The future of publishing?

NPR has an article up on their "All Tech Considered" site about sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow's very 21st-century take on self-publishing. Doctorow's latest book, a collection of short stories called With a Little Help, is being published (and edited!) via a variety of cobbled-together online options. Fans can read a free e-book, but they can also buy print-on-demand paper copies, they can donate directly to the author, or they can buy one of the 250 hand-sewn, limited-edition hardcovers costing $275 apiece.

Doctorow expects this experiment will net him between $70,000 and $80,000, but he's an best-selling author with a pre-established—and presumably tech-minded—audience. Something tells me this do-it-yourself approach isn't going to be catching on with other, less well-known authors just yet.