Man Is The Media.
The Best Digital Publishing Channel Is Legion
March 25th, 2009 by Martin
Take a look at what the smart people at Bantam Dell / Random House are doing. While publishers looking to go digital continue to look for the best online service, Bantam Dell are using all of them: PDF download, Issuu, Scribd, Kindle, Sony Reader, Fictionwise and Stanza.
That’s an aggressive approach to digital distribution. But since they’re giving away free quality content, they are wise to make it count the most. Their strategy is simple: Lee Child’s book Persuader is used to create awareness about the Bantam Dell brand, and, ultimately, drive traffic to their website (hint: there’s a webshop!). People will probably not feel inclined to buy the $ 7,99 ebook version of Persuader on sale, but perhaps they’ll consider the paperback for only $9,99, as well as other titles from this successful author.
That, in essence, is the ‘new’ paradigm of digital publishing: Give people the first complimentary fix, and hopefully they’ll come looking for the second one. It’s not a new world order, however, this has always been the way the web works best. It’s just new to many publishers still wanting to control who sees their content, how they see it, and where they see it.
