INDEX // mb Ideas on Publishing Books in Canada (and other attempts to write good)

Social PayPal

On Exhaling | 16 November 2009 with 7 comments

Picture 9There is no scarcity in publishing anymore. The money has left the system. Books have sociologically stalled. All this points to a new way for artists to get paid. We know this, but where is the payment platform for the new era? Where is the payment system for true fans? Why can’t I give Amanada Palmer $100 and shout that from the desktops of the internet? If I ran a start-up I would be busy building a social-paypal-like platform that makes all my donations to artists and bands and authors public. Social proof.

I don’t have a start-up, I just have a blog.


7 Comments

Mark, have you followed Kickstarter? They’re pretty-much what you’ve described: a Kiva-like funding platform for artists looking to have their projects (or careers) bankrolled.

PS. Palmer rocks. We’re big fans of hers.

Posted by Mark Ury on 16 November 2009 @ 7pm

Don’t worry. There are people working on this as we speak. Me, for example.

Hadn’t thought about the public aspect, though. Kind of like a step below getting a mention in the acknowledgments?

Posted by Jon Renaut on 16 November 2009 @ 7pm

HI Mark — I do know about kickstarter but it isn’t exactly what I have in mind. I looking for a platform that is focused on the giver not the receiver or the project.

Posted by mb on 16 November 2009 @ 7pm

@Jon — Ohh I really dig Manfred Macx. I am imagining a disqus.com but for payment. Let me put the 10 artists I really love in the right rail of my blog and send them $20 bucks each for the privilege. Like the proverbial internet tip jar but on my site not theirs and for large increments only ($20, $50, $100, $1000).

Posted by mb on 16 November 2009 @ 8pm

“looking for a platform that is focused on the giver not the receiver or the project”

– That’s brilliant, Mark! I think you’ve hit on something big. Maybe all we need is a paypal facebook app? Think of it… you give money to something, and you immediately see that “share this with which friends?” screen (with everybody checked by default)… and your newsfeed would feature messages like “John Maxwell just gave Mark Bertils $10 to keep blogging.” (sorry it’s not more…)

Posted by John Maxwell on 16 November 2009 @ 8pm

@JMax — either a paypal facebook app or a paypal wordpress plugin or something that lets me figuratively wear the band t-shirt online and not have it be cheesy.

Posted by mb on 16 November 2009 @ 8pm

Forget PayPal!! ORCA is the way to go. http://OrcaOne.com. It’s the answer to your problems. You can set up a payment widget on your site or blog… it accepts all credit cards and the fee is a lot less than doing a transaction through PayPal. Check it out.

And read: http://insideorca.tumblr.com

Posted by Alana Taylor on 11 December 2009 @ 9am

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