I wish I had started a cable TV network in 1980.
I also wish I had built a search engine in 1995.
Too late.
Blogs, on the other hand, are changing the consumption of information far far faster than either of those two outlets ever did. Yes, it’s different, it’s not a winner take all world, but no, that doesn’t make the opportunity any less interesting.
If KnockKnock the ebook I published in June, is about how to make websites do their job better, then it’s only natural to turn our attention to blogs.
Download whos_there.pdf
Who’s There is not an ebook about how to write better or how to follow the traditional conventions about formatting and building a blog. It’s not designed to sell you one service instead of another, either.
Instead, I divide the blog world into three groups and turn my attention to one. And in particular, I try to sell you hard on how building a blog asset can have a spectacular impact on you, your career, your organization and your ideas.
I promise this ebook is incomplete. I hope, though, that it encourages you to pay attention to some of the underlying forces at work online and off. And it’s small enough to email to your colleagues or to post on your own site. Hey, it’s free and it comes with its own carrying case.
As always, thanks for reading. And I promise no more ebooks for at least two weeks.
(now mirrored here: Link: Another new e-book from Seth. Check the trackbacks for others).
September 6, 2005
Joi (Joi Ito’s Web: Village funeral.) has a great post today about musubiai. Forgive my translation, but Joi describes it as doing whatever is necessary–anything–for a next door neighbor in need.
With the recent events in New Orleans (aided and amplified by television) we see a mass example of this. At the same time, we see it completely corrupted in gated-community America and in the nameless, faceless world of big brands.
I have no terrific insight for you, just a word that I’m sure I’ll be using almost every day.
I’m really pleased at the great reception KnockKnock received. The first lesson is that free ebooks spread FORTY times faster than ebooks that cost money.
That should give you pause if your goal is to spread your ideas. It seems to me that it’s really difficult to imagine that the $9 or $12 you can charge for an ebook is more effective than reaching forty times as many as people for free. The TV model, in other words, (free content for the masses) appears to be defeating the bookstore model.
On the other hand, it raises the ante for my next ebook, which launches tomorrow, Tuesday, at about 4 pm. I hope you enjoy it.
September 5, 2005
Thanks to all the readers who have mirrored Knock Knock (see the trackbacks below for a bunch of them.
And readers are taking me up on the sequel challenge. Here’s a free one: Knock Knock Sequel from Basil Drolias.
And finally, a clarification: on a Windows machine, the steps for full screen display in Acrobat are: WINDOW –> Full Screen View.
September 2, 2005
I’m stunned.
In just a few weeks, we sold all 10,000 galleys. They’re all gone.
The challenge now is to make sure that every person you gave a galley to buys 10 hardcovers. P & G has already committed to buying 1,000 hardcovers.
Thanks to each of you who is volunteering to help. It’s a worthy cause.
The Big Moo by The Group of 33:: Galley Offer.
September 1, 2005
Knock Knock is now available for you to read for free. It’s a short take on how to use the new online marketing tools to make any website work more effectively.
You’ll notice on the second page of the PDF that there’s a link that makes it easy to contribute to the Red Cross. I hope you’ll take advantage of that.
Here is KnockKnock in PDF form
It’s sort of large, so if you want to post it on your own site, or email it to your friends, please go right ahead. I’ll post a list of other sites that are hosting it as soon as you send me the URL where you’ve posted. The only rules are no changes, no commerce.
I’m going to post the sequel to this one (I hope you can guess the title) this weekend. That’s why I encourage you to follow the RSS feed instructions on the second page of the ebook.
Happy reading. Spread the word.
UPDATE: Two mirrors already online, just minutes later! Check out Paul’s very cool design on Unsalted while you’re there.
When I published Knock Knock a few months ago, I promised that I would make it free in September.
I will. Probably tomorrow.
So don’t buy it in the meantime, or you’ll be frustrated that you wasted $9. Seth’s Blog: Seth’s New eBook is ready.
