On Friday, I am heading down to Poet’s House in Battery Park for the Littap Conference where I will serving as the moderator of the book publishing panel.

do i trust that elephant head hovering above me?

I am curious about what this gathering of literary organizations thinks about how new technologies are changing the future of the book.

Last week, I attended an intimate gathering with 300 people at the Harvard Club where we had breakfast with Chris Brogan, Julien Smith, David Maister, and Charlie Green. They talked about issues of trust and how they relate to the way to do business.  It was $25 to attend which included a complimentary copy of both The Trusted Advisor and Trust Agents plus breakfast for that cost.

trust agent summit

This is what I realized:

Chris has been giving away the content of this book on his blog and building a base of readers who value this and, perhaps more importantly, his generosity.  Why would they buy the book if the content is already out there?  Because we are lazy human beings that like getting stuff and getting fed.  That is what Seth would say.  Even though I agree, I would try vigorously to be nice about it and say something like, “I am buying the experience of being in a trust agent summit with the authors in a stunning space where there is a head of an elephant suspended above me and breakfast is being served.”

But it is so true.  The book is an afterthought for me.  It is a byproduct of Chris’s blogging and personal/professional beliefs.  As a customer, subscriber, reader of his blog I am part of a much more desirable market share.  We trust him and will gladly buy any experience he presents to us.  Books too.

Is there a lesson here for book publishers, literary magazines, small independent presses?  Can they recreate a similar structure for themselves and their reader community?  Can literature be enjoyed this way?

The way I see it, Chris and his crew gatejumped the traditional process of becoming a published and recognized author neatly circumventing the gatekeepers of the publishing industry.  I like that.

On Friday, I will be asking my panelists five questions about this topic and I am looking forward to hearing what they think.

What do you think?