Wait! Before you click, this is not one of those “secrets to getting your money – and then telling you how I can put you on the Amazon bestseller list.”
This is a real article written by Marion Maneker on how the Amazon bestseller list works. You should read it.
Very cool project that Perseus Books Group is helming this year at BookExpoAmerica in NY. (I will be there next week!)
The project is titled, BOOK: The Sequel and I just got my shiny new widget for it to put on my blog. I’m entering today.
Perseus Books Group is spearheading this collaborative effort to publish a book – during the span of BEA – to highlight all the new ways to publish. The book will be created by all of you and published into as many formats as possible in 48 hours.
Submissions are ongoing and readers are invited to write the first sentence of a sequel to a book they love (and the title if they are feeling espescially creative.) The website will display contributions as they are accepted.
Submissions close on Thursday May 28th, at 4pm – first day of BEA.
Samples from the press announcement include:
“You see; I was right.” (From Das Kapital (revised edition) by Karl Marx
“Call Me, Ishmael!” (From Moby Dick’s Guide to Dating at Sea)
The book party launch will take place in the Perseus Books Group booth (#4237) at 4pm on Saturday, May 30th. All royalties from BOOK: The Sequel will go to the National Book Foundation.
Perseus Books Group ROCKS! Go and enter today.
Check out that ponderous question at the NYTimes article here.
I wanted to share another SXSW standout for the interactive sessions. Of course Tony Hseih from Zappos was interesting and he’s great to follow on Twitter, but I really loved also Kathy Sierra’s presentation.
Thought she did a phenomenal job of inspiring and elevating the conversation – plus she brought Gary up and had him talk about the importance of “love and heart” in everything you do.
Having spent a decade as a technology journalist before my current incarnation I can tell you that Kathy’s story is always inspiring and her take on all things “breakthrough” are not only actionable but lively.
The key for all of us is to do what we love and keep our congruent brand (ourselves) in that same zone with like-minded folks and people who uplift us on a daily basis.
I also had the great pleasure of sitting behind one of my own personal heroes, Hugh Mcleod , whose new book, “Ignore Everybody” is coming out in June. Go and buy it!
Now for Kathy’s takeaways:
1. “It’s not in the corner because you don’t use it, you don’t use it because it’s in the corner.”
2. “Think clueless.”
3. “Don’t make a better X, make a better use of X.”
4. Always ask, “What is the bigger experience?”
5. “What movie are your users (or audience) in and what movie do they really need to be in?”
6. Don’t have death by risk aversion.
Superb PW insight and tips for soliciting author blurbs.
Kindle 2.0 is coming soon according to Silicon Valley Insider. Again, I ask, “Is it waterproof?,” and why hasn’t some0ne at Amazon looked at the marketshare that can be gained by focusing it to moms who would love to read it in the bathtub after a long day’s work (at home or at the office!).
Loved all his stuff – sorry to see another literary giant leave us. One of his best quotes, “If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money.”
Superb article by John Maxwell on leadership for the new year. Very insightful. Also a great example of feeding your brand and maintaining its relevance. A good Maxwell article goes a long way across the Web. Keep that example in mind as you generate your own articles and elevate your thought leadership platform.
Great story on Writer’s Digest about author William P. Young and his book, “The Shack”, very inspiring path to publishing.
Read this insightful essay on the publishing world by Andre Bernard in the Washington Post.
I’m really humbled and thrilled today as one of my favorite clients, Joe Camp (father of Benji the dog) had his book – “Soul of A Horse” hit #4 on the Dallas, TX non-fiction bestseller lists! Very cool as it’s representative of how a book can rise to the top city by city. So don’t get discouraged if your book hasn’t hit #1 in the nation, look to each city to drive it forth! Joe’s book is now in its 4th printing! Go Joe. And here’s a wonderful feature that Daryn Kagan (past CNN anchor) did about Joe and his amazing horse.
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