Book Publishing
The First Step in Avoiding Major Web Marketing Mistakes
This year I have the pleasure of writing a column for Book Business Magazine about web marketing. The idea behind the column is simple: Explain the steps required to build an effective web marketing plan in the order in which they need to be addressed. My hope is that I can lay out a clear process that helps businesses and organizations build a strong web marketing foundation. The articles will be appearing in both the print and online editions. The first article was published online this month, and the folks at Book Business have done a great job with editing and layout—though I do question their use of my big red mug at the top…. Here’s an excerpt: Your...
Read MoreBuilding Reader Communities: A Q&A with Follow the Reader – Part Two
Charlotte Abbott released part two of our interview today—freeing it from the torment of pre-stage jitters. I have excerpted a few of the questions (and my responses) below. Please read the complete conclusion to this gripping yarn at Follow the Reader. What are the top two or three technologies have you found most valuable in engaging audiences online? Twitter for daily conversation. A blog as a conduit for book, author, and community content. Blip.tv for serving up high-resolution video with no size or time restrictions. For tracking your success and progress, ChartBeat, HootSuite, and Google Analytics are essential. [...] Do you see any downside to giving away...
Read MoreBuilding Reader Communities: A Q&A with Follow the Reader
Recently I sat down to do an e-interview with Charlotte Abbott—of Follow the Reader fame—about how authors and book publishers can build communities of readers online—and why it works. It was a blast to do, and thanks to Charlotte’s clout and well-earned reputation in the industry, the interview was picked up by the Shelf Awareness daily newsletter as a top article. Charlotte has posted part one of the article on Follow the Reader. Part Two is waiting in the wings with a nervous belly and unbearable stage fright. Let’s start a slow-clap to get him out here…eh? I have excerpted a bit of the Q&A below. For the full article, please reward...
Read MoreThe Slow Marketing Movement: A Social Media Presentation
Last week, Kat Meyer and I had the privilege and opportunity to lead a workshop at O’Reilly Media’s Tools of Change Conference in Times Square. Kat titled it wonderfully: The Slow Marketing Movement: A Social Media Workshop for the Bookish. The benefits for book publishers and other companies that participate in the world of social media are well known at this point: community, word-of-mouth promotion, instant market research, etc. So we didn’t want to simply rehash the tired “Pie in the Sky” hullabaloo about social media. The folks attending our workshop were already sold on “why.” We wanted to present them with...
Read MoreFollow the Reader: A Twitter Interview
For all the time I’ve spent on Twitter, I had never done a Twitter interview until Friday when I participated in Charlotte Abbott’s & Kat Meyer‘s Follow the Reader weekly #followreader chat. Every week these two book mavens ask other industry folks to sign on to Twitter and drink from a fire hose of 140-character questions. It was a thrilling experience and, despite the furious pace, amazingly info-rich. Here’s my quick summary breakdown. The pace: furious. The line of questioning: non-linear. The character limit: 127. My answers: brief. The result: awesome! I encourage you all to read through last week’s interview, and then to come...
Read MoreCory Doctorow and the Corporate Destruction of Books
A tall, well-armed Scotsman once told me that people with Scottish blood in their veins only feel two emotions, “Weepin’ and Anger.” I see evidence of this all throughout my family. I am part of a hot-blooded and emotional tribe, and therefore I am prone to hyperbole—both dishing it out (OMG! These pizza Hot Pockets are the best thing ever!) and being taken in by it (Plaid pajamas are the cruelest injustice of our time! AAARGH!). My reaction to such statements is usually to grab my broadsword, paint my face, and charge off to slay all the plaid pajamas in the land…until, of course, it’s time for Hot Pockets. I tell you this to illustrate...
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