PW: Godin to Publish New Book Online for Free

Seth Godin, author of the bestselling Permission Marketing (Simon & Schuster), is testing his new marketing idea on himself first. In his new book, Unleashing the Ideavirus, Godin claims that ideas, like viruses, can become contagious, and that information can spread most effectively from customer to customer, rather than from a single controlling marketer to the customer.

Unleashing the Ideavirus began as an article that will be the cover story in the August issue of Fast Company magazine, with the article reproduced online. Simultaneously, the entire text of the book that was inspired by the article will be available from July 17 to July 25 in Adobe's PDF format exclusively at Godin's Web site, www.ideavirus.com, for readers to browse, download, print out or pass on to friends. In addition to the text, Godin's site will contain links to the Fast Company article, reviews and commentary on the book, a one-click method to e-mail the text to a friend, Powerpoint graphics from Godin's lectures, links to retailers to buy Ideavirus and related books, and author contact information. As videos of Godin's lectures become available, they will be added as well.

After the first week, the book will be available for free in several e-book formats, including PDF and Palm OS, through Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, PeanutPress.com, AOL (keyword: TBR) and Bookreporter.com.

The print edition of the book will be available in hardcover in September for $40.

The rollout of the new book was designed from lessons Godin learned with Permission Marketing, he explains. "When we gave away a third of the book for free, more than 100,000 people asked for a sample. This led to an instant increase in sales, much to the surprise of my publisher. By going from giving away just a third to sharing the entire thing, I hope to demonstrate that digital media wants to be free, and that those who contribute their ideas--and throw up the fewest barriers--are the ones who benefit the most."

The hardcover price is intentionally high, Godin noted, like a cherished tourist souvenir. "I fully expect to sell a ton of hardcover books," Godin declared.

Though a trusted colleague is handling production of the print edition, Godin added, "My company, Do You Zoom Inc., is the publisher of record. Given the two distribution points for the book version [B&N and Amazon], it's pretty straightforward logistically."

Asked about financial risk, and where in this process he expects to make money, Godin replied, "From book sales, at many times the rate I'd make on a royalty; from public speaking; and from business opportunities that show themselves."