#PublishingReinvented 278 The Future: Mastering Digitally Liquid Books + Our June Challenge Reminder

I was inspired to create and channel today’s post by Ryan Khurana’s essay on our new era of "Liquid Content."

He points out that information is no longer bound to a single medium but can seamlessly transform across text, audio, video, and beyond.

Drawing from Marshall McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message,” Khurana argues that AI now dissolves the very boundaries of media, radically reshaping how we consume, create, and engage with content.

So What is Liquid Content?

• Information now exists in a state of pure potential—able to manifest in any form depending on context, user needs, and platform.

• This shifts us from “fixed media” (books, videos, audio) to a fluid model where the content's essence is preserved, but its form adapts.

• Is this where the future lies? Driven by demand, not hope.

Case Study 1: TikTok’s Multimodal Revolution Is Not Going Away

• TikTok’s dynamic captions allow silent engagement, merging watching and reading.

• This has changed user behavior—students watch during class, workers during meetings—turning passive consumption into visually active engagement.

• The medium adaptation (video with overlaid text) has rewired cognition and increased engagement metrics.

Case Study 2: Spotify vs Audible

• Audible: Views audiobooks as an extension of books—one credit per month, high-commitment, focused listening.

• Spotify: Treats audiobooks as audio entertainment, integrated with music/podcasts—leading to more casual, exploratory, and fragmented listening.

• Result: New audiences engage with lesser-known authors; medium context drives discovery and consumption differently.

Medium is Content

• Amazon & Audible: “Content is king”—the same content across mediums.

• Spotify: “Medium is the message”—shaping how and what content is consumed. More testing occurs across a wider range of content as restrictions are different, not requiring a fixed number of downloads per month, which forces less testing.

• Conclusion: Where and how you consume content matters as much as the content itself.

AI and the Rise of Multimodal Embeddings

• Tools like Meta’s ImageBind unify six modalities (text, audio, image, motion, etc.) in one space, enabling “anything-to-anything” conversions.

• AI could become a universal translator of mediums, transforming a report into a podcast, a painting into music, or a video into interactive text.

Examples of Medium Transformation Impact Now

• Google Audio Overviews: Text-to-dialogue podcast format changes engagement from unread to actionable listening during commutes.

• Video Alchemy (sports): Merges creative ideation and technical execution via AI, accelerating workflows.

• Cross-modal Art (e.g., Shane Guffogg’s paintings into music): Redefines how art is experienced, blending sensory rituals into multisensory expression.

Strategic Implications

• Ritual becomes central: The right medium at the right time creates the right cognitive and emotional experience.

• Personalized content: adapting format to user context (e.g., text for focus, audio for commute or exercise).

• Raises new questions about authorial intent, ethics, and optimal communication strategies in a world where form is fluid.

We are entering an age where content can become “liquid”—able to take any form to optimize engagement, comprehension, and value.

The strategic challenge for writers is how to match content with the medium that creates the most powerful ritual of use for readers.

As McLuhan suggested, the medium shapes us—and now, with AI, we can shape the medium and imagine it liquid.

Master the medium, and you control the impact.

To compete to be chosen for $150 of free ads in June, please comment with a link to your book in the comments below.

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