Five years ago, author and poet Kwame Alexander gave a fantastic keynote at IBPA’s PubU conference in Salt Lake City. In it, he told a story about how he was frustrated by the lack of sales for one of his early books. His wife suggested that he try selling at the local farmer’s market. At […]
How indie publishers can develop alternative revenue sources Read More »
Most 21st century businesses need to have at least a little media DNA to market their products/services and connect with customers. If you have a website or social media presence, these are in fact important channels for distributing media to an audience, which may consist of current customers, prospective customers, partners, and peers. Many small
How small businesses can use Lean Media Read More »
This is a continuation of my blog series called Media Myths, based on my book Lean Media and some of the questions I get from people interested in the framework. You can see read the other posts here. Myth #2: Lean Media is the same as Lean Startup I hear this one a lot, particularly
Media Myths: Lean Media is the same as Lean Startup Read More »
Dean Wesley Smith is a prolific fiction author. He’s also a prolific blogger, and spends a lot of time sharing his observations about the craft of writing. Some of his advice is helpful, but in one of his recent posts (a chapter from one his nonfiction books) he takes aim at the practice of using beta
A misguided attack on beta readers Read More »
If you follow news about tech startups, you have undoubtedly heard the term “pivot.” It’s a hot idea in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs, and is closely associated with the Lean Startup movement. In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries defines a pivot as a “fundamental change to [a startup’s] business strategy” borne out of
What is a Lean Media pivot? Read More »
Last month, N.E.O. Bernhardsson, a Hong Kong-based publisher, reached out to me after reading about Lean Media online. Independently, he and his Modes Vu team have developed a system that uses Lean Media principles and processes to develop art photography books featuring relatively unknown photographers from China and elsewhere. This post and interview will describe
Modes Vu’s lean approach to art photography publishing Read More »
The following post is excerpted from my draft manuscript about Lean Media. Please leave comments below to help me improve the draft! Looking at the Lean Media flowchart, some creators may be aghast at the use of “prototype” to describe early or incomplete versions of a work in progress: The concern is understandable. The term
How different industries refer to prototypes Read More »
So I am working on a new chapter for my Lean Media book that covers the Lean Media flowchart (see an early version of the flowchart here). Conceptually I thought I was pretty clear on what the different stages entailed. A prototype was a rough or incomplete version of the media being developed. By the time
Prototype vs. soft launch Read More »
I recently received feedback about various lean media concepts from faculty at the Media Ventures program at the Boston University College of Communication. Jodi Luber, who teaches media entrepreneurship at BU, had a great idea: A one-page template for producers/creators/entrepreneurs based on lean media concepts. Her class already uses the lean canvas one-pager to develop business models
Lean Media Project Planner, v. 0.5 Read More »
I recently received an interesting piece of Lean Media feedback from a friend. He is an engineer and former MIT Media Lab staffer who earlier in his career was a part of creative teams that made music, websites, and even an opera. He has also done a fair amount of reading and examination that relate to production issues, showing
Feedback: Should Joe Public be exposed to lean media prototypes? Read More »
