Can You Globally Crowd Source a New Book? An Interesting Test Where Your Vote Counts

The FINTECH Book, published in March 2016 by Wiley, was the first crowdsource book specifically addressing the financial technology revolution, and the disruption, innovation, and opportunity therein.

Based on the initial success of this first book, three new books on related industry segments are being created through the same global crowdsourcing process. These new books include:

• The WealthTECH Book
• The RegTECH Book
• The InsurTECH Book

Here’s how the process works.

A wide variety of authors, thought leaders, and industry participants within WealthTECH, RegTECH, and InsurTECH, were invited to submit an article abstract detailing — in 300 words or less — the expected content of a full 2,000-word article. The window for submitting the abstract closed at the end of January.

Anyone reading this can cast their vote for the articles they would like to see included in each of these new books

The second phase is now underway, and this is where anyone can participate by voting for each article abstract on a 1 to 5-star scale. Choose one star if you are not interested in reading the full article based on the abstract, or five stars if you want to see the full article included in the final book.

I submitted two article abstract proposals for possible inclusion in the InsurTECH Book.

The votes for each abstract will be tallied and included in the final review by the editors to determine which abstracts are expanded into full articles for inclusion in the final book.

How does the voting work?

Anyone can vote for any abstract submitted for any of the three books currently being created. Here’s the process:

• First, go to The FINTECH Book Series website and create an account. You must have an account and be signed in to cast your vote.
• Voting is open during the month of February. You must cast your vote by February 28, 2017.
• Once completed, all votes will be analyzed and added to the votes of the Editors and the Publishing Team, to arrive at the final ranking of authors.
• The top 50 authors are notified and invited to write their full articles for inclusion in the book.
• The final books will be published in Summer 2017.

How the editing process works

Editing a globally crowd-sourced book is a challenging task and divided into several pieces:

• The Editors of the Book will review and edit each final article submitted.
• They will decide the order of each article within each chapter and then the order of all chapters so that the final Book provides a well-structured and complete overview and tells a story from the beginning to the end.
• Editors will work with each author during the editing process to clarify any questions.
• The Editors will also provide the preface of the book and an introduction to each chapter.
• The print-ready manuscript will then be submitted to Wiley, as the Publisher. The Publisher also goes through a detailed editing process.
• Finally, the books get prepared for its first print run before being shipped to the various warehouses globally for distribution.

You Can Participate by Casting Your Vote

You can take part in the selection of the article that will be included in each final book by casting your vote. I invite you to create an account at The FINTECH Book Series.

I invite you to review each abstract (mine and others) and indicate your desire to see a full article in the final book by selecting a 1 to 5-star rating.

Once you have created your account, you choose which book you would like to review the submitted abstracts, and then click on your star rating for each article proposal. As mentioned earlier, I have submitted two article abstract for review by the global crowd (including you) and ultimately by the editors.

I invite you to review each abstract (mine and others) and indicate your desire to see a full article by selecting a 5-star rating. I also invite you to "like" and "share" this article so as many people as possible can participate. I'd certainly appreciate your vote for my submissions, but I am also interested in watching what happens when a large number of like-minded people come together to create something new.

Following are direct links to the full abstracts on the site InsurTECH Book site:

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There were over 700 abstracts submitted for possible inclusion in all three books listed above. I have no grand illusions about being included as part of the final 50 for the InsurTech book. I am however fascinated by the process and was please to be invited to participate.

My, how book publishing is changing. What do you think about this process? Leave your comments below.

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Steve Anderson is a trusted authority on insurance technology, profitability, and innovation. He is a prolific writer and frequent speaker known for his knack for translating “geek speak” into easily understood concepts. Check out his free weekly productivity newsletter “TechTips” and other resources on his website.