iSoap on NewFiction.com - The Future?

This is the textbook definition of early adoption, especially when Questers are hearing the worst of news.

While trolling around Twitter, I came across this gem from New York Magazine, openly wondering about the demise of publishing as we know it. As many Questers can attest to, the publishing business was already tough to break into. Now, if the pundits are right, the business will be dead and buried before long.

But it probably won't. Like the first rule of chemistry, matter is neither created nor destroyed, just changing form. With the advent of e-books and readers from Amazon, Sony and soon, Plastic Logic, those of us trying to get our writing out there will have just as many places to go as ever. And, as in the case of Amazon Digital Text Platform, with a little bit of tech savvy, we, as writers, can cut out the middleman altogether.

That's not all. While making my regular stop on LinkedIn, I can across a question in one of my groups from a gentleman named Tom Lopilato seeking fiction stories for his venture, NewFiction.com. Out of sheer curiosity, I took a look at the site.

What I saw could very well be the future of publishing. NewFiction is the creator of the iSoap, a publishing hybrid that marries the format of old-school weekly radio shows and the technology behind podcasting. Throw in a e-book PDF text format for good measure, and they really could be onto something.

Needless to say, I've already sent them Flagrant Foul. If ever there was a book to have in this format, this would be it.

Then again, perhaps I should have went with Dilemma...

Early Adopters vs. Target Audience

You always wonder if you've made the right move.

With the advent of devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader, and with news of another competitor, Plastic Logic. projected to come to market next year, it's no real secret that authors like myself are slowly but surely trying to latch on.

Amazon's made it the simplest by allowing authors to self-publish their work using their Digital Text Platform site or, in another end-around, using Mobipocket, which was snapped up by Amazon in 2005, most likely as a precursor the the development of the Kindle.

But the early adopters, are they really my demographic?

Amazon hopes so.

BusinessWeek had this story about Amazon prepping for the next version of the currently-bulky Kindle and how the company's gunning for the college crowd. They're banking on the same crowd who gobbled up iPods and iPhones like they were going out of style will find the new Kindle a viable alternative to the hundreds of dollars in books they're currently lugging around.

For me, however, this prospect, which may include a price drop from the current $359 down to as low as $249, doesn't necessarily benefit me now.

So what shall become of Flagrant Foul and Dilemma? Oh, they'll be there...

...and maybe a couple of additional Kindle Books along with them, perhaps?