book onascreen andthatthere isnothinglikesittinginfront ofacrackling Friends atsocialgatheringscontinuetotellmethattheywouldnever read a would never beanyinterest increating oropportunity e-books. the ideaofanyone reading abookonscreen wasludicrous andthatthere Several years agoaspeakeratpublishingconference in Banff proclaimed that Introduction 1 – Jerome Martin

Alternative Futures for Publishing We brought talentedpeopletogetherfortwodaysat ofCulture Ministry Alberta fortheproject. andCommunityServices Book Publishers AssociationofAlberta. We laterreceived fundingfrom the This book resulted from anideathatwasdiscussedataboard meetingofthe the springandsomewhichare produced forthefallmarket. something otherthanaproducer ofpaperbooks,somewhichcome outin various typesforseveral years; othersare terrified atthepossibilityofbeing andhaveexcited beenproducing opportunities e-booksof aboutthenew Wright (KRW Knowledge Resources). (University Press, ofCalgary Paul Martin (MacEwan University), andKirby Publishing) Mark Lefebvre (Kobo andStark Consulting),Donna Livingstone (Henday Publishing), Jessica Legacy, (University andHenday ofAlberta One ofthegreat pleasures ofthisevent wasworking with Todd Anderson threads andcommon ideasconnectingthechapters. symposium. AsIexpected,eachchapterwasunique,butthere were distinct which containedlinksandvideo,thencirculated thechapterspriorto We formatted thee-bookbasedonchapterswe received, mostof in St. andwe’ll Albert create abook.’ your work andthatofothersinatwodayretreat atthefabulousEnjoy Centre of Alternative Futures For What We Currently CallPublishing, thendiscuss withanassignmentof‘WriteAlbert whatyou wouldliketowriteonthetopic 2 The Enjoy Centre inSt.

Alternative Futures for Publishing Fund) andtheBookPublishers forfundingthisproject. AssociationofAlberta of Culture Media (through andCommunityServices theAlberta Development Martin forhereditingassistance,andtotheGovernment Ministry ofAlberta Eastley fortheirhelpinorganizingtheevent andcreating thebook,toMerle Special thanks toKieran LeBlanc, Michael McLaughlin, Lu Ziola, and Melanie www.bookpublishers.ab.ca and ideas( is more tothispublicationthanwords). We wouldappreciate your comments I hopethatyou enjoy inthisbook(Icouldsayreading participating butthere will beinterested inourdiscussions. process goesonaswe completethebookandmakeitavailable topeoplewho technology andapplications,agreed onsomecommonapproaches. The astheproduct:The process wasasimportant we shared ideas,discussednew [email protected] 3 ). Thebookisavailable atnocost

Alternative Futures for Publishing This twelfth-century castlewas This twelfth-century owned andoperated by the symposium inacastlecalled In ina 1979Iwasinvitedby Charlieandhiscolleaguestoparticipate related towork thathewasdoingattheUniversity ofAlberta. Charlie wasinterested inthework thatIwasdoinginagriculture andhow it photographer. variety of fields. One ofthosewasCharlesSchweger, ananthropologist and I met,peoplewhobecamefinephotographersas well asprofessionals ina This classchangedmylifeinmanyways. One ofthosewayswasthepeople We are here becauseofaphotographycourse whichItookinJanuary, 1972. Background ofAlternative Futures Gren Foundation andusedtohost various symposia.Our symposium, 4 Burg Wartenstein in theAustrian Alps. Wenner-

Alternative Futures for Publishing Paleoecology oftheArctic-Steppe Biome website. The Wenner-Gren Foundation describestheirmodelforsuchevents on their duringthePleistocene Period.north and create abookaboutthereasons thatlargemammalsperishedinthefar The purposeoftheconference wastocirculate bookchapters,discussthem experience, involving scientistsandscholarsfrom Europe and North America. Foundation hosted more than2,000 scholarsat86symposiaheld decadesofconferences thetwo In atBurg Wartenstein, the collaborations. andnew to friendships build new opportunity Through hadample shared mealsandsocialhours, participants issuesthatemerged. was spentdiscussingthecross-cutting circulated paperswere summarized butnotread, andmaximumtime andpromiseoriginality ofprogress. Presentations were informal, pre- inatopic for selected together about20scholarswithexpertise Symposia atthecastlewere usuallyweek-long affairs, bringing spanned18-24months. collaboration thattypically and createdecide onthelistofparticipants, thefinalprogram –atrue hand-in-hand withtheFoundation’s president to develop an idea, groupsinterdisciplinary andintense Organizers interaction. worked of a “Burg Wartenstein model,” built ontheconceptofsmall, Years withformat ofexperimenting andscaleledto theemergence 5 , wasagreat intellectualandsocial

Alternative Futures for Publishing the Banff Centre. Our symposiumincludedtwoevening sessionsand twodaysofmeetingsat including them. many ofwhomwereparticipants, unsure ofwhatwe wantedandwhy we were We hadan idea,anda$10,000grant.Our firstobjective wastochoosethe basis forourAlternative Futures forPrairie AgriculturalCommunitiesproject. In 1990mycolleagueLu Ziola andIusedthe Wenner-Gren modelasthe Alternative Futures forPrairie Agricultural Communities published in1983by Academic Press. The bookthat resulted from thissymposium(Paleoecology ofBeringia) was discussing papers,debating,arguing–andlearninghow toyodel. social activitieswere provided by staffat Burg Wartenstein. We spenta week symposium. Travel arrangementswere madeby theFoundation, andmeals Our paperswere writtenandcirculated tothe otherauthorspriortothe heart ofthesymposiumprogram. heart intheUnitedworkshops States andabroad, butthe castlewasthe majorconferencesorganized andsupported andexperimental thesummermonths. theseyears,during During Wenner-Gren also 6

Alternative Futures for Publishing chapter inBanff thatday. to herchapters andresponses to thequeries;Lu madethosechangesto her amazing wasthatby thefollowing morningNorah hadresponded withchanges now, butin1991itwasunheard of, atleastinourcircles. What waseven more sent herthequestionsandqueries intheevening. Thatseemsquiteelementary discussed herchapteronthe first day, madesuggestionsandaskedquestions. Lu Norah Keating hadtobeinNew Zealand atthetimeofsessions. We evenings. at theendofday’s discussions.She madethechangestochaptersin Discussions onindividualchaptersresulted inchangeswhichwere given toLu Each authorpresented hisorherchapters,thenresponded toquestions. the internet. while theBanff Centre early offered versionof ustheuseofwhatwasthena very Apple ofcomputersandotherequipment forthisevent, loanedus$30Kworth McNaughton, anagriculturaljournalistandspecialistinholisticmanagement. a respected elder, culturaladvisor, educator, academicandpsychologist; andNoel agriculture; Don andNorma Connick,farmersfrom Saskatchewan; Joe Couture; University Stuart ofAlberta; Hill, inandaproponent ofsustainable anexpert Walter Archer Einsiedel, andBert professors from theFaculty ofExtension atthe Brett Fairbairn, intheprairieco-opmovement; anacademicwithexpertise NorahAlberta; Keating, afamilygerontologist attheUniversity ofAlberta; Lorna Crozier, apoet;Ed Tyrchniewicz, Dean ofAgriculture; University of We invitedadiverse group ofspeakers:CharlesSchweger, ananthropologist; 7

Alternative Futures for Publishing for academicbooksthen–andnow. three years aftertheevent, arathernormal sessiontopublishingdateinterval The bookwhich resulted from the Wenner-Gren sessionswasalsopublished people, government extensionworkers, andacademics. the CKUA radioprogram basedonthebookwere well received by rural after we deliveredmanuscript. Thebookwasprintedshortly thedisk. It and dayslaterandpresentedthirty themwithafloppydiskwhichcontainedthe changes afterthesessions.However, we walkedtotheprintersoncampus chapter),butseveralexception oftheauthorswantedtomake ofmysummary I hadhopedthatwe couldleave Banff withacompletedmanuscript(withthe audio cassettes. Lu alsotypednotesaboutthediscussion,andwe recorded thediscussionon 8

Alternative Futures for Publishing tangible –provides means todifferentiate an important abusiness. ability tocreate highqualityprintedproducts –moving from intangibleto company. consultingproduces primarilyintangible outputs.The Asaservice, publishing software, of ateamthatlaunchedsmallconsulting Iwaspart Plus printerfeaturingPostscript technologyandAldusPagemaker desktop Equipped withanApple Macintosh Plus computer, 300dpiLaserWriter anew career andpublisher theprevious sentencerequires abitmore explanation. My career asapublisherbeganin1987.Given thatIhave usedthewords All therules are different DIY Publishing – 9 – Kirby – Kirby Wright

Alternative Futures for Publishing self-publishing movement. to customer, thegrowing to support Iwillidentifyanumberofopportunities a setofactivitiesthatare required tomove from creation aproduct orservice mainstream publishingpractices.Further, usingthe concept ofavalue chain, five self-publishingpresents forces disruptive supporting achallengetoexisting Harvard Business Schoolprofessor Clayton Christensen,Iwillidentifyhow publishing. Using amodelcalledDisruptive Innovation, developed by In thispaper, Ipropose toexplore therapidlygrowing world ofself- of publishing. printer andPagemaker –represents factorintheworld disruptive animportant publishing movement thatwasfirst stimulated by thelaunchof Mac, laser that theabilitytoengageincreative self-expression –thedo-it-yourself (DIY) “career” asa“publisher”? Perhaps not;however mypremise inthispaperis to produce more attractive andprofessional looking documentsequatetoa Does beingaconsultant whousedlow costdesktoppublishingtechnology our costsandproduce work ofthehighestquality. self-publish enabledustoimprove ourturnaround time,dramaticallylower allowed ustodevelop areputation fordoingtopqualitywork. Theabilityto reports, documentsandpublicationsofthehighestdesignprintquality in creating really highqualitypublications. Our abilitytoimpress clientswith and sizes thattheycouldbeconfusedasransomnotes,we becameproficient After ourteammoved beyond creating products featuringsomanyfonts, styles 10

Alternative Futures for Publishing interchange we stimulatedialogue, learningandthesharingof ideas. desire toexpress ideas andstoriesaswell asreceive them. Through thisrich abasichuman The answer tothequestionwhyisthat publishingsupports music andwords allprovide powerful waysto create andshare stories. making andhelpustobetter understandourcomplexworld.Our books,arts, means by whichpeopleconnectwithone another. Theyfacilitatemeaning Forstories andstorytelling. humans, storiesare elemental.Theyprovide the Communication, through publishing,linksbacktoourinherent interest in be entertained. informed, learn,gainexposure tonovel ideas,becomeengagedwithideasand For thereceiver thebenefits ofpublishinglieintheabilitytobecomemore the transitionfrom tacitthoughtstocreating andsharingexplicitmessages. insights, experiencesandideas.Stories, works narratives facilitate andartistic andrepresentexpression toarticulate –the opportunity toothersourvalues, For thecreator, theabilitytopublishprovides avehicle forcreative self- involves eachofthese components. creator andreceiver) andamessage.Publishing, asacommunicationsprocess, classic communicationmodelfeatures (the atleasttwoindividualsorparties Why publish?At itsessencepublishingisaformofcommunication. The useful toexaminewhywe publish. and askasimplequestion. To understandthefuture ofpublishingitmaybe Sometimes whenyou wishtoexplore acomplex issueyou needtostepback Ask asimplequestion 11

Alternative Futures for Publishing leading firmsengagedin,what Christensentermed,sustaininginnovation. especially themostprofitable segments hadmadethesefirmssuccessful.These existingcustomers, meeting theneedsoftheirexisting customers.Serving Christensen foundthatdominant companiesfocusedtheirattentionon There appeared tobeaseriesof recurring patterns. thatmanyleadingfirms,all well managed,failedinthemarketplace.observed Early inhiscareer, Harvard Business Schoolprofessor ClaytonChristensen The Power ofDisruption been rendered lessimportant. have ausefulpurposebutinmanyways thesesvalue-added services served mayhave once emergence ofadominantandcontrolling publishingindustry publishing hasalwaysbeenaboutself-publishingandself-expression. The the interest inengagingcreative expression. Perhaps formof thetruest from thatconsiderwhetherthere are otherwaysthatcanbeusedtosupport habits. But itmaybe more torefocus important onthequestion“why” and ofourrecentpublishing becauseitisimmediateandpart experienceand So we call we tendtofocusonthelife,andpotentialdeath,ofindustry publishing represents afairlyrecent activity. publishing. One couldarguethatwe have alwayspublishedandthebusinessof Nowhere discussionisthere inthisshort anyreference tothe business of 12

Alternative Futures for Publishing business models enabled upstarts to disrupt the statusquo. todisrupt business models enabledupstarts longer abletobe nimbleandresponsive. Oftentechnologiesand new new theirexistingcustomersthey were marketto new changes.Asthey served no However astheygrew, the leadingfirmsappeared tolosetheability respond existingcustomers. substantive; thecommonfeature wasthefocusonserving existing customers.Changes could beminorandincremental orcouldbemore maintain orsustainpresent offeringsasawaytoincrease for theperformance innovations. However, thechangestheyintroduced soughtto for the mostpart did notrest ontheir laurels. Theyengagedinfrequent improvements and to change.However, Christenseninhisresearch foundthatleadingcompanies critique theprevious dominantcompaniesasbeingcomplacentandresistant We tendto examinemarket changessimplistically. There isatendencyto 13

Alternative Futures for Publishing space dominated by the powerful incumbents, theymoved upmarket and hadestablishedamarketOnce foothold, outsideofthemarket disruptors lower price. were simpler, oflower quality, containingfewerfeatures butatasignificantly (i.e., lessprofitable)that ornon-consumers by offering products andservices customerswhowere marginal focusedonserving their customers,disruptors approach. Ratherthandirectly competingwiththeestablishedplayers and Christensen foundthat,frequently, usedaunique upstarts thesedisruptive 14

Alternative Futures for Publishing stressful. or industry. For thosedirectly involved theexperienceisoftenmuchmore ofthelifecycle canbeviewedaspart of any product and disruption destruction ofpreviouslychanges, oftendestructive, successful entities.Creative aggressively competewithexistingofferings.Theycontribute todramatic underdeveloped. However, astheybecomemore refined, theybeginto are and As well, oftencrude products early stagedisruptive andservices thatoccurs. uncertainty “disruption” hasbeenselectedpurposefullyasitrepresents theupheaval and isnotpretty.that disruption There are clearwinnersandlosers.Theword Christensen’s conceptbuildsontheseprinciples.It toremember isimportant previous structures includingeconomicsystems,industriesandcompanies. developments theideathatnew emerged todramaticallychange destruction, It wasJoseph Schumpterwhopopularized theconceptofcreative hardvery topickthewinnersatanearlystage. highly risky. approaches;succeedanditis disruptive few Many firmsmaytry markets toenternew isalways fail;trying the sametime,manydisruptions profit modelscreate strong systemicdisincentives initiatives. fordisruptive At activities.Theprevailingengage indisruptive mindset,businesspracticesand difficultforexistingmarket leadersto Christensen alsonoticedthatitisvery for well-entrenchedchilling news win. companies; in most cases, the disruptors began tosystematicallycompeteforcore customersinestablishedmarkets. The 15

Alternative Futures for Publishing and features. cameras even iftheyhadwantedto. Theysimplydidnotoffer the samequality particular, highendphotographerscouldnothave usedearlyversions ofdigital cameras didnotcausemuch of arippleinmature, competitive industry. In including Kodak, hadworked withdigitalimagery. Initially, thefirstdigital Digital cameras,whenfirstintroduced, were notasurprise. Film producers, field. theirexistingcustomermarkets. Inserving doingsothey were leadersintheir changes were sustaininginnovations; filmandcameracompanies focusedon of photographywasinnovative andresponsive tochangingconditions.These their familyaround socialevents. It toemphasize thattheworld isimportant and consumersdown topointandclickuserswhowantedtakepictures of There were distinctmarket segmentsrangingfrom highend professionals manufacturers aswellcompetitive asfilm companies. cameraandaccessary mature andadvancedvery marketplace. It waspopulatedby innovative and look backtentotwenty years a onfilm-basedphotography we canobserve photography evolved aroundnineteenth century thecameraandfilm. If we different process.very Building ontechnologiesfirstinvented intheearly There wasatime,notthatlongagowhentakingphotographinvolved a Snapshots intime from outsideoftheworldpublishing. To illustratehow modelworks, adisruptive considerthefollowing example 16

Alternative Futures for Publishing are devastating is fortheentrenched players. Thephotographyindustry In transformexisting markets, theresults most situations,whendisruptors has replacedthe disruptor theincumbent. photography foreven themostdemanding professional users,itisclearthat for President Obama in2009. When digital hascometoreplace traditional interest, thefirstofficialportrait made usingadigitalcamerawas presidential time, digitalcameraswere competingwitheven thehighestendproducts. Of Once introduced, digitalcamerasmoved periodof short up-scale.Over avery digital imagesoffered theease-of-usetheyhadbeenlookingfor. that hadbeenprovided by thefilmprocessor. Theabilitytotakeandsave sameenvelop and, assooftenhappens,keepingthefinishedimagesin the very putting filmintoacamera,takingthefinishedto store for processing about concern.Theydidnothave toworry the digitalimagewasasecondary For thesenon-consumerswhofirstpurchased digitalcameras,thequality of andcost. did notwanttheadditionaleffort additional processing stagethatdiscouragedthenon-consumers;they simply film wasfinishedtheuserssentcompletecamerafor processing. Itwasthe a camerabody. Latertheyproduced single-usecameras;afterthesingleroll of wherehad invented filmcartridges, userssimplyhadtodrop acontainerinto companies hadrecognized theuniqueneedsofthesenon-consumers.They use film-basedcamerasbecausetheyfoundtheminconvenient touse. Film use andsimplicityoftheproducts. Many were non-consumers;theydidnot Digital cameraswere firstmarketed topurchasers who valued theease-of- 17

Alternative Futures for Publishing include shifts in advertising allocations, the emergenceofon-lineclassifieds, include shiftsin advertising are well documentedand The challenges facingthepublishingindustry However hard itisvery todefinitively predict outcomes. the changeandidentifysome oftheforces thatare influencing thesechanges. themagnitude of of thesetransformationalchanges itispossibletoobserve innovations ispredicting whattheendstatewilllooklike. While inthemidst redefine theindustry. One ofthechallenges we facewhenlookingatdisruptive have forces seen a seriesofdisruptive thathave redefined andare continuingto magazinesandbooks,we consistingofnewspapers, the publishingindustry elements over period oftime.In ashort the caseofpublishing,more precisely situations companiesandentire industriesare buffeted by anumberof involveWhile somedisruptions singletechnologiesorforces, inother Publishing Disruptions innovation.implications ofdisruptive long admired asoneofthebestcorporationshadbecomeacasestudyon stock market pricewas$111.25.In early2012,itdeclared bankruptcy. Kodak, dropped toanalltimelow of54centsashare. In comparison,in1962,its U.S. In 2010,itwas removed from theS&P500Index. In 2011, itsstock provider isnolongeroneofthelargestandmostprofitable companiesinthe However, thefilmproducers hadmore difficulties. Kodak,thedominantfilm etc. –succeededinmakingthetransitionfrom film-basedtodigital products. unique.Manysomewhat ofthecameraproducers –Nikon, Canon,Olympus, 18

Alternative Futures for Publishing hoarded by theeducated andpowerful. documents were incirculation. No longer couldideasandknowledge be many more across thecontinent.Hundreds ofthousandscopies ofvarious In lessthan50years there were over 200presses inGermany aloneand (Germany) presses hadbeenestablishedby imitators” (61)throughout Europe. Ferguson notesthat“within years afew ofhisinitialbreakthrough inMainz technology tobemonopolized. in Chinabutithadnever beenfullyutilized) butitwasfartoopowerful a Gutenberg invented thefirst press (anearlier version had beendeveloped technological innovation oftheperiod before theIndustrial revolution” (60). the invention ofthemobiletypeprintingpress wasthe“single mostimportant As describedby Niall Ferguson inCivilization: The West andThe Rest(2011), From to apps books volatility anddisruption. transforming existingpractices;takentogether, theyare creating heightened environment thatwillchallengemainstream publishing.Individually, eachis forself-publishingandindoingsoare ofthelarger unique opportunities part Next, Iwilldiscussfive converging thatare sources ofdisruption providing of self-publishingpresents anovel challengetothepublishingindustry. perhaps mostsignificantly, theimpactofon-line retailers. In addition,therise electronic delivery, thegrowth retailing ofnew entities(bigbox stores) and, shifting consumptionpatterns,mediaconsolidation,theblendingofprintand 19

Alternative Futures for Publishing the needtomove beyond thelimitations ofpaper-basedproducts inorder to possibilities anddifferent userexperiences. In theirscenariosthe designersfelt future-of-the-book scenario exercise toexplore thefuture ofthebook.( In 2010,IDEO,theCalifornia-baseddesignconsultancy, engagedina used togoodeffectitisvitalunderstandwhatuserswant inabook. question ofdesign. Technology asanenablerbutbefore toolscanbe serves a difference? Rather thanconsiderthisatechnologicalquestionitismore a When we think ofanappversus abook,whatare thefeatures thatwillmake assistance andeven theabilitytotakepictures ofactualobservations. descriptions andpictures. Anappcanaddsoundclips,videos,geolocation example ofabirding guide book.On paper, thereader islimitedtotext-based always exist,O’Reilly notedthatappsare areal reinvention. Considerthe categories theappisgoingtoreplace thebook. While paper-basedbooks will activities. Tim O’Reilly, headofO’Reilly Publishing arguesthatformany more obvious aswe are abletoengageinmedia-richinformationconsumption Yet, we are witnessingasignificantshift.Thelimitsofthebook are becoming first bookscanstillbefound. demonstrated thecapacitytowithstandtestoftime.CopiesGutenberg’s capture anddisseminateinformationideas.Aswell, theprintedbookhas other technologieshave beendeveloped thatcanaseffectively andefficiently To thisdayGutenberg’s uswell. inventionFew andtheprintedbookserves ) Theyusedadesignprocess toexamine emerging 20 www.ideo.com/work/

Alternative Futures for Publishing describes thevarious scenarios. Each of these scenarios is possible in the near future. However, more important • • • ( create enhancedofferings. Blogger Willem Van Lancker www.core77.com/blog/technology/ideos_future_of_the_book_17449.asp

communication with characters and user contribution to storyline andplot. communication withcharactersandusercontribution tostoryline the reader totranscendtraditionalmediaby utilizinggeographic location, Alice blursthelinesbetween reality interactionsallow andfiction.Certain mechanics toreading. By introducing thereader’s active participation, and engageinwrittennarratives by introducing non-linear andgame The third experience,Alice,explored waysforusersto interact new current. allows sharingandlearning.It enablesprofessionals tokeepupdate and clubs through discussions,suggestionsandrecommendations. Coupland reading. Readers caninteractwithother readers book through virtual are abletokeep up withmust-reads andfollow whatothercolleaguesare on topofthethinkingandwritinginourworldprofessionals. Readers The secondexperience,namedCoupland,addresses thechallengetostay provide comprehensive coverage. ideas. Eachtimeauseridentifiesanissue Nelson aggregates key resources to provide additionalcontextandmore in-depthexaminationofissuesand the presentation. Thelayers ofinformationlookbeyond thebookitselfand perspectives. Nelson incorporatedcurrent conversations andreferences into thinking toolbutaddedtheabilitytoexplore issuesfrom multiple The firstexperience,named Nelson, reinforces thebookasacritical 21 )

Alternative Futures for Publishing transformation. ways. Gutenberg’s revolution hasbeeneclipsed andwe are atapointof Technology andnetworks allow ustoredefine thebookindisruptive • • books toapps. Moving from scenariostoreality, tworecent exampleshighlighttheshiftfrom apps. limitations becomeclearer whencompared tothepossibilitiesoffered by these can transformourinteractionswiththeseproducts. Thepaper-based book’s is clearthatthefeatures thatcanbeembeddedindigitalproducts –apps the scenariosare theconversations we canhave aboutwhatispossible.It

and words are integrated. More thantraditionalmusic videos,Bjork hasensured thatsound,imagery live shows andimagery. Users caninteractwiththesongsinuniqueways. releasing astandard CD,Bjork created aseriesofappsthatincludesmusic, Bjork hascreatedThe artist the“firstappalbum” Biophilia. In additionto readers toexperience contentseamlessly. allows footage.Themulti-touchinterface animations anddocumentary solutions. Theappblendsnarrative withphotography, interactive graphics, examines thecausesofglobalwarmingandpresents insightsandpossible experience books.His teamhas created aninteractive app. Thecontent a plantosolve theclimatecrisis,Gore proposes tochangethewaythat we to manypeople.His latestpublication ismore thanabook.In Our Choice: Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth firstintroduced theconceptofclimatechange 22

Alternative Futures for Publishing passion andenergythatexists intheworldofpublishing. all examplesofpersonalcreative expression. There isasenseofunbounded Songs, videos,pictures, stories,editorials,books,applications–these are developed forothermobileplatforms. are submittedeach daytotheApple App store. Similar numbersare being smallsoftwaredevelopers development orvery shops.Overapps 300new well over 600,000apps.Many ofthesehave beencreated by independent work around theworld.In software, developers have designedandcreated ubiquitous toolssuchasGarageband are constantlycreating andsharingtheir published bookscreated lastyear. For music,independentmusicians,using In termsofbooks,itisestimatedthatthere were almost900thousand self- professionals, are housedonthesite. photographs perminute.Over 6billionphotographs,created by mostlynon- updates. Flickr, thepopularphotosharingsite,received well over 3000new Today, atleast 50milliontweets were generatedaswell as60millionFacebook Tumblr andtheplatformisbutoneofmanydifferent bloggingproducts. on Tumblr, apopularbloggingplatform.There are 28millionbloggerson three billionvideoswere viewed. Today, 37millionblogpostswere created these numbers.Over 200,000 YouTube videoswere uploadedtodayand We are witnessinganexplosion ofinterest increative expression. Thinkabout The creative quest forpersonal expression 23

Alternative Futures for Publishing significant technologyandsoftware coststhat thesetechnologies required. not available oronlyusedby professionals orbusinessesthat couldafford the fact aprofound shift.Thesefree ornearly-free tools were,recently, until very that are easy-to-use,cheapandpowerful. What we now takeforgrantedis,in law, orsciences.Theirlaptopcomputersprovide arts accesstopublishingtools of studentsare as likelytobeinfacultiesofengineering,nursing,business, and publishingtoolswiththemwouldnotbeasnotable,however thisgroup ordesignstudentstheideaoftakingpowerfulwas agroup offinearts creative acompleteandsophisticatedself-publishingstudiowiththem.If this carrying oneofthemis their classes,itisquiteremarkable every tothinkthatvirtually see hundreds of students pickuptheirbackpacksandquicklyexittogo university inanycity. Asyou watchthesubway caremptyoncampusand understand thescopeofthischange,takeatriponlocaltransit toalocal We are inthemidstofaprofound technologicaltransformation. To the toolsthattheyneedtoengageincreative self-expression. sing.” Apple, followed by othertechnology companies,offerscreative people married withthehumanitiesthatyieldsusresults thatmakesourhearts that technologyaloneisnotenough.It’s technologymarriedwithliberalarts, during his2011iPad2 launchpresentation, commented,“it’s inApple’s DNA istheeasyaccesstopowerfulimportant toolsandtechnologies.Steve Jobs, The explosioninpersonalcreativity isdriven by manyfactors. One ofthemost toolsUbiquitous 24

Alternative Futures for Publishing to low costorfree. There hasbeena shift from businessmodelsthatensured As withsoftware, increative publishingthere isamove from premium pricing software applications. impacts ofappsonmobiledevices isthedramaticreduction inthecostof rich publicationsandtextbooks. Cost:free. As well, one ofthedistinguishing easy-to-use yet powerful software packagethatallowed userstocreate media Photoshop for$29.99.In early 2012,Apple announced iBooksAuthor, an available. A Mac-based product, Pixelmator, offersapowerful competitorto Similarly arangeoffree opensource imageeditingpackagesare widely business productivity suitethatisfreely available asanopensource download. different offering.competing againstavery Forexample, OpenOfficeisa are thesoftware juggernautsinthebusinessworld,theyare increasingly $469. Thelistpricefor Adobe Photoshop was$699. Whilethesetwopackages software. In 2011,Microsoft priceditsstandard version ofitsOfficesuiteat model ofpublishing. To illustrateitisusefultolookoutsideattheworldof There isapowerful shift,which is unevenly distributed,intheeconomic Moving towards free technologies isubiquitous. to create highqualityproducts butwhatisnow clearisthataccesstocreative creative andpublishingtechnologies.One candebatetheabilityofneophytes products now provide users,from novices toprofessionals withfullsuitesof Photoshop, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Keynote, thelistgoeson–allofthese Products suchasGarageBand, Pages, iBook Author, InDesign, Illustrator, 25

Alternative Futures for Publishing would have foundthequestion humorous. felt thattheirshows wouldbesold at$1.50perepisodeIsuspect thatthey were tohave askedatelevisionproducer adecadeoreven five years agoifthey distribution thatwe are abletoaccesstheseofferingsat all. However, ifone Price comparisonsfor televisionare more difficult. Itisonlywithon-line slightly more than$1.50perepisode. time theuserwantsforasmanytimeswants,can beaccessedfor rental) for$14.99. Ahighqualitytelevisiondrama,available towatchatany nine shows ofthesecondseasoncanbepurchased (ownership asopposedto example, forthosewhoare captivated by theHBOseriesDownton Abbey, all We are seeingsimilarshiftsinpricingfortelevisionshows andmovies. For perception ofvalue andprice. individual songsfor99centsrepresents afundamentalrestructuring ofthe legally purchase musicatreasonable costs.But theshiftfrom $20albumsto option. By offeringindividualsongsfor99cents,consumers were ableto introduction ofApple iTunes musicstore an thatoffered themusicindustry to develop digitallocksandtoaggressively pursuelegalremedies. It wasthe digitally share musiccreated amassive piracyproblem. Studios attempted Music publishingwasthefirsttobeblindsided by theshift.Theabilityto ofthepublishingindustry.changing allparts result isaradicallydifferent business andpricingmodelthatisdramatically and accesstomodelsthatincludelow costoropensource aswell aspiracy. The that publishers(inallcreative fields)carefully controlled distribution,pricing 26

Alternative Futures for Publishing dominant player. We canpurchase oraccessonline from multiple sources, have beendramaticallyaltered. In allcases,theinternethas emerged asa Fast totodayandmanyofthesepurchasing forward andconsumptionpatterns had already beendiminishedby theinfluenceofmultiple cablechannels. the library. You watched televisionshows although thepower ofthenetworks bought atalocalbookstore orfrombig box thenew retailers orborrowed from purchasing analbum(usuallyfrom aphysicalretailer). Your bookswere a movie atatheatre. You orby listenedtomusicontheradio,atconcerts todayversus fifteen years ago.and services Fifteen years ago, you went to Think foramomentabouthow you purchase andconsumecreative products Channel confusion publishing hasbecomeprice,asopposedtocost,sensitive. administrative expensesaswell asadesired profit margin. Increasingly, on anassessmentofproduction coststowhichtheyaddmarketing and todeterminepricingbased key determinants.In mostcasesbusinessestry The real challengeonthecreative sideisthatproduction costsare nolonger publications. difference isnotjustdramaticbutraisesquestionsaboutthe valuation of While theiPad version isnotasfullyfeatured asthetraditionaltext,price $214.35. Aversion ofthebook,available fortheiPad, ispricedat$4.99. offers thepopularuniversity-level anatomytextforadiscountedpriceof For books,considerGray’s Anatomy (notthetelevisionshow!) Amazon 27

Alternative Futures for Publishing of aself-publishing industry. butcreating exciting fortheemergence new opportunities publishing industry and channelconfusion–are notonlychallenging theentrenched forces ofthe creative expression; theavailability ofubiquitoustools;moving towards free As enablersthesefive forces –from bookstoapps;thequest forpersonal transformation. in astateoffluxandtransformation. Self-publishing isbutonefacetofthis is that isinplace.Thatsaid,iteasytoarguethepublishing industry itisimpossibletofully understandthecomplexsystem midst ofthedisruption andmarket, butinthe that converged tofundamentallytransformanindustry science. Retrospectively itispossibletoexaminethemanyvariables andfactors Five forces. innovation Asnoted,understandingdisruptive isnotanexact Exploring anewfuture? the infamous“four P’s ofmarketing” – product, price,promotion andplace. a challenge.In consumerpreferences allcases, new fundamentallychallenge and multipleplatformsisbothanopportunity businesses, theneedtosupport a movie atatheatre aswell asthrough your televisionandcomputer. For to purchase andconsumeinmanydifferent ways. It isstillpossibletoview Further, thisisnotanexampleof“or” butof“and” –we expecttobeable may beviewedonyour television,PC,laptopormobiledevice. devices seamlessly, sometimesinthemidstofconsumption –atelevisionshow including free andthrough piracy. We expecttobeableswitchbetween 28

Alternative Futures for Publishing Within an industry thevalue chainexpandstobecomeanetwork.Within anindustry relationships, includingoutsourcing various activities,withother entities. allormostactivities,manyothersestablish integrated, inessenceperforming gains somevalue. While someorganizations are designed tobevertically Products passthrough allactivitiesofthe chain.At eachstagetheproduct organization inorder to create toacustomer. anddeliver aproduct orservice Michael Porter in1985,identifiesachainofactivitiesthatoccuran The conceptof value chains,firstintroduced bymanagement professor Value Chains of value chains provides ameanstoconductthisexamination. before examining how theworldof self-publishing mayemerge.Theconcept examine thestructure andessenceoftheexistingpublishingbusinessmodel To explore itisusefultobriefly theimplicationsoftheseopportunities traditional publishers? offeredpeople whohave beenignored by orcannotaccesstheservices Rather, perhapsthisisfuture foragrowing numberofenergetic,DIYcreative Is thisthefuture forpublishing?Perhaps thatisnotthecorrect question. through retailers networks and virtual low soldatavery cost. innovative media-richproducts –more likeappsthantraditional books–offered Independent creative people equippedwitheasytouse,yet powerful toolsdeveloping 29

Alternative Futures for Publishing cover theirinvestments. early stageactivities recognizing thattheirmarginsfortheend product would the elementsofchain,publishers couldmakesignificantinvestments inthe positioned itselftoaddvalue. In thepast,given theirabilitytocontrol many of has diagram itispossibletoidentify thekeywaysthatpublishingindustry When onereviews thegenericpublishing value chainpresented intheattached control the value chain. elements ofthechain.Companieswillvigorously defendtheirabilityto activities themselves. Power, andprofits, shifttothosewho control thekey the value chain aspossible,even iftheydonotactuallyengageinthespecific Intermediaries attempttopositionthemselves tocontrol asmanyelementsof consumers fortheseefforts. products are produced. Theyare well-positioned toadd value andcharge andwhat andhowdetermining whoisabletoparticipate information and Intermediaries play many roles. In particular, asgatekeepers, theyserve inputs andprocesses, provides strong anduniquecompetitive avery position. intermediary, cancontrol key insituationswhere particularly theintermediary communication channels,publishersplayed avitalrole. Thefunctionofan corporations. In aprevious worldofinformationscarcity andunderdeveloped and publishinghave created someofthemostpowerful andprofitable model.Over thepastseveral hundredthis intermediary years, media Publishing andthevalue chainreflects asavalue-added intermediary serves The power oftheintermediary 30

Alternative Futures for Publishing Publishing Value Chain careful managementandqualitycontrol processes. including theprintingofbooks,canbedelivered by third under parties phases are difficulttooutsource toexternalthird parties. Distribution, theseactivities.Forperform thedevelopment andproduction themostpart, thetimeandcostrequiredof production theyoftenundervalue toeffectively activities. Similarly, whilecustomersmayunderstandthephysicalelements publishers have alwaysfounditdifficulttodemonstratethe valueofthese Most ofthefront enddevelopment activitiesare invisibletoendusersand 31

Alternative Futures for Publishing perspective oftheself-publisher. Let’s quicklywork through thevarious value chainelementsfrom the responsible formanyoftheseactivities.) that inmanysmallerpublishing housesanindividualorsmallteamwouldbe inalarger publishingfirm.(Thiscommentacknowledgesvarious departments The difference isthattheactivities bythe individual ratherthan are performed The value chainforself-publishingmirrors theformalpublishing value chain. The power oftheindividual power andcontrol. channels created strong barrierstoentry. offered The role oftheintermediary dominant positions.Theirinfrastructure, financial resources andestablished Publishers, especiallylargerconglomerates,created andprotected their Not thatlongago,thevalue chainoffered apowerful competitive strategy. overhead costsfrom theretailer andinventory tothepublisher. big box retailers topressure publisherstoabsorblogisticsand returns transfers role. Similarly,publishers isadirect attackontheintermediary theabilityof thatwerethe value viewedasexclusively addedservices withinthedomain Amazon’s recent move tointeractdirectly withwritersandofferingmanyof entrants are actively competing to gain control of the value chain. For example, that publisherspreviously controlled are now beingchallenged.Aswell, new by analyzingvalue chainelements.Manyindustry ofthevalue-added activities As well, itispossibletoidentifymanyoftheissuesfacingpresent day 32

Alternative Futures for Publishing practices. Strong smallbusinesspractices willneedtooccur. Finally, self-publishers will need to develop effective planning and management more closelyintegratedintomarketing andpromotional efforts. retailers,occur through virtual suchasAmazon and Apple. Support willbe Sales willstilloccuralthough indifferent andsupport forms. Most saleswill approachesactivities althoughnew willemerge. and backwillnolongeroccur. Marketing andpromotion willremain essential physical movement ofproducts between printers,warehouses andretailers increasingly bedigital products. Printing willnolongerbenecessary. The Distribution willalsochange.For mostself-publisherstheirworks will provide theseservices. for manyself-publishersisfindingthemoneytopayother professionals to Thedifficulty production phaseascomprisingvalue-added publishingservices. components involve One distinctive mightconsiderthe skillsandexpertise. experienced andinsightfulauthorswillrecognize thattheseproduction responsibility fordesign,editingandproduction themselves. However, more The production phaseismore challenging. Many authorswillassume relationships shouldbelesscontentious! function woulddisappear. Theauthorisalsothepublisher– are alsocontentcreators theacquisition, development andadministration The frontdifferent. enddevelopment phasewouldbe very Sinceself-publishers 33

Alternative Futures for Publishing vibrant communities ofpracticeinorder toshare ideas anddiscusstheircraft. authors willseekoutotherauthors. Theymayformwritingcooperatives or be asolitary, isolatedpractice.Thatsaid, we cananticipate that independent authors, orsmallteams,will be akeyelement.For many, self-publishingwill isthat individual The first, obvious, characteristicofa DIYpublishingindustry formed. lookschaoticandpartially disruption include earlier, muchmore primitive versions.in the midstof So, anindustry butforgetto thatemergefromthe refined disruptions products andservices atleastinearlystages,isoftenquite messy.disruption, It iseasytolookat world weinitiatives will seemanynew andbusinessmodels.Aswell, Disruptions stimulatediversity. We canexpectthatwithinthepublishing Traditional publishingisinthemidstofaprofoundly period. disruptive a vibrantself-publishingworld–looklike? publishingecosystem–onethatwasorganizedWhat wouldanew tosupport publishing Re-imagining activities andeffectively marketing andpromoting DIYpublications. value addedpublishingprofessionals suchaseditors,designersandproduction access adequateseedcapitaltopayfordevelopment costs;gainingaccess to of theDIYpublisheranumberchallengesemergeincludefindingwaysto willchange.Asonelooksatthevalue chain fromperformed theperspective So thepublishingvalue chainactivitieswillremain buthow theseactivitiesare 34

Alternative Futures for Publishing different self-publishing. role insupporting ideasthatcouldplay an important the uniqueneeds ofself-publishers.Thefollowing sectiondescribes five The ecosystemneedstoinclude anumberofinnovations thatwould support their largerpublishingcousins. independent publisherscanproduce high qualitywork andlookfeellike andPagemaker, oftheconsultantwithMac, Laserwriter my initialstory thatwere forlarger, oncereserved services betterfundedcorporations.Like power ofnetworks andtheweb allow smallindependentactorstoaccess It self-publishing.The ecosystemsupporting ispossibletoenvisionanew theworldofself-publishing. could support and socialweb experiencewe canseeanumberofinitiatives andpracticesthat from thepower oftheinternet.Aswe move intoamuchmore dynamic The third characteristic isthatself-publishinguniquelypositionedtobenefit marketing sideofthebusiness. and production andalloftheseare quitedifferent from thebusinessand publication. Writing isdifferent from editingwhichisdifferent from design skillsrequiredable tomasterallofthenecessary toproduce ahighquality presents themostsignificantchallengetoself-publishers. individualsareFew distributing, marketing andmanagingthepublishingprocess. This,Isuggest, tothemanyother activitiesthatare involvedsecondary increating, producing, involves muchmore thanwriting.In fact,thecreative actmayoftenbe mostoftheactivitiesinpublishingvalue chain. Self-publishingperform The secondcharacteristicisthatself-publisherswillneedtocontinue 35

Alternative Futures for Publishing • platform thattheyworked through mayhave value forDIYpublishers. An exampleofthewaythatasmallfilmproject pursuedfundingandthe One approach thatisemerginginvolves theconceptofcrowdfunding. about potentialsources offundingispretty limited.So ifnotthebanks,who? upfront on what,tothem,isaspeculative venture. Too oftenourimagination little value. There are banksorlenderswhowilleven few considerinvesting firms theywillimmediatelytell you thattraditionalfinancialsources are of For anyone whohasbeeninvolved inDIYpublishingorwithsmall their work. costs forpublicationswillincrease ascreators integratemore richmediainto and production. Aswe move from bookstoappstheinitialdevelopmental intheformofediting,design as well asin-houseexpertise financial support the development ofthepublication. Traditionally, publishersprovided upfront One ofthechallengesinDIYpublishingistoobtainsufficientseed capitalfor Crowdfunding

six weeks. to raisemoney. In theendLuisa raisedover $28,000from 236backersin filmtheycreated campaign aKickstarter documentary Land ofOpportunity and economicdevelopment. With their agoalofraising $25,000tosupport the challengesofaffordable housing,immigration, urban redevelopment rebuilding post-KatrinainNew Orleans. She wantedothers tounderstand Last year, ofhow Luisa Dantaspeople were wantedtotellthestory 36

Alternative Futures for Publishing production, thatmainstream publishing organizations have traditionally suchasediting, designand to accesstherange ofvalue addedservices, A keychallengeintheshifting value chain forDIYpublishersistheability Guilds editing andpromotion. investment capitalthatcanbeusedtocover mediadevelopment costs,design, Kickstarter, oralternatives suchasIndieGoGo, provide apotentialsource of innovative high-qualityofferings. For DIYpublishers, initiatives suchas to developmental capitalwillalwaysbeconstrainedintheirabilitytodevelop Financing isacriticalissueforself-publishers.DIYpublishers withoutaccess project. In additiontoraisingmoney, campaignsraiseawareness Kickstarter ofthe hadgeneratedoverKickstarter 125milliondollarsforover 15,000projects. as anadditional3to5%forfinancialtransactions.Over thepastthree years are dispersed.Successful projects return aswell 5%ofthefeestoKickstarter project deadline.If the targetamountisnotraisedby thedeadlinenofunds campaign andidentifytheconcept,minimumamounttoberaiseda project.Anyone cansubmitaKickstarter To beginyou create your own projects thatwouldbeignoredsupports by formalsources ofinvestment. Crowdfunding resources from gathersmonetary thegeneralpublicand indie films,photographyprojects, music,travel journalismandbooks. isanonlinecrowdfundingKickstarter website forcreative projects including 37

Alternative Futures for Publishing exacerbated by the growth of on-line bidding services and service auctions. exacerbated by thegrowth andservice ofon-linebiddingservices are seeinganattempttomove tocommodity pricing.Thishasbeen further significant downward pressures ontheprices paid forprofessional services. We Further, asweinthesoftware have outsourcing observed movement there are independent writerstobeable toaccessthesevalue-added services. publishing removes this source of connectionbutdoesnotreduce theneedfor requirement forindependentcontractorstofindwriters.DIY central pointofcontact.Thiseliminatedthetime-consuming andinefficient However, manyofthemworked withaggregators, suchaspublishers,a media developers, editorsanddesignersworking asindependentcontractors. There isastrong practiceof value-added publishingprofessionals, including professionals. presents asignificant challengetoeditors,designersandmediaproduction writers. Theshiftfrom aggregation todisaggregation inthepublishingworlds Publishers provided anefficientwaytoconnecteditorsanddesignerswith andfacilitatedthelinkagebetween writersand these publishingservices. experts design andeditingroles. In thepast,publishershired orcontractedwiththese aggregators andconnectorsforprofessionals whoare inmediaproduction, Similarly, mainstream asimportant publishers have traditionallyserved product production. Yet, DIYpublishershave few alloftheseskillsets. edit andrevise materials,designlayouts andpresentations aswell aswork on ofe-publications), (such aspodcastsandvideosthatwillformalargerportion provided. In anidealworld,writerswouldhave theabilitytodevelop media 38

Alternative Futures for Publishing too are traditionalapproaches topromotion andmarketing. (Asanaside,one Just astraditional sources DIYpublishersso offinancingare unlikelytoserve Indie Marketing businesses. could replace avitalelementofthefunction previously provided by publishing The creationvirtual marketplace ofaguildmodelwithanassociated efficient, ability forpublishingprofessionals toefficientlylinkwithindependentwriters. Guilds the marketplaces oragorasthatwouldsupport couldfacilitatevirtual Technology now andmultinationalaswell aslocal. enablesguildstobevirtual andmovieentertainment business. Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild ofAmerica–are vitalelementsinthe Guilds have evolved intomodernforms. Two ofthebestknown guilds–the standards. andperformance work; scope ofpractice;trainingandcertification society andbenevolent order. Guilds of establishedfeestructures andrules asaworkernumber ofroles.fraternity, Theyserved secret tradeunion,cartel, were associationsofcraftspeopleinvolved trade.Guilds ina particular played a craftspeople aswell astheoverall economicdevelopment. Traditionally, guilds Historically, guildsplayed amajorrole in the development ofprofessionals and revisit theconceptofprofessional guilds. aslow-cost commodities–areservices causingharm.One optionmaybeto designers andproducers –withindependentauthorsandthepressure toprice Both trends –thedifficultyoflinking value-added professionals –editors, 39

Alternative Futures for Publishing video, henoted: ( On hisblogonDecember 21,2011, acoupleofweeks afterlaunchingthe results were quite remarkable. managed thewholeprocess, working withhisown team,personally. The copyright limitationsonhiswork. No publisherswere involved. LouisCK downloadable videoandsold itonhiswebsite for$5.He concert placedno He bookedahallandputon a specialshow and taped it.He thencreated a his work. He somethingdifferent. decidedtotry publishing, oneofthemostpopularcomediansreceived nothing for virtually producers andpublishershereceived negligibleroyalties. Under traditional always created and marketed DVDs Afterpayingstudios, ofhisconcerts. For example,thewell-known comic,LouisCK,through apublisherhad DIY publishing. approaches, itselfacontinuallyevolving wayofthinking,offerssuggestionsfor the past,DIYpublishersshouldconsiderotherexemplars. Indie marketing have grown upwith,andmostlydisdain,isunderattack.Ratherthanlookto and marketing. In particular, thatallofus theconceptofpushadvertising The web andsocialmediaare changingthewaysthat we approach promotion thinkingaboutpromotionpublishing, new andmarketing maybein order.) of whetherwe are thinkingaboutDIYpublishersormore traditional publishers have beenusingmaynothave stoodthetestoftime.So regardless could arguethatthepromotional andmarketing approaches thatmainstream https://buy.louisck.net/news 40 )

Alternative Futures for Publishing materials atasubstantially lower cost;removing ofcopyright anysort Using theweb to promote anddistributecontent;offering value-added • • • • • • •

because Ilikeyou gettingtoknow whathappenedtoyour 5dollars. million, I’ll give more ofitway. I’ll letyou know whenthat happens The thingisstillonsale.Ihope folkskeepbuyingit. If Imakeanother and willcare formychildren… That leaves mewith220kformyself. Some ofthat willpaymy rent Chimneys) Fistula Foundation; The Pablove Foundation; charity:water;Kiva; Green about through friends,somewere recommended through twitter. (The below incaseyou’d liketodonatethemalso. Some oftheseIlearned The third different 280kisgoing toafew charities.They arelisted the specialonmyshow. I’m givingthemabigfatbonus. The secondisgoingbacktomystaffandthepeoplewho work formeon website to build. The first250kisgoingtopaybackwhatthespecialcost produce andthe So I’m breaking themillionintofourpieces. just gave you directly becauseyou toldjokes. of whatyou candoifyou allofasuddenhave amilliondollarsthatpeople to letyou know whatI’m doing withit.So Iguesswanttosetanexample we’re allsharingthisexperienceandsinceit’s really your money, Iwanted much money. I’ve never hadamilliondollarsallofsudden,andsince the crazynumber. One milliondollars.That’s alotofmoney. Really too hi. So it’s andyesterday beenabout12dayssincethethingstarted we hit 41

Alternative Futures for Publishing there ways thattechnology canhelpas well? need tothinkabout how theypromote and market their creative products. Are first step. We have already discussedthedifferent waysthat DIYpublishers physical actofmakingone’s work available forothers toconsume–isonlythe For theDIYpublisherweb isbotha blessingandacurse.Publication –the ofthemarefew ofmuchvalue andquality. From theinfinitenumberofsitesand creative products thatare available very freevirtually andnon-discriminatingplatform. With volume comesnoise. who wanttoshare theircreative work theweb hasprovided aneasy-to-use, publications. It asaliberatingforce. isclearthatthewebFor hasserved people The numbersare mindboggling–600000apps,countlessvideos,pictures, through thenoise noticedGetting –sorting work. the generalpubliccanprovide feedback, recommendations andideasforfuture sharing ideasandinformation,interactionstendtobetwoway. Readers and variety ofchannels– Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube, etc.In additionto Successful indiemarketing involves more interactionwithreaders, usinga requires creativity and,increasingly, relies ontheeffective useofsocialmedia. Indie marketing involvesdifferent approach avery forDIYpublishers. It things we purchase. rules areapproach. The shifting. We wanttoengageinadialoguearound the conversation withyour audienceandfansare allkeycomponentsofanew protection and,perhapsmostimportantly, engaginginanintimate 42

Alternative Futures for Publishing Chomp maybeofinterest toDIYpublishers. andimportance by Apple (lateFebruary 2012)ofanAustralian-based software firmcalled difficulttosearch andfinditemsofinterest.has madeitvery A recent purchase However, even theApple approach faceschallenges.Thesheer bulkofofferings any Apple device,you work through theApple ecosystem. tried tocreate a closed system–ifyou wanttofindapps,musicorbooksfor emerge tomakesimilarclaims.Apple, through iTunes andApp Store, have as soononeaggregator laysclaimtobeingaone-stopshopseveral others point ofcontact.However, aswe canseeintheAndroid appmarketplace a different approach. asaconvenientWeb aggregation sitesattempttoserve mouth recommendations, now exemplified in Twitter and Facebook, present related tobooks and creative works. Theriseofsocialmedia,withword of Amazon hasemergedasapowerhouse ofon-lineretailing, inparticular of theweb. From Yahoo toGoogle we have seentheevolution ofsearch. We totamethewild,unstructured seedifferentnature approaches totrying engage inextensive searches –we wantitnow andwe want itwithlittleeffort. efficiently aspossible. Inthefewpeople web-basedworld are prepared to resources thattheywant.Bothhopetobeableachieve theirgoalas abouthowto gettheirworkfindhighquality noticed.Consumersworry face acommonproblem. From oneperspective, publishersmustendeavor DIY publishersandthepotentialconsumerswhopurchase theirpublications 43

Alternative Futures for Publishing concept ofbricoleur. An example from theindiemusicbusiness maybeofvalue. skillsets willneedtochange. One way to thinkaboutthisshiftisconsiderthe becomes onlyoneelementin theoverall process ofpublishing.Mindsets and in thepublishingvalue-chain. While thisisliberatingitalsomeansthatwriting contractors formediaproduction, editing anddesign,forallofthefunctions away, DIYpublishers willassumeresponsibility, even iftheyuseand manage the competitive, noisyworldoftheweb. Astherole of formalpublishersfades the movie Field ofDreams “builditandtheywillcome” in simplydoesringtrue to tell,writingamanuscriptandpresenting ittotheworld.Thecommentin DIY publishinginvolves muchmore thanamotivated individualwithastory Bricoleur quality offeringsallows DIYpublisherstocompetewithmainstream approaches. proactive marketing theability forpotentialpurchasers tousetechnologyfind forDIYpublishers.Inimportant additiontotheneedapplycreative and Products likeChomp, andtheothersthatwillinevitablycomealong,are able tosiftthrough thevolume andnoisethatcharacterizes theweb. ability tousealgorithmsthatlookbeyond titlesandtagsisafirststep inbeing has grown traditionalorganizingtaxonomies have proven tobeinadequate.The wider rangeofpossibleoptionsforusers.Asthenumbercreative products recommendations andcommentsare integratedintothesearch toidentifya algorithms toidentifyproducts thatcloselyfitsearch specifications. Sharing, Chomp moves beyond simplistictitle-basedsearches andappliesrich 44

Alternative Futures for Publishing • • • •

Gripevine, challenges. where peoplecantalkaboutcustomer service Their business hasnow expanded toincludeadedicated service. web site, as aCanadian-basedband,they foundthemselves asspokesmenforcustomer to theircreative andentrepreneurial tobuildandsustainthemselves efforts For Dave Carroll, thesocialmediacampaignhadadifferent result. In addition dollars inreduced stockpricesandreputation. analysts estimatethattheirmistakes costthecompanyhundreds ofmillions The viralvideos resulted inapublic relations humiliationfor United. Some inadequacies. customer service aboutUnitedmillion viewershadwitnessedthebandperforming Airlines’ became aviralhit.Thefirstday resultedin150,000hits. Inone year, over 10 threeperformed songsandpostedthemon YouTube. United Breaks Guitars their onlyrecourse wastouseotherapproaches. In theywrote and frustration process,to work thebandfeltthat through animpenetrablecustomerservice were severely damagedby theUnited Airlines’ baggagehandlers.After trying United States, withastopinChicago,theband’s expensive Taylor guitars However in 2010allthischanged.On atripfrom Halifax tomid-western in China,Europe andCaribbean. recognition across Canadaaswell astheUS.Additionally theyhave performed hallsordoingcorporateshows. havewhether inconcert ledto Theirefforts produced albumsandengagedina“perpetual tour.” Theyconstantlyperform, Halifax thebandhasbuiltasolidreputation. Theyhave writtenoriginalsongs, know thisalltoowell. Emerging outofNorthern Ontario andnow locatedin Don andDave Carroll, twobrothers whoformthebandSonsofMaxwell To intheCanadianmusicbusinessyou needtobeajack-of-all-trades. survive 45

Alternative Futures for Publishing business mentality. There isaneedtoseamlesslyblendcreative skillswithaentrepreneurial and individual product requires acomprehensive strategy. andmutuallysupporting the benefitofaproduction andpromotionalyour organization supporting media, publicandprivate events and“T-shirt sales.” To besuccessfulwithout combining theircreative mediacoverage, products with performances, social to theirgoals.Theyneedactinthesamewaythat Indie bandsfunction, The self-publisherasbricoleur contribute recognizes thatalloftheirefforts in theirown ideasandengageincontinualself-correction andlearning. knowledge inavariety ofareas trust andskills,engageincareful observations, in multipleactivitiestoajack-of-all-trades.Bricoleurs are abletodevelop they have available toado-it-yourselfer whoisabletoimprovise andengage creative andresourceful personwhoisabletowork withwhatever materials to handlethevarious responsibilities. Abricoleurisvariously viewedasa value chainare even ifadedicatedorganizationisnotinplace stillimportant return backtothevalue chainmodel,alloftheelementsinpublishing The conceptofbricoleurisausefuloneforDIYpublisherstoconsider. If we ofwhatittakestobesuccessful. music isonlyonepart to promote thebandinadifferent way. Asanindiemusiciansometimesthe and effective waytopressure anunresponsive corporation. It wasalsoameans to achieve theirgoals.TheUnited Breaks Guitars campaignwasaninnovative Dave Carroll foundthathehadtobecomemore creative andentrepreneurial 46

Alternative Futures for Publishing converging forces that offer new opportunities forself-publisherswhile converging forces opportunities thatoffernew to examinethe role ofself-publishing. We have discussedanumberof Beginning withthequestionofwhywe publish, thispaperhasattempted etc. media marketing efforts, linking writerstovalue-added social publishing professionals, supporting there toreinvent maybeopportunities approaches toprovide accesstocapital, The examplesprovided are notspecifictotheneedsofpublishersand,assuch, number ofdifferent theneedsofself-publishers. waysoflookingatsupporting chain stillapplytoself-publishers.In theprevious sectionIhave identifieda to befundamentallydifferent mostoftheelementspublishing value independentwritersandpublishers. support While theapproaches wouldneed independents there are forthosewhoare opportunities consideringwaysto While itiseasytocharacterize self-publishingasaworldofdisconnected technology, markets andnetworks thatwillenablemanyofthemtosucceed. of thepainformainstream publishers,offersself-publisherswithaccessto The digitalworldandwide web, whichhasbeenthecauseofmuch contrast todespair, andpotential. theyseeopportunity self-publishing isfilledwithenthusiastic,optimisticandenergeticpeople. In the sametimeaspublishingbusinessisindespairemergingworldof However, it will befundamentallydifferent. even ifpublishingsurvives At that publishingaswe know itwilldisappear. Thatisprobably overly harsh. Traditional pressures. publishingfacesmanydisruptive Somepredict observers The future? 47

Alternative Futures for Publishing publishers. that thelocusofcreativity andinnovation willlieinthehandsofindependent an exciting visionforthefuture. Without stretching toofaritis fairtoassume is expandingexponentially. Disruptive forces andconverging technologiesoffer The future isbright forself-publishing. Interest isgrowing. Thepaceofactivity independent publishersasbricoleur. mechanisms toidentifyhighqualityproducts andreimagining therole ofthe editors andproductionapproaches staff;new topromotion andmarketing; professional guildsforwritersandpublishingprofessionals suchasdesigners, there are numberofpossibleareas forexplorationincludingcrowdfunding; self-publishing.Usingapproaches tosupporting networks andtechnology by independentself-publishers.However, toexplore itisimportant different publishers maycontinuetoexisttheinnovation spaceislikelytobedriven presents anoptimisticandcreative future forpublishing. While mainstream books –offered through networks andvirtual lowretailers soldatacost very tools developing innovative media-richproducts –more likeappsthantraditional The imageofindependentcreative peopleequippedwitheasytouse,yet powerful creating strong pressures disruptive formainstream publishingcompanies. 48

Alternative Futures for Publishing “Yes, it’s anEspresso!” from Up theBottom Hypothesis: Hypothesis: industry of anevolving Birthing pains,growingandthefamily ties Reinventing theBook World with anopenmind, realm to ofthefield. players operating withinevery embracingchangeand listening, experimentation, factors: three key that there’s willcomefrom andthatthebestlearning alotto learn, hasto acceptthefact timesthebookindustry these turbulent survive my positionthat,inorder Iwillattempt to to assert this article In 49 — Mark Leslie— Mark Lefebvre

Alternative Futures for Publishing member from oneofthesessionspushedoutanintriguingtweet. digitalapocalypseandtheadvent oftheebook era,anaudience forthcoming discussionaboutthestateofbookandpublishingindustry,a hearty the was thefirstBookCampTO event; butsomewhere inthetweet-stream, during It waseitheratoneoftheannualBookNet Canada Tech Forums orperhapsit I honestlycan’t remember whatbookishtech-styleconference Ihadheard this. Ouch. Some wouldeven suggestlonger. painful. Something intherealm of10to12years. the publishingindustry’s experiencehas been extremely birthing long and medication ornotthebaby isgoingto arrive within alimitedperiodoftime), or trainedprofessionals ornot,regardless ofadministration ofpainkilling Though, unlikeatypicallabour(quickintensepain,and regardless ofmedical hasbeengoingthrough. what thepublishingindustry And, whenyou cometothinkaboutit,it’s apretty accurateassessment for it spokevolumes. I retweeted it,asdidseveral others. It wasacutesentiment.It wassimple,yet “The bookisn’t dead;itjusthadbabies.”“The 50 — unattributed Twitter quote

Alternative Futures for Publishing ready forthis!I’m notready tobeafather!” Still anothervoice addstothefray, shoutingoutinpanicked tones:“I’m not from thewholemess,focusing,instead onasmallsmudgethewall. Beside theireyes thatgatheringanotherpersonstands, completelyaverting people intheroom whoare payinganyattention. tocrackjokesthetwo A lonefigure, stands likeastand-upcomic,trying Beside them, someoneislaughinginaninsanevoice. Yet anotherpersonsuggestswhat’s neededare somewarmtowels. In anothercorner, there’s amadscream forsomeonetoboilwater. of:“You!responding cry You! You didthistome!” There is yet anothercallinadifferent voiceinsistingonpushing,followed bya theoverheadtable, thestirrups, lights. more medication,someclinicaltools,orders onexactlyhow toadjustthe From theopposite sideoftheroom anintensevoice pipesupwithacallfor and “pushing” advice.“Just getmesomemore painkillers!” A voice growls inresponse, suggestingwhere theycanshove their“breathing” breathe. Breathe. Now push!Push! Puuuuush!” You canhearthevoices screaming loudlyononesideoftheroom. “Okay Let’s picture itforamoment. 51

Alternative Futures for Publishing such adifficult transition,whatmodelsseem toexistandwhatexperiments It’s I think, to first understand at leastimportant, a bit about why this has been you’ll findastrangecross-section of reactions and activities. But mostly, room likeinthebizarro thatIjustpainted, sceneofadelivery who believe “The End is Nigh!”, that all traditional players should just pack it in. possibly change a centuries-old industry, and at the other end you’ll find those continue to stick their heads in the sand, believing that digitization couldn’t At one end of the spectrum within the book industry you’ll find naysayers who chaos andpanicsimilartothesceneIjustoutlinedinmy own farcical way. past decade,andeven more dramatically, inthepast3years, there’s akindof But this whenyou lookatwhathas beenhappeninginthepublishingindustry Okay, Ihad some funtakingtheanalogytoextreme. bucketandnotevendrop benoticedwhilechaosreigns? intotheafterbirth The questionis,willsomebodycatchitorgetlostintheamnioticfluid, preparedness thebaby iscoming. oftheparticipants, steps, thetoolsrequired,disagreements abouttheprocess andthenecessary the And inthemiddleofitall,screaming, thedebatingaboutwhattodo, A softvoice asksifitistoolateforanabortion. a heaponthefloor. Beside them,anotherpersonhasfaintedtojointheothertwoalready lyingin 52

Alternative Futures for Publishing Nærum and performed by ØysteinBache andperformed Nærum andRune Gokstad. NRK, theNorwegian television network. Thesketchwaswritten by Knut ogmeg(ØysteinandI),whichappearedprogram called Øystein in2001on I’m reminded ofapopularviralvideoclipfrom aNorwegian television For the first time in hundreds of years the book is undergoing a significant change. Let merepeat that:Without breaking. without breaking. the termtypicallyrefers toasolidthatcanbebentintootherformsandshapes malleable. Andyes, Iusetheword malleablespecificallyfora reason, because digital change.Theproduct of“book” isbecomingsomethingabitmore and, yes, Isayexperiments.Because we’re livinginthemidstofasignificant the page” andthentriesitouthimself. He ispleasedtounderstand. conceptof“turningat thetopofnextone.Our atthisnew hero marvels book aswell asdemonstratinghow thetextendsononepage butthenbegins personexplainstheconceptof The techsupport “opening” and “closing” the and notatalleasytounderstand how toread likethepopularscroll. tofigure outhowneeds helptrying towork abook. It’s astrangebounditem, when the“ITSupport” personshows uptohelphim.It seemsasifourhero The video,inanutshell,features athisdesk amonkwhoissittingfrustrated 53

Alternative Futures for Publishing distribution model fordoingthat,something thathasbeeninplacefora long We justhave ajobtodo,afterall– connectwriterswithreaders. Andthe the samewaythispoormonk is. The bookindustry, thesepastfew yearsinparticular, is,inmanyways, reacting will losehistext. the conceptofturningpagesandisworriedthatwhenhe closes thebookhe skit ofaconfusedmonkwhocan’t figure outhow toopenabook,understand say: “Plus cachange, plusc’est lamemechose,” it’s funnytolaughatthis certainly But from that interesting apart similaritywhichmightsuggest,astheFrench determined by theuser. text tomorphspecificsizes andshapesdependentuponcontrollable settings type oflongscrolling web pagewithspecificcodingthatallows forfree-flowing When you thinkaboutit,anebookis,inmanyways,nothingmore thana files) when you considerhow theebookisalmostlikeanodetoscroll. more fortechnerds whoare engagedinthecreation ofePub and otherebook As anaside,thescroll videoisalsofunnyatanentirely different level (perhaps The dayissaved. The tech support guy demonstrates how to flip the book over and open it again. He throws hishandsupinfrustration. he goestoopenitagain,hishandpushesagainstthespine,andisunableto. Then heclosesthebook by flippingthe front ontotheback cover. Andwhen 54

Alternative Futures for Publishing Carroll’s Alice inWonderland Sir John Tenniel’s original illustration for Lewis A madgameofmusicalchairs mindset itshould beclear:Thosewhoactually add real value inthe realm of connecting author andreader. At theendofitall, following aDarwin-like ecosystem are necessary, whenthewhole thing isdesignedaround particularly salesperson. Argumentscontinually evolve regarding whichmembersofthis distributor, editor, librarian,printer, publisher, publicist,reader, retailer and highlevel): author,entities withinit;inthiscase (atavery agent,bookseller, ecosystem. Anecosystemexistsbecauseoftherelationships between various While I’m mixingmetaphors,itcomesdown totheconceptofadelicate around, turn the Titanic typeofNoah’s intoanew Arc? chairs onthedeckof Titanic. How canwe, asan industry, steerthisship such adownward spiral.Afterall,you’re likelyjustplayingthegameofmusical race conceptofMAD(Mutual Assuredtopursue –itisfruitless Destruction) The musicalchairsanalogyisasridiculousanapproach asthenucleararms people aspossiblewillhave aseat. to figure outawaytowork togethersothatasmany winner –and,instead,try ofmusicalchairs–ie,oneinwhichthereby themadrules canonlybeasingle One ofthethingsthatIhave seenwork well iswhentheplayers refuse toplay toensure whenthemusicstopsthey’lltrying allhave aseat. It’s scramblingaround likeamadgameofmusicalchairs,withallparties to figure outtheirplace. distribution chainistrying and revere inthe undergoingalightningquickmetamorphosis,buteveryone period oftime,isbeingturnedonitshead.Not onlyistheproduct we cherish 55

Alternative Futures for Publishing they’ve been openlysharingwhatthey have learned inorder toassistothers. thing.Nothave beendoingthatvery onlyhave theybeenexperimenting, but community, andinparticular, thoseengagedin the Self Publishing world Various within thewriting players withinthebookworld,particularly itouthimself. try guy waspatientandre-explained. He demonstrated.He allowed themonk to through the process together. Themonkhadtrouble learning,butthesupport help. He calleduponthe“ITSupport” charactertoassist him.They went What happenedinthevideo?Themonkwhowantedto read abookneeded So let’s gobacktothatvideoandscenario. continuallyfaces. our industry cut outoftheloopplaysahugerole inthe“musical chairs” scramblingthat Emotions, andlong-standingtraditions,thatthreatened feelingofbeing todiscussanddebate theissue. difficultfor the industry This factmakesit very depending uponthesituation. I don’t seeitasan“all ornone” proposition; but,instead,acomplexone or more oftheseplayers isrelevant, andotherswhere theyare lessrelevant. on thespecificsofauthor/reader connection,there willbetimeswhere one needsofthereadingparticular consumer. And,becauseofthat,anddepending I shouldpausetoinsistit’s dependingonthe notnecessarilycutanddry “die-off” andceaseto remain relevant. connecting authorandreader are Thosewhodon’t important. add value, will 56

Alternative Futures for Publishing offer ebooksto theircustomers. dynamic wayforbooksellers to easilyconnectwithacompanylikeGoogle to experiments. Pooling resources, theycanoftenafford tobuildthings,suchasa exposing various successesandfailures indifferent businesspracticesand This group ofstores spendagreat dealoftheirtimehelpingoneanother by Associates), butare now known underthecampusebookstore.com banner. They usedtobeknown underthenameofCCRA(CanadianCampus Retail them to move and act quick, react to change and assist one another. offer, but the smaller size and focused perspective of the campus stores allowed per year. The goal was not unlike the benefit that various industry associations across Canada who worked together, shared resources and met, in person, twice transparent communication through a group of 24 campus bookstores from Between 2006 and 2011 I learned about the amazing power of open and should prevail. defined needswillchange,but recognition ofthebenefitsworking together on theotherforensured survival. Yes, different specieswillevolve, roles and prevails, butthere’s alsosomethingtobesaidforonespecieshavingrely isadelicateecosystem. The bookandpublishingindustry Yes, Darwinism waters. doesn’tto focusonsowe canensure ourindustry sinkbelow theseturbulent and competitiveness, is,from myperspective, oneofthesolutionswe need This typeofcollaborative activity, whichseemstoflyinthefaceofcapitalism 57

Alternative Futures for Publishing the clickofamouse. benefit ofbeing abletooffermillionsoftitles tocustomers,viaspecial order, at as havinganEspresso BookMachine inyour store. But there wasalso the desire. convenient PODsuch Thatis,afterall,whatPODoffers,particularly Of course,savingstudentsmoney, ensuringIwasalwaysinstockaleading this machinetodistributedigitallyandprintlocally. that my goal was to sell books, to connect authors with readers, I could employ waytore-conceivewas abrandnew ofourbusiness.By focusingonthefact I sawthatthismachinewasn’t justagreat waytosave studentsmoney, butit Bookstore) investment. that this wouldbeaworthwhile to convincemyown bossandmyown institution(McMaster University in Canada,)Itookatripouttoseehow itallworked, becauseIwanted world toown anEspresso BookMachine, the2ndbookstore andthe1st Not locationinthe longafterAndersoninstalledhismachine(thefourth store inEdmonton. But hewouldalsouseit to save studentsmoney. and delayswithgettingbooksfrom a Toronto-area warehouse andintohis his store atthecostofpenniesperpage.It wouldsolve various shippingissues machine togetdigitalfilesfrom publishersandprintcustomtextbooks rightin called anEspresso BookMachine. He explainedhow hewasgoingtousethe Todd Andersonexplainhow hisstore hadinvestigated invention thisboldnew It wasthrough CCRAthat,backin2007,Ilistened,intently, tomycolleague 58

Alternative Futures for Publishing rather thanstitched, were innovations. cost-cutting format size, that thebookswere andthefact glued outside thetraditional channels. distribution The coordinated withitsstrategy ofsellingbooks mysteries was and non-fiction, literature, popular reprints oflight of editorial policy law), Pocket Books’ artist’s mother-in- the (named after the kangaroo logo ofGertrude and featuring the Priced at 25cents Pocket titles Book numbered The firstof ten from Booknet Canada from Booknet Technology Forum, 2010 Lefebvreof SupplyChain–HughMcGuire &Mark – VIDEO: Trailblazing –Leading the Way to aNewKind — Wikipedia sales. hardcovers offered; butitalsomeanthigher volume, and potentiallyincreased typeofbusiness calculationforpublishers.Itnew meantlower marginsthan imprint known asPocket Books.Themassmarket paperbackintroduced a 1935) whichled,aboutfive years later, to Simon &Schustercreating aline/ Penguin Booksbroughtyears theconceptback tolifejustafew later(about by(Albatross Books)in1931;buttheexperimentwascutshort World War II. Mass market paperbackswere initiallyintroduced by aGerman publisher Gutenberg intherealm of1450. significant changesinpublishing were initiallywithintheprintingpress, ie Law, with themergeroftechnologywithpublishing.The particularly inaparalleltoMoore’s seemtorun Changes withinthepublishingindustry logistical issuesrelated tostoringanddistributingbooks. consumer whodesires theprintedproduct whilereducing thecostsandvarious bridging thegapbetween printanddigital;onewayofsatisfyingthe needsofa The Espresso Book Machine andPODare, ofcourse,merely onewayof for you inaboutfifteenminutes. decade) mightoffertoshipthatbook you in24hours,but we couldgetit Machine, thatAmazon (achiefcompetitortophysicalbookstores forover a I oftenbraggedtocustomersandindemonstrationsofourEspresso Book 59

Alternative Futures for Publishing for more thantheirbacklisttitles. worldwide), themajorpublishers have beenslow toembrace thetechnology and have printedmore than120,000,000booksforover 24,000publishers the mid1990’s (LightningSource’s boasts7.6millionbooks digitallibrary Despite publishinghavingusedprinton demand(POD)technologysince Espresso Book Machine, which first appeared in 2007. BC in 1995), Lightning Source (a division of Ingram), founded in 1997 and the print on demand technology such as Trafford Publishing (founded in Victoria, before being transferred to moveable type), and shortly thereafter the advent of of WYSIWYG editing and digital documents to be modified and previewed with desktop publishing following closely on the heels (allowing for the creation until the advent of such technologies as the personal computer (the early 1980’s) paperback. New formats, such as audio books, were introduced. But it wasn’t there hasn’t been a significant change within publishing since the mass market But back, in the timeline of publishing, to the changes affecting the industry, totheirebooksales. jump inmargin,whichisattributed,goodpart, In anutshell,Simon &Schustersawadecrease orlossinsalesrevenues, buta million), buttheiradjustedoperatingincomeincreased 31%to$85million. In 2011,totalsales at Simon &Schusterwent down 1%in2011(to$787 from Simon &Schusterregarding sales(asreported in For abriefaside,let’s contrastthatwitharecent February 2012statement February 15,2012 ) 60 Publishers Weekly on

Alternative Futures for Publishing market paperbacks). the front covers beingmailedback inasmallenvelope (inthecaseof mass remaindered (inthecaseofhardcover andtradepaperbacks), orpulped,with headingbacktothepublisher’sand notonaskidintruck warehouse tobe cross theirfingersandhopethatthose booksendupinthehandsofconsumers publishing (theauthor, theagent,publisher, the distributor, thebookseller) are pushedoutintobookstores, andthenagoodnumberofpeople within So massquantitiesofeachare printed, massquantitiesofmanythetitles which ofagiven year’s catalogwillbethewinners. tounderstand the other80%–andtrick,foralongtime,hasbeentrying Economics ofpublishingwouldsuggestthat20%thosetitlesare carrying going to fall into that 20% and which will fall into the 80%. other well known house-hold names), publishers don’t know which titles are Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Susanne Collins, John Grisham, Danielle Steel and perhaps a handful of titles from the large branded authors (Stephen King, J.K. make money, or, in fact, loses them money. The challenge, of course, is, despite publisher’s positive revenue. This means that 80% of their annual catalog doesn’t About 20% of the books published in any year account for more than 80% of a A standard figured bandied around publishing falls closely within the 80/20 rule. by employing ashot-gunapproach totheircataloglists. pulping theexcess printing, publishinghaslongbeentakingextreme gambles a businessthatisusedtoprintinginhighquantitieswiththegoalofsimply The economicsofPODmeanahigherprintingcostforlowerrun. print For 61

Alternative Futures for Publishing imagination of consumersandpublishersin 2011. commodity could really totakeholdand capture start theattention and the pioneersandearlyadopters meantthattheebookasapopularretail The accumulationofthispenetration intothe reading public,andnotjust across Canada and the United States, that ebooks really started to take off. Nook in their own chain within the US to place ereaders directly in bookstores Chapters/Indigo and Borders in 2010, and the introduction of Barnes & Noble’s (2010), and further retail distribution by players like Kobo, partnering with 2004, Amazon’s Kindle in 2007, and the advent of readers through Apple’s iPad It wasn’t until more affordable e-ink readers, such as ones released by Sony in DRM ontheirbooksandremaining oneoftheleastpiratedbookpublishers. Schuster) indigitalformatforfree. They were aheadofthegame,puttingno hundred plusscience fictiontitlesfrom the Baen (animprintof Simon & In 1999,Jim Pain andEric Flint created theBaen Free Library, offeringa didn’t exist. that wasmostlybecausetheabilitytoaccessbooksconveniently andeasily Ebooks hadmany“false starts” orlow-uptake incarnationssince1971,but attention ofpublishing. at 40.It was2011,then,whenebooksseemtohave really finallycaughtthe the threshold decadeacoupleofyears ago,isthatlifebegins intomyfourth popular phrasethiswriterhaslongheard uttered, sinceIcrossed particularly Declaration ofIndependence intoacomputerin1971,turned402011.A Ebooks, which,one canargue,debutedwhenMichael typedthe S.Hart 62

Alternative Futures for Publishing In 2005, Scott Sigler released a novel, audience, thus increasing print salesoftheirbooks. to pushouttheaudioversions oftheir books forfree, and growing their Authors platforms likePodiobooks, have beenusingpodcasting,particularly distribution tocapture awideaudience. Hocking andLockeotherslikethemweren’t thefirsttoemploy digital “moneymakers” theysosought. publishing houses,whonow sawthemasamongthat10to20%ofthe and buildanaudiencesell;ironically, capturingtheattention ofmajor ebook technologyavailable(notjustmajorpublishing houses), toeveryone others demonstratedthattheycouldtaketheirwork andemploy thenew It wastheyear inwhichauthorssuchasAmanda Hocking, John Locke,and The year 2011 isalsooftencalledthe year oftheself-publishedauthor. fell 12.7%. children’s, the young adult/hardcover segment sales fell 4.7% and paperback sales hardcover and trade paperback sales were off 17.5% and 15.6%, respectively. In the largest decline with sales down almost 36%, to $431.5 million. Adult print segments fell in 2011, with the mass market paperback segment showing sales rose 117% for the year, generating revenue of $969.9M. Sales in all trade shows that despite a reduced growth rate in the final quarter of 2011, e-book all book sales were ebooks. An APP (American Association of Publishers) report At the writing of this (February 2012), a report showed that in Canada 10% of 63 EarthCore as the first podcast-only novel,

Alternative Futures for Publishing sequel, The High Road , wasreleased in2010(withthe weekly chapter by of athree bookdeal)andre-released thebookinSeptember of2008.The McClelland &Stewart (Random House), whopickedup therights(aspart When Fallis wontheLeacockMedal in2008,hegottheattentionof humorists asDouglas Copelandand Will Ferguson. campaign, Fallis competingagainstsuchwell-loved madeittotheshortlist, Stephen LeacockMedal forHumour. Asalong-shotunderdog inthatyear’s the printversion were doingwell, andallowed himtosubmitthebook the the PODcompanyiUniverse tocreate aPODversion ofhisnovel. Sales of firm, released a podcast version ofhisbookforfree, thereafter andshortly used Plans. Fallis, already familiarwithpodcastingviahisrole inapublicrelations when majorpublishersweren’t paying anyattentiontohisnovel The Best Laid Canadian author, Terry Fallis, whoisnow well known, tookasimilarpath offering afree audio version ofhisnovel, hecouldboostprint sales. and itsoldover 5000copiesinthefirsttwo weeks of release, proving that by Publishing (RandomHouse) released hisnovel Infected inhardcover in2008, Amazon, andultimatelycapturingtheattentionofmajorpublishers. Crown major sales, leveraging his fans to help rocket his titles into the Top Ten lists on Sigler provided that,usingsocialmediatobuildafollowing couldresult in it as the first audiobook serialized on that satellite network. 700,000 episode downloads; Sirius Satellite Radio picked up the novel, marking Subsequent podcast novels, such as served out in twenty weekly episodes. He picked up over 10,000 subscribers. 64 Ancestor , drew 30,000 subscribers and over

Alternative Futures for Publishing store by 3pmthatsameday. knowing aboutabookat9amtohavingPOD version of itprintedinmy bookselling, becometheworld’s fastestspecialorder –going from noteven the Espresso Book Machine of tofulfill whathas,inmytwenty year history professor for herclass.Blue Butterfly Bookswas opentoallowing the useof out-of-printbook,fulfilling theneedsofauniversity out-of-stock, virtually I worked with change thepublishingworld. with several smallerpublisherswhowere willingtotakeachanceandbegin Within myown topartner experiencesofthePOD world,Iwasfortunate publishers, demonstrate innovation and lead the way for others to followexperimentation, suit. often performed at a grass-roots level, by indie authorsAuthors and small like Fallis and Sigler, like Locke and Hocking, are examples that luck, are oftherecipe part forsuccess. a promotional strategycombinedwithrawtalent,hard work andatouchof eye andmadehimCanada’s darlingofproof thatproper timing,execution of edition ofCBC’s CanadaReads. intothepublic Thiscatapultedhimfurther paperback release). In 2011Fallis wonanotherprestigious award –the2011 chapter podcast,againforfree, adozen orsoweeks starting priortothe Playwrights Canada Press 65 tohelpbreathe lifeintoan new

Alternative Futures for Publishing events attwonon-EBM locationsinOttawa andHalifax, marking thisasthe Canada) occurred inHamilton, Edmonton and Waterloo. (There were also CAMPUS CHILLS(ananthologyofhorror storiesseton campuses across less thanninemonthsearlier, inOctober of2009,asimultaneousrelease of Book Machines inourthree locations.Following aproject thatwasconceived release acampus-themedanthologyspecifically tohelppromote theEspresso I collaboratedwithAnderson andMay Yan oftheUniversity of Waterloo to signed book plates that were later mailed to them for insertion into thesigning book. afterword, where customers in Hamilton purchased a book, and thereading. author They could even participate in the following Q&A session and bookin Hamilton could see a live feed of the author and publisher doing a talkVia anda two-way video link projected between the two bookstores, the audience available via theEspresso BookMachine atMcMaster. at thebookstore atMcMaster University inHamilton, where thebookwas author’s tiestothelocalHamilton area, theevent waslinkedtoanaudience 2009 attheUniversity Bookstore. ofAlberta But duetothenovel, andthe Machine. Minsos appeared atanEdmonton bookfairevent onSeptember 18, Spotted Cow Press madethebookavailable through theEspresso Book Davis andtheCrazy River. witha“Double Espressohistory BookLaunch” ofS.Minsos’ novel Squire his own Espresso BookMachine, andinSeptember of2009madepublishing demand basedpublisher, worked withJerome Martin ofSpotted Cow Press on My PODmentor, Todd Anderson,whonow asuccessfulprinton runs 66

Alternative Futures for Publishing catalogue, press a few buttons and a perfectly boundtradepaperback version,catalogue, press buttonsandaperfectly afew Now, allthebooksellerwillneed todoissearch forthetitleinEBM that specialorder toarrive couldsoonbecomeathingofthepast. out ofstockandthatyou’ll have towaitanywhere from one tothree weeks for means walkingintoyour localbookstore onlytofindthat thetitle you wantis of backlisttradepaperbacktitles from HarperCollins totheircustomers.This The program allows anyphysical bookstore withanEBMtoofferthousands Espresso BookMachine (EBM). Backlist,” withOn Demand implementedinpartnership Books, makers ofthe day HarperCollins Publishers announcedaprogram called“Comprehensive known asahistoricturningpointforthepublishingindustry. Thatwasthe September 22,2011,infact,isaday, inmymindthatmightjustbecome distribute digitalconcept,more andmore. toembracebothPODandebook,this And theyseemtobemakingefforts Sigler and Terry Fallis, payingattention. Major publishersare, asseenabove inthecasesofAmandaHocking, Scott by independentauthorsandsmallerpublishers. changesandrisksareexperimentation andmuchoftheboldnew beingtaken These examplesillustratehow muchofthecreativity, muchofthe simultaneous readings/signings). in first timeananthologywaslaunchedinwhichall13authorsparticipated 67

Alternative Futures for Publishing McMaster University in the fall of 2008. I knew digital books and ebooks would a day I dreamed of when I first watched the EBM roll into the bookstore at As mentioned this announcement from one of the big six publishers marks sales thatcurrently results from out-of-stockinventory. willbecomeapowerful saleschannel,helpingtoreduce new thelossof services reaching more readers.” Neller goesontostatethat“Digital-to-Print atRetail” HarperCollins isshowing forbookstores its clear support andauthors, on thismove: “By committingthousandsoftitlestotheprogram, Dane Neller, CEOofOn Demand Books,applaudsHarperCollins visionary environment.” provide customerswithagreater selectionofHarperCollins titles inaphysical The goalofthisinitiative istogive thelocalbooksellercapabilityto placeforcustomers toshopforphysicalbooks. continue tobeanimportant Machine project, Brian Murray, CEOatHarperCollins, said:“Bookstores In theofficial press releaseannouncingthe HarperCollins/Espresso Book much attentiontoit. model forgettingtheirworks players outwell paid before themajorindustry often filledwithpioneeringspirit,discovered theprofitability ofthePOD remember thattheyseemtobefollowing aleadwhere self-publishedauthors, But asintelligentand craftyamove asthisisforHarperCollins, onemust matter ofminutes,mostlikelyrightinfront ofthecustomer. complete withafull-colourcover, willbeproduced rightthere inthestore ina 68

Alternative Futures for Publishing first, pavingthewayfor rest oftheindustry. But thenicething,forindieauthors,isknowledge thattheywere there aswe knowcustomers, andonethatwill profoundly impacttheindustry it. later. forpublishers,authors, bookstores, This isawinningopportunity and other majorpublishingstakeholderswillfollow suitsoonerratherthan Now thatHarperCollins hassteppeduptotheplate,I’m hopefulthatthe Machine. would beavailable inamore convenient fashionthankstoourEspresso Book much overstock. We that the daywouldcomewhenthatbacklistoftitles knew titles thatallowed McMaster so tofinallymakethechangeandstopcarrying Machine andthecontinuallygrowing digitalcatalogue ofprint-on-demand that thecostofdoingsowassimplynotjustifiable. It wastheEspresso Book for example,whichusedtokeep40,000titlesinstock,eventually recognized a fullysustainablebusinessmodelforbookstores. The McMaster bookstore, Attempting tostockupwards of100,000titlesontheirshelves wasnotalways physically held in a small and often high-rent retail space. friendly neighbourhood bookshops an easy way to access more titles than can be element – giving customers who still prefer to purchase printed books from their held the belief that there is a need for digital distribution with a “print local” become a dominant force within the publishing market. But I have also long continue to grow in popularity and availability, and that they would eventually 69

Alternative Futures for Publishing consumer. Some consumers won’t recognize that value, but othersimportant. will. I just need to be able to ensure that the curation I offer isConsumers of value haveto the more choice than ever before, which makes the value I offer more However, Ihave recognized thatmyrole, thoughstillcurator, hadevolved. I stillseeavalue intherole ofbookseller, inthecuratorialrole. particularly sympathize. certainly place tobe.And,assomeonewhohasbeenabooksellerfor 20years, Ican strength andwhat you offer, asunnecessary. Thatisdefinitelyadebilitating changes takingplacenow are going to render your role, your position,your If you are inthebookandpublishing industry, thatthe you mightbefearful by wax tablets, and later when wax tablets were replaced by papyrus scrolls. perhaps happened back in the Bronze Age when clay tablets were being replaced car was created, horse and buggy drivers faced a dwindling career. A similar thing When the book was created, scroll-writers were suddenly out of work. When the has made it harder and harder for publishers to actually make their money back. of a need from the great depression has resulted in a “consignment” setup that involved warehousing, and transportation costs. The concept of returns built out The long-lived distribution model depended upon physical distribution. This all therest. digitalmarketsthe new totheiradvantage, willcontinuetoleadthe pathfor waysofgettingtheirtitlesintothemarket,touse new opportunities, I foresee thatindieauthors,thosewhochoosetotestoutthewatersofnew 70

Alternative Futures for Publishing amount ofcost from the publisherandallows thehedgingofbetsonperhaps embracing adigitaldistribution andlocalconsumptionremoves asignificant Thinking that10%ofallthe titlespublished represent 90% of the revenue, untapped whenyou considertheirshare oftheoverall are: industry Two optionsthatIseewhichare currently available andstillrelatively hands oftheconsumer. Embrace the ideaofdistributionasdigital,andconsumptionbeinginthe the conceptofexperimentation. change despitethestatisticsandreality; orconsiderthealternative, entertain are really twochoices.Continue onasyou have alwaysdone,refusing to In technologies,andadramaticallychanginglandscape, there thisageofnew demand, thatwhichtheydesire. a solidideaofthetype–trickistoofferthemabilitycallup, on to completelycontrol theirexperience.Theyknow whattheywant,orhave or none” thing–someconsumerswantthatrealm ofserendipity; otherswant than havingitpre-selected andsittingonashelf. Of course,itwasn’t an“all offering consumersmore ofanabilitytodecidewhat THEY want,rather In 2008Iembraced printondemandasawayofmaintainingrelevance and Distribute digitallyDistribute –consumelocally. digitallyDistribute locally. –print 71

Alternative Futures for Publishing about the future of reading – January 2010. about thefuture ofreading –January Leslie NewsThe DiscussionwithMark Mark Lefebvre – from the Mark News websiteMark move on. to experiment. We need tomakealotofmistakes, andlearnfrom them,and The keyisthat we needtobeaccepting ofthischange. We needtobewilling understand thatthesethings, too,willevolve, and likelyintosomethingnew. We understandPODandebooksare here. But alongwiththat,we shouldalso Change istheonepermanent thingwe cancounton. “changes aren’t permanent–butchangeis.” day warrioras“always hopefulyet discontent,” andthatSawyer recognizes that lyrics writtenby Neil Peart andPye Dubois. Thesongdescribes thismodern I’m reminded ofTom Sawyer, a1981songfrom theCanadianbandRush, with preceding decades. has facedsignificantlymore changeandupheaval thaninsomanyofthe Looking back, we cansee how, justin that past decade, the publishing industry but rather, complexanddynamiccombinationofreading. awonderful, just allaboutwords beingread from apieceoftextprintedonpapermaterial, that isrecognizing thedifferent way thatpeopleare reading, andthatit’s not evolutions, are driven by thedesire ofconnectingauthorswithreaders; of part One mustalwaysremember thatthesechanges,challenges, to consume. more titles,allowing consumerstocontinuedeterminethethingstheywant 72

Alternative Futures for Publishing baby-mondays-book-of-love.html credit: http://katereali.blogspot.com/2010/10/ theentiresupport family’s needs. And we’ll needtoembrace itandnurture it,whilealwaysconsideringwaysto book, themassmarket paperback,theprintondemandandpodcast. perhaps onethatisasdifferent, andassimilar, asitsothersiblings,theaudio It’s likelythatthisbaby, very theebook,willlikelyhave anothersibling,and change. for themotherandfatherrecognize thattheytoocontinuetogrow and child andadult,assumingalargerplaceintheworld.But we shouldalsocare needs tohappen? We needtocare forandnurture thebaby asitgrows intoa For amoment,let’s hark backtothebaby analogy. thenwhat If thisistrue, able toroll withthosechanges,embracetheevolution, andcontinuetogrow. The publishingworldwillcontinuetochange–permanently. We needtobe 73

Alternative Futures for Publishing will alsodifferentiate usfrom othersinthe marketplace. featuressome ofthenew we thinkare forourcustomersandthat important We reach the“road-mapping” ofourmeetings. portion We are going todiscuss reports. Exactly whatonewouldexpectin ameetingatanypublisher’s office. sales strategies,forecasts, marketing plans,royalty discussionsandproduction new World Trade Center. For thepastdayandahalfIhave gonethrough Manhattan. Out thewindow Icanseethegradual riseoftwotowers ofthe I amsittingintheboardroom onthe30 Academic Publishing Alternative Futures in 74 th floorofabuildinginlower

– Todd Anderson

Alternative Futures for Publishing packs. need” hasledtoarevolution incustompublishingandtherebirth ofcourse as well aslower to give students costforstudents.Thiseffort “onlywhatthey todecrease working withcustompublicationsinaneffort started theworkload considered price inmakinganadoption.However, manyprofessors have if astudentreceived anyconsiderationitwastypicallywhentheprofessor least studentneedsare beginningtobeconsidered alittlemore. Previously, the end-consumerhaslittletosayinprocess andisslow tochange,at Although thedecision-makingparadox inhighereducationisonewhich Academic Publishing othertypeofpublishing. ischangingasfastevery elsedoing? what iseveryone that itwon’t gainanytractionwithacademics?Andifwe are working onthis, Or isitsofaroutofthenormintermswhatpeopleexpectfrom textbooks in academiaforthis? Will itbesufficiently “coolenough” toattractattention? how itwillbereceived becauseit’s kindof“out there.” Will there beamarket weekends project. andlateatnightworking Theyaren’t onthisparticular sure what thedevelopers have beendoing.Theyhave spenttheir own time,during advanced orasecretvery project. We at spendthenext30minutesmarveling as “skunk works.” Theterm “skunk works” typicallydescribessomethingthatis But before of triage,we we gettreated getintoanysort to something described 75

Alternative Futures for Publishing charges $5achapter, thepublisherreceives $5achapter. course packsapublishercan receive 100%oftheroyalty charge.If apublisher with anywhere between 50–80%ofthesellpriceatbest. When working with 20% anddistributorstaking their cutthatvaries widelyleavingthepublisher split between thestore, thedistributorandpublisher, withstores taking in thecoursepackworld.Thedifference isthatthe$49.95willtypicallyget that sellsfor$49.95inthestore oronlinecanalsosellforfive dollarsachapter to chargeby thechapterforworks theyhave rightsto. A twelve-chapter book royalties side-doorto getdistributed.This particular revenue allows publishers this fieldisthelevel ofautomation by whichthesethingsare created andhow student needshasbeenacommonpracticefordecades. What haschangedin house andcombiningthemalltocreate acoursepackthathasexactlywhatthe a book review,journal articles, clippings, a syllabus written some in- newspaper Building coursepacks isnotnew. Taking chaptersfrom afew textbook,some to beinthetextbookrequired for thecourse. student doesnothave toread andyet stillhastopurchase becausetheyhappen complain about.The “extra-chapter” taxisthecostofallthosechapters quite common.Thispractice results inthe “extra-chapter” taxthatstudents andeven omittingwholesections ofabookareshifting backandforth are builtthatare readily adaptableby professors. Moving chaptersaround, terms, intheirown style andintheirown time. Very traditionaltextbooks few Every courseisdifferent. Professors liketodevelop aconceptontheir own 76

Alternative Futures for Publishing chunking and digital? Forget it. range ofproblems thatpopupalongthe way. Andnow we want toadd manuscripts, agents,bookdesigners, production editors,printersandawide that wasdoneintheprevious. There are tears,arguments,delays,imperfect In factthere are manysteps involved, each onedependingonthework and you have your book.Perfect. Theonlydecisionis really “how many?” someone cobblestogetheracover loves, that everyone andthen “file:print” simpleprocess. Anauthordeliversbe avery you amanuscript,it’s perfect, Building bookswouldseem,atleasttothosenotinvolved inpublishing,to tagging takescare oftheextra-work concerns. content andworkflows from thebeginningtoallow foreasychunkingand that sellingnothingactuallydestroys thebrandeven faster).Designing your “destroying ourbrand” haspoppedup(althoughonecouldprobably argue the bookdesignerandpublisherhave spentsomuchtimeon.Thenotionof There arerumblings around even thelossof“lookandfeel” theoccasional that work involved inactually“chunking” abookandthentaggingthosechunks. cost ofsellingachapterversus anentire book.Other anxietiesexistaround the content. Some of the fears occur around the threat of piracy or the opportunity Publishers have exhibitedatremendous fearandresistance tochunking incremental revenue wouldbeseenasheaven-sent. Thisisnotthecase. with revenues) andascostscontinuetoclimb, onewouldthinkthatany water, asdiscountdemandsgetsteeper, asdigitalpricingdeclines(along tokeeptheircollectiveAt headsabove atimewhenpublishingisstruggling 77

Alternative Futures for Publishing Ages-A-Reader.html in theMiddle Ages publisher from sellingthecompletebook. For exampleabooklikePilgrimage revenue thatcanbegeneratedissubstantialandnothing precludes the With proper taggingassociatedtoeach“chunk” theamountofincremental to aformatthatlookslikethis: looks likethis: building itinthefirstplace. When you changeabookfrom aformatthat seemsridiculouswhenyou considerhowup intoparts muchwork went into a cohesive unit,thatflows from onechaptertothenextandthenbreaking it case oftextbooksanappropriate term. Taking abookthat hasbeencreated as Maybe it’s theterm.“Chunking.” Not really apretty term,however, inthe Unfortunately itistoolateto“forget it.” AsJohn Thompsonpointsout chapter>text of-chapter>texttexttext text wherewithal face.” to challengesthey meetthenew way nolongerhave andthey ofdoingthingsnolongerworks the playerssomething else, inthefieldfind theircustomary whenthekey of thebookwhenpathgradual evolution tipsover into “Or isthissomethingofawatershed –amomentinthelonghistory 78 from theUniversity of Toronto Press contains72source www.utppublishing.com/Pilgrimage-in-the-Middle- 1

Alternative Futures for Publishing “chunk” asfollows: in thebooktagyou wouldbestuckwith onlythecompletebook. Tagging the isincluded inthecollectionandifyouarticle putallthetagsfromarticle every to Greece.” Using thetagsfrom thebookalonewouldnotindicate thatthis source documentfrom Pilgrimage intheMiddle is“Pausania’s Ages Guide Discoverabilitycrucial. andusagerelies ongoodtagging.For instance,thefirst However, ifabookwere tobechunkedby thechapter, taggingbecomes The tagsmightlooklikethis: publishing environment wholebooksare taggedlikethis: Tagging ofthisexercise. part important In doesbecomeavery a typical revenue astheentire book. So ofthebookhaspotentialgeneratingsame lessthanaquarter togeneratetherevenuearticles received from sellingthecompletebook. book. If thosedocumentswere soldfor$2.00eachyou wouldneedtosell17 documents thatretail from around $42.95whenpurchased asacomplete CivilizationsandCultures) in Medieval (Readings Pilgrimage Ages: AReader intheMiddle @$2.00perarticle 17articles Chunk Revenue: $42.95(less20%Bookstore Revenue: Book Discount) 79

$34.00 $34.36

Alternative Futures for Publishing publication mark your progress through the text,however, bookmarks in a the positionof thefigure onthe pagehaschanged.Bookmarks inatrade same diagramonare-flowed document.Thepagenumberhaschanged and of theHeart onpage35.” Now imagine thedifficultyofpointingout to aspecificfigure onaspecificpagenumber “Studentsturntothediagram is adiminishedattributeinthe scholarlyworld.Imagine aprofessor referring inthe tradebookpublishingworld an EPUB,whichmakesitsoimportant publishing thedifference between thetwoare Theabilityto important. re-flow The debatebetween EPUBandPDFrageson. In theworldofacademic against casualpiracy. available in aneasy-to-consume,reasonably pricedformatisthebestdefense is likelyahackerinbasementworking onawaytocrackit.Making content is asophisticateddigitallockbeingdeveloped somewhere intheworld,there the Internet isthreatened. Criminal piracywillalwaysbeaproblem. If there with themostadvanced digitalrightsmanagementsoftware, anycontenton needs tobesure thattheircontentisfree from piracy. Unfortunately, even chunkingandtagginghastaken placeapublisher Once allthiswonderful work atthebeginningofprocess canreally payoffintheend. would allow course packcreators required. toidentifythearticle Theextra tagged as: “Pausania’s Guideto Greece” 80

Alternative Futures for Publishing follow theapproach ofacompany likeINKLING doyou develop forfirst?” All ofthisleadstothequestion“What Do you developed by theauthor. sets andaudiopresentations thatcanbesoldas“chunks” alongwiththetext over theyears todevelop contentsuchasauthorlectures, interactive problem a coursepack.Publishers shouldbeabletousethe skillstheyhave developed link. Professors expecttobeableincludeyoutube videosandany audioin Students expecttoseealinkandclickthrough to thecontentpromised by that Course packstodayshouldcontainembeddedrichmediaandworking links. In 2005ArnoldHirshon said, don’t move. bookmarks designatepointsinthetextthatyou maybestudyingandthey move andre-flow thebookmarks basedonwhere you are inthetext,PDF referencetextbook mark important pointsforstudy. EPUBsallow you to if notallsystems, somethingthatusersare familiarwithand thatdoesnot probably oneofplatform agnosticism.Something thatcanbeusedonmost, a standard isdeterminedforalongperiodoftimethe bestcourseofactionis with thethreat thattheplatformwillshift.Anyone remember theiPod? Until be read onanydevice?Thecostofdeveloping foranexclusive platformcomes develop exclusively fortheiPad? Or doyou develop PDFsthatcancurrently but by themostagile andcustomer responsive provider.” bewon racemay notnecessarily by thelargest, orthestrongest, “The 81 www.inkling.com 2 and

Alternative Futures for Publishing them dothatbetter?” they wanttodo. Thequestionthatneedstobeaskedis “how can you help communities, communitiesalreadystart exist,theyare already doing what it isinadaptingthematerialsthatalready exist.Mark Zuckerberg said“Don’t forpublishersisn’tThe opportunity justincreating academicmaterials new revenue. cannot beeasilyreplicated, istypicallynon-returnable andgeneratesstrong net price. From acompetitive advantage forapublisheritbecomessomethingthat of atextbookbecomesexactlywhatstudentneedstosucceed atareasonable chunks ofcontenttocompletetheircustomcoursematerial. This “mash-up” can writemostofthecontentrequired todeliver acourseandthenfind can beusedinmultipleformatsandmanydifferent “chunks.” Aprofessor small, focused,agilepublisherstodevelop manydifferent kindscontentthat five” publisherstoget your contentintoaclassroom. timefor It isaperfect ever beendeveloped. There isnolongeraneedtosignwithoneofthe“big foraprofessorpath forward tocreate anddistributecontentthatmaynothave allow inthedevelopment foranotherstep-forward ofcontent.There isaclear All ofthesetechnologicaladvances incoursepacksandpack delivery friendliness andutilityofApple-designed products. require anesotericpieceofsoftware. However, itishard toignore theuser- will allow thosecommunitiestouse your content inwaysyou didn’t expect. platforms available asyou canandforapricethat your customers don’t expect 82 3 Making contentascustomizablepossible,for asmany

Alternative Futures for Publishing 3. 2. 1. Notes Back onthe30 the nextbigthing. We are tolditwillbeready by June.

in-public-parts-wwgd www.buzzmachine.com/2012/02/01/facebook-goes-public-zuckerberg- http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0512.pdf EduCAUSE January/February 2005, Hirshon, Arnold,ADiamondintheRough: DiviningtheFuture ofE-content. Twenty-First Century. Cambridge:Polity, 2010 Thompson, John B.Merchants ofCulture: The Publishing Business inthe th floor we have allhad oursay. It istimeto vote. We allpick 83

Alternative Futures for Publishing did infactreceive aninvitationtotheceremony, and Arcade Fire appeared as looked relieved, asthoughtheyhadfinally convincedenoughpeople they like hewasn’t enjoying cross-over himself, thecountry bandLadyAntebellum inhermonster-filleduniverse, everything Eminem wasdoinghisbesttolook lipsticked, LadyGaga wasdeckedoutin hautecouture lookingpleasedwith to appearquintessentiallycharacteristic. KatyPerry waswide-eyed andthickly nominees forAlbumofthe Year satattheedgeoftheirdesignatedseatstrying As theevening drew toanendofthe53rd annualGrammy awards, thefive Author, Reader, andPublisher RelationshipThe Between Dialectic Look Who’s Talking, Really: 84

– Jessica Legacy

Alternative Futures for Publishing now flooded withcomplaintsabout thewinnershadinitially helped togive stopped dropping theirname” (Hathaway). Indeed, thesocialmediathat was was “so well-known in indie rock circles that manymusicsnobshave totally Yet asonewriterfrom theblogUrlesque explains,atthistimeArcade Fire Who is#Arcade Fire?” questioned, “How can abandI’ve NEVER heard ofwinAlbumthe Year? lesser-known band.Remarks were summarized by onesuccincttwitterer who is Arcade Fire,” whichcompiledscreenshots ofallthebuzzsurrounding the music. Thebacklashprompted ablogonthepopularsite “Who Tumblr titled than mainstream hadinfiltratedthe group ofartists ‘gala ofthe year’ popular spouting “nobody” and“robbed.” Viewers demandedtoknow how aless The trend exploded ontwitter, blanketingthemusicscenewithhashtags Fire?” Bloggers andtweeters theworld over exclaimed, “who theexpletive isArcade way toward wave wasalready thestage,areactionary stirringontheinternet. mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, andaglockenspiel.Asthehipsterparadewoundtheir over aFrench halfadozen memberswielding,amongother instruments, horn, went totheeclecticjazz-inspired indierock bandfrom Montreal whoboasts Lady Antebellumwhowere calledtoclaimtheprize ofthenight.Theaward breath, itwasnotEminem, norwasitKatyPerry, itwasn’t LadyGaga oreven When theenvelope wasopenedandtheaudiencesuckedinananticipatory party. Then,somethingunexpectedhappened. though theycouldn’t waittobreak openthemicro-brew andbegintheafter- 85

Alternative Futures for Publishing or a Twitter account?How are theseplatforms usedmosteffectively? Does between publisher, author, andreader? Is itenoughtosimply have ablog the appropriate level ofengagement,indeedeven thepersonal relationship, herald thattheirwork speaksforitself. In aculture ofconversation, whatis might tellyou theyleave thespeakingtoauthors, andmanyauthorswill a carpetandanswer inquiriesaboutwho we are wearing. In fact,publishers amount ofpublicappearances.Thankfully, we are notmadetowalkacross arguably makestheleast industries, thebookindustry andentertainment art Where shouldpublishers placethemselves inthisconversation? Of allthe amount ofagencyamongindustriesthatseektoinformand entertain. the unexpectedsuccessofArcade Fire reveal thataudiencehasanincreasing is chatteringceaselesslyattheinternationalwatercooler. Instances suchas by theunconditionalconversationinterrupted regarding andtastethat art overeducated andtheunderpaid,allthesepreconceived categorizationsare Urbanites dwellers, teenagersaswell astheirparents, andcountry the to hear, watch,orread. Thisconversation transcends region anddemographic. whotelltheaudience whattheywant traditional marketers andelectedexperts At themoment,thisglobaldialoguestillremains beyond somewhat theearof film andtelevision, yes, even publishing. Awards. There isaconversation occurringbeyond theboardrooms ofmusic, learnedavaluable lessonbyentertainment theendof2010Grammy a reputation andword through and intimateperformances ofmouth.Art the banditsfollowing. Before theyhittheradio-waves, Arcade Fire established 86

Alternative Futures for Publishing writes, “Moronic thinking+badgrammar: goodcombo. Keep ’emcoming, if off astringof tweets aimed athiscritics.“Thehate tweets dribble on.” he attending andreading from hisbookSatanic Verses. Incensed, Rushdie fired later revealed thatthethreats were fabricated inorder tokeep Rushdie from for theJaipur Literature Festival inlightofalleged assassinationthreats. It was Recently, Rushdie tookto Twitter torespond tohiscancelledtripMumbai as aplatformforbothopinionandplay. Atwood and Salman Rushdie active are tweeters bothvery andusethemedia who have taken to Twitter foran outletofcreative expression. Margaret books over tweeting. However, there are alsoagrowing numberofauthors hers istheaccountofverified Rowling, but she prefers tokeepwriting has tweeted ninetimes,allbuttwoofthosetweets are merely reiterations that are indeedmany authorswhoidentifywiththistypeofpersona.J.K.Rowling that attentionandcriticismremains uponthework andnottheauthor. There ofanonymityso attitude oftheauthoristocloakhimorherselfinacurtain in order tobolsterbooksales. Trubek goesontosaythatthestereotypical publishers are pushingtheirauthorstocreate Facebook and Twitter accounts a goodidea.She argues thatinthecurrent climateofpublishing,many Anne Trubek investigates authorswhotweet andpostulateswhetheritis In from theSunday anarticle BookReview sectionoftheNew York Times, publishing? the reader? Is thistypeofengagementgenre-specific? Is thisthefuture of the responsibility ultimatelyliewiththeauthororpublishertoengage 87

Alternative Futures for Publishing Atwood responded “Apart from Get aDay Job? Cause[sic]unlessyou play some inspirationaladvicefor thebuddingpoettoshare withhispeers.Instead class presentation” andnot“lecture,” and soonemightexpectAtwood tooffer assume thatthefollower wasastudentandnotteacher, given thelabel“in Any advice/thoughtsforaclassroom full ofyoung aspiringpoets?”One can recently afollower asked,“I’m givinganinclasspresentation onThe Door. Often her commentsare characteristicallyfunnyandstandoffish. Forexample, thousand followers, Atwood’s Twitter feed boastsover seven thousandposts. Margaret Atwood iseven more active on Twitter thanRushdie. With over 300 books sincetheybeganfollowing him. followers, thatmore andyou have canbecertain thanafew purchased his smoothing by thepublisher. Nevertheless, Rushdie hasover 230thousand to criticsfrom anotherauthormightresult inasignificantamountofPR degree ofintimacy. Indeed itcouldbearguedthatsuchpersonalresponses is almostanexception. notallauthorstaketo Certainly Twitter withthesame of you sick,oreven justtired.” Rushdie’s personalrelationship withthismedia tired… [sic]”Rushdie responded, “Feel free tounfollow. Iwouldhatetothink one usertweeted “please RUSHDIE we dontprmoteurviewz are sickand responded directly tohiscriticswith characteristicallybitingrebuttals. When question removed from thebannedbookslistinIndia. Once again,Rushdie month Rushdie used Twitter topropel acampaigntohave the bookin tweeting backthankstosympatheticfollowers.to supporters, Thefollowing you wanttomakeyour faithlookugly&fascist.” He alsoresponded directly 88

Alternative Futures for Publishing to dosodigitally. to acquaintthemselves withtheauthorinpersonhavean opportunity achance often.Itinterviews isthanks to Twitter thatmanyreaders whowill never have insight intoanotoriouslyprivate writer whofamouslydoesnottravel orgrant Atwood’s real real conversations usersprovide withothervery welcome an appropriately rotating skull. generated withausernamed“Rotating Skull” whohadaprofile picture with being erected nearNiagara Falls. The result wasaspontaneousconversation Recently sheretweeted buildingsfrom apetitiontokeephigh-rise apartment Atwood isalmostmore personalon Twitter than she canbeinperson. what tothinkofit;don’t askme. Perhaps thisisclosertowhatwe mightexpectfrom anauthor:askmywork guitar +sing,hard alone?How tomakealivingfrom poetry about:‘Listen…’” Twitter thinggoingtoo far? Atwood: Ican’t believe I’m inadialogue witharotating skull. Isthis Twitter profile, andthenoffered ofgoats to asacrifice Ba’al. Igoogledfor Skull: Rotating rotating .gif, skull saved it,setitto my Atwood: Aw c’mon! Share theSecret! Pure Skull: Rotating Evil. Atwood: How doyouto rotate? gettheskull 89

Alternative Futures for Publishing digital services. She isanexampleofresilience, hard work, thickskin,andafamiliarityof dozen booksavailable, allself-published.Hocking isnotaragstorichesstory. 150 thousanddigitalunitsby October ofthesame year. To date,shehasa months later, Hocking hadgeneratedover twenty thousandinsales,moving place My Blood Approves, oneofhermanyunpublished novels onAmazon. Six 2010, driven by theneedforaquickfew-hundred dollars,Hocking electedto hundreds agentsandpublishers.Finally ofrejections from literary in April of Amanda Hocking. Aprolific writersincetheageofseventeen, Hocking boasts One brandofauthorshipisthe fine example ofthisnew recent sensation, garners enoughattentiontospeakforitself. responsibility to maintainpersonalityandaccessibilityuntilhisorherwriting one withahighstandard ofwriting.Therefore, itisstill ultimatelytheauthor’s police standards. It takesalotofwork toweed through independentbooksfor we ofself-publishingistheinabilityto have seentimeand timeagain,thecrux essence IANwillacceptanyauthorintoitsdatabaseforaone-timelow fee.As such as IAN facilitate a co-operative public relations organization, for a cost. In material available withonlytheirauthorsinvested inmarketing. Communities and support. With theeaseandgrowth ofself-publishing,there isaseaofnew promoting themselves andtheirwork? New suchasthe services far before theinvention of Twitter. How are lesser-known authorssuccessfully Yet boththeseauthorsare establishedpersonalitieswithafanbase Author Network (IAN) connect independent authors keen for cross-promotion 90 Independent Independent

Alternative Futures for Publishing author likeHocking whohasbuiltherselffrom theground up. have foundsuccess,andwhileitmaysound formulaic,itcanbearelief toan familiar withthepublisher’s continuityandthetypesofaudienceswhere they author andrelieve someofthepressure ofsoloproduction. Theeditorsare begin, publishershave thebenefitof reliable editorsthat willwork withthe exclusively represented by operationssuch asKindleandSmashwords. To publishing housesare relevant, even tothelikesofauthorsheretofore to considerthisastepbackwards; rather, itisevidencethat“traditional” that initiallyrejected her. Some maybeinclined self-publishingsupporters Press. The self-publishingsuccesshasagreed industry towork withthe very On January 24,2012Hocking signedafourbookdealwithSt. Martin’s sixteen thousandtweets todate. weekly, andshehasrightlydescribedherselfasan“obsessive tweeter” withover later andover amilliondollarsinsales, Hocking stillupdatesherblogatleast only amountstoabout2sentencesthatpretty muchsaythanks.” Six months of myresponses are lame.I’ll spendaboutanhourreplying tofanmailandit I’m torespond anywhere toreaders, Icanbe.alwaystry even thoughmost remaining accessible:“I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, KB. people wouldarguethatpoint.” However, Hocking isalsodedicated to endorsements, andgoodwriting,“although, believe me,” shewrites,“some from goodcovers, competitive pricing,apopulargenre, bookblogger her blogfrom August 27,2010,shespeculatesthathersuccesshasderived Hocking isquicktoadmitthatshehasroom forimprovement. In aposton 91

Alternative Futures for Publishing from theauthorsuchas Hocking suggests?At itscore, Twitter isamessaging there more tothis dialoguethanthefanappreciation andaquick thankyou How doestherealistic dialoguebetween author andreader appear online?Is generation ofreaderswill beanew oblivious toherhistory. years ofdedication.There isnodoubtwhen Hocking’s booksgoto print there to audienceswhowere notprivytothebrewing firestorm ofsuccessfanned by personal interaction.LikeArcade Fire, Hocking isonly anovernight sensation these creators established popularitythrough grassroots campaigningand Bypassing themainstream, traditionalmethodofdistributingcreative content, Amanda Hocking’s resembles Arcade Fire’s story experienceattheGrammy’s. cream risingtothe top.” being signed:“It’s liketheold-fashionedslushpilebeingroad tested--withthe Martin’s Press remarks thatself-publishedstoriesare “pre-tested” onlinebefore gamble thanundiscovered talent.Andrew Martin ofMinotaur BooksatSt. e-reader. Furthermore, publishersknow successfulself-publishersare lessofa remarking thatmostofherteenagedaudiencedoesnotown aniPad oran traditional publishing,sheexpressed hersimpledesire toreach more readers, from USA article Today onHocking’s success,whenaskedabouttheswitchto forwritersandpublisherstofindeachother.”opportunity Elsewhere, inan of talkaboutpublishersbeingleftouttheloop. But thiswholethingisan quotes Jeremy Trevathan, Macmillan’s fictioneditorwhostates“There’s alot opposing sides.In from The an article Guardian on 12, Ed January Pilkington digitalpublishersareThis isnottosaythattraditionalpublishersandnew on 92

Alternative Futures for Publishing is how we judge” (23). Yet before judgingthe quality ofthereviews, itis to nailthebook. Some judgments are more worth than others;thequestion comment exactly what’s consumer review insightful,notevery every needed an onlinecomment,but,famously, blogisbearable reading, not notevery can blog,” Hoffert writes, “or postaconsumerrating or review, or register field, createsreviewing-made-easy acongestionof poor reviews. “Anyone Unfortunately, muchlikethefloodof mediocre booksintheself-publishing from “captive audience” toactive participant. enthusiasm. It isthisempowerment thathasredefined the role ofthe reader offers readers a platform toexpress theiropinions,andtheyare doingsowith are claimingtheir significanceintheevaluation ofliterature. media New In turn,readers aren’t playingthecaptive audienceanymore” (22).Readers “but fractured among numerous multifariousvoices foundmostlyontheweb. longer centralizedbigvoices withafew leadingtheway,” Hoffert explains, increasing popularityofthesesites,booktalkisthriving.“Reviewing isno changing landscapeofthebookreview. In it,shesuggeststhatwiththe In 2010,Barbara Hoffert inTheLibrary wrote anarticle Journalabout the business model,thereader thanever before. hasmore agencyinthisindustry and Amazon relying onuser-generatedreviews asakeycomponentoftheir formalizing discussioninthedigitalspace. With sitessuchasGoodreads this platformisthatitspontaneous,organic,unmediated. Yet readers are and Hocking door, likeRowling, theycanlet Twitter be.Thenature of Authorsservice. canchoosetointeractwiththeirreaders asAtwood, Rushdie, 93

Alternative Futures for Publishing advice but nothierarchy; thegoal isultimately participation” (23-24). different beastentirely, generallystriving forconvictionratherthan objectivity, book talkonthe web isn’t to emulatework by seasoned critics.It’s trying a winklingout thedepthofunderstandingbehindit.Butuntil you start most by ajealouscompetitor. Anyone canpost,andanopinionisjust consumer review isperhapsaninformed read andperhaps astabintheback energetically. Ablogoffers animpassioned reader’s personalslant,anda the conversation theInternet facilitates,where specialinterests are pursued “The goldenidealoftheauthority-driven hasbeenchallenged review by that literature addresses amultitudeofneedsandopinions.Hoffert remarks: reading more accumulatesareview withmultiplevoices, andacknowledges heretofore whenrelying onprofessional reviewers. unnecessary However, True, thistypeofcriticalthinkingrequires asubstantialamountofreading judge whoisareliable reviewer. exceptional conditionsthereader to approach reviews criticallyinorder to (24). In otherwords, thevolume thegamutfrom ofreviews poorto running fiction) are bettertreated by committedamateursthanothers(e.g.,history)” to spotfakesandgrandstanders,recognize thatsomesubjects(e.g.,genre a challenge,sodedicatedreaders focusonwhatgrabsthem,cultivate anability that “the anonymityoftheweb pervasive canmakefollowing standoutwriters being read. In addition,simplereviews breed criticalreaders. Hoffert explains was boring,” thesheervolume ofreviews unquestionablyreveals thatabookis a popularbookencompasssimplecommentssuchas,“Ilikedthis,” or“this examiningthequantityofreviews. Evenworth ifthemajorityofreviews for 94

Alternative Futures for Publishing want toread, compare bookliststootherusers, andformbookclubsonthe Launched inDecember, 2006,its members trackbookstheyhave read or One ofthemostsuccessfulonlinereading communities is that continueswell afterthebookisreleased. aware criticismisaproduct oftheanthologized andunendingconversation and ratecontent,buttheyalso allow userstorate reviewers. This typeofself- incorporated ausefulqualifierintoitsplatform. Not onlycanauser review leader,Online industry Amazon hasrecognized thefloodof reviewers and unidirectional relationship ofprofessional reviewer andcaptive audience. the discussionsgeneratedinthesedigitalspacesare more authenticthanthe the acclaimedauthoritative voice oftheprofessional reviewer. Asaresult, readers inthediscussionofliterature canparticipate withoutregurgitating finished” (25). Online reading communitiescreate adesignated spacewhere ortoconfirm impressionsothers simplytobeentertained ofabookthey’ve the 1,562ndcommenteronLarsson?).Some wanttolearnaboutthesubject, they canseetheirnamesonthescreen (whyelsewouldanyone wanttobe conversation,” suggestsHoffert, “others tocontributethatconversation so in aconversation. “Some ofaconversation forthesakeof wanttobepart driven by economics. Instead, commentsevidencethedesire toparticipate professional reviewers, bookshelves reviews are generated onvirtual not the eliteauthoritynolongerhasloudestvoice. Furthermore, unlike alongwithotherformsofdigitalmedia,facilitateacultureforums, where Book oftheuser-generated liesintheactofparticipation. The crux review 95 Goodreads .

Alternative Futures for Publishing the generalmasses, andnotsimplytheprofessional reviewer. content provides information aboutwhatisconsidered important popularto createsnewsletter adialoguebetween usersand providers, andthegenerated types ofreaders through thesespecialized groups, alongwithacustomized by authorsfeatured ontheuser’s bookshelf. Theabilitytointeractwith specific releases, not onlyinformsusersofall new butspecificallypointstonew releases own bookshelf. virtual In addition,Goodreads which has amonthlynewsletter a chapter-by-chapter discussionofaspecificnovel, orcontributetothegroup’s can alsochataboutcommonthemeswithinaspecificcommunity, in participate read book-specific generated reviews by thegreater communityofusers,they publishing mightdowell toexamine)inspired by fiction. Not onlycanusers entirely different culturalphenomenagenerated by onlinecommunitieswhich literature, novels, vampires, mystery andgroups centered onrole playing(an centered onspecific themeorgenre. There are groups forfansof Victorian Goodreads alsooffersalargenetwork ofuser-generated reading groups providing asignificant role inaburgeoning community. “librarians” toeditandtagcontentinorder toimprove Goodreads’ catalogue, bookshelf withfollowers. Goodreads alsoenliststheassistanceofvolunteer appearances, communicatethrough ablog,andshare hisorherown virtual author canmakeafree profile inorder topublicize recent work, public advertise offered by thesite;forexample, Goodreads offersanauthor program, where an learning throughout theworld.” There are anumberofinnovative services about reading. Alongtheway, we plantoimprove theprocess ofreading and website. Its missionstatementdeclares thatitintendsto“get peopleexcited 96

Alternative Futures for Publishing participates inthecultureparticipates ofthesite,thereby generatingmore traffic,the books theyenjoy. It isasymbioticrelationship inthat themore anauthor other inreviewingdiscussion groups, andsupporting andparticipate authors.” These are authors whohave accountswhere theyblog,join In additiontothesponsored live chats,Goodreads alsofeatures “Goodreads office orplaceofpersonalsentiment. intimacy becausetheauthorsmaychoosetoconductchat intheirhome so theaudiencecanseeauthor, which provides anintriguinglevel of often informalandinviting.Often thesechatsare accompaniedby video however,large volume ofparticipants; thetoneofconversation ismost with otherusersinacasualsetting.Theseevents are moderatedduetothe roughly twice amonthwhere readers are abletoaskquestionsandinteract and theauthorstheyread. First, Goodreads sponsorslive chatswithauthors There are three notablewaysthat Goodreads bridgesthegapbetween readers results withthesetypesofauthorevents. heretofore limitedby geographiclocation.Goodreads hasachieved great booktours,gainingaccesstoareadershipmedia, authorscandovirtual generate publicinterest. Now withtheconvenience andaccessibilityofdigital book tourswithscheduledpublicreadings have beenanestablishedwayto each otheraswell astheorganizationthatcreated thebooks. Traditionally, digital mediawouldbetohave authorsandtheirreaders discussbookswith readers discussbooks.It wouldseemthemostproductive arrangementin So farIhave demonstratedhow authorsacknowledge readers, andhow 97

Alternative Futures for Publishing arranged nearly bi-weekly authorQandAswithreaders whomayor may not began tocontact her, requesting For toparticipate. over ayear, Stewart has of mouthspread regarding thesuccessofthesediscussions,andeagerauthors with authors,beginning membersofherown community. Soon word from Nova Scotia,A.F. Stewart. In 2010, Stewart began hostingdiscussions group “Writers andReaders,” created andmoderated by self-publishedauthor has successfullyconducteda large numberofthese“QandA”sessionsisthe self-published, orrepresented by independent publishers.One suchgroup that Typically, inthesereading theauthorswhoparticipate group discussionsare or questionandanswer sessionswithauthorswhoagree toparticipate. discussions, entirely by theuserswhoseekout,invite,andorganize interviews, for discussionwithauthorswhoagree Thesediscussionsarerun toparticipate. discussions. Reading groups are touseGoodread’s atliberty provided forums Finally Goodreads hasallowed itsusersaspacetoconduct theirown author literature withsomething tosayintoamarketing platform. ofempatheticbond.Itsort turnstheoldadageofIwritebecauseamafan inthesametypesofactivitiesas thereaders,image by participating creating a books slatedtoread inthefuture. In thissense,theauthorpropels hisorher bookshelfcompletewithhisorhercurrentvirtual reads, favourite books,and asareader.in thisservice Thatistosay, readers are theauthor’s abletoview the reader inthisinstance,theauthorisgainingsuchexposure by participating process, becauseasmuchtheexposure iscontrolled by theauthorandnot more visibilityamongusers.There isaninteresting dynamicatplayinthis more Goodreads willfeature theauthor, whereby theauthorthen generates 98

Alternative Futures for Publishing on current projects, andtheyeven usethesocialmedia tosocialize. George and elsewhere.” Academics share ofinterest, links toarticles updatepeers now increasingly tagged,catalogued,andarchived onblogs,Mendeley, Twitter, posterity offuture scholarship. “Thesebackstageactivities,” Priem writes, “are forthe survive is theephemeralanthologyof ideaswhichwouldnototherwise at anaverage rateoffive timesa week. He notesthatthebenefitofthese tweets academics and Twitter, academicsuse andfoundthatoneinforty Twitter and withtheirpeers.Jasonideas andarticles Priem recently conductedastudyon In addition,scholarsare increasingly migratingto Twitter inorder toshare determining whetheratargetaudienceandanactual are cohesive. don’tcertainly taketheplaceofpeer-reviews, theyare avaluable toolfor Blackburne, authorofFrom Words toBrain (2010). While thesediscussions popular discussionis“Neuroscience ofReading and Writing,” hostedby Livia including health,biology, anthropology, andneuroscience. Its current most with discussionscenteringonauthorsandrecent publicationswithtopics Goodreads undertheauthorsheading sitethere isasmallsciencesubcategory in digitaldiscussionsonsitessuchasGoodreads aswell as Twitter. On the by whendealingwithfiction,infact,authorsallgenres are participating discussion onlyfitforfictionandfans? Whileexamples are easierto come It mayseemasthoughthismodelonlysuitsauthorsoffiction. Is online exposure. author, amodestsurgeinsalesaround thedateof thediscussion,andreader be familiarwiththeauthor’s work. The result hasbeenfree promotion forthe 99

Alternative Futures for Publishing should have apublicpersona. It should bebold,boisterous, andenthusiastic. In the current stateof thebookindustry, I wouldarguethatthepublisher author’s nameand notthepublisher’s beattheforefront ofthereader’s mind? publisher’s jobto market the creator andhis orhercontent,butshouldn’t the good publisherwhenitappears asthoughitwasnever there? itisthe Certainly take abackstagerole intheauthor/reader relationship? Is itnotthesignofa Where should thepublisherfitinthisunit? Is itnotthepublisher’s jobto are arguablyconferences inandofthemselves. disperse from thephysicalgatheringplace.Indeed, thesehashtagdiscussions also allow theconversation to continueonagrandscaleoncetheparticipants discourse not only act discussion as leading preliminary up to conferences, they conferences sothat we maytweet along astheevents progress. Thesetypesof us have already experiencedtheannouncementofpredetermined hashtagsat appearances inconferences manyof andsubsequentpublications.Certainly only naturalthatideassparked from theseconversations eventually make With through thechannelsof dialoguerunning Twitter andblogs,itis Revkin’s Twitter. post hecitescontentfrom climatebloggerfortheNew York Times, Andrew Hoberg isacontributortotheblogGreenPolicyProf where inatleastone feed isfloodeddailywithfollowers joiningtheconversation. In addition, as well aspersonalfindings regarding environmental policy, andhistwitter of British Columbia isanactive Twitter user. He shares ofimportance articles Hoberg, anenvironmental/natural resource policyprofessor attheUniversity 100

Alternative Futures for Publishing working extremely hard toproduce thecontentthatitsreaders enjoy. by RandomHouse’s twitterfeedexemplifies the real, passionateindividuals our childhood,andamazing places toread. The contentandtonegenerated publications, butthoughtful lists suchasbannedbooks,favourite booksfrom ofimagesfeaturingnotonly their of thispagerevealsquick perusal alibrary not theirofficial website,butinsteaditisalinktotheir Pinterest page.A the website provided intheprofile sectionofRandom House’s Twitter is events, creative writingprompts, andeven personalcurrent reads. In addition, tweets ofinterest include quotesfrom famousauthors,articles tocurrent in thepopculture climate.Amongpromotional materialforupcomingtitles, andtheyare informedofrealand entertainment, mostcertainly time changes It isevidentthatRandomHouse ispluggedintotheculture surrounding art impressive thanthat,RandomHouse follows over 27 thousand Twitter users. tweets todate.It boastsafollowers listofover 280thousand,andmore The publisher’s Twitter feedisextremely active withalmosttwelve thousand public relations. RandomHouse hasafantastic socialmediaco-ordinator. Some publishersare already successfullyusingthislevel ofintimacyintheir readers andpublishershave somethingincommon.Publishers are fanstoo. house findtalentandintrigueinthecontentauthordevelops. Here their authors. Work ischosenbecausethedecisionmakersatpublishing what theyknow and whatisknown towork well forthem. Theyalsoadmire Publishers are foremost abrandwithcohesive lineofproducts. Theypublish 101

Alternative Futures for Publishing Press meet atargetand publishabook.However, similarmodelssuch asKickstarter At thetimeofthispublication, Pubslush is still initsinfancyandhasyet to perhaps somethingguaranteed tobechildappropriate. need. It is unclearwhetherthisbookwillbeoneofPubslush’s own titles,or booksoldPubslushplan: forevery promises todonateonebookfor achildin addition, Pubslush has acharitablecomponentembeddedintheirmarketing hand informationaboutthetypeofwritingtheirreaders wanttoread. In theywanttosee,whileauthorsgainfirst- influence thetypeofstorytelling the bookisstillineditorialphase.Readers are provided withtheagencyto allowsopen forum readers toprovide feedbackdirectly totheauthorwhile A keycomponentofPubslush’s production modelisuserinteraction. Their thebook receiveto printandallthosewhosupported acopy. published. If 1000userscontributetothebookwithin120daysthenitwillgo is essentiallylikepre-ordering, onlytheuserdoesnotpayunlessbookis has generatedenoughinterest thenthereader may“support” thebook.This the work thenheorshemaydownload thelargerexcerpt. Finally, ifthepiece enough thenthereader canaccessthebriefsample.If there isstillinterest in review process. First thereader browses thebriefsynopsis.If itisintriguing of theirwork alongwithalargerexcerpt. Thework thengoesthrough a reader involvement level. toanew Authors submitasynopsisandtenpagesample and Jeremy Trevathan’s commentaboutthepre-tested slushpileis Another publishinghousethathasembraceddigitalmedia,reader interaction, . Part innovative charity, publishinghouse,part Pubslush istakingreader 102 Pubslush

Alternative Futures for Publishing ultimately my opinion won’t changeanupcomingbook design.Iwouldliketo would liketobe askedmyopinionondust jackets andfrench flaps—even if their senioreditorhasagoldfish namedafterherfavourite brandofpen.I wizards are betterthanbooksaboutvampires. Iwouldliketoknow that Anne inpublicrelations read mytwitterpostandagrees thatbooksabout publisher? Iwouldliketoknow someone’s name.Iwould liketobetoldthat What wouldIasareader liketohear, orratherread, inthevoice ofthe purchase. eager toengageinaconversation abouttheproducts heorsheiswillingto has acknowledged thattheconsumerisinformedwithastrong opinion,and already onthemarket. Nevertheless, whatever theirfuture success,Pubslush reason foranauthor tochoosePubslush over successfulself-publishingoptions lacks theresources tomarket beyond theseplatformsthenthere isnoreal publications outsideofitsalready establishedsocialmediaoutlets.If Pubslush Finally, itisunclearwhatPubslush intendstodoinorder tomarket its perhaps toooptimistictobeofferingsigningbonusessolargeallitsauthors. a companythathasyet topublish,letaloneprofit from asinglebook,itseems royalties thebook.For forbookssoldbeyond theuserswhoinitiallysupported publication theauthorwillreceive apublishingbonusof$5000ontop foranauthor’srun firstpublication. In addition,ifthe bookisselectedfor of2500copies.Inprint run analready floodedmarket, thisseemslikealarge with Pubslush’s publicationagreement. To begin,Pubslush agrees toaninitial attention toprove successful.In addition,there are anumberofconcerns (the charitableinspirationforPubslush) have recently garnered enough 103

Alternative Futures for Publishing to predict whatpublishingwill looklikeinfive years –even one year –from publishing. With rapidlychanging technologyandfluid trends itisimpossible strength. To putitbluntly, there isnowaytodeterminethefuture of needs. Satisfying clientsgeneratesbrandloyalty whichcarriesgreat economic itisessentialtoappearattentive andexpress interestservice intheclient’s consumer anditwouldbeunwise toappearhesitant.In anycustomer-based merely suggestingthatitiseasiernow more thanever tointeractwiththe and we have foughthard toensure Iam we willnotfallintothesameruts. toward sectors, andentertainment corporateauthorityintheseother art ofwitnessingthecommotionbrought onby piratinganddissension luxury with thechangingclimatethanmusicorfilmindustry. We have hadthe with allreadership. In fact,Iwouldarguethatpublishersare more intouch its tenants.Iamnotsuggestingthattraditionalpublishing isoutoftouch maximize audience exposure. Readers shouldbefansofthehouseaswell as Wolfe, and Fitzgerald. Publishers shouldcross promote theirauthorsto publishing” whenfamededitorMaxwell Perkins hadhistrifecta,Hemingway, theirauthors. the sumoftheirparts, We shouldremember the“golden ageof one mightknow teams. film studiosoreven sports Publishers are more than discussion. Readers torecognize should have theopportunity publishersas bookshelves,up profiles authorQandA,forum completewithvirtual I thinkGoodreads withpublishersandallow shouldpartner themtoset press release thatsayssuch;Iwant aconversational remark. are publicationisoffthepresses. elatedthatthenew Idonotwantto read a know thatthedivision inchargeofupdating Twitter andthecompanyblog 104

Alternative Futures for Publishing There Will No Spoilers! Be John Green onThe Fault Stars inOur book, The Fault in Our Stars. Green and hispublisherwent togreat lengthsto In June of2011,Green announced therelease of hismuchanticipatedfifth digital universe andcreated amulti-channelled,poly-focused presence. In summary, theGreens have present harnessedthevast opportunities inthe also created aloyal communityoffollowers whocallthemselves Nerdfighters. over seventy thousand dollarsforavariety ofuser-chosencharities.Theyhave they created apopular charitycalledProject forAwesome whichrecently raised subsequent Youtube active channels,are on bothvery Tumblr and Twitter, and combined totalofover twenty Thebrothers millionviews. have sincelaunched the Green brothers have amassedaviewershipofover 664thousandwitha videos withhisbrother Hank Green. Posting underthetitle“Vlogbrothers,” Book Prize in2007.Thatsame year, Green began postingaseriesof Youtube a Michael L.Printz Honor bookanda finalist fortheLosAngeles Times Printz award in 2006.His secondbookAn Abundance ofKatherines was novel, LookingFor Alaska waspublishedin2005andwontheMichael L. John Green istheauthoroffournovels andco-authorofafifth. His first loyalty, andprofessionalism. publishing fiascoandapublic relations crisiswas,infact,alessononclass, interaction andtheauthor/reader community. What mighthave beena accessibility. Submitted here ofloyalty isanexampleofthesort created by I wouldliketofinishwithabriefcasestudyofthemeritsauthor and intimatecommunication. now. What we candetermineisourbehaviour, andwe needtoembraceopen 105

Alternative Futures for Publishing 1 original publicationdate video thankedAmazon andotherindependent booksellersforrespecting the his readers tokeeptheupcomingbookspoiler free andinhis later Youtube and respect, andresponded withhumilityandrestraint. Green implored his response. He treated involvedthe parties at Barnes and Noble with courtesy great disappointment. However, despitetheerror, Green remained humblein communal fairness.For thesurprise wastoGreen ashippingerror toruin a copies toreviewers, foreign publishers,andfilmexecutives, all inthespiritof day, spoiler-free. Thismeantthattheyhadabstainedfrom sendingadvance readerensure toread hadtheopportunity thatevery thebookonsame explained thatheandhispublisher, Penguin, hard hadworked very to accidentally shippedover onethousand pre-orders prematurely. Green Green released astatementonhisblogstatingthatBarnes andNoble had Then, on December 22,three weeks priortotheofficialpublicationdate, most successfultodate. Pre-orders rolled inlikeaprintingpress andthebookwasslatedtobeGreen’s also hismusicianbrother whoprovided amusical componenttotheevent. A nationwidetourwasbookedwhichincludednotonlyGreen theauthor, but number ofcopies,creating variants ofwhichbookcollectorsdreams are made. of150thousandcopies.Hisprint run brother andwifealsosignedasmall ensure thiswasaspecialpublication.Green personallyautographedthe first http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fOuGTNYGi7Y 106 1 .

Alternative Futures for Publishing it belongs to someone worth talkingto.it belongstosomeoneworth hasavoiceeveryone thepublisher insures hearing.That that itsvoice isworth the selfpublisherisastaffof experts. It isimperative thatinaculture where strength innumbers. from What willalwaysset thetraditionalpublisherapart fosters aninvested brandloyalty. Iamalsosuggesting thatpublishersare andmorefrustration likelytoempathize. Keeping readers informallyinformed intimacy mitigatesanenvironment where readers are lesslikelytoshow verbal rants. What Iamsuggestingisthatloyalty generatedby anytypeof personas asGreen. notallauthors are Certainly expectedtohave away with In addition,itisunrealistic toassume thatallauthorshave asentertaining communication, andthistypeofcommunityspiritisvalued by hisreadership. interaction between Green andhisreaders hasbeencultivated through years of the value of communityduringalltheirpublicappearances.Thetypeof hugsandserenadingvirtual plushtoys orthatauthorsmustreiterate I amnotsuggestingthatpublishersadoptalevel ofdiscourseinvolving reader responses insolidarity, andaconclusive videomessage. the publishingscandalofyear wasinsteadabriefstatement,hundreds of readers isinandofitselfthemostpositive publicity. What mighthave been promised nottospoilit.Thisvideoisevidencethatpersonalinteraction with to abstainfrom reading thebook.Others explainedtheywouldread it,but They respected theauthorandwork. Dozens of readers pledgedpublicly The community reacted thewayonemightexpectaloyal communityto react. 107

Alternative Futures for Publishing NO SPOILERS!!!”inthischapter. Special thankstoJohn Green forpermissiontorepost hisvideo“There Will Be Trubek, Anne.“Should Authors Tweet?” New York Times . 6Jan. 2012. Web. 6 Priem, Jason. “As agreat scholarsundertake migrationtoonlinepublishing…” Pilkington, Ed. “Amanda Hocking, thewriterwhomademillionsby self- Hoffert, Barbara. “Every Reader a Reviewer.” Library Journal Sept. 2010:22- Hathaway, Jay. “Arcade Fire Win Best AlbumGrammy, Clueless Viewers Ask Donahue, Deirdre. “Self-published Authors Find E-Success.” USA Today. 13 Work Cited Jan. 2012. Impact ofSocialSciences.LSEGroup. 21Nov. 2011. Web. 20Feb. 2011. publishing online.” The Guardian. 12Jan. 2012. Web. 10Feb. 2012. 25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4Apr. 2011. Is‘Who Arcade Fire?’” Urlesque. 14Feb. 2011. Web. 27Feb. 2012. Jan, 2012. Web. 20Feb. 2012. 108

Alternative Futures for Publishing confirmation of academicexcellence and inmonographs,journalarticles, Academic publishersbrandishthe goldstandard ofpeer review asa advantage ofthat? seeking innovative meansofdelivering new content. Why aren’t we taking how ouraudienceswanttoreceive informationandby technologistswhoare thinking. We are colleagues whohave surrounded apipelineinto by library nourish innovation, encourageexperimentation, andshowcase waysof new Academic presses enjoy aprivilegedlocationwithinknowledge incubators that 1. Academic publisherscanleadtheway. We Currently Call Publishing Alternative Futures for theBusiness Three thoughts the about 109 Donna Livingstone– Donna

Alternative Futures for Publishing 19 buying,andhighshippingstoragecosts. Welibrary are stumblingover makes absolutelynosenseinatimeofclosingbookstores, digital-preferred things; therefore, you shouldmakemoney. Thisthinking,ifitever worked, like parking lots.Parking lotsmakemoney, thereasoning goes,andyou sell In mostuniversity settings,academicpresses are considered “ancillary” services, review always have tobeblind? waysofpeer-reviewing Firstnew Nations accounts?Does peer- oralhistory andmuseumexhibitions? What aboutdatasets?Canweand gallery develop mean ifwe developed peer-review fordance,music,ortheatricalperformances, public. be consideredWhat wouldit awayofpublishing–makingthestory shapes andacademicexcellence shinesthrough manyforms,allofwhichcan edited volumes. It justifiesourexistence,setsusapart. But research takesmany dissemination of research. Since muchresearch through hasbeen supported Open accesspublishing offers aninclusive, hospitableapproach tothe role asan“essential” tothescholarlyprocess. service or challengesit.Asacademic publishers, we needtoboldlyclaimourleading findings. University research doesn’t have apointifnoone reads it,discusses inspired, toresearch, tocreate, todisseminatetheir andfinally(andcrucially) oftheacademicprocess. Peopleas anintegralpart cometouniversities tobe The paradigmhastoshiftand we have tomove it. We mustpositionourselves ways ofpresenting theinformation. cram 300-pagemonographsintoahand-helddevicewithout consideringnew th century delivery models, paralyzing bibliographic entries, and trying to models,paralyzingbibliographicentries,andtrying delivery century 110

Alternative Futures for Publishing we are shift, we openaccess publishers. If need tobeable aparadigm istotruly It’s notenough topostupapdfofbook, patourselves ontheback,andsay printed bookwhichwe are usuallyabletoprovide printondemand. are findingthattheonline version allows peopletobrowse, thenorder the Changing ourthinkingand approach hasn’t affected ourbottomline. We to allofourresearch? If thisworks inAfrica,whywouldn’t we wantthewholeworldtohave access Ghana, Botswana,orSouth Africa.Thatitmightchangepublicpolicy. that theirresearch mightmakeadifference, mighthelpbuildcapacityin make theirresearch openaccess.They were gladtodothis. Happy tothink had accesstoit.So we went toourauthorsandaskedthemforpermission that thewritingmadeyou think,butitwasn’t makingadifference ifnoone The mottoofour Press is“Making adifference. Making youthink.” Weknew ship abooktoAfricaanddistributionsystemsthere are shakyatbest. Itresearch, withasmallprintrun. butwe costs$50to publishitinCalgary issues suchastherole oftraditionalchiefsatatimeHIVAIDS.Important We publishemergingAfricanscholarsontopicsoflocalgovernance and The University ofCalgary Press publishesaseriescalledAfrica: Missing Voices. And sometimesitjustmakessense. a looseningofcontrol over how knowledge isshared. More theopenaccessmovement, important, driven now by students,callsfor public grants,there isaclearobligationtomakethematerialfreely available. 111

Alternative Futures for Publishing printing ondemand. We have learned agreat deal from NiCHE about the have alreadyrun ofathousandcopies andare soldoutthefirstprint now extensively withpodcasts,websites, socialmedia andcourseadoptions. We by Claire Elizabeth Campbell,received national attention,waspromoted ofParksbook series.Our firstbook,ACentury Canada 1910–2009edited to usbecausewe are openaccessandwe are working withthemonafive- through an environmental lens.NiCHE ofthecountry at thehistory came http://niche-canada.org/ withNiCHE,partner theNetwork ofCanadianHistoryinEnvironment, There are encouragingsigns.The University ofCalgary Press is proud to with ourauthorsandpartners. process much earlierthrough Web 2.0activitiesandmore dynamicinteraction oncethebookwaspublished, we neededtoengagetheminthe simple surveys into theentire publishing systematthePress. It wasclearthatwe gobeyond Group ofCalgary, inidentifyingwaysofembeddinganopenaccessapproach In 2011,theUniversity Press ofCalgary worked withaconsultant,Go-to- been viewedby 176peopleinRussia, butwhatdoesthatmean? us tantalizingglimpsesintoreadership. It’s exciting tothinkthatourbookhas have beenthetraditionalindicators,andtoolssuchasGoogle Analyticsgive There are nocleartoolsformeasuring publishingsuccess. Sales andcitations than traditionalpublishingmethods. now working ishavingagreater impact.That our reach isgreater andstronger to prove toourauthors,institutions,and ourreaders, thatthewaywe are 112 agroup of some300educatorsandscholarslooking

Alternative Futures for Publishing there isalifeandconsequence ofourstoriesbeyond theirfirstappearance. acknowledges theexchange between thereader andthewritersuggests King’s message speakstoanopen,inclusive publishingmodel.He You’ve heard itnow.” that you wouldhave lived your lifedifferently ifonly you hadheard thisstory. withanadmonition:“Don’tBut heendseachstory sayintheyears tocome reader, sayingtheycanpassiton,turnintoaplayorblog,justforgetit. a White perspective. At theendofeachchapter, King “gives” tothe thestory of First Nations experience,from baseballtoGenesis, oftenjuxtaposed with and,by extension,publishers. Eachessayisaboutsomeaspect of storytellers About Stories (Toronto: House ofAnansi,2003)speaks tothisresponsibility Thomas King,the First Nations, inhispowerful collectionofessays,The Truth adialogue. look attheworld.Theywanttostart and publisherswanttomakeadifference. Theywanttochangetheway you sales are decreasing, andeven awarmreview maytakeseveral years. Authors Publishing booksisn’t doneforthemoneyorfame.Funding islimited, 2. Publishing isaverb breathing publicationonitsown. dynamic withpodcasts,fresh streaming news, videos,andresearch ideas.It isa emerging scholarswhoare lookingattheworldinfresh ways.Their website is value ofworking with anopenandinnovative group ofbothdistinguishedand 113

Alternative Futures for Publishing (Seeley ofaradiopanelon waspart amplifiers”. each other, peermentorshipiskey, andtheyusedigitalmedia as“curiosity longer works. Students have to beengaged,theylearncollaboratively from traditional modelofa“sage onstage” teacherpushingcontenttostudents no will turnoutastronomical amountsofstuffaboutwhatthey’re reading. The says thatwhenstudentsare passion-driven, theyare voracious readers and has writtenseveral booksonradicalinnovation, learningandpedagogy. He John Seeley Brown, visitingscholarattheUniversity ofSouthern California, presenting only one “hide-bound” approach? active tense,arethe very by we doingourauthorsandtheirreaders adisservice take theconversation tothenextlevel. While theworldaround usislivingin they maybeseventy. Theywanttobeconsulted,theytalkback, years oldor their palms,mixingupmusicandsound.Theymaybefourteen to The people we arereach are trying onthemove, downloading movies into become more creative inhow we promote whatwe do. time withourauthors,formdeepernetworks around ourpublishingthemes, Maybe it’s timefora“slow publishing” movement inwhichwe spend more ways. Then he “gives” away, thestory innew invitingthe reader toshapethestory Do our booksamplifycuriosityand dowe provide resources tosatisfythat fascinating “Recivilization” onJanuary series starting 24,2012. 114 Open Source Knowledge forCBCRadio’s

Alternative Futures for Publishing a developed by Mike Matas andannounced,appropriately enough,through A breath-taking booksistheiPad exampleofthepotentialnew digitalbook online datingtoday. Valentine’s Day tomakeaconnectionbetween early love-advice columnsand by Dan Azoulay. We shouldbe Twittering quotes from thatbookintimefor bookcalledHeartsa wonderful andMinds, Romance inCanada, 1900to1930 curiosity intimelyandprovocative ways?For example,we recently published Boundary Storiesthe introduction tohisbook,Boundary (2007)where hewrites: Tom Wayman eloquentlydiscussestheunexplored potentialofboundariesin into averb. When whatwe doreally tomakeadifference. starts Whenthenounchanges content “goes live” withtheaudience. totalkback. When theaudiencesstarts landwhere the boundary The keytoourfuture, Ithink,liesinthatblurry or hand. textintothe technologyinourlap constructed toforce a19thcentury trying at thetouchofaglidinghand.Thisismodel we shouldbelookingto,not beautiful blendofimages,text,background content,browseability allavailable TED talk, TED talk, “Our Choice,” Fascinating to meisthelimitthat distinguishesemployment from selfandothers,between individualsand theircommunity. between includetheline moment we concerns encounter aboundary. My reflect Themy interest ofthiscollection stories intheplacesand 115 AlGore’s sequelto“An Inconvenient Truth.” isa

Alternative Futures for Publishing Art Gallery hosted Massive Change Gallery Art For three months,from October 2,2004toJanuary 3,2005,the 3. It’s notabouttheworld ofpublishing, publishing. The examples,more oftenthannot,canbefoundoutsidetraditional Bruce Mau and theInstitute without Borders. instructions, itillustratesthepossibilities,including threeinstructions, alternateendings. asatheatre guideforfuturebook serves productions. Instead ofsimplestage representation oftheproduction. Simply the writtenwithstunning artwork, way. Theproduction wasaccompanied by abeautifullarge-formatgraphic inanevocativevisual effects,music,theatre, and inclusive soundandstory it’s about publishingtheworld. imposed uponus. possibilities hauntthechoiceswe have madeorthathave been desireexpectation, transforms to belief, andtheghostsofrejected becomesmemory, agoalstiffens where into history an important first manifests itself, orcrosses into obsession,ordissipates. Iconsider natural. by thelocationinspaceandtimewhere Iamintrigued love from the theartificial educationfrom indoctrination, servitude, Robert LePage’sRobert recent BlueDragon production 116 (Saskatoon: Thistledown2007)p. Press, 9 Wayman, Thomas,Boundary Stories , ahugemessy, in-your-face exhibition by combined Vancouver

Alternative Futures for Publishing no room onthecornerof ourdeskstoreinvent ourselves or even experiment. printing press. Technology dayandthere is every istransforming ourindustry Publishers oftenfeel likemonkswhoserobes are caughtinGutenberg’s laptops, inmanga,gangsta raplyrics,andinbooks. We needtolisten. upheaval andenormouschange.Andthey are writingon theirphones, and socialmores are beingchallenged.Theyare writingoutofplaces of tomorrow, hesaid,are comingfrom countrieswhere traditions,expectations introduced himselfasawriterfrom Korea now livingintheUK.Thewriters and thelatestHarry Potter phenomenon.Thena young Asianmangotupand of Tomorrow?” genres, apanelofpublishersspokeaboutnew graphicnovels, At theLondon BookFair are the in2009,asessioncalled“Who Writers community-based marketing. understanding ouraudience,diversifying ourmessages,andstrengthening Membership doubled.There are inthegallery lessonshere forpublishersabout many ways.Thatthey were ready to receive institution. itfrom atrusted savvy, andconcernedabouttheplanet–wantedto receive informationin It understoodthatitsaudience–young, visually gallery worked becausetheart third worldcommerce, military, imageoverload, andrecycling beauty. website, talksby leading thinkersandchallengestoconceptsofsustainability, the wholetown talking through acombinationofexhibition,interactive introduced guerillamarketing through lawnsignsandsocialmedia,had the designofworld,” challengedaudiences’ exhibitions, expectationsofart The exhibition,withthetagline“It’s notabouttheworldofdesign,it’s about 117

Alternative Futures for Publishing to guideus:It doesn’t matterhow you read theworld,onlythatyou do. In themidstofallthis changeanduncertainty, there isoneconsolingthought minds. waysofreadingnew and theworld,andwe needtolistenwithopenhearts audiences asmuchourauthors.Theyare inventing thenew vocabularies, structures thatare dissolving around us.Thefutures ofourbusinessliein It’s easytobreak intoarashatallthechoicesandchallengestocling 118

Alternative Futures for Publishing wake oftheUniversity’s collapse reinventing publishinginthe academic Publish orPerish: dictate a dictate ‘publish orperish’ credo withintheranks. Situationimperatives somethingandgetitintoone mustwrite print. The prevailing pragmatism forced upontheacademicgroup isthat 119 A Study in the Sociology ofaProfessionA StudyintheSociology – Logan Wilson, The Academic Man: – Paul Martin

Alternative Futures for Publishing

had an earthquake lately.”had anearthquake “Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” hesaid, upalittle, brightening haven’t“we “Is it?” “And freezing.” itis.”“So “It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily. and harmless. (226) Perish’ motto. isthebeanery To mustbedull, getpublishedthey stupid getting thembefore thepublicsigned by theprofesorry-rat. ‘Publish or approves. They willthinkhisthoughtsaslonghepay thebillfor as SantaClaus. They willdo ‘research onanything’ thatSantaClaus to thesegents. areThe beaneries ontheirknees They regard them 120 –M arshall McLuhan, letter to Ezra Pound, June22,1951 – A.M ilne, The HouseatPooh Corner 11

Alternative Futures for Publishing ‘publish or perish’ credo withintheranks” (197). “Situational forsurvival: imperatives dictatea publishing isthemostcrucial seemingly ofequalvalue. He goesontoindicate,however, thattheactof Wilson’s descriptionthatwritingandpublishingare twoseparateactivities, group isthat onemuchwritesomethingandgetitintoprint” (197).Note in acquiring ofprestige: “the prevailing pragmatismforced upontheacademic instance. Wilson seesthispressure asonethat ismostlyconnectedtothe Academic ofaProfession Man: AStudy asthefirstpublished intheSociology the originofthisphrasenearlyalwaysciteLogan Wilson’s 1942bookThe us examplesofthisphrasebeingusedasearly1927,attempts todiscover this isfarfrom thecase.Althoughasearch ofGoogle Booksnow reveals to and theever-growing dismissalofteachingasauniversity’s mission, primary phenomenon,asymptomoftheageacademichyper-specialization new While onemightimaginetheimperative topublishorperishbe a relatively least,failure.to academicsuccessandthequickeasyroad to,atthevery internalized mantrathatseemstodrawaclearlinebetween thearduous path maxim reminding itistheomnipresent, themthatpublishingisimportant; faculty memberorgraduatestudent,though,thisphraseismore thana occasionally turnstothequestionofone’s own scholarlywriting.For ajunior thingsnon-academicswillroutinelyfew mentionwhencasualconversation The notionof “publish orperish” issocommonplacethatitoneofthe Publish orPerish 121

Alternative Futures for Publishing oldest university. Indeed English universities, even Oxford and Cambridge, introduced theprinciple of‘publish orperish’ withavengeance intoAmerica’s The lamentedthegrowingFortnightly influencein England ofthose “who quantity attheexpenseofquality” (58). Two years later, theBritish review harmful tointellectualdevelopment in mostcases” inthatit“increase[s] research.” This “pressure topublish,” heargued,“iswithoutanyquestion has ledmetopublishmaterialthatcouldhave beenimproved by further of thefacultyissaidtohave arguedthat“the ‘publish orperish’ legend… the terminatingappointmentsofDr. J.R. Walsh andDr. A.R.Sweezy,” one ostensibly duetotheirlackofpromise asscholars.In Harvard’s “Report on notoriety fordenyingreappointment totwofacultymembersinEconomics, phrase beingusedinrelation toHarvard University afteritgainedsome of soundscholarlywork. Indeed, in1939there are twoinstances ofthis who focusmore on thegoalofgettingpublishedthanproduction idea, thoughnotthesavagely criticaltone,ofMcLuhan’s excoriation ofthose throughout theearlyuseofphrase“publish or persish” thesamegeneral scholarship solelyinorder togetwork inprint(McLuhan 226).One finds harmless” thosewhoblithelyanswer thiscallby publishingunimaginative orcutting-edgescholarship;hedescribes as“dull,eyes, worthwhile stupidand call topublishorperish–“the motto” beanery –doesnotyield,inMcLuhan’s publish anythingtopleasethosewhowillfundtheirresearch. Theincessant “beaneries” asheandPound callthem)andtheir“professory-rat” whowill Marshall McLuhan toEzra Pound inwhichhemockstheuniversities (the A secondfrequently noteduseofthistermcomesina1951letterfrom 122

Alternative Futures for Publishing professionalization andhyperspecialization ofuniversity faculty. as bothacademiaandthepopular mediabegantoquestionincreasing term “publish orperish” sawapeakinitsusagethe1960sand1970s As onethisreport from theGoogle BooksNgram Viewer reveals, the adopting themrathershamefacedly.” which have beenmostscornfultoward theseGerman-American methods,are 123

Alternative Futures for Publishing me, ‘We’ve milked you foryears, here’s your pinkslip.’” With thedemands of [Gerberding] finishes [hisbook]anditisgood, hesays, ‘the university willtell hired instructors annually,new “nearly halfnever gettenure” (57).“Unless and intheoutsideworld” according (57).At UCLA, toLife, of the175 is apowerhouse scholarwhoisalsoamover andashaker, bothoncampus professor isthemanpressed by everybody. […] Today’s idealcollegeteacher today’s pressures forexcellence incollegeeducation,” explains,“the thearticle togaintenure.Gerberding “In tocompletethebooknecessary whostruggles a serieson“CollegePressure,” follows “crack politicalscientist” (61) William feature “A Teacher Sweats itOut” from 1965.Thefeature, thethird of part perish” approach toacademicmeritandpromotion thantheLifeMagazine There mightbe no betterexampleofthepopularization “publish-or- 124

Alternative Futures for Publishing nothing over orliquor” forbabysitters, concerts, (62). ($9000ayear) issolowUCLA forLosAngelesstandards thatit“leaves tenure donotlooktobeinhisfavour. Furthermore, at hisannualsalary the “irrelevant painintheneck” committeemeetings–theoddsofwinning family, teaching–“STUDENTS PURSUEHIM”aheadlineproclaims–and 125

Alternative Futures for Publishing both Bill Gerberding strongly support” andtheofficials atUCLA (66). to noone’s surprise, thepublishorperishpolicy Sayres attacksisone“which Gerberding “brilliant” (66).Asthe Editor’s introduction tothispieceremarks, chair, Richard Longaker, thecaptionofphotonotingthatChair finds issue depicts William Gerberding inaseriousconversation withhisdepartment In fact,theonlyphotographononepagedevoted toSayre’s takeonthe and over againinanextensive photoessay, Sayres isnotdepictedwhatsoever. or appreciated – orofteneven found” (66). While Gerberding ispictured over most subjectsisalready sogreat thatthefinishedmaterialcannotbeevaluated member inUnited States ayear! The shouldpublish justonearticle volume of whatahopelessfloodof words faculty that isimportant; itwouldbeifevery unmanageable andqualitydeteriorates.There simplyisnotthatmuchtosay As thepolicyisadoptedmore widely, volume ofpublicationbecomes does noteven helpauniversity toward itsavowed goalofexpandingknowledge. produced a surplusofsecond-ratescholarship:“Thepublish-or-perishpolicy not onlydiminishedthequalityofteachingatAmericanuniversities, ithasalso perish” approach soheavilyweights scholarshipover teaching, hecontends,has discounting ofteachingintenure decisions.Thewayinwhichthe “publish or scholarship” intermsof thequantityofwork someonehaspublishedandthe of Philosophy at Tufts, arguesagainstthepracticeofdefining “productive ‘Publish orPerish,’” Woodrow Wilson Sayre, formerlyanAssistantProfessor time toldby someonewho“perished” ratherthanpublished.In hispiece“It’s warningofthedarkthe magazineby sideofacademicpressure, afurther this about The story Professor William Gerberding isfollowed immediatelyin 126

Alternative Futures for Publishing ever happen. university hasfailed toimaginethatthiscould every second, because virtually admittedly atsomeinstitutions more thanothers, ontheverge ofcollapseand, twofold: first,becausetheuniversity’s ability to reproduce itselfeffectively is, in adownward slidefrom whichitmaynever recover. The reasons forthisare earliest originsofthetenure system.Thishegemony, however, Iwillargue,is remained componenttothefunctioningofuniversities from acrucial their that couldchallengethestatusquo. Thepower ofthe tenured professoriate has protect that institution,makingitsafefrom influences outsideordisruptive thatthoseemployeeswith thecertainty willlikelynever leave. Thishelps rewarding peoplewiththeultimate jobsecurity, alsorewards theinstitution suffer thesametrialsandritesofinitiationtheireldersunderwent. Tenure, by place becauseofthepower that theinstitutionhastoinsistthatyoung scholars tenure, whichoffers bothsecurityandprestige. Second, thissystemstaysin one works hard enoughandpublishesthenonewillberewarded with that Protestant work ethicandtotheAmericandream; theguaranteeisthatif andsoeffective appealto pervasive inits is,first,itsown self-preservation very who willendeavour tofollow inhisfootsteps. What makesthismodelso Gerberding, whowill,undoubtedly, expectthesamesacrificesof young faculty but admire thehard work anddedicationof“crack politicalscientist” Bill the matterseemseven thentohave beenaminorityone.Afterall,whocannot for prestige andtheappearanceofrigorprofessionalism, hisopinionon perish,” whethertodayorbackin1965,isrooted inthedesire by universities Although Sayres isquiterightthattheever-increasing pressure to“publish or 127

Alternative Futures for Publishing to payanybenefitsatall( reduce positionssothatuniversities canfurther part-time costs by nothaving held by adjunct facultywhowork onsemester-by-semester contracts,oftenin teaching positionsatuniversities throughout North Americaare increasingly aging professoriate andgrowing ratesofuniversity attendance.Thisisbecause AND perish. Tenure-track jobscontinuetodiminishinnumberdespitean it isalsoentirely possible(andindeedquitelikely)thatonemightbothpublish facultymemberswillachievethat few tenure without“significant” publication, graduates willever landatenure-track jobwithoutpublicationsinhandand or perish” isnolongeracertainty. ifanycurrent thatfew PhDWhile itistrue of“publishworld ofacademicpublishing,theeither/orbargainatheart Between today’s anemicacademicjobmarket andtheincreasingly challenged salaries and no benefits, jobs that adjuncts grudgingly accept inthehopethat salaries andno benefits,jobsthatadjuncts grudgingly and, second,by continuing toexploitthemby hiringtheminto jobswithpoor students thanthetenure-track jobmarket willever beabletoaccommodate exploit thissamegroup ofpeople;first, by allowing, insomefields, more PhD to adjunctfaculty. In theend,then,onecan arguethatuniversities doubly undergraduatecoursesforeven lowerstaff introductory wagesthanthosepaid that exploitit;theoverproduction atsomeuniversities to ofPhDs isnecessary insult toinjury, workforce iscreated universities thistemporary by thevery and publishone’s wayoutofthetrenches isfrequently insurmountable. To add evaluated solely ontheeffectiveness oftheirteaching,thechallengetowrite than twothousanddollarspersemesterforeachcoursethey teach—andare adjunct facultyare oftenpaidsopoorly—intheUnited States somereceive less 128 Coalition ontheAcademic Workforce ). Because

Alternative Futures for Publishing all sorts ofadministrative roles.all sorts Furthermore, theshrinkingnumber oftenure- becausetherepermitted inpart are now fewerfull-time tenured faculty tofill an increasingly bureaucratized university structure, anapproach thathasbeen low. Theneoliberalistapproach to higher educationtodayhasbrought about research institutionsalargesupplyofpotentialfaculty, thuskeepingtheirvalue with lower outsidedemand,theseuniversities ensure themselves andnon- shamelessly continuingtoproduce more andmore PhD graduatesinfields employer’s eyes, more agileworkforce offersabetter return on investment. By in tenure-track faculty; onapurely economicscale,acontingentand,inthe still offerseatstoagrowing number ofstudentsis by reducing theirinvestment are ontherise.One ofthewaysuniversities have beenabletoachieve thisand decreaseinstruction atthesametimeasbudgetallocationsforadministration particularly, we have seenthenumberofoverall university budgetsdevoted to public and,toalesserextent,private universities afloat. In the United States For years, thelasttwenty thismodelhasbeeneffective orthirty inkeeping capital heldby thosewithtenure orontheroad toachievingit. are unabletomove uptheladdertogainaccessbothmaterialorsymbolic the barrierstopublicationandresearch sohighforthesefacultythatthey of protection theygive tonon-tenure-track faculty, butalsothrough making Universities protect theirbottomlinenotonlythrough thelow wagesandlack future, inotherwords, by strengthening thepower structures already inplace. itself,the fundamentalgoalofanyinstitutionistopreserve tosecure itsown faculty. illustrates Thisviciouscircle perfectly Pierre Bourdieu’s contentionthat they maysomedayascendtothevastly more privilegedclassoftenure track 129

Alternative Futures for Publishing North Americawhere noneofthesethree conditionsremains acertainty. however, thatwe ofhighereducationin are approaching apointinthehistory removed from positionsofadministrative power. There are growing signs, from this model andfacultyofalltypeswillfindthemselves more andmore hope ofatenure-track jobintheirfield,universities willcontinuetoprofit teach anoverwhelming numberofstudentsunderpoorconditions intheblind model ofcareer advancement, andnon-tenure trackfacultyremain willingto credentialling, tenure-track facultycontinuetobuyintothe“publish or perish” So longasuniversities continuetoholdtheirmonopolyonhighereducation therefore more asabusinesswhatwasonceprimarilyschool. ablyrun administrators whoare disconnectedfrom theconcernsoffacultyandcan incredibly low. Thus,universities findthemselves hiringmore andmore theuniversity inanyadministrativefor facultytoserve capacityhasbecome ultimately punishedfortheirlackofscholarly“productivity.” Theincentive are but laudedfortheirefforts, rewarded opportunities, withmore service theuniversity firstandtheir that thosewhodoserve research agendasecond track ortenured facultyare under somuchpressure toproduce scholarship 130

Alternative Futures for Publishing interact withinformation.AsShirky writes, prevent contentsharingwouldsoonbecomeirrelevant tothewayuserswould people foresaw how walledgardens orothermeansofenforcing copyrightto onitshead. Veryunthinkable scenario,onewhichwouldturntheindustry few many potentialscenarios.Theyfailed,however, toforesee thepotentialforan Internet. Rather, asheexplainsinsomedetail,theyconsidered andactedupon troubles are notduetothefactthattheyfailedplanforinfluenceof Unthinkable,” ClayShirky proposesindustry’s thatthenewspaper current In hiswidelyread March 2009blogpost“Newspapers andThinkingthe The Unthinkable Scenario saviors. (“Newspapers”) by reality,visions unsupported were regarded but notascharlatans popular walledgardens and enthusiasticmicropayment adoption, mad. Meanwhile were thepeoplespinningvisionsof if they barking scenario. resembled theunthinkable These peoplewere treated as outthewindow andnoticingthatthereal increasingly world looking however. thepapers, thepragmatists Inside were theonessimply are viewed asradicals. The lastcoupleofdecadeshaven’t beenordinary, as pragmatists, whilethosewhoimagine fabulousalternative futures people whodonomore around theworld thandescribe themare seen createRevolutions times, inversion acurious ordinary ofperception. In 131

Alternative Futures for Publishing and by this,tobeclear, Imeanthe publishingofscholarlyworks, nottextbook Before for)academicpublishing– turningtotheeffectson(andopportunities publishing andwhatwe cometoseeas “scholarship.” of collapseandthatthiswill inevitably have anenormousimpactonacademic It conditions are ismycontention thatallthree onthe verge ofthesenecessary • • • way theycurrently dobusinessonlysolongasthey themselves. AsIarguedabove, universities the todaycancontinuetopreserve ultimately, limitopenaccesstotheresource thatthepublichave funded can protect theircontent,control thedisseminationoftheirresearch, and, the influenceof Internet, manyuniversities are stilllookingtohow they ill-prepared. firstgrappling with because,likenewspapers Thisis,inpart, scenario, isontheverge ofbatteringauniversity systemthatisalmostentirely word “newspaper” with“university.” storm,theunthinkable Theperfect America, itisdifficultto read Shirky’s piecewithoutwantingto replacethe For asmallbutgrowing numberoffacultyinuniversities across North

of roles between tenure-track andnon tenure-track faculty ensure thattheir workforce acceptthe current hierarchy anddifferentiation knowledge. for proving andhighlyspecialized anddisseminatingacademic expertise can maintainthestatusofformalacademicpublishingas the standard achievement. standard credentials thatdemonstrateanagreed-upon level ofacademic continue tomaintainamonopolyover and,more crucially, thedelivery the 132

Alternative Futures for Publishing North Americatoday findthemselves increasingly saddledwithbothstudent of unemployment amongdegree earners,graduatingstudentsthroughout that highereducationtodaystill leadstohigherearningsandlower chances prosperity andopportunity. While government statistics dodemonstrate what thismeans)andthatgoing tocollegewillinevitablyleadgreater (which Iplaceinquotationmarks because there isnosingle definitionof United States orcanbenefitfrom deserves thateveryone “a collegeeducation” current systemand itshistory. It haslongbeenawidespread beliefinthe bubble” intheUnited States ofits will burstisrooted intheparticularities areand credential thesame,real delivery chancethatthe“highereducation university systemsintherest oftheworld;whilesomeissuescourse heterogeneous Americancollegeanduniversity systemwiththoseawaiting thatwe notconfusesomeofthevastis important challengesfacing the credentials, butthey andtheirrole insocietywillnotvanish. Second, it These institutionswillneedtotransformhow theydeliver contentand so profoundly thatpeoplealtogetherstopattendinguniversities andcolleges. educationisnotgoingtobechallenged interactive, face-to-facepost-secondary universities willaltogetherdisappear. The value, presumed or real, ofan I saytransformratherthandestroy, fortworeasons. First, Idonotthink transform highereducationinaradicalway. employees. Together theseformthe unthinkablescenariothatispoisedto three assumptionsmadeby mostinstitutionsofhighereducationandtheir brieflytheimminentdemiseofthese publishing –letusconsidersomewhat 133

Alternative Futures for Publishing n 2012, theamount ofstudent loan debtintheUnited States reached $904 billion,exceeding consumer 1 ofthe indicatorofcompetenceandachievement onthepart as theprimary shake thismodelatitscore –isamainstream perception ofauniversity this isoneofthecore elementsoftheunthinkable scenariothatthreatens to be adoptedby aninsignificantminority. Whatuniversities rely onhere –and unassailably soundthatanyalternateapproaches tothismodelwillonlyever years culminating inadegree from an accredited collegeoruniversity isso to-face environment oncentralized campusesover the span ofthree tofour delivered inthetraditionalmannerofrequiring coursestaughtinaface- North Americanuniversities continuetoassumethatauniversity education Futures for What We Call Higher addressing Education?), butitisworth here. This couldbe(andhasbeen)thetopicofabookuntoitself (Alternative The end(of isnigh themonopoly) loan debtsinthetensofthousandsdollars should mostconcerncollegesanduniversities across North Americ Thelatter possibilityiswhat customized personallearningopportunities. that studentsandsocietymayjustbegintosearch forlessexpensive andmore be asignofwhatistocomeforallhighereducation,butitalsopossible Quebec studentprotests againstrisingtuition(“Leprintempsérable”) might questionable todayinwaysthatithasnotbeenrecent memory. Themassive and the United States, the economic return on one’s investment can seem more prospects. Asbothstudentdebtandyouth unemployment riseinbothCanada

Student Loan Continues Debt to Grow”) credit card debt, anincrease $300billionsince of nearly 2008(“New York Shows Fed Report Quarterly I 134 1 and,inmanycases,limitedjob degree

Alternative Futures for Publishing the jigisupon themonopolyofdegrees” (“ soon asthere’s someothermechanismthatcanplay thatrole aswell as adegree, because it’s aquick waytoevaluate all300peoplewhoapplyforajob. But as York Times, needsauniversity anymore? […]Employers “Who lookatdegrees professor andOpen Education advocate David Wiley recently toldtheNew as somethingthat“simply measures seat time.” AsBrigham Young University president tohear ArneDuncan suggest thatauniversity degree canbeseen the chillsthatwent (orshouldhaveuniversity gone)through thespineofevery for formalandinformallearninginavariety ofsettings.” One canonlyimagine competency. We mustacceleratethattransition.And,badges canhelpaccount credentials thatsimply measure seattime,toonesthatmore accuratelymeasure prototype aimedathelpingveterans seekwork, “can helpspeedtheshiftfrom a 2011speechannouncing$25,000prize forthedevelopment ofabadge available through collegesanduniversities. “Badges,” proposed Duncan in model” couldsoon provide credential comparabletowhatwaspreviously only Manufacturing Institute), theMacArthur Foundation, andeven four-year (includingMozilla, university degree, industry Google, andThe dismiss thesemovements asbeingunabletocompetewiththe“value” ofa via non-traditional,Open Education models. While manyuniversities openly such as“badges” thatcoulddemonstratecompetencyacquired by students thinkerstoexaminealternatemodesofcredentialling andforward by industry student/future memberoftheworkforce. Most have nottakenseriouslythecall the US Secretary of the Department ofEducation oftheDepartment the USSecretary Educational Badges 135 ”). Beyond theCollege Degree, Online , have arguedthatthe“badge Arne Duncan, Duncan, Arne

Alternative Futures for Publishing imminent bursting ofthehighereducation bubble intheUnited States, this discussions inthe mediaaboutbadges,open learning,andtheperhaps university degree isself-evidentandeternal.Even today, inthefaceofextensive higher educationinstitutions thatthevalue ofahighereducationand this statementepitomizes thearrogant andelitist assumptionacross many Thepresumptionor marketing wouldagree department. thateveryone with it literallymademoney)clearlysensetonooneinthe administration to have, ifnotalsothenotionthat and simplybeingalogicalthingforAlberta or how it“made sense” (whichplayed onbothsensesofitcreating meaning That the University shouldever stooptoexplainthepublicoritselfwhy prominently displayed oncampussigns,University websites andletterhead. sense” wasderived from anearlier“Research makessense” campaignandwas of itsfundraisingcampaignandmarketing topotentialstudents.“It makes pompous sloganutilized by theUniversity inthemid-1990saspart ofAlberta highly forthatprivilege. To seewhy, oneonlyneedlookfor exampletothe education topayingstudentswho,intheireyes, wouldautomatically pay American universities have pondered how they could use the internet to deliver seriously isoneoftheunthinkablescenariosthathasnever comeup asNorth administrators andfacultyattheuseofthisword) thatemployers mighttake some ofus,recall thelaughsthathave burstfrom themouthsofuniversity worse, free educationcouldleadtoacredential or“badge” (imagineor, for futures. Thatsomeonemightsomedaycomeupwithawaythatopenand, how strategized newspapers abouttherole theInternet wouldplayintheir Again, onecannothelpbutbereminded here ofShirky’s descriptionof 136

Alternative Futures for Publishing has been tenable and virtually unquestioned partly becauseofthewillingness unquestioned partly has beentenable andvirtually Sciences asthe solevalid exemplar ofscholarly “productivity” andachievement tenure. Thisfetishizationofthemonograph in the Humanities and Social published, peer-reviewed monograph,ifnotmore, togainpromotion and a booktocountfortenure, mostuniversities intheUnited States require a allowing anumberofqualitypeer-reviewed and solidprogress articles toward publishing inCanadacausesouruniversities tobemore flexibleinthis regard, a reputable, ifnot esteemed,scholarlypress. While thenature ofacademic the standard toachieve tenure isoftenthepublication ofamonographwith all considered by university hiringcommittees. Particularly intheHumanities, abysmal that jobcandidatesmustalready have publicationsinhandtobeat three decades.Furthermore, inmanyfields,theacademicjobmarket isso is nothingnew, butthestandards have becomemore demandingover thelast institution, thequalityofafacultymember’s peer-reviewed publication. This and promotiondegrees by dependentonthe theamountand,tovarying been thepracticeofuniversities tomeasure scholarlyproductivity fortenure ofthephrase “publishAs mybriefhistory orperish” reminds us,ithaslong ofthe(Monograph)The Death Author looking forthenearest lifeboat. academics, whoare quitecontenttorearrange thedeckchairsratherthan alternate credentials, remains an unimaginable prospect formosttenure-track the Titanic oftheuniversity degree couldever beaffected by theicebergof hubris remains pretty oftheunthinkablescenario,that muchintact. Thispart 137

Alternative Futures for Publishing scholars topublishthebooksrequired forthemtoearntenure: at university presses andacademiclibrariesposedtotheabilityofyounger to theorganization’s memberstowarnofthethreat thatshrinkingbudgets In President 2002,thenMLA Stephen Greenblatt issueda“special letter” Modern LanguageAssociation. has cometobeopenlyquestionedby influentialscholarlysocieties such asthe faced by AmericanUniversities, thattheprimacyofscholarlymonograph monographs. It hasonlybeeninthelastdecade,witheconomicchallenges market forscholarlypresses makesiteven more challengingtoproduce even asmallerrelative numberofuniversity libraries, thesize oftheCanadian monographs. With apopulationofonetenththeUnited States andperhaps libraries thatexistthere tohelppurchase (andthusmakeprofitable) scholarly year. Thisismadepossiblebecauseoftheenormous numberofuniversity and abilityofAmericanscholarlypublisherstoproduce legionsofbooks each damage, ageneration ofyoung scholars.” (Greenblatt) jeopardy, andhighereducation standsto lose, oratleastseverely to students, ourcolleagues–aretraining–our atrisk. Their careers are in are becausepeoplewhohave concerned spentyears ofprofessional academic presses simplycannot afford to publishtheirbooks. […] We no matter how achievement, because strong theirscholarly or serious many ofthemmayhigh stakes–that beunableto meetsuccessfully, inflexibletimeconstraintsandwith very They faceachallenge–under membersfindthemselves inamaddeningdoublebind. faculty “These 138

Alternative Futures for Publishing two decadeshave toreplace seized anyopportunity atenure-track linewith way.a meaningful Particularly whenuniversity administrations over the past (and universities)English mighthave departments heededthesewarningsin scholars who found themselves in the dire situation of which Greenblatt warns, graduates andnon-tenure-track facultywaiting atthegatetoreplace those gotten stronger. Were there notthenandtodayahugesurplus ofrecent PhD perceived value fordemonstratingacademicachievement seemsonly tohave only fairlyrecently emergedasthesinequanon” fortenure, thebook’s Although, asGreenblatt reminded hismembersin2002,“[the]bookhas facultywithasubventioninstitutions assistnew forpublishingcosts. their standards fortenure ortoactonGreenblatt’s excellent suggestionthat respondedEnglish departments by decreasing ormakingmuchmore flexible efficiency, itshouldnotbesurprisingtoanyone that, few from allaccounts, the waysinwhichinstitutionswork themselves topreserve withincredible subventionstart-up forscientists” (Greenblatt). From whatwe know about first-book subvention, comparableto(though vastly lessexpensive than)the if institutionsinsistontheneedforbooks,perhapstheyshouldprovide a need toconductresponsible evaluations ofjuniorfacultymembers.And and more bookswilldo?”andtosuggestthat“[we] couldrethink whatwe members“Should continuetoinsistthatonlybooks MLA ourdepartments in makingfuture tenure decisions. Greenblatt steptoask takesafurther capabilities oftraditionalacademicpublishingshouldbe“taken intoaccount” members that“the centralissueissystemic” andthatthediminishing What isremarkable aboutGreenblatt’s letterishow hegoesontoremind 139

Alternative Futures for Publishing those received by tenure-track faculty. One ofthefactorsthathasallowed this by refusing to offerthembenefits(healthcare, pensions etc.)comparableto or “temporary” basis(manyofthemmustreapply fortheirjobs eachyear), workforce by payingthemlower wagesand,by hiringthemonapart-time than theincreasingly elitetenure-stream faculty. Universities exploitthis“agile” toinstitutionsbothby teachingmore andlargerclasses and teachingservices university. These “contingent” facultymembersprovide inexpensive labour to describesuchfaculty, theyshare acommonrole inthe21 continuing” positions.Regardless ofthenomenclature usedby aninstitution smaller majorityinCanada)are doingsoin“adjunct,” “sessional,” or“non- to where nearly70% offacultyteachingtodayintheUnited States (witha many ofhisgenerationwouldhave foreseen thefundamentalshiftover time the professional ambitionsofthe“professory-rat” itishard toimaginethat dynamic oftheacademicworkforce. While McLuhan wasable to jokeabout in connectionwiththechallengesfacedby scholarlypublishingisthechanging One ofthethingsthatscholarsandbroader mediahave mostlyoverlooked (andeventualThe Rise ascendance) oftheNewFaculty Majority workforceexpensive todeliver andalwaystemporary) instruction? institution, whatcouldpossiblybetheharmofcreating amore “agile” (i.e.less track andtenured facultytopublishworks thatwouldbringprestige tothe from theirDean’s orProvost’s office. Solongasthere remainedenoughtenure- make suchchangesmayalsonothave foundanysympatheticunderstanding two (ormore) lower paidnon-tenure-track seekingto positions,departments 140 st Century Century

Alternative Futures for Publishing 30,000 responses andpaintsa picture ofstagnant wages,littleinstitutional track facultyintheUnited States. thepoorworking conditionsfacedbyissues, particularly manynon-tenure- coalition andthe little toacknowledge this.Organizations suchasthe heavily thanever onsuchfacultyandyet done stillhave, forthemostpart, institutionsintheUSAandCanadaare relyingthey do;post-secondary more as aresult, theyshould holdmore power andreceive farbettertreatment than recognize thattheyare, infact,themajority offacultyworking todayandthat, by theuniversities thatemploy them.More theyhave cometo important, politically active, pushingtohave theirwork recognized andtobetreated fairly Over thelast twenty years, non-tenure-track facultyhave becomeincreasingly to earnatenure-stream positionelsewhere isseverely compromised. produce traditionalformsofresearch andpublicationthatmightallow them teach manycoursesinorder themselves financially, tosupport theirabilityto these facultyare hired todoonly teachingandatwagessopoorthattheymust could betheexception andescapefrom thefront-line totherule unscathed.As many PhD studentsinpopularfieldslike English and History, imaginethey mostly inthepast,hasoccurred frequently enoughthatthesefaculty, like a tenure-stream position.Thisdoes happeninsomecasesandhas,though work tomove willeventually leadtoanopportunity that suchtemporary into practice tocontinue(andgrow) isthehopeamongnon-tenure-track faculty 2012 survey 2012 survey (PDF) Adjunct NationAdjunct about the issues faced by part-time facultydrew abouttheissuesfacedby over part-time 141 website have helpedgreatly topublicize these The Coalition ontheAcademic Workforce New Faculty Majority

’s

Alternative Futures for Publishing • • • full-time over“While 75%oftherespondents reported thattheywere actively seeking that isanythingbuttemporary: forprofessional development,support and,mostimportantly, awork force

America continues to serve university leadersmanagingtightbudgets and America continues toserve While theshrinking numberoftenure-track positionsthroughout North and tostudentlearning. stream contributiontotheirinstitutions colleagues,makeanextraordinary ofteaching moresimply by virtue courses andstudentsthantheirtenure- recognized colleagues,chairs, anddeans,thesefaculty, ornotby department percentage stayinthesepositionsforyears, andeven decades. Whether landing theever-elusive tenure-track position,itisclearthatasignificant Although mostoftherespondents maywell beholdingouthopefor nature oftheiremployment andthe lackofadvancement opportunities. to stayconnectedacademiaforasubstantialperiod,despite thetenuous ofthedatarevealsWhat thispart isthatamajorityofthesefacultyare likely offered” (Coalitiononthe Academic Workforce 2). institution atwhichtheywere currently teaching ifsuchapositionwere would definitelyorprobably acceptafull-timetenure-track positionatthe seeking afull-timetenure-track position,andnearlythree-quarters saidthey ofrespondentsquarters saidtheyhave sought,are now seeking,orwillbe years, andover halfformore thansixyears. Furthermore, over three- Over 80%ofrespondents formore reported teachingpart-time thanthree 142

Alternative Futures for Publishing this extraordinarily difficulttoachieve. Furthermore, these scholarsalso (low pay, highworkloads, largerclass sizes than tenure-track faculty) make one wouldimaginethatmany do–theinstitutionalbarrierstheyface tenure-track facultywhoaspire topublishlongerscholarlyworks –and mention itspotentialreadership. For andfull-time non- thosepart-time an impactonthevolume andtypeofscholarship beingproduced, notto research alongsidetheirteachingisshockinglylow; thisundoubtedlyhas to writethem.Even today, thepercentage offacultywhoare paidtodo more capacityfor presses topublishmonographsthanthere are scholars number oftenure-track positionsdrops tosuchadegree thatthere maybe for university presses inthenot-too-distantfuture, though,iswhenthe return oninvestment forpublishers. What maybeaneven greater challenge scholars more difficult, assuchbooks frequently have alimitedfinancial acquisition budgetshave already madepublishingmonographsby new in 2002,financialconstraintsonuniversity presses anddecreasing library point intheircareers. AsStephen Greenblatt members reminded MLA motivators foryoung facultytopublishmonographsatsuchanearly universities. Indeed, receiving tenure andpromotion isoneoftheprimary throughout thesocialsciencesandhumanities,especiallyatresearch for betterorworse,thegoldstandard fortenure andpromotion infields The scholarlymonographpublished by a reputable academicpress remains, to university presses and,indeed,thefuture ofthescholarlymonograph. the declineintenured andtenure-track facultyisalsoanongoingthreat an administrative classgrowing inbothnumbersandinstitutionalpower, 143

Alternative Futures for Publishing •

contracts for“adjunct” faculty thatofferalevel ofjobsecurity. Such a number oftenured positions,but ratherinmore stable,better-paying future forfacultyoffthetenure trackmaynotlieinanincrease inthe each day. AstheNew Faculty Majority movement hasshown us,abetter Yet, alternatives new tobothofthesetraditionsare becomingmore viable and thegradualdemiseoftenure asbeingequally devastating outcomes. limited;facultyhavehave viewedthe“death seemed very ofthebook” scholarly journalsandestablishedstandards fortenure andpromotion alternatives tobotharobust systemofuniversity presses andwell-financed years. Fromthe lastthirty atraditionalfacultyandscholarlyperspective, the faculty atNorth Americanuniversities have weakened simultaneouslyover health oftraditionalacademicpublishingandthenumbers oftenure-stream It isunsurprisingthat,given thesymbioticnature oftheirrelationship, the teaching commitments. research agendaduetotheconstrainingdemandsoftheirsignificant non-tenure trackpathare simply unabletomaintainastrong, traditional but itisfrequently theexception manyfacultyonthe andnottherule; to move intoatenure-track positioncansometimesbeasuccessfulstrategy, their own needstomake acontributiontotheirfield. Publishing inorder either dosowiththeaimofearningatenure-track jobandortosatisfy inpeer-reviewedcontinue topublishbooksorarticles scholarlyjournals publication record. Thosenon-tenure trackfacultywhodomanageto basis oftheirteaching,seldomvalue orreward theminanywayfortheir recognize thattheirinstitutions,whichhire andretain them solelyonthe 144

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The very notion of very limited peer beforereview notionof publication asan very The very onlinearetraditional journals whosearticles hidden behindcostlyfirewalls. demonstrating thattheyare asrigorous andasvalid asiteofpublication as widely available tomore readers andlibrarieswhileatthesametime ubiquity oftheInternet. Open Access hasmademanyonlinejournals how restricted one’s accessistoit,oneoftheongoingeffects The move awayfrom associatingthe value orprestige ofscholarlywork with (London SchoolofEconomics andPolitical Science). understandingandjoining-upofpreviously siloedknowledge”disciplinary multi-author blogslikethisone,andallourblogs,ithelps create multi- language, yet withdueregard tomethodsissuesand qualityofevidence.In based ways.It communicatesbottom-lineresults and‘take aways’ inclear it’s relevant, andspeculatein evidence- andsoletsacademicslookforward all theseloops.It’s quicktodoinreal time. It when tapsacademicexpertise “Blogging by academictweeting) (supported helpsacademicsbreak outof Profhacker we have seenwiththe riseinpersonalandgroup academicblogssuchas moremaking bothparties capableofplanningforthefuture. Similarly, as system wouldbeadvantageous tobothfacultyandtheirdepartments, Politics andPolicy atLSE,” explain, Dunleavy andChris Gilson, editorsofthemulti-authorblog“British publishedintraditional ways.AsPatrickthrough booksorscholarlyarticles edge scholarshipinnew, open, andmuchmore immediatewaysthan there are forfacultytoshare considerableopportunities ideasandcutting , the University of Venus 145 , or British PoliticsBritish andPolicy at LSE ,

Alternative Futures for Publishing helps onetobecome abetterteacherandvice versa. The irony isnotloston niversities andthoseacademicsemployed intenure-stream positions teaching andresearch; one’s writingandpublishing, sotheargumentgoes, onthedirect opportunity connectionbetween expound, itseems,atevery not. work offacultyregardless ofwhetheroneisinatenure-stream positionor toreframeconsiderable opportunity therole “scholarship” canplayinthe products to textsasthelocusofconversation” (155)isonethatalsooffersa publishing structures thatreflect aturnfrom focusingontextsasdiscrete of “authorship asdialogic,diffuse,and mobile” andof “the needfornew contribution andengagementofascholarlycommunity. Fitzpatrick’s vision individual orsetofindividuals(writer, editor, publisher, reviewer) tothe our understandingofthework of“publishing” from thelabourofan ideas”new (Fitzpatrick 80).Asshenotes,suchanapproach couldtransform multimodal remixes, mashinguptheories andtextstoproduce compelling editions; tomorrow, mechanismsallow, asnew thesetextsmightbe scholarship, thiswork and takestheformofreviews, essays,articles, […] the attentionitdeserves. Today, inthecurrent system ofprint-based work new filtering—seeing toitthatthebestandmostimportant receives online reviewing andcommentingonatextasformof“post-publication envisions acontinuousprocess of“peer-to-peer review” thatcoulduse Kathleen Fitzpatrick forherbookPlanned Obsolescence. Fitzpatrick boldly such astheinnovative useofopenreview by Shakespeare Quarterly orby unquestioned marker ofacademicrigorhasalsobeenchallengedby projects U 146

Alternative Futures for Publishing support forthesefacultymembers works insidiouslytoreducesupport thechances roxall’s paper,plight ofthe“new itprompted, is andtheexplosionofcommentary facultymajority” andhow thelackoffinancialand other significant fortwo reasons. First, thepaper itselfdrew real attention tothe talked aboutpresentation’” atthatyear’s convention (B11). MLA and became,astheChronicle ofHigher Education describedit,“’the most paper, entitled“The Absent Presence: Today’s Faculty” quickly went viral the paperonhisblogandshared ofhisdecisionon news Twitter B11).That Croxall wastospeakread itonhisbehalf;atthesametime,Croxall posted Rather thanhavinghispapergounread, thechairofpanelonwhich professor” hesimplycouldnotafford toattend(“On Going Viral” B11). insufficient travelofavisiting funds,andthe low salary interviews, Twitter, witha“lackofjob daysleadinguptotheMLA, inthefew convention oftheModern LanguageAssociation. Asheshared openlyon pointwhenhecancelled hisattendanceattheannual made thisvery Brian Croxall, thena Visiting AssistantProfessor atClemsonUniversity, present theirscholarshipandnetwork withothersintheirfield. In 2009, difficult andcostlyforthosefacultytoattendconferences where theycan Professional Development fundingfornon-tenure-track facultymakesit own institutions.More crucially, theabsenceatmany institutionsof todoresearchopportunity are rarely rewarded (oreven recognized) by their to publishit;furthermore, non-tenure trackfacultywhodoseize the by thoserarely encouragedorafforded thechancetodo research, letalone non-tenure-track facultythatmuchteachingatresearch universities isdone C 147

Alternative Futures for Publishing conclusions that are toourdiscussion ofthefuture highlypertinent of roxall’s experience with hisown paper andwhathecalls“theof muchthe conference via Twitter virtual –leadshimtomake twokey –where interestedMLA” peoplefrom around theworldfollowed theevents write inthefuture” (B11). than Icouldever reasonably expecttoread orbook thatImight anyarticle was tospeak,mypaperhadbeenread by more people–andcolleagues!– being heard by asmallgroup ofpeoplewho attendedthepanelatwhichI convention, mybloghadreceived over […] Instead 7000pageviews. of hours, some2000peoplehadread mypaper[…].By theendof Chronicle entitled“On Going Viral MLA,” atthe(Virtual) 24 “Within simply attendedtheconference. Asheexplainsinalaterpieceforthe actually wounduphavingafargreater impactthanhewouldhave hadhe attention totheseissuesandhispaperthrough socialmedia,Croxall of Croxall’s paperiseven more toourdiscussionhere. pertinent By drawing conditions for“contingent” faculty. Thesecond reason fortheimportance the attentionitreceived energytothefightforbetter helpbringnew becomes aself-fulfillingevent” (“Absent Presence”). Croxall’s argumentand conversion tothetenure track.Our placementascontingentfacultyquickly in otherwords, appeartobedoingthethingsthatwouldwarranttheir other conference), itresults ina faculty thatcannotadvance, thatdoesnot, (orany faculty (whoare, again,contingentfaculty)cannotattendtheMLA of thetenure-stream professoriate. AsCroxallthemajorityof writes,“When that theywillever makeasuccessfultransitionintothediminishing ranks C 148

Alternative Futures for Publishing counted significantly toward tenure decisions, progress onthisfront has scholarly associations have lobbiedtohave lessformaltypesof publishing requirements fortenure inmostuniversities; althoughmanyscholarsand latter optionsforpublishing have, aswe know, beenfundamental prestigious readers journaltowhichfew have easyaccess.Choosing the if we publishourwork onlyinahigh-pricedscholarly bookorina the potentialtoreach anexponentiallylargernumberofreaders onlinethan openly sharingscholarlywork orideasreminds usthatasscholarswe have specialists andpeopleoutsideofacademiaaltogether. and meetingscannow beopentobroader audiences,includingnon- sharing by scholarslikeCroxall oftheirwork online, scholarlyconferences access toscholarship. With theriseof microblogging via Twitter andthe inhow weit isclearthataseaofchangeunderway understand andgain come from the“absent presence” facultymajority, ofamemberthenew the mostresonant presentations at amajorinternationalconference can of onlinepublishingsuchasblogsandopenaccessjournals. When oneof discourse are beinglessenedsignificantlythankstosocialmediaandforms kept contingentfacultyfrom beingagreater ofmainstream part academic work (andhissituation)goingviral:someofthekeybarrierswhich have thirdimportant conclusiononecandrawfrom Croxall’s experienceofhis collaborative andparticipatory” (B12). There is,Iwouldargue,an willbecomeincreasinglySecond, MLA scholarship intheageofvirtual academic publishing.“First, scholarshipwillbefreely accessibleonline. […] The extraor 149 dinary reach thatCroxalldinary andothershave foundwhen

Alternative Futures for Publishing sometimes inthe thousandsandengagingin enriching,ongoing,and beyond thislimitingvision ofscholarlymeritare reaching audiences publication, thosefacultyeither offthetenure trackorboldenoughtosee and chairsclingtotheseideals ofpeer-review andsanctionedformsof sweet irony here, anddeans,committees ofcourse,isthatwhiledepartments committees forthatmatteras indicatorsofscholarly“productivity.” The but theseare not typicallyviewedby tenure committeesorhiring academic bloggerandamajorcontributortoonlineresearch communities, understanding oftheactandpointpublishing.One canbeaprolific publishing insteadofperishing,then,theyare narrow stillreferring toavery you, should alwaysbelistedfirst. Whenmosttraditionalacademicsspeakof work published inthetraditionalformswhich,asanyCVreviewer willtell making sure that theirpublic,openlyshared scholarshipisalsobackedupby Those juniortenure-track thesenorms,typically doso facultywhoeschew by as facultysettheireyes onaneven greater prize, thatofbeingafullprofessor. publishers. Once facultyreceive tenure, thesepracticesfrequently continue and encouragethemtosubmittheirwork tothemore prestigious journalsor colleagues routinely (andperhapsrightly)cautionthemagainstsuch work, or working onsomethingthat“will notcount” (toward tenure); senior tenure-track, inparticular, are remarkably hesitanttodevote timetowriting inhibitor ofacademicfreedom ratherthanaprotector. Many facultyonthe anything, itwouldseemthattenure andthequestforitcanoftenbean is stillfoundamongthosefacultypursuingorinpossessionoftenure. If slow.been very Strong resistance tothefree andopensharingofone’s work 150

Alternative Futures for Publishing people whichconstellate it” (Fyfe). In thisway, onecould well argue that open network, andthecascading productivity ofthetextandmedia and isn’t necessarilythepoint.Rather, itistheconnectionsfacilitatedby the publishing ina‘glass box.’ Of course,thecompression oftimeandspace warp speed,especiallycompared withitsconventional forms, orwith presentation hepostedsimultaneouslyonhis blog,“Thisisscholarshipat member toalargerscholarlycommunity. AsPaul Fyfe putitina2010 the meritofherideasandnotemployment status,connectthatfaculty modernist versions project canquicklyreach thousandsofpeopleand,on blog post,orcontributiontoaDigital Humanities project suchasthe manageable, butcanalsomakeacontributiontoone’s field. A singletweet, challenging. Smaller formsof“publishing,” though,are notonlymore receivearticle orbookisincredibly dedicatedofficespace)towritealengthy or anon-tenure trackfacultymemberfacedwithvastly highercourse loads andlargercourses,findingthetimespace(many donoteven knowledge andengaging inacademicdebate. their work andideasinavariety offormspurely forthesakeofsharingtheir of whattypespublishingwill“count” donotapply. Theycanpublish faculty mayactuallyholdadistinctadvantage, inthat,forthem,the issues faculty andthoseinpursuitorpossessionofthatstatus.Non-tenure-track betweennvisioning “publishing” non-tenure-trackthe non-financialinequitiesofopportunity inthismuchbroader formthatincludesan open andimmediatesharingofone’s scholarshipcanhelptoreduce someof immediate conversations withscholarsofsimilarinterest around theworld. F E 151

Alternative Futures for Publishing openly may well find themselves to keep up struggling with their contingent colleagues who have staunchly heldthelineandavoided sharing theirwork freely sharingtheirwork andideasonline,thosetenure andtenure-track become more actively engagedintheirrespective scholarlycommunities, members whoalready dothemajorityof undergraduate teaching scenario” facingNorth American universities today. Asthosefaculty discourse oftheirfieldsthatis,Ipropose, thefinalpieceof “unthinkable t isthe ease withwhichnon-tenure-track facultymembers,theaptly described “new facultymajority,” cannow enterintothebroader scholarly (Cohen). field, but you missoutonthebroader disseminationof your work” invisibility intheageofopenweb. You mayreach peersinyour afew behind gates,orinpaperonly, you are resigning allofthathard work to invisibility ofwhatyou publish. When you publishsomewhere thatis hidden costsofpublishinginaclosedway. Thelargesthiddencostisthe many peopleare reading anddiscussing your work: exclusivity ofyour publicationorstatusofyour publisher, butinsteadhow earns symboliccapitalisnot–or, least,notalways–the atthevery misread theshiftingdirection of oursymboliceconomy. What “counts,” or who are reticent toshare theirresearch openlyhave, asDan Cohenargues, smaller numberofreaders. Thosetenure-track ortenured facultymembers thatmightbe potentially influentialthanwritinganarticle read by vastly reaching suchavast audiencesorapidlyismore “productive” and “[…] intheircost-benefitcalculustheyoftenforgettofactorthe I 152

Alternative Futures for Publishing public required torenew themodernuniversity. variety of forms, have thebroader perspective andengagementwiththe facultymajoritywho,havingopenlypublishedina be thoseinthenew managed topublishintraditionalwayswillhave avoided perishing,itmay classroom willbebestsuitedtoleadsuchefforts. Whilethosewhohave who have already beenopenlysharingthework theydoinandoutofthe with thepublicwhattheydoandwhyare Thosefaculty important. accelerates, universities will,Ianticipate,needtofindbetterwaysshare Courses (MOOCs)andalternateformsofcredential suchasbadges universities increase andtheriseofcompetingMassive Open Online little more justificationthanthat. But asthefinancialconstraintson system “makes sense” universities liketo tellstudentsandthepublic,with universities to connect more deeply the worlds of teaching and research; this continue togrow, there stillseemstobelittledesire of onthepart security) simplytoteach.Moreover, asthenumbersofcontingentfaculty research andteachthosewhoare paid(farlessandwithlittletonojob separation between therole ofthosefacultywhoare paid(more) todo colleagues. Universities have longprofited anddepartments by this 153

Alternative Futures for Publishing Fyfe, Paul. “Open Access, Open Secrets: Peer Review andAlternative Fitzpatrick, Kathleen.Planned Obsolescence. New York: New York University –. “On Going Viral MLA.” atthe(Virtual) Chronicle of Higher Education The Coalitiononthe Academic Workforce. APortrait ofPart-Time Faculty Basu, Kaustuv. “Non-Tenure-Track Economics.” Inside Higher Ed 20June Works Cited Croxall, Brian. “The Absent Presence: Today’s Faculty.” “College Pressure: The Teacher.” Life 58.3(1965):56–66. Cohen, Dan. “Open Access Publishing andScholarly Values.” Dan Cohen’s Scholarly Production.” Victoria Telecom 11Oct. 2010. Press, 2011.Print. 56.26 (2010):B10–B11.Print. Members. 2012. Web. pdf 2012. faculty faculty paints-bleak-portrait 2009. Digital Humanities Blog 27May 2010. open-access-publishing-and-scholarly-values alternative-scholarly-production alternative-scholarly-production wordpress.com/2010/10/11/open-access-open-secrets-peer-review-and- 20June 2012. www.briancroxall.net/2009/12/28/the-absent-presence-todays- www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/20/adjunct-survey- Web. 26June 2012. 154 Web. 20June 2012. www.academicworkforce.org/CAW_portrait_2012. Web. 26June 2012. www.dancohen.org/2010/05/27/ Web. 25June 2012. briancroxall.net 29 Dec. http://victelecom.

Alternative Futures for Publishing Greenblatt, Stephen. “A Special Letterfrom Stephen Greenblatt.” Modern Gilson, Chris,andPatrick Dunleavy. “Multi-author Academic Blogs Are the Garfield, “What Eugene. IsThe Primordial Reference ForThe Phrase ‘Publish London SchoolofEconomics andPolitical Science.“Five Minutes with Lewin, Tamar. “Beyond theCollegeDegree, Online Educational Badges.” The “Impressions ofAmericanUniversities.” The 152(1939):211. Fortnightly Language Association.May 28,2002. Way oftheFuture.” Networked Researcher 26Sept. 2011. Or Perish’?” TheScientist10,no. 12(June 10,1996):11. European Politics andPublic Policy 3Mar. 2012. Most Important Things Thatan Academic Should Be DoingRight Now’.” Patrick Dunleavy andChrisGilson: ‘Blogging Is Quite Simply, One ofthe Web. 28Mar. 2012. New York Times 4Mar. 2012. Print. Web. 28Mar. 2012 dunleavy-multi-author-academic-blogs-are-the-way-of-the-future www.networkedresearcher.co.uk/2011/09/26/chris-gilson-and-patrick- Web. 26June 2012. europpblog/2012/03/03/five-minutes-patrick-dunleavy-chris-gilson/ europpblog/2012/03/03/five-minutes-patrick-dunleavy-chris-gilson/ education/beyond-the-college-degree-online-educational-badges.html education/beyond-the-college-degree-online-educational-badges.html Web. 25June 2012. 155 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/ www.mla.org/scholarly_pub http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/

Alternative Futures for Publishing www.ed.gov/news/speeches/digital-badges-learning Digital Badges forLearning:Remarks by Secretary Duncan at4thAnnual Wilson, Logan. The ofa Academic Man: AProfession. Study intheSociology “New York Fed Report Quarterly Shows Student LoanDebt Continuesto Milne, A.The House at . London:Methuen,Pooh Corner 1928. McLuhan, Marshall. LettersofMarshall McLuhan. Edited by Matie Molinaro, Shirky, Clay. “Newspapers andThinkingthe Unthinkable.” ClayShirky , March Sayre, Woodrow Wilson. “It’s ‘Publish or Perish’.” Life 58.3(1965):66. Said, Edward. “Opponents, Audiences, Constituents,andCommunity.” In the-unthinkable Learning Competition Launch oftheMacArthur Foundation Digital Media andLifelong London: Oxford University Press, 1942. Grow.” Federal ReserveBank ofNew York . 31May 2012. 1987. Corinne McLuhan, and William Toye. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 13, 2009. 1985. Postmodern Culture, editedby Hal Foster, 143–62.London:Pluto Press, Web. 1June 2012. www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2012/an120531.html Accessed March 28,2012. www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking- 156 . September 15,2011.

Alternative Futures for Publishing disruptive activities. disruptive major publishers, inthiscase)have great difficultydealingwithor engaging in We canalsoseefrom Kirby’s discussionthatlarge,establishedcompanies (the publishers tocompetesuccessfully withtraditionalpublishers. converging that are sources ofdisruption providing forself- opportunities Using ClaytonChristensen’s Disruptive Innovation modelhediscussedthe software. quality documentswithaMac Plus computer, aprinterandAldusPagemaker technologyallowednew himtolearnaboutpublishingandcreate high- Kirby Wright describedhisintroduction toself-publishingin1987,when Self-Publishing asa Viable Model The Next Chapter 157 – Summary comments by Jerome– Summary Martin

Alternative Futures for Publishing publishers Publishers. books. However, asMark Lefebvre suggested,perhapswe shouldnow callself- people whodo have those skills)have beensuccessfulinproducing quality gaining credibility asauthorswhohave publishingskills (orauthorswhohire While thetermself-publishing hashadnegative connotationsinthepast,itis clients want. publishers maypooltheirresources andtalentssothat they canproduce what to create products suchasthosethatKirby describes.Self-publishers and In themeantime,mostpublishersare concernedandconfusedabouthow will needtheassistancethatpublishershave traditionallysupplied. books andproducts whichare more likeapps thantraditionalbooksothers their books. While somecanandwilllearntoproduce, editandmarket paper Currently authorsdependonpublishersforediting,designandmarketing of self-publishing: Kirby’s statementonthelastpageofhischaptersummarizes hisfeelingsabout and channelconfusion. quest forpersonalcreative expression; ubiquitoustools;moving towards free; He dealswithfive converging from sources bookstoapps;the ofdisruption: future for publishing. low costpresentsretailers anoptimisticandcreative soldatavery appsthantraditionalbooks–offeredlike and virtual through networks tools developing innovativeyet products–more powerful media-rich The imageofindependentcreative peopleequippedwitheasyto use, 158

Alternative Futures for Publishing enjoy the his photographs. While I love thequalitiesofhisphotographs andbooksIalso I’ve seen originalAnselAdams andIown printsandportfolios, several booksof prices. There are excellent, multimedia appsandbooksavailable onlinefor reasonable he couldchargewas$3.99. innovative GarageBand appcameoutatapriceof$4.99,hefeltthatthemost apphehadproduced,perhaps $6.99foranew butafterthe powerful and Kirby Wright discussedpricingappsandhow hehadexpectedtocharge cost toourclients. E-books are here. We cancreate them,sellorprovide thematnodirect published recently withgreat success. While RidingtheBullet wasuniquein2000,othertypesofe-bookshave been e-products sincethen. sold e-bookversions ofourbooksthatyear andhave continuedtocreate other mass-market electronic book.Our company, Spotted Cow Press, produced and e-book RidingtheBullet . Iread itonmyPalm Pilot V. It wastheworld’s first In 2000Iwasoneof the400,000peoplewhopaid$2.50forStephen King’s ProductsE-Books, Apps andOther more. Theprice:$6.99. The bookisnotdead:itevolving Ansel Adams iPad app 159 whichfeatures photographs,letters, video,and – Mark Lefebvre– Mark

Alternative Futures for Publishing Other e-book companiesbuildonthetraditionalreading experience. in thenextgenerationofappsande-books.Theprice this appis$4.99. experience.” and ambientsoundtoyour reading speedtocreate animmersive reading soundtracks fore-booksthatautomaticallymatchesmusic, soundeffects In entitled anarticle andComplexityMessiness BookTrack I hadnever read Jack Kerouacs’s change andgrow. finite bookor peer-reviewed journal; itspills over theedgesandcontinues to Knowledge, especiallyscientificknowledge, isnotdefinedandcontrolled bya Society, saidthatmessinessiswhatknowledge lookslikeinthe internetage. senior researcher atHarvard University’s Berkman CenterfortheInternet and the text,audioandphotographsinAlGore’s The seeminglyeternalmarketing ofpipelinesandpoliticsmakesme appreciate back. a goodfriendortwo,andcredit card thatwilllastallthewayto Texas and refreshing) onefeelsready togetontheroad again,butthis timewithaniPad, After experiencingthisenhancede-book(anotherdescriptive termthat needs margin notes,andinformationaboutKerouac, hisfriendsandbeatculture. maps, which features notonlythebookbutalsophotographs,videointerviews, , according tothecompany’s website, “…creates synchronized 160 “Why Untidiness is Good for Untidiness isGood “Why Us” On theRoad Our ChoiceOur before buyingtheapp($16.99), , David Weinberger, a app, oneoftheleaders

Alternative Futures for Publishing pages. and whileyou could printit, there are norightorleft Note that we only, have designed thisasane-book how we shoulduselinks, etc. video, side-bars thelengthofachapter,such aspageandbook, and weproducts continue to debate theuseofterms book have produced andrelated many e-books While several ofusinvolved inthecreation ofthis video. andenjoymentsatisfaction through links, audioand mediumwhichgivesa rich itsown brand of is changing significantly andeven now provides The experience ofreading from non-papermaterials screen. ofourreading isdoneona most ofusthemajority to do. That willcontinue to beapossibility, butfor love hardcover bookssay that thisiswhat theywant of wineto read afinehardcover book? People who How have often we fire sat by withaglass acrackling – Jerome Martin fail.” little tocontribute toaconversation thebook,author, thepublisher will people interested area, inaparticular andifthebook/author/publisher have conversation…” and,“Of course,ifthere isnoconversation, ifthere are no itintoa Los demasiadoslibros (1996)“…topublishabook istoinsert Gabriel Zaid saidinSoMany Books,the2003English translationof Publishing isCommunication links, audiosidebars,orvideointotheirwork. writersinthesegenres few have investigatedvery thepotentialof incorporating Traditional mayseeminvulnerabletochange:but booksoffictionandpoetry notesandclippingsfrom othersources.and insert paper bookstheycannotbechangedexcept by readers whowriteinmargins Books ofanytypemaytakeseveral years towrite,editandpublish.If theyare journals canbepublishedandcirculated rapidly. Paper publishing insciencetendstobeaslow process, whereas electronic new link: eachbookorpaperisindependent. and literature review whichcanbeincludedinapublication.Paper cannot papers whichcanbepublishedandthere are alsolimitstotheamountsofdata Paper, Weinberger says,failstoscalebecausethere are limitstothenumberof document thatisnotflexibleandabletobeupdatedexpanded. Knowledge ismessy: itdoesnotfitconveniently inapaperbooknorany 161

Alternative Futures for Publishing social media,including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, andblogs.Anyone witha Authors andpublishers (largeorsmall)can now promote theirwork using them. exposure. However, readers wanttomeetauthorsand tocommunicatewith books sothattheycancontinue towritemore, by commercial uninterrupted Many writersfeelthatitisthepublishers’ responsibility tomarket their also working onotherbooksatvarious stagesofproduction andsuccess. buttheyare developed (whichmayincludebooktoursandmediainterviews), continuing themarketing program thatwascreated whilethebookwasbeing and in advertised print media. in Atmajor newspapers this point publishers are publishing. Traditionally, abookislaunched,thenpromoted tobookreviewers Many publishersbelieve of ethat marketing isthemostdifficultpart Marketing word publishingcontinuetobelinkedonlypaperbooks? We termstodescribehow maysoonusenew andwhatwe are doing. Will the The titleofthisbookincludesthephrase“…what we now callpublishing”. media? conversation. Will that beapaperbook,anapporwork withtextandother interests todeterminewhichformofcommunicationwillbeappropriate toa point we have totestmarkets called self-publishers–have and opportunities Small publishers–andI’m now usingthattermtoalsoincludewhatupthis 162

Alternative Futures for Publishing some publishers–isto findaneedandmeetit. Another strategy usedby businesses–including to for establishamarket it. a product,thentrying bookpublishinghasfocusedMost on producing responses helpedhimdecidewhere thenovella shouldgo. Mark active bloggersoheaskedhisreaders isavery fortheirhelp. Their he wantedtogowiththerest ofthiswork. from hisfriends. He the beginningandtheend,butdidnotknow knew where Mark ofhow hepublishedanovella Leslietoldusastory –withalittlehelp the author.” Jessica Legacyreminded usthat“the reader wantstohave aconversation with Engaging With Readers race tobuildconnectionswiththeirreaders andpotentialreaders. Seth Godin (Q,CBCRadio,April 3,2012)saysthattoday’s authorsare ina some interest inthework andthework isuniqueandofhighquality. computer canpotentiallyreach millionsofpeople,provided thatpeoplehave creation ofthis work. Engaging withthereader in the wasthe most satisfyingexperience someone to doit. That opensthedoorfor any authorwhocares to orto dothework hire thatfollowing.to earn you postonlineare interestingthe interviews to hearorread. You have blog isinteresting andpeoplesuggestitto theirfriends, andbecause You buildafollowing becauseyour bookscomeout regularly, your 163

Alternative Futures for Publishing the speakerswas Free” attheFourth International Conference oftheBookinBoston.One of In 2006 Todd Andersonand Ipresented apaperentitled“Competing With Embracing Change Jessica suggestedthatwe needsomethinglike time towrite. communicators theycandomuchofthecommunicating,leavingwritersmore with readers, butshesaidthatsincepublishersemploy peoplewhoare good Jessica agreed thatauthorshave tomaintainaweb presence andcommunicate communicating withreaders andwithotherauthors. Mark day, andmanyotherauthorsare onsocialmedia every learning,writing, November, 2007and put towork immediately. Bookstore) are goingtobuyoneofthose.” The machinewasdelivered in As we walkedoutofthesession Todd said,“We (theUniversity ofAlberta Machine. Kickstarter projects intheUSA. Kickstarter work. inthesymposiumhadcontributed to At leastoneoftheparticipants Fund &Follow Creativity”) inCanada toallow readers toinvest innew part of part On Demand Books On Demand publisher shouldbeableto hire someoneto doit. authordoesnotwantto dothis(somecannot)butevery Every Jason Epstein 164 , thecompanywhichcreated theEspresso Book , a legend in the publishing industry whowas , alegendinthepublishingindustry Kickstarter (“A New Way to

Alternative Futures for Publishing MacLelland &Stewart. on Demand, winningtheLeacockMedal, andre-publishing hisnovel with who went from publishinghisfirstnovel free asapodcast,thenmoved to Print Mark discussedthesuccessesofself-publishedauthors,including Terry Fallis, can work. publishers andsomeauthorshave shown how approaches new topublishing all heard However, thisatpublishing meetingsandcocktailparties. some “Print ondemand,e-books,openaccess:thesewill never work.” We’ve what itwillbenextweek). retailer, bookseller, salesperson,reader, andlibrarian–towhatitisnow (or ecosystem –author, agent,publisher, editor, printer, distributor, publicist, fromthe paininvolved thetraditional withthetransitionofbookindustry Mark todescribethedifficulties,challenges,and usedthemetaphorofbirth send filestobeprintedinothercountriesratherthansendingpaperbooks. are Espresso BookMachines oftheworldpublisherscanalso inmanyparts to printonlythecopieswhattheyneed,whenneedthem.Now thatthere from printingfirmshave created forpublishers (POD) services opportunities The Espresso Book Machine andtheprovisionrun, print-on-demand ofshort especially tosmallpublishingfirms. purchased inCanadaandelsewhere have meanttothepublishingindustry, Mark ofthatpurchase Lefebvre andwhatitothermachines tellsthestory 165

Alternative Futures for Publishing Tinkerer” publications they have little chanceofbeinggranted tenure. publishers with sufficientfundingtopublish theirmonographs. Withoutsuch Young scholars intheUSAandCanadaare havingdifficultyfindingacademic demonstrate andclarifyitsvalue. which, likeacademicsanduniversities themselves, isunderpressure to in nature and,naturally, ispublishedby auniversity press, anorganization Having a book published,inacademicterms,meansthattheis university presses. was discussedinoursessionsfromofboth academicand theviewpoints least,failure,”to academicsuccessandthequickeasyroad to,atthevery internalized mantrathatseemstodrawaclearlinethrough thearduous path Publish orperish,whichPaul Martin refers toasthe“…omnipresent, Academic Publishing Kirby discussedanessayby Steve Johnson entitled reinvent itself.” of thepresent stateofthings,amapallthewaysinwhichpresent can the adjacentpossibleas“…akindofshadow future, hovering ontheedges up the possibility of other new combinations. ofothernew up thepossibility growboundaries asyou explore combinationopens them.Eachnew The strangeandbeautifultruthabouttheadjacentpossibleisthatits inwhichJohnson discussestheadjacentpossible.Johnson describes 166 “The Genius ofthe Genius “The

Alternative Futures for Publishing to publishinthe conventional, paper-basedworldof academia. pressure awayfrom academic presses andacademics whocurrently are trying and onlinejournals.Giving themcredit fortheirwork inthisformwould take Young professors are publishingthrough open sources suchasFaceBook, blogs community. Paul feltthatauniversity press toa university anda isreally aservice that university presses were unfairlysaddledwithit. medium, andthestyleofwork. Our group questionedpeerreview andfelt Surely, thepreoccupation withpeerreview limitsthetypeofpublication, the providing commentsonthework. other membersofthepublicinvolved inreviewing booksandothermaterialor there inothersubjectareas islogicinhaving peoplewhohave expertise and Should work bereviewed onlyby peoplewhowork inthesamearea? Surely, as agoldstandard: Donna Livingstone discussedpeerreview, whichisviewedby academicpresses accounts? Does peer-reviewaccounts? Does have to beblind? we ways develop new ofpeer-reviewing First Nationsoralhistory andmuseumexhibitions? and gallery What aboutdatasets?Can developed peer-review for dance, performances musicortheatrical public. thestory publishing –ofmaking Whatwould itmeanifwe through many forms, all ofwhichcanbeconsidered away of But research many shapesand academicexcellence takes shines 167

Alternative Futures for Publishing The Project Adjunct Equity andContingentAdjuct The National Coalition for New Faculty Majority:

as well asacademia. ‘engage orextinction’, aphrasewhichprobably fitsthelarger publishingtheme In summary, Mark suggestedthatPaul’s phrase‘publish orperish’ shouldbe badges. Kirby Wright discussedhow professions credentials new coulduse and institutions makingsignificantchangestoensure theirsurvival. such asfree education leadingtoabadgeratherthandegree, willresult in credentials required by mostpeopleenteringthejobmarketapproaches, new While universities assumethattheirdegrees willcontinuetobethestandard more aboutThe New Faculty Majority. – teachinginstitutionsare taughtby sessionals.He suggested thatwe learn have ingaining tenure andthat75%oftheclassestaughtinAmericanresearch Paul Martin discussedinhischapterthedifficultiesthatadjunct professors valuable. particularly evaluation. Non-tenured professors wouldfindthismethodofpublishing to research results andscholarlywork willallow forapublicanddemocratic could benefitbothprofessionally andeconomically by doingso. Open access We agreed thatacademicscould becomepublishersoftheirown work and then cannotaccesstheresults. any outsideofauniversity. Thepublicpaysfor research andscholarship, but Kirby and Todd discussedthelackofavailability ofmanyonlinejournalsto 168

Alternative Futures for Publishing Laurence Lessig,authorandcreator of period,thenchargedforthem. a short Some others,includingSeth Godin, have provided e-booksatnocostfor new the costoftwoorthree lattés. $0.99 andsoftware updates–withoutclunkyboxes, manualsanddiscs–for being abletobuyonlywhattheywantonline. We buysongsoniTunes for low-cost software, apps,songsandbooks. Part ofthistrend relates topeople In hissectionMoving Towards Free Kirby Wright discussesthetrend towards e-books, presentations, workshops, grantsorpromotions. circumstances mayleadtomore incomefrom salesofpaperbooks,enhanced No onewantstowork fornoreturn, butproviding free e-booksinsome Free E-Books Livingstone toldusabout On alighternote,discussionsliketheseleadtounexpectedgems.Donna Culture reader, thesame reasons we writeand publish blogs. experience which we expect willhave beneficialeffectsforboth usandthe Some ofuscreate free e-books becausewe wanttocommunicateideasand sale asapaperedition. available onlineinthefuture. ofDramaDepartment attheUniversity ofCalgary. Iwonderiftheymightbe available atnocostasaPDFe-book,but thebookisalsoavailable for 169 an exciting ofcourses series Creative Commons taughtinthe , hasmade Free

Alternative Futures for Publishing a book. Paul saidthatwe losecontextand content whenwe takeonlyonechapter from authors. used by private firmscouldbeanexcellent source of revenue forpublishersand Selling chaptersorsectionsofabookwhichcan be combinedincoursepacksor be soldtostudentsiftheresources are accessibleandtaggedappropriately. Publishers have resources intheircurrent listandintheirbacklistswhich could saying thatusertaggingcreates opportunities. new Jessica inthisprocess, andKirby important agreed, saidthattaggingisvery popular.particularly time, thenextendingthebookby more chaptersthanhehadplannedifitwas Kirby mentioned thatDickens created hisbooksby selling achapterat significant forpublishersandauthors. The potentialforchunkingandsellingchunksas well ascomplete books is useful andinexpensive forstudents. and chunkingchapterssectionsfrom bookscanmakecourse-packs more Todd Anderson discussed ways of building digital course-packs and how tagging New Ways to SupplyContent course packs. the way to gowe have agreed thatPDFisafarbetter approach for our While many peopleinthepublishingbusinesshave felt thatEPUBis thatalreadyadapting thematerials exist. The problem isdiscoverability. for publishersisn’tThe opportunity justincreating itisin materials: new 170

Alternative Futures for Publishing books. mechanisms. Then, ofcourse,theyhave toknow orlearnhow tomarket their capitalandcontact Kirby publishers alsohave addedthatnew tofindstart-up writing, editing,layout, designandmarketing. that producing e-booksisallabouttechnology. But itisn’t. It’s aboutgood Lu Ziola, onFaceTime with usfrom Vancouver, said thatmostpeoplethink factors iftheyare tosucceed. Authors whopublishtheirown ofthese work mustunderstandtheimportance survive. and sales.If theycanshow that theyprovide value intheseareas theymay publishing,inwhichpublishersprovidefull-service editing,design, marketing, Value, thusfar, hasapparently beenprovided through whatsomepeople call “Publishers, therefore, onlyiftheyprovide willsurvive value,” headded. to changerapidly. small orlarge,have torealize thattheworldhaschangedanditcontinues excuses andgeneralizations aboutgradualchange,butthatpublishers,bethey Kirby Wright reminded usthatwe andotherpublisherscanmakeongoing The Future of What We Currently Call Publishing lots ofchoice. We whatwillhappeninfive probably years: utter doknow chaosand We alotaboutlearning, already but we don’t know putitinto practice. 171

Alternative Futures for Publishing future-of-the-book www.ideo.com/work/ attitude thatprevailed. Now itcouldbeasmall,agile companyoraguild and thepower and the“I’ve gotthree secretaries and you’ve only gottwo” Mark: ahugebenefit. “Theagilityiscertainly Traditionallyitwas the money Jerome: “We, small,have theagilitytostayinvolved beingvery inpublishing.” Mark: “We’re now seeingthedemocratizationofeverything.” work.” like Mark’s whichhave donealotofthingsforpeople willcontinueto Mad Men version ofhow it’s goingtowork willnotwork andthatoperations Todd Anderson:“Ithink thebigplayers are going togetintotrouble andthe space andbookstores are limitingfactors. no longercontrol whatispublishedinascarcity modelinwhichpaper, shelf “The e-reader has eliminatedscarcity,” can declared Godin. Thebookindustry number thisyear is15million. books were publishedlastyear (intheUSA,presumably) andthattheexpected successfulauthorandmarketer,3, 2012)Godin, avery hesaidthat150,000 Seth Godin withJian agrees. In aninterview Ghomehsi onQ(CBC,April from writinganovel. different different running apublishingfirmis fromvery very cooking,justas good atit,decidedthathewouldopenarestaurant. Running arestaurant is Kirby usedthemetaphorofacookwho,becauseheloved cookingandwas In hisdiscussionof how authorsmustbecautiousaboutbecomingpublishers 172

Alternative Futures for Publishing publishing. Watch formore aboutalternative futures forwhatwe currently call planning ournextactivities,discussions,andcooperative projects. There are noclearbeginningsorendstosymposiasuchasthis,and we were walked outofThe Enjoy Centre andintotheparking lot. Two daysofdiscussionswere notquiteenough. We continuedtotalk aswe costs.” people whohave thoseabilitiesneedtolinkotherslower transaction Kirby: “Smaller, more nimblecompanieshave tobejacksofalltrades.The customer…” betweencooperative twosmallcompanies,somethingthatworks effort forthe 173

Alternative Futures for Publishing typewriter. While thenovel hewrote wasepiclyforgettable, hispassionfor pounding out an epicfantasyadventure on hismother’s Underwood Mark hasbeenwritingsincehewas13years oldandspentthesummer LeslieMark Lefebvre two-years. community, Todd wasPresident oftheCanadianBooksellersAssociationfor boards. Activecustomer advisory intheCanadianbooksellingandpublishing Canada, thebooksupplychainagencyinCanada.He isamemberofseveral future ofthepublishing industry. He wasonthefoundingboard ofBookNet Bookstore.Alberta Todd hasspokeninCanada,U.S.andAustralia aboutthe and technologycompany. Previously hewastheDirector oftheUniversity of Todd Andersonisthe President ofHenday Publishing inc.apublishing,media Todd Anderson The Authors 174

Alternative Futures for Publishing for Mark currently works asDirector ofSelf-Publishing andAuthor Relations publishing andbooksellingprofessions. a retail operation,andcontinuestoinspire othersinwaystore-visualize the one ofthefirstbooksellersinCanadatoadaptanEspresso Book Machine into Board ofDirectors forBookNet Canada.He hasathirstforinnovation, was recently President ofCanadian BooksellersAssociationandalsositsonthe Over theyears Mark associations,was hasbeenactive invarious bookindustry booksellers. of twenty years, he has worked forindependent,chain,campusandonline for reading thatledhimtoacareer inbookselling,where, over thecourse writing wassomethinghenever letgoof. It wasthispassionforwritingand title “BookNerd” nicelycovers itall. a bookseller, PODanddigitaladvocate andwriter, Mark likestosaythatthe be comingfrom Atomic Fez. When askedaboutthevarious hatshewears as September 2012.AndinNovember 2012,Mark’s horror novel I,Death will a sciencefictionanthology, whichisbeing released by Edge Publishing in 2012 from Dundurn. Mark istheeditorforTesseracts 16:Parnassus Unbound, non-fiction bookofghoststoriesabouthishometown, iscomingin August Kobo.com . He hasthree bookscomingoutin2012.Haunted Hamilton, a 175

Alternative Futures for Publishing University. moving isitsintegrationwithLibraries and Cultural forward Resources atthe the University ofCalgary. Donna saysthatakeyelementofthePress’s success proud toplayaleadroleCentre inthenew forScholarly Communicationat “essential” inthescholarlyprocess. The part University ofCalgary Press isa impact andmoves itfrom beingan“ancillary service” oncampustobeingan paradigmforscholarlypublishingwhichincreasesa new itsreach and of openaccesspublishinginthecountry. Donna iscommittedtodeveloping difference. Making you think,” andisplayingakey role inthedevelopment 2008. Under herleadership, thePress visionof“Making hasinitiatedanew a Donna LivingstonejoinedtheUniversity Press ofCalgary asDirector inApril Donna Livingstone www.jessicalegacy.com fiction as well asfeatures focus. withanAlberta For more information,visit scholarship. She iscurrently theeditorforHenday Publishing. She alsowrites for English Studies inCanada where shefirstgainedinterest in openaccess editor in2010.During herMasters shewasaresearch andeditorialassistant She hasbeenpublished inPortal asitsmanaging Magazine andalsoserved of 2012.Her thesisisanovel basedonmedieval alchemyandthehuntress. Jessica received herMaster from theUniversity ofArts inApril ofAlberta Jessica Legacy 176 .

Alternative Futures for Publishing Futures forPrairie Agricultural Communities. learning, knowledge management,andorganizational innovation. research firm,KRW Knowledge Resources. His work focuses onprofessional Kirby Wright PhD ispresident ofanEdmonton-based consultingandapplied Kirby Wright be publishedby theUniversity Press ofAlberta inearly2013. politics ofknowledge production andtheteachingofliteratures ofCanada Program attheUniversity of Vermont. His bookSanctioned Ignorance: the he wasanAssistantProfessor ofEnglish andDirector oftheCanadianStudies joining MacEwan University asFaculty Development Coordinator in2011, Paul Martin teachesandwritesabouttheliteratures ofCanada.Prior to Paul Martin ( Jerome wayoflearningandworking istheauthorofCappuccinoU:Anew University ofSaskatchewan andtheUniversity ofAlberta. Hethe arts. wasborninMaple Creek, Saskatchewan andisagraduateof the photographer, amusicianandstoryteller, withabackground inscienceand Jerome Martin isthepublisherofSpotted Cow Press. He isalsoa Jerome Martin www.spottedcowpress.ca/CappuccinoU.pdf 177 ) andtheeditorofAlternative will

Alternative Futures for Publishing Bruce Keith fortheirhospitalityandassistance. Prairie Bistro We enjoyed certainly beingat McLaughlin, Lu Ziola, Melanie Eastley. people whomadethishappen:KieranLeBlanc, Merle Martin, Michael Mark Lefebvre, Jessica Legacy, and Todd Anderson –andtheother Thanks totheauthors–Kirby Wright, Donna Livingstone, Paul Martin, Alberta Media Development Fund), andby the ofCultureMinistry (through andCommunity Services theAlberta was madepossiblewithfundingby theGovernment of Alberta This book, Acknowledgements . Alternative Futures for What We Currently Call Publishing . Our specialthankstoJim Hole, LauraGadowsky, and 178 The Enjoy Centre Book PublishersBook Association of anddiningat The

Alternative Futures for Publishing