US author to bypass “fundamentally broken” publishers

The Bookseller - 24.08.10

US author Seth Godin has announced that his latest book, Linchpin, will be the last he releases via a traditional publisher. Godin will now publish digitially and direct to his fans, avoiding the "fundamentally broken" publishing industry, in particular his US publisher Portfolio.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Godin, a frequent observer and critic of the publishing industry, has so many direct customer relationships that he will be able to sell his titles directly as e-books via print-on-demand or as audiobooks, apps, PDFs and/or podcasts.

On his most recent blog post, Godin criticised the “antique and expensive distribution system” used by publishers to help "authors reach unknown readers", adding "the thing is—now I know who my readers are. Adding layers or faux scarcity doesn't help me or you. As the medium changes, publishers are on the defensive . . .

"I can't think of a good reason to be on the defensive . . . Instead, my mission is to figure out who the audience is, and take them where they want and need to go, in whatever format works, even if it's not a traditionally published book."

Adrian Zackheim, publisher of Portfolio, said that Linchpin is Godin's fastest-selling book but declined to comment further.

Wall Street Journal