Seth Godin Quits Traditional Publishing; Readers Respond

By Jason Boog on August 23, 2010 4:23 PM

GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera published a short interview with author Seth Godin last week. It included a bombshell announcement from Godin: “I’ve decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way.”

The post touched a raw nerve in the publishing community, generating over a thousand retweets and comments around the Internet. Godin himself wrote a longer piece about the issue on his blog. We’ve collected a few of these comments below, but read them all at this link. Share your thoughts as well, we will continue to share the debate.

Novelist Colson Whitehead wrote: “Is he going to publish his books….WITH HIS MIND????”

One anonymous reader wrote: “narrative–fiction–takes longer than a Twitter post and is, despite what everyone who is mesmerized by new technology believes–served by a longer gestation period. Although Kerouac believed the first draft was all, most writers benefit from an editor … It’s mystifying why Mediabistro is so ‘fascinated’ by Godin’s ultimately corrosive affect on culture, on art, on the difficult, and the human.”

Chris Grayson wrote: “Because when a no-name author that nobody reads and cannot get a book deal does it, nobody knows or cares. But when a New York Times #1 Best Selling author like Seth Godin does it, it is the overdue wake-up call that the publishing industry has heard ringing through their comatose dream-state, but have thus far rolled over, put the pillow over their head, and refused to answer.”

Paul Barron countered: “As a an early adopter and on the list of the early release for Linchpin, I can’t agree with you more! In the web publishing business for 15 years and even I get frustrated with the long wait to a new site launch or the development of a new platform uggh! Thats why I love twitter so much – ideas can’t wait!”