Because I am the CEO of a book publishing company, I am regularly asked how I see the future of digital publishing. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

I don’t know exactly how things will shake out long-term, but I believe we will see the following six trends in 2011:

Seth Godin is one of my heroes. I have read nearly all his books. I subscribe to his blog. I am a fan. I also consider him a visionary and a friend.

Yesterday, he wrote a very provocative post on why he is “Moving On” from the traditional world of book publishing in order to connect directly with his readers. This has created a stir on the Internet.

For example, Mike Shatzkin said, “There’s only one Seth Godin, but there are other authors who might emulate him.” Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, also commented, as did the Wall Street Journal. Several of my readers have asked for my thoughts about Seth’s decision, so I thought I would respond here.

Yesterday, I stumbled across an incredibly simple but brilliant video about the end of publishing. It was produced by the marketing staff at Dorling Kindersley, a division of Penguin Group, for a recent sales conference. It talks about why Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1994) thinks that books are dead and boring.

I attended the O’Reilly Tools of Change Publishing Conference in New York City on February 9–11, 2009. The conference itself was fantastic. The focus—as it is every year—was on how publishing is changing and what you must do to survive and thrive in the coming digital world. There was a great deal of discussion on new technologies and what people are learning. It was extremely stimulating and helpful. In addition, I made several valuable contacts.

On Wednesday I spoke on the topic of “Blogging as a Tool for Change.” The O’Reilly production team video-taped the complete presentation. It is embedded above. (If you are viewing this blog post via email, you may have to actually visit my blog to watch the video.) Among other things, I discussed 12 reasons why every traditional publisher needs to be blogging. I firmly believe this. It is one of the tangible tools you can employ to experience first-hand where publishing is going.