Comments on: What Publishing Can Learn, Part IV http://www.thelateageofprint.org/2010/01/04/what-publishing-can-learn-part-iv/ Beyond the Book Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:16:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Mary M. http://www.thelateageofprint.org/2010/01/04/what-publishing-can-learn-part-iv/comment-page-1/#comment-3854 Mary M. Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:37:51 +0000 http://www.thelateageofprint.org/?p=571#comment-3854 The really remarkable thing about Frankfurt's On Bullshit was that it had already been published, as a journal article in Raritan (I think) in the 1980s and was freely available on the Internet for many years when the philosophy editor at Princeton had the bright idea to puff it up into a book. I worked at Princeton at the time and thought we shouldn't publish it because it wasn't "new" and our mission was to disseminate new scholarship. But, after nearly 400,000 copies were sold, who but a dumbass could continue to defend such a high-minded position?! So, to me, the lesson from On Bullshit is not that publishers should produce more short books--they figured that one out a long time ago--but that people will pay for "content" in pretty containers even if they can get it for free in digital form. The really remarkable thing about Frankfurt’s On Bullshit was that it had already been published, as a journal article in Raritan (I think) in the 1980s and was freely available on the Internet for many years when the philosophy editor at Princeton had the bright idea to puff it up into a book. I worked at Princeton at the time and thought we shouldn’t publish it because it wasn’t “new” and our mission was to disseminate new scholarship. But, after nearly 400,000 copies were sold, who but a dumbass could continue to defend such a high-minded position?!

So, to me, the lesson from On Bullshit is not that publishers should produce more short books–they figured that one out a long time ago–but that people will pay for “content” in pretty containers even if they can get it for free in digital form.

]]> By: uberVU - social comments http://www.thelateageofprint.org/2010/01/04/what-publishing-can-learn-part-iv/comment-page-1/#comment-3848 uberVU - social comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:37:25 +0000 http://www.thelateageofprint.org/?p=571#comment-3848 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by bookfuturism: More philosophy chapbooks, please. @striphas on what publishers can learn from Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit." http://is.gd/5LTpb... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by bookfuturism: More philosophy chapbooks, please. @striphas on what publishers can learn from Harry Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit.” http://is.gd/5LTpb...

]]> By: Tweets that mention What Publishing Can Learn, Part IV — The Late Age of Print -- Topsy.com http://www.thelateageofprint.org/2010/01/04/what-publishing-can-learn-part-iv/comment-page-1/#comment-3847 Tweets that mention What Publishing Can Learn, Part IV — The Late Age of Print -- Topsy.com Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:03:50 +0000 http://www.thelateageofprint.org/?p=571#comment-3847 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Roy Kenagy and Tim Carmody, Bookfuturism.com. Bookfuturism.com said: More philosophy chapbooks, please. @striphas on what publishers can learn from Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit." http://is.gd/5LTpb [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Roy Kenagy and Tim Carmody, Bookfuturism.com. Bookfuturism.com said: More philosophy chapbooks, please. @striphas on what publishers can learn from Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit." http://is.gd/5LTpb [...]

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