Philipp Lenssen from Google Blogoscoped is writing a book about Google. The remarkable part is that he is self-publishing it and that he writes it online and he will sell it online too.
Here’s what it’s all about :
“What’s Google to me to write a book on it? Not a company (that book has been written). [...] A metaphor, if you want, an approach to tap the global brain. The book could therefore be called “55 Ways To Have Fun With The Global Brain, And Make It Talk To You” but that just doesn’t sound as catchy. But I do believe that whenever we type something into Google, we’re interacting with all the people in the world. Besides, I’d be lying if I’d pretend you can do most of the tricks in the book without a search engine… and also, some of the fun ways shown in the book will indeed just be about Google without any further relevance at all”
So the book will be titled : “55 ways to have fun with Google”
He’s been writing on it for the last month, and I believe it’s about to be finished, because he started blogging about it just recently.
“My intent is to write a book that can be enjoyed both with and without a working internet connection. Some things will need you to get online. Others should be fun to browse through, discover, and maybe even learn from while sitting on your armchair. I already jotted down more than 55 ideas, but that has to compress and be categorized for the book.”
He’s writing the book on Lulu, an online service that gives you the power to publish and sell books, ebooks, calendars and much more. There’s no setup fee. No minimum order. No delay. No catch. Lulu prints and ships each book as it’s bought. The buyer pays the cost — not the publisher. Lulu only makes money if you do. You, as a publisher, retain all rights to your work. You decide on design and layout. You set the price and royalties.
Definitely to be continued !