In a previous post I mentioned that I believe there will always be a place for the giant, traditional publishers. I thought this would be a good time to dive a little deeper into what I mean by that, and also discuss what our vision is for asdf Publishing.
Let me start by saying that I'm not so naive as to think that asdf Publishing will radically change the way all stories are published. There's something to the tactile feel of a real book that digital media can't replace. I also believe that works of art become more powerful with every person they impact. And while I'd love to see works published through asdf lining bookshelves, that's simply not our target market. So to that end, I harbor no ill will toward anyone who has the opportunity to work with a large publisher to share their writing with the world. The fact of the matter is the large publishing companies do one thing -- publish traditional books -- and they do it very well. However, that leaves a lot of space for asdf Publishing to support writers. So what do we do? Well, the answer is two-fold, and it's all in the name. Back when I was in school I hated writing essays. Most of all I hated staring at a blank page as I was trying to formulate my ideas, so I would pound my hand on the home keys just to have something on the page. In that way "asdf" became a starting point for all of my writing projects. How does that play into asdf Publishing? It means our first mission is to be a starting place for writers. As self-publishing has become one of the major ways writers get off the ground, we want to support that industry by offering editing services, advice on navigating the self-publishing world, and a network of artists to help design the visual aspects of your book. For the second mission I'll again turn toward the meaning of asdf. Two centuries ago that string of characters would be absolutely meaningless. Today though, we recognize it as part of the home row on nearly every computer in the English speaking world. It's a symbol for the convergence of writing and technology. Similarly, we want asdf Publishing to represent the marriage of reading and technology. We're all about projects that push the boundaries of how readers consume literature. We want to partner with authors to create entirely new platforms for publishing. That's where we want to play. The titans of publishing have cultivated their swath of land. They've built great towers to the sky and have grown very comfortable. We at asdf Publishing don't want to challenge them for that. Instead, we want to venture into the wild frontier. I suppose the only question left is: do you want to join us for the expedition?