Seth Godin’s decision last week to leave traditional publishing behind, has raised several questions, chiefly:

• Is he really making a radical change?
• Is this simply another smart marketing play?
• And hasn’t Godin “quit” traditional publishing before?

A round up response and discussion from industry heavyweight was posted this morning by Publishing Perspectives, which gathers some of the most relevant critique of Godin’s announcement, and some of the implications on media rights and royalties.

And an article published by the New York Daily Observer last Monday, Seth Godin Can’t Quit Quitting Publishing, brings back news from 2000 in which Godin announced a departure from traditional publishing.

From The New York Times in July 2000:

Last week, Seth Godin, a former Yahoo marketing executive and a former Simon & Schuster author, self-published his book, ”Unleashing the Idea Virus” after turning down an advance. He persuaded the online booksellers BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com to distribute electronic editions for free to anyone who cared to download it, and reaped a bonanza of publicity from the stunt.