Seth Godin, the best-selling marketing author, announced on his blog earlier this week that he is parting ways with his publisher, Portfolio, and that Linchpin, his fastest selling book to date, is the last title he will publish via traditional channels.   

A post from Godin’s blog states that the architecture of the publishing industry is broken.  It certainly hasn’t yet caught up with the lightening speed of the Web– it can take 12 months or more to get a book into reader’s hands.  And with the advent of social media, authors are no longer dependent on publishers and traditional bookstores to help them engage with their audience. If you’ve ever read Godin’s blog you know the amount of material he can spew out in a matter of hours, so I’m not completely surprised that he’s exploring direct- to-consumer publishing channels.    

As you might suspect, this move has ignited conversations in book publishing circles and begs the question: Will other high-profile authors follow Godin?  According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, it’s uncertain.   Jeffrey Trachtenberg’s article explains the larger impact of Godin’s departure on the industry,  “With many new titles spending less time on best-seller lists and in bookstores, publishers are increasingly dependent on brand-name authors such as Mr. Godin to deliver significant book sales. “

Even if other well-known authors jump ship, I think publishers will evolve their business models and ultimately survive.   The industry is already increasing its number of e-books and there are many apps underway that will enhance traditional publishers’ delivery methods.   

Maybe the silver lining in all of this is for inspiring authors.  Will publishers will be more inclined to work with lesser known, more middle-tier authors as a result?  For authors that don’t have 70,000 fans on Facebook, the traditional publishing route is undoubtedly still the way to go.

Public relations, like every job in the world, has its plusses (creative, people-oriented) and minuses (media list maintenance, anyone??), but on the whole it’s a pretty terrific career, if you ask me. The best thing about the gig though, in my opinion, is the opportunity it affords us to further the efforts of people making truly notable contributions and achieving amazing things through their work and in their lives.

I was reminded of this the other day when I got a call from an old business associate at Kaplan Publishing, (a division of Kaplan, my former employer). Our exchange went something like this:

“We’d like you to take on a project.”

Me: “Great! Do tell.”

“Well, it’s a new book we’re publishing by Sherwin Nul…”

Me: “Dr. Sherwin Nuland?!”

“Yes!”

Me: “Hooray! Tell me everything!”

I’ve always been a big reader and I became a fan of Dr. Nuland’s, a surgeon at Yale turned writer, when I was in college. I returned home from school after my freshman year and discovered his groundbreaking book, “How We Die.” (I didn’t have to look very hard to “discover” it since it won the National Book Award and was on the New York Times bestseller list for 34 weeks.) My dad, a surgeon like Dr. Nuland, and a voracious reader like me, read it that summer as well. I remember thinking the author was a master storyteller and being surprised that I could care so much about science writing – (though it goes well beyond science writing, of course). Plus, I was grateful that the book helped spark some meaningful conversations between me and my father, a man of few words.

Fast forward fifteen years and I’m on a conference call with Dr. Nuland (who has now published 13 books) talking about who we should invite to a media luncheon in celebration of his upcoming book, “The Soul of Medicine,” which is a Canterbury Tales-esque non fiction narrative about humanity, ethics, and the relationship between doctors and patients. He reminds us not to forget his old friend, Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, all I can think is: how GREAT is this job???!!! I don’t get star struck often, but consider me struck.