Agile Publishing

www.inkthinkerblog.com — On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I attended a 2-day “Summer Publishing Institute” as part of my masters degree program in publishing at George Washington University. The speakers had varied backgrounds and areas of expertise — but they all agreed on one thing: agility is critical for survival in the fast-changing world of publishing.

I’m not joking about that, by the way. Publishing really is changing fast. Ten years ago, who had a blog? Who had his or her own website? Who had used a vanity press to publish his or her own book? These things existed, but not nearly on the scale that they do right now. With so many ways to get and put out information, what place — what lifespan — does a print-centric traditional publisher have?

Look at article directories like EzineArticles.com or Associated Content.com. Content is free. People can get it out themselves. Publishing houses aren’t the only option anymore. So how can publishers keep up? There’s no simple answer — heck, we spent 2 days talking about it and still didn’t come up with a solution-in-a-box — but one thing is certain. To remain competitive, or even to break even, in an info-saturated environment, you have to give the customers what they want.

It’s not about creating a book anymore. It’s about adding value to content and delivering it to people in a format that they want exactly when they want it. That can mean websites, e-books, PDA updates, things you can read on your cell phone, audio recordings, webcasts and podcasts, e-mail, anything you can think of. Yes, books became popular because of their portability and convenience. But now there are tools that are even more portable that offer even greater convenience, and in a world where everything is moving fast, and people won’t stick around if you don’t give them what they need right away. They’ll move on to someone who will.

So, agile publishing is key. It’s a far too complex concept to fully explain in a blog post (or at least one that I would feel like reading, anyway), but here are 10 elements that characterize agility, as described in the Agile Manifesto and summarized by Laura Fillmore of Open Book Systems in Rockport, MA:

1. Reader driven
2. Fast
3. Supported by a team-based approach
4. Rapid to market
5. Content valued over delivery container
6. Porous boundaries
7. Simultaneous production (not linear)
8. A state of permanent beta
9. Balance of risk and opportunity
10. Floating values

What do you think about the future of publishing? How do you fit in? Share your thoughts in the comments.
__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King