Lean Startup author Eric Ries is crowdfunding a new book, and backers will help him write it

Eric Ries, author of perhaps the most influential startup business book of the past decade, has today launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new book, called The Leader’s Guide

Given the success of The Lean Startup, it’s no surprise Ries has a traditional publishing deal and doesn’t need to launch a crowdfunding campaign. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a dumb marketing ploy though. The Leader’s Guide will be separate from the book he’s working on for Crown Publishing, and it’s quite an interesting concept.

The title will be a four-color, 250-page, hardcover and digital book that will only be available to Kickstarter backers. It will look at how different companies are adopting Lean Startup methodology and help readers apply it in their own businesses. Far from just putting down some money in advance to get the book, backers will be encouraged to submit their own ideas and experiences via an online community hub. They’ll also get access to early drafts to suggest changes.

Input from backers will help Ries write both The Leader’s Guide and his traditionally published book.

Ries has become something of a quasi-deity among enthusiastic followers of his methodology. When I met him yesterday at SXSW he seemed quite amused by some of the more ultra-zealous Lean Startup devotees. He said that sometimes they come to him to ask that other Lean Startup followers be ‘excommunicated’ from the movement for not following its practices properly. “I have the stress to them ‘this isn’t a religion!’,” he said.

The Leader’s Guide Kickstarter campaign is looking to raise $135,000 and is live now.

➤ The Leader’s Guide [Kickstarter]