Seth Godin totally stole his idea from me

Probably not. He is, after all, a friggin' marketing genius. So I'll just pay myself a little compliment and say that I thought of the same type of thing Godin thought of. There. Now we're both awesome.

Godin is launching The Domino Project. Essentially, he's going to leverage the publishing services offered by Amazon.com to offer print, ebook, and audiobook versions of his stuff wherever Amazon's reach extends wordlwide. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's exactly what Happy Pants Books is doing.

That's great news, because it means that the idea really is a good one, and the plan will probably work.

And don't go thinking this means competition. It doesn't. What it means is that the publishing industry is changing in a drastic and world-altering way. Now, instead of being a slave to the whims of a few powerful publishers, bookstore chains, and distributors, individuals can have the power to reach millions of readers and spread new ideas to every nook and cranny of the planet.

My goal for Happy Pants Books isn't to turn it into a vast publishing empire. The goal is A) to publish my own work in a way that's completely under my control, and B) to help change the publishing industry for the benefit of humanity.

When the Gutenberg press was invented, it opened up a whole universe of new thought and philosophy. Suddenly, anyone who could plunk down the shillings (or pounds, or whatever ... I'm not some kind of currency historian here, folks) could put his ideas into print and start influencing the thoughts of readers (and those that readers chat with). This led to a lot of crap being published, but it also led to a world of discovery. It led to an expansion of thought. It led to a Renaissance.

So congrats to Seth Godin. I hope the Domino Project does unbelievably well. I'll keep plugging away wiht my little imprint, publishing whatever strikes me as "good," and making my contribution to the inevitable shift. Strap in and enjoy the ride.