Question
I am about to launch a new social startup on books. Who are the key people I should contact who can provide know how and good knowledge on the industry?
Answer
If you don't already know them, the key people in the industry are rather unlikely to talk to you.
I suggest attending a couple of relevant conferences to get the lay of the land and figuring out how you want to pitch your startup in the current environment, before reaching out to important people. O'Reilly Tools of Change and BEA (Book Expo America) are among the key ones.
http://straussconsultants.com/re...
There is a huge amount of information out there about the publishing industry. Some of the best information is available from people on the self-publishing end, like Dan Poynter (sign up for his newsletter), since they have a strong incentive to "expose" the internal structure of the book industry when they present their arguments for avoiding the traditional route. Read a handful of the many, many books available.
The industry is changing so fast though, that you really do have to pay close attention. Today's truths are next week's laughable idiocies, and today's jokes are next week's market-movers. There are plenty of blogs about the future of book publishing. Surprisingly, the tech blog readwriteweb (RWW) is one of the best sources.
Once you've developed some situation awareness and developed something of an approach strategy (your point of attack in the supply/distribution chain etc.) then you should go looking for introductions to the right key people. The wrong key people, if they talk to you at all, will be a waste of time.
I suggest attending a couple of relevant conferences to get the lay of the land and figuring out how you want to pitch your startup in the current environment, before reaching out to important people. O'Reilly Tools of Change and BEA (Book Expo America) are among the key ones.
http://straussconsultants.com/re...
There is a huge amount of information out there about the publishing industry. Some of the best information is available from people on the self-publishing end, like Dan Poynter (sign up for his newsletter), since they have a strong incentive to "expose" the internal structure of the book industry when they present their arguments for avoiding the traditional route. Read a handful of the many, many books available.
The industry is changing so fast though, that you really do have to pay close attention. Today's truths are next week's laughable idiocies, and today's jokes are next week's market-movers. There are plenty of blogs about the future of book publishing. Surprisingly, the tech blog readwriteweb (RWW) is one of the best sources.
Once you've developed some situation awareness and developed something of an approach strategy (your point of attack in the supply/distribution chain etc.) then you should go looking for introductions to the right key people. The wrong key people, if they talk to you at all, will be a waste of time.