A nasty Catch-22 bedevils the writers of computer books. The very technology they write about can kill sales of their wares. Just how competitive can static books be compared to interactive Web sites? Wiley has smartly recognized the issues here, and coincidentally my friend Andy Oram has just pointed me to Michael Swaine‘s essay for Dr. Dobb’s on the future—or lack of it?—of computer books (Swaine in photo). Could the end result be fewer but better computer books? And meanwhile, how about such strategies as publishing books as PDFs available as immediate downloads?
In a related vein, I’ve shared a few thoughts with Mike Cane on First Madonna and Radiohead; Next, James Patterson, best-selling thriller writer Barry Eisler‘s thoughts on E’s disruption of traditional publishing. Eisler was guest-blogging for M.J. Rose‘s Buzz, Balls and Hype blog. "I argued that distribution is flattening," Eisler says, "and in doing so is undermining the most important competitive advantage of media companies." I wish Eisler had paid more attention to E and a bit less to POD, but there’s no question that the latter has a role to play. No telling what’s possible in the future. Someday will we see an imprint called Wal-Mart books? Maybe even toned-down Wal-Mart Romances?
