New gauges for success in the modern world

As this editorial was being written, the mega-hot YouTube video “Gangnam style” had attracted more than 74 million views, a 20-million increase from six days earlier. By YouTube standards, however, that is no phenomenon. And also by the same standard, the one who uploaded the video and those who put up other super-hit clips must be living the same old life. They may get bigger motivation, but that’s most likely it. In today’s world, artistic “success” doesn’t necessarily mean a huge financial bonanza.

The situation faced by aspiring self-publishers is more or less similar. This year was dubbed the real beginning of a new era, when e-books and e-magazines will drastically change the way the publishing industry works. There have been clear signs that the time is really coming, but it may not bring money along. Computer tablets and smart phones embedded with e-reading applications or straightforward e-readers are getting better, thinner and cheaper. Tools to produce content are becoming less complicated. The “shelves” are opening up and profit-sharing formulas are more attractive to content providers today than five years ago. Yet all the lures are not quite enough to bring people who matter out of their comfort zones.

Big changes have swept America, and e-reading in Europe is booming. Thailand is facing the same ambivalence that many say is crumbling in the West. Some big publishing companies in the country have embraced e-publishing, but in a very cautious manner. Most, if not all, writers, prefer seeing their work appear as “real” books. Advertisers and content consumers appear to be playing a waiting game. With their relentless pursuit of free, albeit pirated, online content, many enthusiastic users of e-readers are not of any help either.

The biggest obstacle for e-books to overcome, however, seems to be the fact that while many aspects of the world have changed, the general concept of “success” has not. In a world where most content can be found online for free if one tries hard enough, what measure should we use to define “success” – an e-book that sells 5,000 copies or another that attracts just 500 buyers but 100,000 illegal downloads?

Even without the pirates, financial returns from writing an e-book or self-publishing can still be disheartening. Again, what do content providers want – selling product expensively to a limited audience or getting more views – but less pay – through the new tools?

These are no easy questions. It is almost certain that whoever posted “Gangnam style” on YouTube has another job that pays. We often hear artists say money is “not that important”, but that is often an ideological comment. In most cases, “money is not that important” is said within the comfort zone.

The thing is, the “real world” is changing as well. Money was all-important in the past partly because there was no other effective way to measure “success” aside from looking at the sale volumes. Today, we can check products’ ratings through the numbers of views or “likes”. It can be a mistake to look at those numbers and think in terms of money. This is just how the new “real world” works. Sometimes creativity and success simply cannot go hand in hand with a financial fortune. 

Bodyslam, Thailand’s most popular rock band, has hundreds of clips on YouTube. Their combined views must be in the hundreds of millions. Is that a success? Absolutely. When it comes to wealth, the three band members, however, are still far from being the country’s richest celebrities.

E-books have proven successful financially in the United States, but that owes much to advanced technology, visionary entrepreneurship and a strong culture valuing intelligent property. And even in the United States, there are few self-publishing fairy-tales.

Does all this mean the expected sweeping changes will be delayed? Who will determine the best time for e-publishing to come of age? It’s hard to tell, but as we have learned from the likes of YouTube, many changes just wait to materialise regardless of money.