This presentation was given in Berkeley, Calif. to the bay area chapter of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. The presenter, Mark Coker, was born in Berkeley, and attended UC Berkeley. In this presentation, he draws parallels between the Free Speech Movement which originated in the Fall of '64 at UC Berkeley, and the coming author uprising against traditional book publishing.

2. A true story

3. Free Speech Started Here in Berkeley

4. I was here in utero ’64/’65 when it all started

5. My mom and I attended demonstrations almost every day

6. My mom tells me how armed police surrounded buildings, wouldn’t let students pass to go to class. She was scared, and angry too because she felt her unborn baby was threatened She recalls the media (and Governor Reagan) portrayed peaceful demonstrations as “riots”

7. Fast Forward ~17 years and I returned to Berkeley ’83-’88 to get my business degree (I then did tech PR for ~20 yrs)

8. Then I met my wife-to-be, a fmr. Soap Opera Weekly reporter, and we wrote a book together

13. Indie ebooks published at Smashwords 140 6,000 28,500 75,000 (est)

14. It’s Time Publishing Got with the Free Speech Program An uprising is in the words

16. Is Big Publishing next?

19. Is the allure of Big Publishing a mirage, a myth?

22. The two questions that will spark an author rebellion against Big Publishing

23. Q1 What can a publisher do for me that I can’t do myself?

25. Q2 (the most dangerous) Will a traditional publisher harm my book’s success?

28. What happens when authors – the creators of books – lose faith in BIG PUBLISHING? God is dead. — Nietzsche

29. “ MARIO SAVIO BODIES UPON THE GEARS” SPEECH (view/listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5o_0ZYA5HM ) “ There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all." Mario Savio , U.C. Berkeley Sproul Hall Steps, December 2, 1964

31. Thanks for considering the future