Question

Topic: Other

Joint Publishers For Marketing Book

Posted by Anonymous on 7/24/2008 at 8:24 PM ET 125 Points
I am putting together a publication (I THOUGHT OF THAT) that highlights peoples ideas/discoveries and then puts them into print. The Book will expose these ideas to the general public but gives you the co-author the satisfaction of creating the idea first. Although the book will not make you millions through royalties it will highlight your name and entry date. Yes, it will give your idea to someone else, but an idea is only a idea until it is put into practice. At least this system helps everyone out.

I am now after your thoughts?
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  • Posted on 7/24/2008 at 10:55 PM Author
    My response to this is, as you have agreed, most people do not react on a idea, it becomes useless to anybody and they sit back and say "I thought of that" after the event. You may be a dreamer or a doer, I don't know.
    This concept is purely for those people who know they won't do anything...those who wish they could but won't. to this point -what is the idea worth if nothing is done with it?
    At least this publication offers an opportunity to express some ideas, to think outside the square, to put something into practice -if it only be this.
    If this post makes someone actually do something with the idea and move forward then great-2nd objective accomplished. If not, why not offer it up?
    To be Honest with your questions, yes, this is to my own gain, I want to publish this book and have placed the concept in a forum to verify it.Yes I'm doing something about it, not dreaming about it, taking the first step. Very easy to sit back and criticise. I imagine this publication with be successful due to the interest it is obtaining. Who will benefit? -the contributors and person doing the hard yards (me).
    Putting my details in the profile now.
    Yes my name is Glenn
  • Posted on 7/25/2008 at 8:14 AM Accepted
    I see some pros and cons with this.

    First, the Pros. I'd suggest you read the book The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture is Changing Capitalism by Matt Mason. Your concept is similar to the Open Source or Creative Commons concept of shared information, which has created powerful innovation such as Linux. It's also the motive behind Wikis such as Wikipedia. So you're right in that the free sharing of information (ideas) sparks new ideas and innovation, and that great ideas the inventor doesn't intend to implement could find new life in the hands of someone else.

    The biggest negative I see is that rather than preserve the open nature of the ideas, your concept as stated would create proprietary gain for a single individual (you, or the person who enacts the idea). That goes completely against the Open Source and Creative Commons concept, which requires that all changes to the initial idea be made in a public forum and remain accessible to everyone to continue to tweak and expand. Hence the viability of Linux and open source software. Money can still be made, as Matt Mason points out--the basic platform remains free, but highly customized solutions that sit atop the platform can be sold and be proprietary.

    Assuming your motives are pure, I think you need to work on how you explain the idea and try to be less defensive. WMMA probably won't be the first person to ask probing questions, and if you react angrily (I pick up that tone from your reply), you will only fuel suspicion. It's valid for people to question you. The better you can "sell" your idea by explaining it well, the more you'll be able to put people's fears to rest.

    I would strongly encourage you to do this within a recognize format such as Creative Commons licensing. That way, both you and the contributors are clear on rights, rewards and expectations, and it adds legitimacy because it's a format people have experience with.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/25/2008 at 8:48 AM Accepted
    Your concept is similar to: https://www.idea-a-day.com/
    People submit (for free) their ideas. Daily, people who subscribe are sent submitted the idea of the day. The author has compiled the "best" 500 ideas and publishes them in a book. The ownership of the idea is given to them, but with credit to the author.
  • Posted on 7/27/2008 at 9:28 PM Author
    Thankyou you all for comments, your thoughts have been great (and sometimes amusing).Although some attacked the question rather than providing a solution or answer, that is again fine.

    Thankyou Jay Hamilton-Roth for you insight and probable solution.

    Thankyou Gail Martin for your wisdom

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