Reality 2.0

Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls talk to Kyle Rankin about his new book for aspiring authors, discuss the publishing process, self-discipline, marketing, and share their expertise from their decades as authors.

Notes:

[00:01:04] Intro to Kyle's new book, "How To Write A Tech Book."

[00:04:52] Vetting your idea and pitching to a publisher

[00:09:24] On self-publishing vs. traditional publishers

[00:12:27] Print on-demand

[00:15:05] Market research and publishers

[00:18:03] Co-authoring vs solo authoring

[00:20:43] The Cluetrain Manifesto and The Intention Economy

[00:24:05] Return from social media to blogging and longer-form writing

[00:27:30] Marketing and promotion

[00:31:19] Find us at Defcon!

[00:44:13] Formatting code and technical content

[00:48:14] LaTeX and layout

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Special Guest: Kyle Rankin.

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Links:

• Kyle Rankin - Books and Publications Spotlight | Lulu — Buy Kyle's Self-published titles.
• Sample Chapter - "How To Write A Tech Book"
• How To Write A Tech Book — Many technical professionals would like to write a book sharing their knowledge and experience, but most haven't. If you ask them why, it's not from lack of ideas or experience with technical subject matter. Instead, they just don't know how turn their idea into an actual published book. Even though there are some guides for publishing nonfiction books, tech books are unique in the publishing world, and there haven't been any guides that tackle the special process that goes into publishing a tech book. This book aims to change that. Rankin has authored and published a dozen books across multiple traditional tech publishers and also through self-publishing. This book distills his experience into an easy-to-follow guide that explains the full book writing and publishing process step-by-step. Topics include vetting ideas, creating an outline, pitching a publisher, writing a draft, editing, formatting, publishing, marketing, and planning future revisions.
• The Cluetrain Manifesto - Wikipedia — The Cluetrain Manifesto is a work of business literature collaboratively authored by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger. It was first posted to the web in 1999 as a set of ninety-five theses, and was published as a book in 2000 with the theses extended by seven essays. The work examines the impact of the Internet on marketing, claiming that conventional marketing techniques are rendered obsolete by the online "conversations" that consumers have and that companies need to join.
• Intention economy - Wikipedia — The intention economy is an approach to viewing markets and economies focusing on buyers as a scarce commodity. Customers' intention to buy drives the production of goods to meet their specific needs. It is also the title of Doc Searls book: The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge published in May, 2012.
• Reality 2.0 Episode 144: Self-Publishing a Tech Book — Doc Searls and Katherine Druckman talk to prolific tech author, Kyle Rankin, about how he recently self-published his latest book, and how that differs from his many experiences with traditional publishers.

Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls talk to Petros Koutoupis about rescuing personal archives, personal AI, and preserving our identities.

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Special Guest: Petros Koutoupis.

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Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls talk to Kyle Rankin of Purism about Digital Convergence.

Links mentioned: https://puri.sm/posts/investing-in-real-convergence/

Show notes:

00:00:32 Today we're talking about the idea of Convergence
00:04:36 Green on black Linux is COOL! --Kyle R.
00:07:01 The realization of adaptive design and how do others handle it
00:10:28 Law enforcement can subpoena your iCloud content straight from Apple
00:12:55 The fundamental problem Apple and Goole have according to Kyle
00:15:17 What is the hassle developers are already living with???
00:21:53 What do people really want?
00:27:23 Doc is using metaphors to make an interesting point
00:37:12 You can't lock users to use only your product
00:40:36 The advantages of open source
00:42:21 Steve Ballmers key to success
00:49:26 Would you give your child a single non-trackable device "To rule them all"?
00:53:59 Digital parenting advice all parents need to understand!
00:57:25 The difference between parental control and eliminating the trail
01:00:33 How do you address your own and child's privacy when "forced" to use digital tools you disagree with
01:06:07 The "Digital Consent"

Special Guest: Kyle Rankin.

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Doc Searls and Katherine Druckman talk about Facebook's recent Irish problems, Google's Performance Max ad product, and digress into discussing the Houston food scene as we welcome back Reality 2.0 for 2023.

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Links:

• Data Protection Commission tries to make victory of its U-turn on Facebook and Instagram – The Irish Times — Watchdog forced to toughen its decision on data protection complaint after European intervention
• Data Protection Commission announces conclusion of two inquiries into Meta Ireland | 04/01/2023 | Data Protection Commission — The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has today announced the conclusion of two inquiries into the data processing operations of Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (“Meta Ireland”) in connection with the delivery of its Facebook and Instagram services. (Meta Ireland was previously known as Facebook Ireland Limited).
• Inside Google’s Ad Display Network Black Box: Porn, Piracy, Fraud — ProPublica — Google’s ad business hides nearly all publishers it works with and where billions of ad dollars flow. We uncovered a network containing manga piracy, porn, fraud and disinformation.
• Meet Performance Max, The Blackest Black Box Of All Google Ad Products | AdExchanger — Lost in the Sturm und Drang of Q4 (Q for quarantine) 2020, Google introduced a beta program called Performance Max, its first ad product spanning all Google-owned media.
• GitHub - dmarti/CAPCA: California Advertising Placements on Criminal Activity Act
• LastPass Data Breach: It’s Time to Ditch This Password Manager | WIRED — The password manager’s most recent data breach is so concerning, users need to take immediate steps to protect themselves.

Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls talk to Petros Koutoupis about how big tech navigates the ad tech landscape, for better or worse.

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Links:

• Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet (FSG Originals x Logic): Hwang, Tim: 9780374538651: Amazon.com: Books — In Subprime Attention Crisis, Tim Hwang investigates the way big tech financializes attention. In the process, he shows us how digital advertising―the beating heart of the internet―is at risk of collapsing, and that its potential demise bears an uncanny resemblance to the housing crisis of 2008.
• Amazon has a $31 billion a year advertising business — Amazon revealed Thursday just how big its advertising business has become. It generated $31.2 billion in revenue in 2021, with fourth-quarter sales rising 32%, according to the retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings statement.
• Facebook and Google stocks have diverged, and the reason is Apple — Facebook’s apps rely almost entirely on Apple and Google for distribution. So when Apple changed its privacy policy last year, limiting the ability of app developers to target users, Facebook was suddenly stripped of one of its most important assets.
• A public apology - on screwing up by not questioning assumptions - my talk at #BIF10 - Ethan Zuckerman — About a month ago, I wrote an article about a simple idea. I asked whether anyone really believed that advertising should be the main way we supported content and services on the internet. Given how poorly banner advertising on the web worksGiven that nobody likes banner ads, and given that the current system puts users under surveillance, which in turn seems to inure us to government surveillance, I wondered whether there might be a better way.
• Doc Searls Weblog · Apple vs (or plus) Adtech, Part I — If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Apple’s Privacy on iPhone | tracked ad. In it a guy named Felix (that’s him, above) goes from a coffee shop to a waiting room somewhere, accumulating a vast herd of hangers-on along the way. The herd represents trackers in his phone, all crowding his personal space while gathering private information about him. The sound track is “Mind Your Own Business,” by Delta 5.
• Fighting FLoC and Fighting Monopoly Are Fully Compatible | Electronic Frontier Foundation — Are tech giants really damned if they do and damned if they don’t (protect our privacy)?
• Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will cost $10 billion this year — Facebook said on Wednesday that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature would decrease the company’s 2022 sales by about $10 billion.
• Google Drops FLoC...