Seth Godin Discusses the Future of Publishing, and How He Got Started in the Industry

May 25, 2011 8:53 PM

In his latest interview, NYtimes bestselling author Seth Godin discusses how he got his start as an author, and the core beliefs behind his new publishing distribution method, the domino project.
posted by ziadbc (21 comments total)

So because this interview barely mentions the Domino Project, I did a quick Google and found this, which (not surprisingly, for Godin) manages to use a lot of words and not say anything. Basically the idea seems like:

— Have good ideas
— Write about them well
— Try and spread those ideas
— Charge different amounts for different things
— Be fast about it

...so, exactly what indie publishing is already, only now Seth Godin's trying to stamp his hideous bald face on it.
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:11 PM on May 25, 2011 [8 favorites]

I think he's rather comely.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:21 PM on May 25, 2011

What a great start for a comment thread. Haters gonna hate, I suppose.
posted by jklaiho at 9:23 PM on May 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Previously.

And as for the snark, he's a marketer. We shoot those people on site here.
posted by zabuni at 9:33 PM on May 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Can someone tell me how Squidoo works?
posted by KokuRyu at 9:38 PM on May 25, 2011

(self link) Say what you want about Godin, but he was also responsible for the really cool Worlds of Power books based on Nintendo Games.
posted by ShawnStruck at 9:41 PM on May 25, 2011

Can someone tell me how Squidoo works?

Basically you pick a topic, and then you Google a bunch of things, and Squidoo saves the results of your Google searches with some barely-styled styling. So, you can put up pictures, or links to Amazon books, or whatever. And then Squidoo search-engine-optimizes so that if other people Google that topic, they see the Squidoo page and click through it and see all of these Google searches that you did before. Then you get paid money if they click on things on the page which are monetized, like Amazon links.

Like Godin himself, Squidoo is enormously popular, because there are a lot of people who would love to make money by sitting in front of their computers doing essentially nothing productive. And like Godin, sometimes its success is heralded as meaningful because it paints itself as a beacon of the creative new-technology future, and a lot of people nowadays care about success even when that success is connected to nothing remotely meaningful, tangible, or useful.

What's weird about the Domino Project is that it's added literally nothing to what Amazon already does. Anybody can already publish Kindle books, and Amazon's Create Space lets you publish print books for free already. When I was 17 I self-published a novel using CreateSpace and promoted it by releasing it for free online and made a few hundred dollars. Which sounds like what Godin's talking about here — release things in multiple formats; don't edit yourself because that takes too much effort; make sure what you make is so simple that it can be spread on ADD networks like Tumblr and Reddit.

Since the Domino Project doesn't mention anything like quality of production or promotion, I'll assume that they're just going to use existing venues of distribution like CreateSpace, which means that all this is is a press release by Amazon and a web site by Godin with an attached Twitter account. Meaning this is just another venue that produces nothing of value other than, again, Godin's freakishly bald head and his mouth which looks like a rubber zipper that you could stretch open and pull out the creature that's been hiding inside Godin's body this whole time.
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:48 PM on May 25, 2011 [11 favorites]

When I was 17 I self-published a novel using CreateSpace and promoted it by releasing it for free online and made a few hundred dollars.

Not to be (more than usually) a dick or anything, but that first Amazon review of your book is a classic take-down.
posted by orthogonality at 9:57 PM on May 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

How bad could he possibly look... [google]... he looks like James Carville's happy, gay twin.
posted by stavrogin at 9:58 PM on May 25, 2011

And it's spot-on, too. That book's not worth reading even for free.
posted by Rory Marinich at 10:00 PM on May 25, 2011 [6 favorites]

Seth Godin? Again? Really? The guy is good at what he does. I seem to remember a three year span where it was Federal law that you had to mention his name in anything web-related. And then there was the thing where he was going to hire someone to live with him and learn from him which smacked of creepy. Nothing against the man personally but everything I've ever seen him produce leaves me empty and feeling like he just sucked away a portion of my time. Time I could be using to masturbate or play RDR. He represents everything I hate about SEO/Marketing/Strategy Matrices/Blah-Blah-Blah. The last thing he needs is a MetaFilter post promoting Seth Godin, the product.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:29 PM on May 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

How did you come up with the title?
I spent weeks on the title. I’m still not delighted with it, but at some point, you say, “this is the single best word I can find to describe a new way of being, a new unit of value in the information economy” and you ship.

What. The. Fuck? I can't even begin to wrap my head around this. The guy fucking sells oxygen filled with random words. Haters gonna hate alright.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:34 PM on May 25, 2011

"If you work in advertising or marketing ... kill yourself."

/obligatory
posted by nightchrome at 10:50 PM on May 25, 2011

First line of the linked interview:
We all know you as a visionary marketing guru

*barf*

Seth Godin? Again? Really? The guy is good at what he does.

Self promotion? Yes, he absolutely excels at that. He has apparently made a not insignificant amount of money at it. But, like Stein's Oakland, there's just no there there.
posted by dersins at 11:25 PM on May 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

God that guy irritates me. Like others have said, he seems to say absolutely nothing in the most vapid way possible.

And then there was the thing where he was going to hire someone to live with him and learn from him which smacked of creepy.

Heh, there was an FPP after one of the women who did his 'internship' put up a website about hiring her own boss, (stipulating that it had to be a man).

What's weird about the Domino Project is that it's added literally nothing to what Amazon already does.

Except for the fact that Seth Goodin didn't get a cut!

---

I found this from the article on "Worlds of Power" about how Seth hired ghost writers to novelize nintendo games, except he removed all the violence.

Godin says that these changes were stylistic in nature and that he "wanted to minimize the death" seen in many of the NES games. "Ironically enough," he said, "Scholastic insisted that we excise witchcraft and occult-type stuff just a few years before they published Harry Potter!"

Heh, but seriously this guy managed to bowdlerize Nintendo Games. he changed the story in Ninja Gaiden to make the main character's father alive.
posted by delmoi at 1:46 AM on May 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

So, here's what comes up after Rory's novel when you search for it on amazon, since there's only one result for his whole name.
posted by delmoi at 1:51 AM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

Interview: "Bestseller lists are not worth compromising for."

Website photo: Seth Godin best selling author

Blog sidebar: Seth Godin has written 12 bestsellers that have been translated into 33 languages
posted by Brodiggitty at 2:01 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

the boing boing interview :P

Avi Solomon: You inspire millions of people. What inspires you?

[...]

When I look at one of my heroes, two of my heroes, Cory and Mark at Boing Boing, what I see are two people who explore without fear. What I see are two people who know when something is done.

This notion of being able to say, "Yup, I'm done working on this. I'm handing it off to the world" is incredibly rare and we need more of it and we need it right now.

build your tribe!
posted by kliuless at 8:01 AM on May 26, 2011

When I look at one of my heroes, two of my heroes, Cory and Mark at Boing Boing, what I see are two people who explore without fear. What I see are two people who know when something is done.

My comment in the last Godin FPP:
I think Godin needs to team up with Cory Doctorow, if only for the incredibly awesome MetaFilter thread that would result.

IT'S HAPPENING
posted by TrialByMedia at 8:31 AM on May 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

When I look at one of my heroes, two of my heroes, Cory and Mark at Boing Boing

Not surprising.
posted by Ratio at 8:48 AM on May 26, 2011

Godin earned some love from me with this statement about blogging. Surprised me some.

And of course, there's lots to learn from Godin, mostly by watching what he does, but use your powers for good, kids.
posted by weston at 11:52 AM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]