New Publishing Model: The Latest News is Being Distributed on Social Networks and Consumed on Mobile Devices

Traditional, established media such as the Washington Post and the LA Times are being out covered and out valued by technology upstarts like BuzzFeed that 'uses technology to help come up with ideas for articles that will attract readers, and it has connected with advertisers because it creates sponsored stories for their brands—promoting Pepsi, for example, with animated images about staying cool in the summer.'

Seems to me, and some others, too, as reflected by my research, that there is a chance of mashing up advertising with legitimate news and other reporting. But, this may be the trend of the future and will bring in tons of revenue.

There are literally billions of dollars being created and attracted to the newer tech-laden publishing platforms that cater to the latest technological devices.

Tonight's post gives insight into some of the money valuations and exploding expansions coming into play --- especially Re BuzzFeed. 

Pertinent excerpt from tonight's research source: "BuzzFeed said Monday that the funding will let the company expand to Mumbai, Mexico City, Berlin and Tokyo and convert its video division into BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, which will focus on everything from animated online images to feature- length films."

This from Bloomberg news as reported in Crain's New York Business:

BuzzFeed's $850M valuation tops Tribune's

The site's $50 million cash infusion is a bet that the site can be more valuable than top traditional news media.

BuzzFeed, Inc. raised $50 million on a bet its mix of everything from animal lists to serious news is more valuable than the coverage produced by established media like the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

The investment from venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz propelled BuzzFeed's valuation beyond those traditional big-name publications to about $850 million, according to the New York Times. While that's about half the market capitalization of the Times itself, it's in line with other Web startups at about seven times annual revenue, according to Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Andreessen Horowitz joins BuzzFeed investors Hearst Corp., SoftBank Corp. and New Enterprise Associates in wagering that the site can rank among the titans of media. BuzzFeed uses technology to help come up with ideas for articles that will attract readers, and it has connected with advertisers because it creates sponsored stories for their brands—promoting Pepsi, for example, with animated images about staying cool in the summer.

"There's a lot of potential for BuzzFeed, and it's well positioned to move into a lot of key areas," said Peter Krasilovsky, vice president of BIA Kelsey, a media research company based in Chantilly, Virginia. "They've put a lot of their money into figuring out which stories are being read. I can understand why you would want to invest in BuzzFeed."

BuzzFeed said Monday that the funding will let the company expand to Mumbai, Mexico City, Berlin and Tokyo and convert its video division into BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, which will focus on everything from animated online images to feature- length films.

'Effectively unbounded'

"We are very excited to work with everyone at BuzzFeed to help them realize their dreams of a profoundly important new media institution," Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, said on Twitter. The company's opportunity is "effectively unbounded," he said.

At the end of last year, the company had forecast revenue of as much as $120 million in 2014, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Ashley McCollum, a BuzzFeed spokeswoman, said she couldn't confirm the valuation.

The startup, which has more than 500 employees, is profitable, Chief Executive Officer Jonah Peretti said in September 2013. With the new investment, BuzzFeed has garnered almost $100 million in funding since the company debuted in 2006.

"The investment from Andreessen Horowitz really validates BuzzFeed, as a company and as an entity," said Mr. Sweeney of Bloomberg Intelligence. "BuzzFeed has really proven itself as a business."

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New Publishing Model Gives Authors Even More Control

New Interface
business solution

Publishing is mutating again.

“You don’t have to choose between the tyranny of traditional and the anarchy of self-publishing..." --- Tim Sanders, bestselling author,  former Yahoo! executive and founder of Net Minds.

A brand new pub model has hit the beach! --- A sure sign that energy and mojo are present and accounted for and electrifying self-publishing into new directions ---empowering authors (as well as other publishing professionals) and shortening the timeline to success and bestseller status.

A superlative review by yours truly. Maybe a little too enthusiastic, but, this new publishing model does hold some promise --- especially in allowing authors, editors, book designers, marketers, etc., to negotiate forming teams, creating relationships, sharing royalties and working much like 'start ups'. 

Mercy Pilkington gathered some details from the TOC conference this week and spilled the beans in The Good E Reader for us:

Net Minds Looks at Revitalizing Self-Publishing

There’s no doubt that the face of the publishing industry is changing, and quite possibly that it has changed more in the last five years than over the entire course of its history. As digital publishing and self-publishing became more the norm rather than an arena relegated to tech geeks or authors who couldn’t find publishing deals, the industry in every facet has had to race to keep up.


But just when the industry finally seemed to settle into a comfortable relationship between traditional print publishing and self- and digital publishing, a whole new model has come along, turning it on its head once more. Net Minds, founded by bestselling author and former Yahoo! executive Tim Sanders, has created a whole new model in which authors have even more control over the process by negotiating for some of the best talent in the book publishing industry to help bring their creations to market.

“We empower authors to meet publishing professionals, create relationships, share royalties, and build great teams that run like start ups,” explained Sanders in an interview with GoodEReader at Tools of Change this week. “Everybody has an incentive beyond the fee and is highly engaged and entrepreneurial with their work.”

Sanders took the concept of solving a problem with a minimum viable model in order to achieve the greatest reach with the least amount of inefficiency, a problem that is prevalent in the publishing industry, especially from the first very stage of acquiring content. This model will have its first real test when Net Minds releases its first title next month, Finding the Next Steve Jobs, by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
“The window for success has shortened dramatically,” Sanders said. “”It impacted the ability for me to be a bestseller.”

The process for Net Minds to build a joint venture mission and to work on a model more along the lines of how films are optioned and produced, which allows those involved in the project to earn a portion of their standard fee up front along with a portion of royalties for the life of the project.

“You don’t have to choose between the tyranny of traditional and the anarchy of self-publishing. In the future, they won’t even call it traditional versus self, they’ll call it corporate versus alternative. Our vision is that the author doesn’t have to choose between quality and freedom.”

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