Philosphy of the Longtail

[53mph]

A short while ago I read a fantastic article in Wired magazine called 'Theory of the Long Tail'. It talked about a book called Touching the Void, written in 1988 by a British mountain climber called Joe Simpson. It got good reviews, but little success and in time it disappeared from print. Then a decade later a strange thing happened. Another book about mountain climbing came out called Into Thin Air. It was a big success, but the strange thing is, is that on the back of this success 'Touching the Void' came back into print, and now outsells Into Thin Air 2-1. There's also been a film made. So how did a book that had gone out of print end up become a publishing sensation a decade after it came out?Amazon.com recommendations. People who bought 'Into Thin Air' recommended 'Touching the Void' in the Amazon reviews. The people who bought 'Touching the Void' on recommendation also wrote glowing reviews, and so on and so on. The ball started rolling and before you know it you have a publishing sensation 10 years after it was first published.Well......, I released several singles about 3 years ago which are now out of print, but I discovered one of them, 'Blane', is listed on Amazon. So if people who cared to, wrote some glowing reviews, told their friends, recommended the CD etc...perhaps we could get the CD back into circulation. And, if I'm not mistaken, the on-line sales now count towards chart positions.OK, ok, I realise none of you owe me a dime, I'm just another struggling musician, but, this is a long shot, an impossibilty....but then why not eh? Thanks for your reading ear.Phil/53mph