Penguin is experimenting with a group authored book based on the web technology behind wikipedia.
A Million Penguins is an experiment in creative writing and community. Anyone can join in. Anyone can write. Anyone can edit. Let's see if the crowds are not only wise, but creative. Or will too many cooks spoil the broth?
I am not entirely certain of the point of this. I mean, how do you pay for these efforts or is it something that Penguin does just to build brand loyalty. Somehow I think that this may be derailed as I can see more and more people trying to make the book more and more disjointed. Still, it’s interesting to see Penguin try consumer oriented things such as the “Create Your Own Cover” idea it tried recently that resulted in some amazing reader artwork. Now if only Penguin would get their act together with ebooks, such as allowing readers to know which books will be released in ebook format and when.
Via Yahoo News.
Someone hasn’t heard of too many cooks spoiling the broth.