Repurposed Content in the eWorld

Here's a great article from The New York Times about creating derivative works from existing products.  Although that sort of thing happens all the time, the key here is to think of the e-content opportunities.  Creating compilations, greatest hits, and similar products in the physical world involves a cost-of-goods component which not only increases the expense but also adds to the risk.  That's not the case in the e-world.

Regardless of whether it's for the Kindle, Sony Reader or some other device, every editor and publisher should inspect their product lines for new revenue streams like this.  And while the starting point is your existing content inventory, I think it's even more important to use this as a lens through which to view your future content acquisition plans.  How might those plans change if you're able to create additional derivative works with them?

Comments

[Britton Manasco]

This is a fascinating subject. One of the problems for potential authors (and publishers), I believe, is that core content is not properly valued because it's not properly leveraged. As we learn to fully capitalize on this source content (by turning it into a series of lead generating white papers, for instance), we generate still more value that justifies creating it in the first place.

Best,

Britton Manasco
Illuminating the Future

[Michael A. Banks]

I've done this with a bit of my work for Kindle, although as yet there awaits very little huge success there for books that are not current bestsellers. (Unless someone can show me otherwise?)

I have two o.p. books I would like to bring out as different books. Perhaps.

But what I wanted to say is that "repurpose" reminds me of the guy who scanned the circa 1912 real-estate book, updated it, and was selling it as new. (Ditto The Secret.
--Mike