But that’s not to say that Bud Parr has cornered the market (I’m sure he’d agree there, especially since his site is more reader/writer oriented than publisher/writer) and I think it’s important that the different silos are brought together in a different ways. That hole will be filled, if not by me or you or someone we know, then someone else who sees the same needs that we do.

On the flip side, I sometimes hear about someone who is starting a “MySpace for books”. Part of me thinks that’s great — there isn’t a true social network for book people — and part of me cringes because it seems that the people who want to create this space don’t really understand the concept of social networks. MySpace does what MySpace does, but for all the people who find it useful and part of their daily routine, there are just as many who find it to be a mess and unworkable (count me in the latter). I would feel much more positive if someone said they were going to build on the ideas that make MySpace great — and there are many — but make it something just a little newer, a little fresher.

By the way, I do believe that niche social networks are about to rise and show their strength.

You’re absolutely right about the need for these marketing/PR folks to take the next step and learn to be good, regular community contributors and builders. That too is likely to take some time, unfortunately.

That said, your post got me thinking more about the community of publishing in general. Your blog is great and there are quite a few others out there that I regularly read as well…but, I feel like we’re all out there building our own little silos and finding each other through chance. Something important is missing and it’s preventing us from creating a rich, dynamic community environment.

I’m talking about some sort of meta-blog or aggregator that focuses on vertical segments. Publishing is a great example. Why isn’t there a site that talks about all the great publishing blogs out there today, keeps an eye out for new and interesting ones tomorrow and serves as a central repository for all our RSS feeds? I hate to use the word “portal” because it feels too 1990’s-ish, but I guess that’s what I’m talking about. I feel there’s an enormous hole waiting to be filled by some enterprising person who wants to pull all these little silos together to create a bunch of very impressive and engaging destination sites.

I hope you don’t consider that too far off topic, especially since it’s all about building the community.