Jamseed is the first official “coolest thing I’ve seen all year” for 2009.
I found out about it via this short essay on the Harvard Business blog by Soft Skull’s Richard Nash.
For most of human existence the output of art could never keep up with the demand. I believe that is now changing, and that’s why we’re seeing the great intermediaries in this process–record labels, movies studios, book publishing companies Borders, etc.–start to shrink, or even fail. They relied on demand being so pent-up they didn’t really need ot work very hard ot match tastes, to connect artist and audience. But now that demand can in fact be sated, their lack of connection to either artist or audience may doom them.
So given that the great intermediaries can’t match-make, what’s an artist to do? For the last decade, many artists have used the web, and subsets of the web like MySpace, to connect with their fans. But the more intimate a connection, the more powerful a connection can be forged. Intimacy is a quality that was lost in the drive towards ever lower marginal costs of reproduction and distribution, but now that the price reductions are close to over, since the marginal costs are reaching zero, reaching back to the past for the personalized, individually-crafted art object is what can distinguish one artists from another, or rather one artist-fan relationship from another.
Oh hell yes!
So then I trundled over to Jamseed. What is it? An easy and effective web platform to help musicians reward fans with personalised stuff. Now my brain is busting out with ideas for how this could assist authors. Hooyah.
Kate Eltham is a writer and creative industries professional based in Brisbane, Australia. She is Chief Executive Officer of 
kate.eltham {at} gmail.com
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Kate,
greetings from Barcelona! I am a fellow writer/blogger and blog reader, happy to see you are back on the posting trenches.
Thanks for the tip on Jamseed. You are so right: as authors, having a similar platform would be fantastic. My goal is to see readers wearing a shirt with my book cover on it: I am not a megalomaniac but I strongly believe that we should open ourselves to “Emotional Marketing” if we are to make the most of this changing publishing world.
If I can be of assistance in brainstorming, please let me know.
Having a book world parallel to jamseed is a great idea. Personalizing the reading/book experience makes all the difference. The connection is a large part of what makes a person shop at a particular bookstore, or buy an unknown title from a known and loved publisher.
I love what Small Beer does with a lot of their titles — making autographed copies (and occasionally stickers!) available via their online bookstore (http://www.lcrw.net/lcrw/shopping3.htm). Little things like that go a long way in turning readers into fans.
Kate,
Thank you very much for the nice words about Jamseed! We are working hard to make it a valuable resource for artists.
And not just musicians. We did start with that, but are opening the site up to authors, comedians, any one who makes art that connects with their audience.
For example, take a look at this jamseed being offered by the Soft Skull author Jonathan Evison. It’s a personalized sno-globe the proceeds of which go to the muscular dystrophy association:
http://www.jamseed.com/viewSeed.php?id=266
All the best,
David Silverman
Jamseed
Hi David, oh my god, I am off to buy that unicorn-bunny-rainbow sno-globe right this second. Before I do, I will say I’m really enamoured of this concept and the potential in your platform. Let me know when I can start promoting it to authors as a valuable tool.
Best wishes,
Kate.
Hi Kate
Thank you all for your input. David and I have already discussed how to better clarify our message on Jamseed. Your feedback helps us a great deal.
The possibilities for using Jamseed is only limited to the artist’s imagination.
For writers, one possibility could be a personalized children’s story…the Jamseed could offer to create story using the child’s name and a few specific facts about that child’s life. The value of the seed could be based on delivery mechanism (hardcopy or electronically), length, graphics, or what ever the writer chooses.
It would make for much cooler bed-time story telling…
All the Best,
Rich
Jamseed
Hi Kat, I’m also a Small Beer Press fan. They have really thought about how they can individualise the experience for their readers. And that in turn creates a useful way of differentiating their market. For the average reader they have the standard publication, but for those who are willing, if not eager, to pay more for a heightened relationship with the author, they have everything from special limited edition illustrated hardcovers to stickers and, yum, chocolate.
Hi from Brisbane, Neus! I agree emotional marketing is a big factor in the author-reader relationship. Look at the Stephenie Meyer frenzy, for example. If you can engage a readers emotions they move into the territory of fan. Fans behave in different ways to average readers. They become like an army of advocates for the author and their books. They go out of their way to evangelise their favourite books, recruiting new readers, writing fan fiction, creating new content – all of which makes the author’s content more spreadable online and hence better promoted. Any kind of platform that recognises this and rewards fan with special content is a smart idea. We do indeed need to have a brainstorm!