Autohornblowing

Three gratifying call-outs landed on my desk this week:

• The Long Tail made one of Business Week's 21 "Best Ideas of 2005"

• In anticipation of the book's release (either June or Sept, depending on how this last burst of writing goes) I was named one of the 26 "People to Watch in 2006" by SciFi magazine (just ahead of Ben Affleck!).

• And the Guardian UK wrote about the theory, particularly in regard to books:

"For every punter who strolls out of Waterstone's with a heavily plugged copy of the latest Lynne Truss, there is another who will not rest until they have tracked down an obscure volume on Venetian calligraphy, or the Bob Monkhouse bumper book of jokes. Add up all those niche and downright obscure purchases and you have a business worth billions.

If the 20th-century entertainment industry was about hits and blockbusters, according to Anderson, the 21st will be about a multiplicity of misses. The long tail, he predicts, is giving rise to an entirely new economic model for the media and entertainment industries, and one that is just beginning to show its mettle."