FastPencil lets thought leaders publish books without the hassle of writing them
Self-publishing site FastPencil has launched a new program aimed at helping aspiring thought leaders publish the books in their heads. — It's been years since Amazon began allowing authors to sell their self-published books.
Context & Ripple Effects
FastPencil's pitch lands at a charged moment in book publishing: Amazon has spent recent weeks fighting and then capitulating to Macmillan over eBook pricing in late January 2010, while announcing a Kindle Development Kit that turns the reader into an app platform, all against a backdrop of fourth-quarter revenue up 42% to $9.5 billion. Into that fight steps a self-publishing site offering the most radical version of the trend — a program that removes the writing itself from 'writing a book,' targeting executives and experts who want the artifact without the labor.
First-order effects
- Aspiring thought leaders — consultants, speakers, executives — get a turnkey path from idea to finished book, with FastPencil supplying whatever the customer cannot or will not write themselves.
- Professional ghostwriters and small service publishers lose direct access to precisely the client segment willing to pay for convenience, since FastPencil bundles ideation support, production, and publishing in one program.
Second-order effects
- Every volume the program produces flows into Amazon's long-open self-publishing channel, swelling the indie catalog that gives Amazon leverage in pricing disputes like the one it just lost to Macmillan.
- Rival self-publishing services face pressure to move up the value chain from tools-and-distribution toward done-for-you content production, or cede the high-margin 'thought leader' segment.
Third-order effects
- If 'publish without writing' becomes routine, authorship decouples from writing and the real gatekeeping power sits with whoever owns the distribution shelf — a shift from editorial selection toward platform-scale volume, with quality-control questions no incumbent has yet answered.
The trend: Book publishing is unbundling into idea, writing, and distribution layers, and startups like FastPencil are racing to own the middle while Amazon tightens its grip on the last layer.