Radiohead’s decision to release their album In Rainbows for free via digital download garnered huge amounts of publicity, and has spawned many imitators, and much thinking about the implications of the model for all kinds of digital publishing. Now John Buckman of Bookmooch is considering a publishing and distribution model that combines print-on-demand, tipping of the author if you like the book, and using a bookswapping site such as Bookmooch to keep the book in circulation. Under this model, if you like the book, you pay for the pleasure of having read it, and pass it on; or pay more and just keep it. If you don’t like it, you relist it on Bookmooch and when someone else asks for it, ship it off – all it will cost you is the outward shipping, so it’s less costly than buying a book you don’t enjoy.

Could it work? I think it could be a viable mechanism for authors starting out – after all, if a book is good and enjoyed by the majority of its readers, each copy is likely to earn much more revenue for the author over its lifespan than if it had been sold in the traditional way. It might also be a good way to generate word of mouth publicity and a bit of a buzz.

For more, see the BookMooch Blog.

Simon A

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