Rapid and Participatory
Publishing
Leverage the Web to make your publishing
timely and relevant.
C. David Gammel, CAE
High Context Consulting
www.highcontext.com

Beta Publishing
Agile Web Development with Rails was one of the first
books published in this manner.

Beta Publishing Requires
High interest topic;
Few to no available resources;
Optimized publishing processes for issuing betas;
A willing author.

Beta Publishing Process
Identify high interest, under-served, topics.
Recruit willing author.
Launch blog for author to discuss ideas in book, solicit
feedback.
Prepare infrastructure and processes for publishing
PDF versions of drafts.

Beta Publishing Process
Launch sale of first draft as a PDF with option to pre-
purchase hard copy.
Deliver PDF on purchase and provide access to new
drafts to past buyers.
Solicit feedback, supply to author.
Repeat until book is complete.
Transition sales to hard copy and/or PDF download of
final product.

Short-form eBooks
O’Reilly Media provides a great example with their
Short Cuts series of PDF-based, short form, books.

Short Form eBooks Require
Topics that are:
New and rapidly developing;
Too narrow in scope for a full book.
Optimized authoring, editing and publishing process.
Effective electronic document sales system.
Authors who can work fast.

eBook Process
Identify new, evolving, topics and/or under-served
niche topics.
Recruit author(s) to write the ebook.
Develop optimized authoring system for speeding edits
and production.
Develop online, electronic document sales system.
Launch product for sale as a download.

Short Form to Long
Collection of short-form eBooks can be republished as
a print collection.

Hybrid Approach
Incorporate participatory practices into short-form
ebook development as well as with full length book
projects.

Your Publishing Program
What are the hot, new, topics in your field?
Who are your niche markets?
How can you serve them better with these methods?

Analyzing Your Ideas
New/Rapidly Broad or Existing
Topic
Evolving Niche Interest Resources?
Extreme Widget
New sport. Niche Few to none.
Wrangling

Making It Happen
Biggest challenges?
Best opportunities?