On On February 15, 2011, I wrote a post called Every Book Is A Startup. I talked about how books were entrepreneurial endeavors and that authors need to think more in these terms. I have discussed this idea with hundreds of authors over the years, but never quite articulated the problem in that manner before.

I never expected, a year later, that idea would become a book with O’Reilly’s Tools of Change, an experiment that embodied the virtues of entrepreneurial publishing, or a way to frame a set of ideas that is desperately needed in the world of book publishing.

Now, today happens to be my favorite holiday–Groundhog Day. Can you think of anything better than looking to a small woodland creature to determine the prospects for the remaining days of winter? And let me also say, I was a fan of Punxsutawney Phil long before Bill Murray got caught in his temporal loop of bad karma.

I decided a few years ago to start offering a gift on this glorious day of the groundhogs. In 2010, I published a short ebook called Fixed to Flexible that offered a variety of ways to think about pricing in the 21st century. Last year, I posted a set of sketches called Pricing Pictures that showed you can do more than just change what you charge.

This year, I have uploaded the first two chapters of Every Book Is a Startup to Scribd for you to read and share.

In this opening section, you’ll learn about black swans, long tails, and the one thing that every publishing startup must find to be successful.

Thanks as always for reading and Happy Groundhog Day!