Book Mashups: An Introduction

I'm thrilled to introduce the readers of BB&H to Jeff Nordstedt an extremely creative guy who is going to be doing a bi-monthly column here on Book Mashups which he'll explain in more detail than I can. It's a treat to have him here. Welcome, Jeff. - MJR

What is a “mashup?” According to this Wikipedia post, a “digital mashup” is a “digital media file containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video and animation drawn from pre-existing sources, to create a new derivative work.”

For a really technical explanation of a mashup from a web perspective you can watch this whiteboard video. A less intimidating definition can be found at Six Pixels of Separation, where Mitch Joel defines a mashup as “Two individually awesome things that make up one even more amazingly awesome thing.” (Be sure to click that link to see a very funny mashup of Bert, Ernie, and what sounds like Busta Rhymes.)

In this column I’ll be using the second, more loose, definition of a mashup. For instance tomorrow morning when I commute I’ll probably read Moby Dick on my iPhone (no kidding!). This is kind of thing I a, classifying as a “book mashup”.

Some Background
I am currently a book publishing expatriate. I left my job as Executive Vice President of an independent book publishing house in part because I lost track of what role the publisher plays in the book business. These days I have some very strong opinions on the subject. Lets start with what a book publisher is not.

A Book Publisher is not:

1. A Retailer. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Powells, your local Indie, Wal-Mart, Costco, Urban Outfitters, etc. These are all retail operations that sell books. For the most part book publishers do not sell direct to consumers. There are exceptions to that rule. Exploring those exceptions could provide a viable alternative for some publishers, but I will leave that for another blogger.
2. A Manufacturer. Book publishers are not in the business of printing books. RR. Donnelly, Quebecor, Phoenix Color, Berryville Graphics, and even LuLu.com are book manufacturers. Book publishers contract these companies to print their books for them.
3. A Distributor. Ingram, Baker and Taylor, and a slew of fulfillment houses handle the bulk of distribution.

This begs the question: If publishers don’t make books (at least not in a manufacturing sense) and they don’t sell books (in the retail sense), what do they do?

What a Book Publisher Does
In my opinion, what a book publisher does is create a marketable product where there was previously only an idea and a bunch of words. In short, the publisher applies business to creativity. This is no small task!

A book, printed on paper, bound in a case, and sold off a shelf at a local retailer, has historically been the most effective way to apply business to the creativity provided by an author. But all of that has changed. The web took away the shelf and technology has created an opportunity to replace a lot of the paper.

Many people view this as a doom-and-gloom scenario. And for many publishers who insist on old ways it probably will be. To steal a concept from my favorite TV show, Lost, much of the current industry turmoil feels a bit like “course correction” to me.

Personally, I think this is an exciting time to be in publishing. The rise of the web—still predominantly a text-based medium—means that people are reading more now than ever. New technology has created the opportunity to apply a variety of different business plans to an author’s creativity. And the best part is that digitally based products can’t be returned. Publishers should be salivating over the idea of adding non-returnable product to their arsenal.

This column will be dedicated to exploring the many ways that authors, publishers, tech companies, websites, authors and readers can “mashup” technology with “book” content. I am interested in any vehicle that organizes and delivers book-length content in any size or shape. This includes eBooks, audio books, blogs, subscription models, wikis, etc.

I’ve spent enough of your time introducing this content already, so I am not going to get into investigating one just yet. You’ll have to wait two weeks for that. In the meantime, if you have any favorite book mashups please comment on this post and share them. Alternately, if you really hate the move away from the traditional printed book, I’d love to hear from you too.

Until next time…
Jeff Nordstedt

Comments

[Don Lafferty]

Jeff,

Excellent idea and conversation.

I'm already doing this with several clients, most recently, bestselling author of the Vampire Huntress Legends, L.A. Banks and Bram Stoker winning author of the Pine Deep Trilogy, Jonathan Maberry.

Leslie and I just concluded a blockbuster weekend-long literary event here in Philly to commemorate the drop of THE THIRTEENTH, the 12th and final installment of the Vampire Huntress Legends.

Leslie has spoiled her dedicated fans by providing TONS of masheable content through her website, including downloadable shorts, character journals, music, wallpapers and a complete lexicon of the world between the covers of her books.

Combined with the books, this diverse stream of complimentary content provides her fans with a rich literary experience full of surprises and fresh perspectives on the material.

Working closely with St. Martin's Press, both Leslie and Jonathan are giving away downloadable prequel shorts to their latest books through the Macmillan website, and I just heard that Maberry is doing some work for Marvel Comics that'll run print and digital complimentary content in parallel.

I have one other client prepping her launch with a Twitter/Vlog campaign very similar to the angle HBO took with True Blood, employing characters from the primary work, an embedded but unique story line and community engagement.

The ideas for this type of non-traditional content delivery and experience enhancement are popping too quick to execute.

I look forward to learning more about the research you're doing and hearing about the ways others are branching away from traditional book publishing to provide a more exciting experience for their readers.

[Gavin Williams]

"I have one other client prepping her launch with a Twitter/Vlog campaign very similar to the angle HBO took with True Blood"

Has there ever been a scarier sentence written? If people like Don had the balls to admit that they're just advertising execs with pretensions the sooner we'll be able to go about reading books in peace.

Hopefully there won't be too many experience enhancements popping about me as I do so.

[Richard]

Sounds good. Thanks for the column.

[Kerry Gans]

Books as an interactive medium are inevitable, although I, too, enjoy the old-fashioned paper book best.

I am very interested in how books as an interactive medium will change the way writers write. How will authors envision their books now? Will it change substantially? Should it?

[Kerry Gans]

We live in an age of media convergence. Books as an interactive medium are inevitable, as much as I prefer the paper book myself.

The question that interests me is how this interaction will affect the way writers write. Will it significantly change the way authors envision their work? Should it?