Corporate Blogging Books - The Old Way Or The Exciting Way?
UPDATE, see the end of the post...
So, Robert Scoble has announced his and Shel Israel's plans to write a book about corporate blogging.
It seems they will try to involve the book's future readers already in the writing process, and that's interesting. But we should remember that the basis of their project is typically old school. Sure, they will sell the publishing rights on eBay and that's kind of refreshing. But they will sell the rights.
You could compare this to Hans Henriks idea of a corporate blogging book. He proposes an open sourced book, which in my mind would really be an attempt to test the limits of a community's abilities. As I've written to Hans Henrik I'm not sure it'll work. But when I now a few days later see the difference between the two planned books, the open source one excites me more.
The world is big enough for both of the books. It would be great if we (=everyone interested) could help Hans Henrik start the open source book project.
UPDATE: Scoble says I've misunderstood his project.
Don't think so.
There is a difference between the two book plans. Scoble and Israel will write a book together. They will listen to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people and that will undoubtedly make their book even better. It will be a huge success and worth reading.
But - it is not the same as Hans Henrik is proposing.
Scoble seems to argue that their project is "open source" too since all work will be done "100% in the public" and the book will be "distributable for free". But could someone, maybe quite a few people, actually write a chapter instead of Scoble and Israel? If the answer to that question is yes, I've misunderstood it all. Otherwise, I guess the difference lies in the small "in". In the public vs. by the public.
Will a (true) open source book ever be finished? Will it be structured and coherent enough to be worth reading? I have my doubts. Strong doubts. But I still think the idea is more exciting.
See also Hans Henriks comment on this rather pointless discussion. He concludes, as I did, that there's probably interest enough for both these books (and more, I suspect).