Re: Digital Publishing Network (LinkedIn) is for personal networking, not discus

auwg wrote:
> Mike Cook wrote:

>> For some time now I've been wondering why there are so many groups.
>> I don't believe any of these; ebook-community, epub-community,
>> digital-text, are so busy that it would hurt to have them combined.
>> Would we not all benefit from following the discussions within
>> each?

To answer Mike's point, the groups 'epub-community' and 'digital-text'
are quite specialized forums, and include a number of subscribers who
have no interest in joining 'ebook-community' or any other generalized
group (they simply don't have the patience/time to wade through posts
that don't talk about their specific and narrow area of interest.)

It is the eternal conflict between "general vs. specific" for
discussion forums.


> Yes, but now you're proposing to try to herd feral cats.

LOL, well put Ed.


> Jon won't want to give up his thematic control of this group
> (largely unused, but there nonetheless). Others will have similar
> reasons for not wanting to consolidate groups or participate in
> centralizing matters.

Ed's second point reiterates what I said: every person who
participates in an online discussion forum has a reason to be there,
and has particular expectations. Since no two people are alike, we
find that some people are extreme specialists and will only join
forums that are narrowly focused, while others are more generalist and
prefer to see the bigger picture and learn how all the pieces fit
together. (E.g., they are involved in a venture which has multiple
components.)

Regarding Ed's first point, I continue to notice the slow shift away
from traditional mailing lists, such as this one, towards more online
types of interaction. Mobileread is a prime example; the Distributed
Proofreader's forum is another.

And, the blog article/comment model (e.g. TeleRead) appears to be
gaining as well. People are finding it easier to follow a number
of blogs, and if they get their dander up about some article, they
will post their comments.

Some forums, though, continue to thrive using the traditional "mail
list" model, such as 'Self-Publishing' (see link below.)


> Fact is, unless ebook groups *actively, effectively* address matters
> of marketing and expanding the ebook/POD markets, I question their
> values beyond simple socializing and sharing of news bits.

Ed's point again illustrates my previous comment: every person
participating in an online discussion forum has their particular
expectations as to what they'd like to see discussed.

Ed's specific comment is noted that this group should focus (or maybe
would be more "successful" if it focused) on discussions about ebook
marketing and sales.

Of course, I'd love to see more discussion on this topic! But I'm not
sure if anyone can make it happen, including yours truly. The saying
"you can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink" pretty much
sums this up.

Over the years of starting and trying to nurture a number of
discussion groups, I've learned that some groups were never meant to
be. It's a social dynamic thing... (As an aside, I also believe that
some groups "could have been", but for one reason or another a
critical mass of the right mix of subscribers was not reached.)

If anyone here would like to spend the effort jump starting topics on
e-book marketing for the small publisher and self-published author,
they are welcome to try!

Btw, there already exists a very active Yahoo Group which discusses
topics of interest to the small publisher and self-published author:
"Self-Publishing":

   http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Self-Publishing/

That group is VERY active, with an average of appr. 1000 posts per
month, which far surpasses the most this group ever did. It does show
there's a lot of interest in self-publishing, topics of which heavily
overlap with the interests of the small, independent publisher. (And
the distinction between the self-published author and the smaller
publisher is oftentimes quite blurry.)

Of course, 'Self-Publishing' is focused towards the 'nuts and bolts'
side of how to self-publish, while "meta" discussions of new models
and techniques in marketing/sales are mostly buried and thus hard to
follow because of the sheer inundation of "how do I...?" topics.

Regarding POD, another very active group that rivals Self-Publishing
is 'pod_publisher':

   http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/pod_publishers/


As a final point, I've always wanted for this group to be run by a
"board" of five or so members (and not just by me) to oversee its
operation and to be more active in jump-starting discussions, as well
as planning future strategies. But whenever I've asked for volunteers
I get silence (well there is the occasional "If you get enough others,
I'll join too..." kind of reply.)

It just may be that "generalized" lists such as this one can't
maintain themselves once the industry they represent reaches a certain
level of sophistication and maturity -- at this point Balkanization
occurs and we see the shift towards specialized forums.

I know that since 1996 the ebook-community has played a role, even if
minor, in the development of the digital publishing industry. I've
certainly learned a lot from it. Being the Minnesota Norwegian
fatalist I am, I recognize that everything in life is fleeting, and
there is a time to thrive, and a time to move on -- a favorite
exposition of this philosophy is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 :

   http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible%2C_King_James%2C_Ecclesiastes#Chapter_3


Maybe this group is close to the end of its life cycle? Should we just
close the doors and move on? Or does someone here have new ideas to
breathe life back into this group?

Jon Noring



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