A long-time journalism friend, John Callahan, just published his first novel. But don’t look for Gettysburg Passage in any bookstores. At least, not yet. John has taken a novel approach to publishing his work.

The process of selling books has changed little since Johannes Gutenberg first started cranking them out back in the 15^th Century. Authors go in search of publishers impressed enough to risk fronting the money to print and distribute their manuscripts. When I published my novel back in 1980, I approached about 15 publishers before I found one willing to invest in me. At best, publishers might place a few ads in The New York Times, promoting a title. But in most cases, the book just appears on a bookshelf, destined to sink or swim on the whims of fate.

Like so many markets, however, the Internet has changed all that. Now, authors can by-pass the establishment and build their own followers through viral marketing. For practically nothing, they can engage directly with potential readers.

John gave fleeting thought to following the traditional route, but then took into account his 30+ year background in marketing, and realized that if he couldn’t get people interested in his novel, who could?

Gettysburg Passage is action adventure fiction (a great read, by the way, but more about that in a minute) that is available through Amazon in electronic format. But what is really interesting is that it’s one of the first mainstream novels targeting next generation e-reader capable devices, including Kindles, computers, iPads, and Blackberries. References to places, people, and historical milestones are embedded with hypertext links so as I read the book on my Kindle, I was able to view biographies, YouTube videos and other resources that provided context to his story. Rather than view footnotes at the end of each chapter, reading stories within the stories heightened the experience.

Once the novel was available through Amazon, John created a blog , social networking sites on Facebook and Twitter, video commentaries on YouTube, and he began interacting with others on their sites who could relate to the novel’s plot. A press release that was distributed has already been reproduced on more than 200 media sites and has resulted in television interviews. The novel has only been available for a few weeks, but already is quickly gaining a following. I predict you will be hearing about this book soon from people other than me.

I share John’s story with you because I believe it is indicative of this new world in which we live. Being able to communicate and share information with people worldwide is disruptive technology that is quickly changing our culture and the manner in which we interact with one another. And markets like book publishers increasingly are finding themselves irrelevant and struggle to build new business models around this evolving technology. All of us are challenged to either adapt or be replaced.

Finally, a word about Gettysburg Passage. It’s one of those books that defies category: part historical novel (Civil War), part travelogue, and a whole lot of suspense. Plus, you will not guess the ending.  In fact, I’ll make you a deal: if you can put the book down during the last 100 pages, I’ll reimburse your $5. Enjoy!

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