Future Perfect Publishing

New Society Publishers is committed to facilitating social change and its mandate embraces a broad social transformation toward sustainability.  But New Society Publishers goes beyond simply publishing books on topics such as globalization, green building, renewable energy, conscientious commerce and sustinable living.  As a business, it walks the talk.  In 2005, New Society became the first North American publishing company to become carbon neutral.  The company has also received the Ethics in Action award in 1997 for ongoing social responsibility, and again in 2002 for environmental excellence.

All of this is not surprising, given the activist roots of its principals, Christopher and Judith Plant.  Chris Plant started his publishing career in the South Pacific as an organizer with the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement and as an editor with the Institute of Pacific Studies in Fiji.  Judith Plant is a former adult educator who became an author with the release in 1990 of her highly successful book, Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism published by New Society.  We recently interviewed Chris and Judith Plant about the focus and direction of New Society Publishers.

FPP: How did you come to choose publishing as a way to express your activism?

Chris & Judith:  Getting the word out is a large part of activism of any kind; you need informed people to make a difference. We originally started publishing a magazine to enable communities scattered over a large geography to know what their issues were and how they were dealing with them. Oftentimes, they were facing similar struggles - forestry, watershed issues, toxic wastes, etc - and having to reinvent the wheel over and over again instead of being able to learn from each other. Sharing issues and solutions became the meat-and-potatoes of what we published.

FPP:  You have described yourselves as bioregionalists. Can you explain what that means and how that has affected your day-to-day operations and publishing decisions?

Chris & Judith:  The bioregional view sees the local as the focal point, the locus, of all action. We all live in a place, and caring for that place is the most immediate thing one can do. Understanding your place used to be the key to obtaining your water, your food, and your security. But in a globalized world, that all changed. However, as the global system crumbles through the pressures of Peak Oil and other long emergencies, the ‘local’ promises once again to become the most important aspect of most peoples’ lives. The Relocalization movement is all about this trend.

FPP:  New Society Publishers is on Gabriola Island in the province of British Columbia. Does that present challenges for you?

Chris & Judith:  Only if you miss the city! No, it’s an ideal life here. We’re on a beautiful Gulf Island in a quiet piece of forest, a short walk away from the seashore, connected to some of the best and most interesting people in the world through our work. My husband and I have a 30 foot commute, our staff often bicycle to work, and we give ourselves lots of time off. How challenging is that?! Seriously, though, publishing is the ultimate ‘electronic village’ occupation: it can be done from anywhere. And, to keep a balance, we do in fact venture out into the ‘real world’ every now and then, to rub shoulders with activists and authors and make sure we aren’t too cut off from most peoples’ day to day realities.

FPP:  Your company has a focus on publishing books that help to build an ecologically sustainable and just society. How has this focus developed over the life of New Society Publishers?

Chris & Judith:  In the beginning, in Philadelphia, the publishing operation was the propaganda arm of the Movement for a New Society whose aim was nonviolent revolution and opposition to the war in Vietnam, to nuclear weapons, etc. As times changed, the publishing element became autonomous, and we evolved the mandate of the publishing company around what we considered to be the key overarching issues of the day. Ecological sustainability and social justice remain the deep fabric of human habitation on this planet.

FPP:  What is the typical profile of a New Society Publishers author - or is there such a thing?

Chris & Judith:  Active, committed, eloquent, upbeat, capable, compassionate - and among the best human beings in the world!

FPP:  New Society Publishers has gone carbon neutral. This is a pretty major step for a book publisher. What were the hurdles you had to overcome as a print publisher to get there?

Chris & Judith:  When we took the step to committing to print all of our books on 100% Post Consumer Waste paper in 2001, it was a major commitment. No-one had done such a thing before. Every other publisher thought we were crazy because it added a significant cost to the production of a book - and who cared anyway? We had three tremendous allies in taking this step. First, New Leaf Paper from San Francisco who could provide the 100% PCW paper stock and who pulled out all the stops to help us do it. Second, our printer in Manitoba who had faith enough in us to order two truckloads of paper, not knowing if we would be able to actually pull off our commitment and use it all up. And third, the Markets Initiative group who were so totally convinced that change in paper use had to happen that they inspired us to take the risk of helping to change the publishing industry. After our paper commitment, going carbon neutral was a breeze!

FPP:  Do you see more publishers opting for this direction in the future?

Chris & Judith:  Yes. The Green Press Initiative - publishers who have taken similar vows - is growing all the time.

FPP:  Given the concerns about global climate change and all of its effects, are you seeing more demand for your titles than in previous years and changes in the readership for your titles?

Chris & Judith:  Absolutely! Our topics of concern have all of a sudden become mainstream. That’s what we were struggling to achieve all along and now that it’s a reality, it’s very exciting to be at the forefront of the trend. A part of our list was always designed to ‘mainstream’ the movement; now we’re seeing way more so-called ordinary people take on the key issues of our time.

FPP:  What role, if any, do you see technology playing in the way you will produce and market books in the future?

Chris & Judith:  As Peak Oil works its way through the system, shipping a heavy commodity like books around the universe is going to have to become a thing of the past. Physical books will occupy a special and sentimental slot in our lives. Electronic books’ time will come!

FPP:  What do you see as the biggest challenges for book publishers in the next few years?

Chris & Judith:  Coming to terms with Peak Oil and the restructuring of an entire industry. Publishing has to move from: books to e-books, from bricks and mortar bookstores to cyberstores, from shelves and warehouses filled with books to point of sale machines that print books on demand - if you really need to have a physical copy at all.

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Bruce Batchelor has long been a publishing pioneer, innovator and leading advocate for independent (”indie”) publishing.  He recently shared his experiences as a publisher, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the book publishing industry today.  Bruce is the founder of Trafford Publishing, where he publisher more than 10,000 authors from over 100 countries during 11 years as the company’s publisher and CEO.  In 1995, while at Trafford, he invented print-on-demand (POD) based publishing. 

He is the author of numerous books, including his latest, Book Marketing DeMystified.  Always an entrepreneur, Bruce has been the recipient of an Award of Excellence from The Financial Post and recognized by Profit Magazine as CEO of one of Canada’s top ten fastest growing companies in 2004) and 2005.  Today he heads up Agio Publishing, his latest book publishing venture.  

FPP - Publishing has always been a tough business. How did you get started and what motivated you to enter the business?

Bruce - My first publishing was simple and profitable: our high school yearbook was a money-maker, then I published a monthly high school newspaper (also profitable). After university, I self-published a book of stories and maps of the Yukon River and that was a lovely income source for many years — and regional bestseller. Then, with a group of friends, we published The Lost Whole Moose Catalogue: a Yukon Way of Knowledge” in 1979 — that sold over 20,000 copies and stayed in print for 25 years and inspired two sequels and the creation of a northern publishing company. So I didn’t realize publishing was supposed to be a tough business — it was a fall-back source of money for me when I wasn’t doing other work-adventures.

FPP- At Trafford Publishing, you pioneered the idea of print on demand. What inspired this innovation and what hurdles did you have to overcome to put it into action?

In 1994 I was consulting to a number of provincial and federal (Canadian) ministries to help them cut costs on publishing technical and policy manuals. These documents need changing periodically, so are ill-suited to offset printing. That’s when I discovered print-on-demand technology existed and could be used to print a single copy “on-demand”. Up to this point, the technology was being marketed as suitable for short runs of 300 to 500 copies. The challenge was to be able to show a catalogue of documents, take orders (with payment) and submit up-to-date print files to the DocuTech device — all in an automated fashion so the clerical-accounting overhead wouldn’t be too onerous. Fortunately the world-wide web was just beginning, so we created one of the first on-line stores (in 1995) to display our wares, collect orders and credit card payment, and relay the printing instructions and shipping papers to our contracted print shop.

The next hurdle was getting books/manuals/whatever to sell. We began with a few government manuals but soon began to solicit new books from authors and publishers. From that point, the business grew exponentially until Trafford Publishing had over 140 employees, offices in 4 countries, and sales of about $1 million per month. By the time I left in 2006, we’d published about 10,000 titles for authors living in over 100 countries.

FPP- After leaving Trafford, you formed a new company called Agio. Could you describe Agio’s basic business model and what do you think is most unique about Agio’s service offerings for authors?

Bruce - “Conventional” publishers incur all the expenses and have all the control over the content, appearance and marketing.

Agio and similar “collaborative” publishers share the costs and share the control.

Self-publishing on one’s own or using a service such as Trafford or AuthorHouse or Lulu means the author pays all the costs and has all the control.

At Agio, we only work with authors and books that intrigue and inspire us. The approach is collaborative. We insist on top-quality writing, editing and design. We contribute about half of the costs, and share the royalties with the author (Agio gets 20%; author gets 80%). We create customized marketing campaigns, and expect the author to be active in promotions. We don’t sell books to retailers on a returnable basis and we use short discounts to maximize royalties.

FPP- On Agio’s website it states that “Our company is committed to corporate social responsibility . . ” Could you explain how that affects your daily operation and management of the firm?

Bruce - Here are some of the things we do.

•  We print on-demand so there is minimal waste
• The paper stock is not from virgin old growth
• We generously support social and environmental charities
• We only work on books that are positive (or benign) about social and environmental change
• We don’t support ‘returnable’ book sales because this causes overprinting and wasted resources
• Zero commuting costs (we work from a home-office!)
• We share our ideas through presentations and my blog
  - we consult to other publishing companies to help them adapt to the changing business environment.

FPP - How do you see technology impacting book publishing over the next 5
years?

Bruce- The industry is being transformed — in much the same way the music industry is, only the book publishing industry is a few years behind. Rising resource costs and better technologies will accelerate the adoption of eBooks — regardless of what booksellers and old-school publishers might hope. Bookstores will fail, following the pattern of music shops and video stores. The books that are bought in printed editions will be produced using print-on-demand, with POD factories located in every major city and all countries.

Because the cost to “publish” is heading toward zero, the number of new titles will balloon from 2007’s count of 411,000 annually in the USA to 1 million.

The major publishing companies will lose their oligopoly advantages and will dwindle in scale and importance.

FPP- What Internet marketing tools have proven the most effective in your experience?

Bruce - Know your audience and target your publicity to them. Certainly selling on a short discount is a great help since you are gaining way more royalty per sale.

FPP- You are both a publisher and an author. Does being an author yourself help when you are working with Agio’s clients?

Bruce - Yes. I can relate well to their emotional and financial situations, and that helps both comfort and inspire them to push for clarity and quality in their books and marketing.

FPP - What is the profile of your ideal author client in today’s publishing environment?

Bruce - Someone with joy in their heart and a message to communicate.

FPP - What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the publishing industry today?

Bruce - Inertia in processes and thinking. The US book publishing industry is wasting between $1 billion and $2 billion each year because of widespread paranoia about ending the practice of overprinting and selling books on consignment (”returnable”). That practice could be changed in months if a handful of publishers showed leadership and attention to the environment and their own financial situation!

The blockbuster top selling authors will soon begin leaving the big houses (as Madonna, The Eagles and Nine Inch Nails, for example, have left their music labels) to become “independents”. Cue the bankruptcy folks at the 6 biggest publishing companies. Those big companies have massive infrastructure to pay for — most of it will be without use soon. Smaller publishing houses might be more nimble.

A looming challenge will be too much control in the hands of a few retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart) who will drag us all through a time of their greed to grab outrageous margins and exclusivity — before they are toppled by the next wave of online retailing.

(FPP Note:  In addition to the text interview above, you my also listen to the extended audio interview with BruceBatchelor - 20 MB MP3 file.)

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We have often speculated that blog networks will play a key role in the future of publishing.  We decided to get an expert’s opinion and talk with Jeremy Wright, the CEO of b5 media.  ZDNet defines a blog network as “An organization that hires people to write blogs. It sells advertising and owns the blogs.”  With more than 290 blogs, 15 vertical channels and over 10 million unique visitors a month, b5mediais clearly one of the largest blog networks in operation today. 

Jeremy Wright is a serial entrepreneur, some have even said a “blogpreneur” for his focus on communications-oriented ventures.  He is also the author of Blog Marketing, designed to help businesses figure out blogs, and use them to get into the conversation with their customers.  In addition to running b5media, he also writes the blog Ensight, a popular business and technology blog, and consults on blogging, communication, IT and time management.   

In our interview, Jeremy provided insights about the inner workings of blog networks and what he sees for the future of this nascent publishing medium.

FPP:  Technorati has indexed over 100 million blogs. Why do you think blogs have become such a powerful publishing medium?

Jeremy:  There are really 2 kinds of blogs (as far as I’m concerned): personal/family blogs and “professional” blogs. Personal blogs are really all about you telling your family how you’re doing, what you’re up to, etc.  In some ways, social networks like Facebook are starting to take the place of this kind of blog. But personal blogs are about expression, connecting with people you know and love, etc. For these kinds of blogs, this is the first time in history that we’ve been able to basically pen pal with everyone we care about, which is incredibly powerful. The second kind is “professional” blogs, which is really 2 camps: those who are blogging what they love and are good at (at least in part) so they can improve their career, establish new connections, network, establish themselves as thought leaders, etc. And the second kind are commercial properties which range from one guy writing about something to make money all the way to true blog-based content companies like b5media, Gawker Media and Know More Media.

FPP:  What is a blog network? Are blog networks like online newspapers or magazines, or do they represent a new type of media?

Jeremy:  In a lot of ways a blog network is like a magazine, just without the paper. Some networks, like Gawker Media, treat each blog as their own magazine (complete with editors, researchers, correspondents, etc). Others group blogs together and treat the whole as a magazine (this is how my company, b5media, does it). At the same time, they definitely represent a new form of media, as they really bridge the gap between mainstream media’s “we talk, you listen” metaphor and blogging’s “we talk, we listen” metaphor. It’s still commercial, but the best of these blogs (or magazines) are the ones that serve both metaphors: quality content, interactive conversation, by/for/with passionate people.

FPP:  Do blogs in a network intentionally reinforce each other with shared readership? Or do they operate as standalone media properties?

Jeremy:  The ability for a network to grow and establish a community of bloggers who are all passionate about similar topics (be it technology, business, entertainment or fashion) is really where the magic happens. Sharing strategies, linking to relevant stories across multiple blogs, drawing energy from the community… These are what make blogging at a healthy network so much more enjoyable than blogging on your own (which can often feel quite lonely). At the same time, the individual blog still has its audience to serve. So bloggers in a network are able to write for their audience, while drawing strength, inspiration and energy from the community.

FPP:  What do you believe are the key success factors for a blog network? Are there particular metrics you use to measure the effective of blog networks?

Jeremy:  The best metrics for any online company are the hard and fast ones: traffic, revenue and growth. But those don’t really speak to what it takes to achieve those key metrics. Each network motivates writers, chooses content areas and builds out the network differently. For us, we’ve always believed that if we keep writers happy, they’ll produce great content. And great content will mean more traffic. And with enough traffic it’s hard notto make money. So we focus a lot of energy on community and blogger happiness. We also regularly conduct surveys of our bloggers, our readers and our partners to see how we’re doing on the “soft” elements of success.

End of the day, a strong network has a strong editorial side with committed and energized writers, a solid business behind it, and talented folk to run technology, ad sales, marketing and admin areas.

FPP:  Many authors have successfully gone from blog to book. Do you think it is feasible for book publishers to set up blog networks to enhance and scale this process?

Jeremy:  That’s an interesting question. It’s not something I’ve seen yet, primarily because book publishers tend to exist to promote a book at launch, and then sit back and wait. The exception to this rule would probably be O’Reilly, which publishes a lot of information online, and encourages its authors to publish a lot of information online both pre and post-publication of the book. The idea of publishers getting into daily publishing is interesting, but it’s probably outside the DNA of all but the most technically-oriented publishers (where daily content is the norm). After all, if a publisher can’t do a weekly newsletter, can they really run 10-20 blogs, all with daily content?

FPP:  What services do blog networks typically provide the writers who work for them? What type of compensation models are currently used by blog networks?

Jeremy:  In terms of compensation, there are typically 3 types: revenue share (where the writer gets a percentage of the revenue the network earns), payment per post (often with a traffic bonus) and flat-fee (ie: like a contract writer would make). All 3 models work, though revenue share tends to put all the risk on the writer so is often used by networks when they’re starting out (to keep costs down). But, all 3 models can work. At b5media, we use a combination of flat-fee for meeting the writing requirements (which is kind of payment per post) along with a traffic bonus, though we’re currently evaluating new pay models. In terms of services, most networks really just ask writers to write and try and get them and their blogs exposure. I know at b5 we try and do as much as we can for our writers, ranging from free hosting for their personal blogs to training and from attempting to arrange press access for events to promoting the individual blogger in every way we can. It’s certainly one of the things writers should ask about before joining a network.

FPP:   What traits does a writer need to have to be effective in a blog network?

Jeremy:  I’ll defer to some of our most prolific writers on this, but in a recent training session, Leora Zellman and Mary Jo Manzanares said the most important things to have or develop were fantastic time management, to find your source of motivation daily and to both have your own quiet space and to reach out to other network writers so that you aren’t alone.

FPP:   Blog valuations and acquisitions have become hot topics recently. What factors does b5media take into consideration when evaluating a blog purchase?

Jeremy:  At b5media we have an internal engine we use to value a blog’s worth. We typically stay within range of that valuation when we acquire blogs, but sometimes there’s something that’s intrinsically more valuable than our model takes into account, so we don’t mind deviating. For us, traffic, revenue, unique visitors and subscribers are the key metrics. We’re able to gauge pretty successfully how well a blog will do over the long term with these metrics, so tend to stay pretty close to them. If it’s more of a strategic buy (we recently purchased a video platform company, for example, and are currently negotiating for a podcast network), then other factors may come into play that can bring the valuation up or down. As with any acquisition, you set your initial boundaries and then either go up or down based on strategic or external factors (such as a trend towards or away from text links, in the case of our most recent acquisition).

FPP:   Where would you like to see b5media in the next 3 years? Do you think book publishing is part of its future?

Jeremy:  While we might do a few e-books or encourage our authors to do books, I don’t think we’ll get into the book industry in a big way. I do see e-books as being a potential growth area, though. Beyond that, I’d like to see b5media move beyond the “blog network” box. We’ve started to do that a bit already by licensing our platform to Know More Media, doing ad repping, syndicating our content, etc. But we need to do more. I don’t want to get into specifics, largely because I believe talking before you have something to show is bad luck ;-).

FPP:  How do you see blog networks evolving in the future?

Jeremy:  Well you’ll definitely see more consolidation and more partnerships. The last year has already seen a dozen or so of these (we’ve led 3-4 of them), but the pace will continue to quicken as the larger networks are able to grow traffic and revenue more quickly than the smaller ones, the larger ones will simply pick up small to medium sized networks because it’s cheaper than building blogs themselves. Beyond that, you’ll continue to see a meshing of blog networks with social networks (9rules and Instablogs have started to do this, and our gateway release at www.spekked.com will continue this trend over the next few months), and you’ll see more partnerships between blog networks and mainstream media networks (online and off).

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Lori Smith has explored her passion for the life and work of Jane Austen, both literally and figuratively.  In July of 2005, she set off on a month long trip to England to follow the life of Jane Austen.  She describes the experience as “searching for a connection with the writer whose books (and the movies based on them) had become like literary comfort food to me.”  Lori is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly , Washingtonian and Today’s Christian Woman.  She is also author of The Single Truth and creator of the popular literary blogs Following Austen and Jane Austen Quote of the Day.  She has now turned her blog musings have now turned into a book,  A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love and Faith.   She recently shared another journey she has taken - this one from blog to book.

FPP - What interested you most about Jane Austen?

Lori - I had been reading her books since college, and felt very close to her (which many of her readers do, I’ve found, and which I can’t entirely explain). I had read the books over and over — they’re like literary comfort food to me — and when I felt like I had nowhere left to go, started reading biographies and her letters. I wanted to see the places she lived, the countryside she loved. The book grew out of a month-long journey following her life.

FPP - What do you think attracts modern readers to Jane Austen’s life and work?

Lori - She wrote very intelligent romances. The falling-in-love journey is an awful lot of fun on its own, but there’s so much more to Austen than that. We still recognize her characters today; the dialog is pitch-perfect. She had a wonderful wit and energy for life which comes through in the stories. But I also think the solid foundation of her stories is that character was so important to her — moral character. I think the real triumph for Austen — possibly more important than the romantic conclusions of her novels — is when her heroes and heroines are willing to recognize their faults and change. I think we’re drawn to their character, too, perhaps without realizing it.

FPP- What was the most unusual thing you learned about Jane Austen during your research into her life?

Lori - The fact that she had an opportunity to marry and chose not to. Harris Bigg-Wither, a dear friend of the family and heir to a great estate, proposed one night when Jane was visiting. She accepted the offer, apparently stayed up most of the night reconsidering, withdrew her acceptance in the morning, and left the house in disgrace. It would have been a nearly perfect match — except that there wasn’t love, and for Jane that would never do.

FPP- What inspired you to start your blogs?

Lori - I started Following Austen to begin to connect with readers, and start to build an audience for the book. The Jane Austen Quote of the Day I really started as a marketing tool. Of course, I love the quotes, and there were so many I wanted to share anyway, but I thought it would be a great way to reach the Austen fan base.

FPP- How would you characterize your blog readership?

Lori- I’m afraid I don’t know much about them, other than the fact that I assume they are die-hard Austen fans. I know that about half the daily syndication for the quote of the day is on LiveJournal, where it’s reproduced on people’s friends pages for others to read. I think that’s great.

FPP- How much of a role did your blogs play in the development of your book?

Lori- I really enjoyed getting initial pieces of the book out there and getting good feedback from readers. In the beginning stages, writing is such a lonely process that hearing from readers who loved it meant so much to me. It didn’t really affect the development of the book though, in terms of structure or how I wrote it, except perhaps that I learned to think of it in bite-sized pieces that would work on the blog. We ended up working it back into longer chapters, but I think that helped me tackle it initially.

FPP- Have you found your blog to be an effective marketing platform for your book?

Lori- Definitely. I’ve connected with a whole world of Austen bloggers, who’ve been enthusiastic about the book and in turn have blogged about it. It’s also given me a place to send people for excerpts and more information, and a kind of legitimacy. There are so many opportunities for online promotion now that are completely free, and a blog is central to that. I would recommend it to every writer.

FPP - What other things would you still like to know about Jane Austen?

Lori - Much of her life is hazy. She didn’t keep a journal, and her sister burned most of her letters. If I could talk to her, I’d ask her about writing — and about her faith, which she was hesitant to discuss. (She felt it was more important to live it than talk about it.)

FPP- Do you think if she were alive today, that Jane Austen would have a blog?

Lori - I don’t think so!  She was very private.  I think she would find the trend - and our celebrity-obsessed culture - full of fictional possibilities.

FPP - What is next for Lori Smith?

Lori- I’m not sure yet, but I’m guessing there will be another book — and another blog!

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Blogs and social networks have grown in importance as marketing platforms, as the audiences they are able to aggreagte have grown.  Technorati is now tracking over 100 million blogs and comScore reports that social networks MySpace and Facebooknow have 68 million and 30 million members, respectively.  For authors, they are becoming essential readership building and book marketing tools.  We recently spoke with Beth Whitman, a popular travel writer, who is using blogs and social networks to help create and market her titles. 

Beth Whitman is a self-described “travel addict” and has been a solo traveler for 20 years. She wrote her first book, Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo in order to encourage and inspire other women to travel independently. She is the publisher of www.WanderlustAndLipstick.com and the travel blogger for the Seattle Post Intelligencer.  Beth has two books scheduled to be released in 2008: Wanderlust and Lipstick: For Women Traveling to India and Wanderlust and Lipstick: For Women Traveling with Children.

FPP - Your book focuses on tips for women traveling alone. Is this a relatively new area of travel writing?

Beth - It’s definitely not a new area of travel writing but it’s a growing category, for sure. There have been a few books out on the subject for a number of years but there seems to have been an explosion of interest in the topic during the last year or so.

FPP- How did you become interested in blogging?

Beth- I knew that I needed an online presence in order to build up my audience. By happenstance I landed a writing gig with the Seattle Post Intelligenceras their travel blogger and started blogging on my own site about six months prior to the release of my book.

FPP- How much of your content from your blog did you use in writing your book?

Beth - Not a lot for my solo book as a lot of the writing for the book had been done when I started blogging. However, I’m working on another book, For Women Traveling to Indiaand will be repurposing a lot of the content for both book and blog. In retrospect I should have done more of that for the original Solo book but didn’t.

FPP- What challenges did you have in converting blog content to book content?

Beth - I think the challenge is breaking down all the info from the book down into bite sized chunks that will hold a reader’s attention on a website. It’s got to be snappy and usually in bullet form so that can scroll through quickly.

FPP- What role does your blog play in marketing your book?

Beth- It plays a pretty big part. I am constantly working on building my community through my blog, newsletter and through social networking sites where I place links to my blog.  So far, I’ve driven traffic to my website and sold books through this online marketing campaign.

FPP - What role have social networks played in your book marketing campaign?

Beth - It’s becoming more and more significant as I learn the ropes. There are a lot of things to figure out and it takes time to build up your network. I’m just now starting to see it pay off and hope to have a good holiday season as a result!

FPP - How do you allocate your marketing effort between web based and traditional methods?

Beth - While I do market offline (I’m in the middle of a book tour right now), I spend more time marketing online. While both methods are time consuming, I’m starting to see the advantages of online marketing campaigns and social networking sites (especially since I don’t have to pay travel expenses for those methods!). I connect with other bloggers and other individuals with like interests (in my case, travel).

I think that down the road I’m going to see far more traffic going to my site and more people buying my book because of the online marketing that I’m doing. It’s just a matter of being focused on it, which, honestly, most authors aren’t.

FPP- What’s ahead for your writing and your blog, Wanderlust and Lipstick?

Beth- I’m working on books number 2 and 3 right now and continue to blog a few times a week on the Seattle Post Intelligencer site and my own site. I’m working on a book for women traveling to India and another for women traveling with children in which I’m collaborating with two co-authors. This time I will take a more thoughtful approach at adding content to my blogs that will be included in the book so that I can build up my audience prior to the book’s release in the spring of 2008.

Related Posts

• The Book Marketing Potential of Social Networks
• Widgets, Nuggets and Tags on the Cut and Paste Web
• Social Media Marketing - An Interview with Author Paul Gillin
• The New Press Release
• New Rules!
• The Social (Networking) Imperative

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If you want to know what’s happening in the world of blooks (blogs that become books), Cheryl Hagedorn’s Blooking Central is your first stop.  She has provided insightful analysis and entertaining background on almost 200 blooks.  Cheryl is a former Salvation Army officer, computer programmer, and writing instructor for the Chicago Department of Aging and the Park Ridge Senior Center.  She has an MA in Writing from DePaul University and is a member of the Emily Dickinson International Society and the Illinois Philological Association.  Cheryl is the author of Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murdermystery as well as the online novel Gold Medal Murder. 

In this interview with Future Perfect Publishing, she shared her thoughts about the emergence of the blook as a new publishing path for authors.

FPP:  What first got you interested in blooks?

Cheryl:  The first mention of a blog being made into a book that I remember seeing was on The Chicago Writers Association forum. Dorien Grey reported that his A World Ago blog had attracted the attention of Zumaya Publications and had been scheduled for publication in September, 2008. I began researching the phenomena and was overwhelmed and incredibly intrigued by what I found.

FPP:  In your experience, what are the elements that are generally required to make a potential blook?

Cheryl:  In the first 30 or so blooks that I looked at, excluding web comics, it came down to three things:

• Quality of the writing- many blook authors began as freelancers or columnists such as Lori Smith (A Walk with Jane Austen) and Tracey Henry (Suburban Diva).
• High-level connections - Melinda Roberts (Mommy Confidential) is a member of John Battelle’s Federated Media Parenting and Entertainment Network. She is also an online community advisor to ClubMom, Johnson & Johnson, The Disney Internet Group, and MothersClick.com, where she is also a resident blogger.  Judith O’Reilly (Wife in the North), a former London Times writer got a deal after blogging only six weeks because she got linked to by “big” names.
• Lots of traffic - David St. Lawrence (Danger Quicksand) gave away 50,000 free books. Okay, he self-published. Mim Smartypants had 3,000 regular readers. The Japanese fellow who wrote The Train Manhad a million readers. But it’s also the number of comments that indicate how engaged the readers are. Eunny Jang announced her book deal and got 173 comments!

FPP:  Early on it seemed that in many cases the blog to book path was not planned. Are authors getting more intentional about going from blog to print now?

Cheryl:  Absolutely. This years’ Blogher convention had a special session on how bloggers have used their Internet writing to publish books. Michael Shumate (Success in the Arts - see picture at right) admitted that he had posted with every intention of building an audience for the book. So did Noreen Braman (I’m 50 - Now What?). Both of those were self-published, but then you have Cheeseburger Brown’s Simon of Space. He posted in the hopes of attracting a deal and got one.  You still have authors who back into book deals, though. For instance, Dawn Meehan’s only interest was in selling a baseball on eBay but the short story she wrote to hype it pulled in 220,000 readers.

FPP:  What do you think is the best strategy for an author to approach an agent or publisher about a blook deal?

Cheryl:  Gina Trapani (Lifehacker - see picture at right) has a link to her agent David Fugate of LaunchBooks. Fugate says, in essence, “Make sure the traffic is there, write a winning pitch/proposal, and don’t expect to just dump your blog onto paper.”

FPP:  Are publishers actively searching the blogosphere for new authors, or is it still a matter of authors who blog seeking out agents and publishers?

Cheryl:  Agents like Kate Lee, Elisabeth Weed, and Patrick Walsh, as well as the Waxman Literary Agency, for sure are actively looking for blookable blogs. The Friday Project specializes in publishing web content. Publishers don’t appear to be offering as much money, but they’re definitely looking for bloggers who can and do write for specific audiences.

FPP:  Can you estimate about how many blog to book deals are being done each year?

Cheryl:  How would you begin to make an estimate?! The Lulu Blooker Prize competition had 89 entries the first year, 110 the second. How many of those were traditionally published? I’ve looked at 190 blooks, only half of which came from the competition lists and maybe 1/3 of those have had book deals.  

FPP:  Do you see more fiction or non-fiction blooks being published these days? Why do you think that is the case?

Cheryl:  One thing that has really surprised me is the number of non-fiction, memoir-type blogs that have been rendered as fiction, especially a book like Queen of Sky by Ellen Simonetti (see picture at right). I guess it’s an attempt not to be sued. Then there’s those authors that have mentioned the need to supply a story-line for the book version of their blogs, like Jeremy Blachman (Anonymous Lawyer) and the lady police officer, PC Bloggs (Diary of an On-Call Girl).

I don’t know whether more non-fiction blooks are being published than fiction, but I think that blooks probably reflect books in that regard.

FPP:  What categories of blooks seem to be the hottest right now?

Cheryl:  I honestly have no idea. You might be able to track it by pulling all the Publishers Marketplace deals that refer to blogs, like Gawker did, then sorting them into fiction and non-fiction. But that leaves out a huge number of blooks that are being self-published. You simply can’t discount them - consider the success of Tom Evslin’s Hackoff.com (see picture at right).

FPP:  Could you tell us briefly about the blog to book software that is available currently?

Cheryl:  There are several programs which are blog-specific. For instance, LJ Book only works with LiveJournal, DeadJournal or InsaneJournal blogs. Blog2Print from SharedBook only accepts Blogger blogs as input. Pyxlin, I think, will let you import other formats but is primarily for pyxlin users. Let’s see, there’s also Blurb’s Slurper, LAB Asprise’s BlogCollector, Prince, QOOP’s BlogPrinting, and PrintMyBlog.

Most authors follow Warren Meyer’s (Coyote Blog) lead - they reverse the order of blog posts, then cut and paste. Geeks like Gina Trapani can use things like DEVONthink Pro.

FPP:  What trends do you see in blooks in the next few years?

Cheryl:  Self-publishing is just now coming into its own. I think we’ll see more blog owners going that route, particularly with annual and semi-annual collections of posts like Vitualis’ Medical Rants. Best of Blogs-type blooks showed up too soon and it’s over. On the other hand, anthologies like Age of Conversation, which could have been a blook and wasn’t, or the Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006which is currently gathering material for the 2007/2008 blook, are gathering momentum.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that dead tree versions, which is how I define a blook at Blooking Central, are being accompanied by other versions, such as PDFs or podcasts, as well as being enhanced like BluBook or Carbondale After Blog.

Related Posts

• Blooks - Between Angst and Opportunity
• Demon Wives, Train Men and Cell Phone Manga - Blooking Japanese Style
• Wife in the North - Fastest Blog to Book?
• Things are “blooking” up for Blog to Book Authors
• Blog to Book

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New authors have always faced the challenge of getting past the book publishing gatekeepers - agents and acquistion editors.  Scott Sigler found a new way into the castle.  Scott’s work revolves around modern science’s dichotomy of simultaneously producing good and evil.  It has been described as a ”steel-tipped boot on your throat, speed-metal fiction.”

Snubbed by publishers for years, Scott turned the traditional book publishing model on its head when he released EarthCore as the world’s first “podcast-only” novel.  Scott recorded EarthCore in 2005 in 22 episodes (roughly 45 minutes each) that subscribers downloaded.  He picked up 10,000 subscribers along the way.  His next podcast novel, Ancestor, drew 30,000 listeners and saw 700,000 episodes downloaded by fans. In combination with Scott’s other two podcast novels, Infection and The Rookie, his fans have downloaded over 3 million episodes of his fiction.

Scott’s innovative use of technology puts him at the forefront of modern-day publishing.  He has been covered in the Washington Post, BusinessWeek, CNet, The Book Standard and the nationally syndicated radio show The Dragon Page.  He is a Michigan native, and lives in San Francisco with his wife Jody and their two dogs, Mookie and Emma.

We recently asked Scott about his experience with the podcast novel and the world of traditional book publishing.

FPP:  What gave you the idea to do EarthCore as a podcast novel initially?

Scott:  I discovered podcasting in February 2005. I immediately started looking for podcast novels, because the technology reminded me of radio plays of the 40s and 50s - serialized audio fiction. When I couldn’t find any novels, I realized it was because no one had done it yet. EARTHCORE was set to be published in 2002 by AOL/TimeWarner, but they scrapped the imprint a month or so before my book was printed. So I had a finished novel, edited by a major publishing house, just sitting there - I learned how to podcast and got the thing up as fast as I could, knowing there would be benefit to first-mover status.

FPP:  What were some of the logistical difficulties you had to overcome in recording and distributing the episodes?

Scott:  I knew nothing about recording, blogging, RSS, XML, etc. I had to figure it all out and figure it out fast.

FPP:  What is the process you go through in creating each episode?

Scott:  The novels are finished before I begin. I create a new episode from a template that already includes intros and outros. I record, stopping and going back when I screw something up. That way when I record the final word, I’m done with the spoken part. I then add sound effects and make sure I didn’t miss anything. Each character gets his or her own recording track, so I can run EQ separately for each. Then I rip down the MP3, post it with Podshow’s system, get the link, then post it into my WordPress blog.

Podshow’s system doesn’t do all the unique things I need for a podcast novel, so I use a WordPress blog and link to the Podshow files.

FPP:  Are there any limitations that podcasting a novel forces on you as an author?  Is there any challenge switching between writing mode and podcasting mode?

Scott:  It’s the same thing, and two completely different things. The story is where it’s at. The story doesn’t change. If you don’t have a great story, don’t even bother. The podcasting challenges are acting it out, and making sure it’s riveting to the audience. Don’t phone in the performance, strong acting with passion and energy is key - if you don’t care about the audio, why would your fans?

FPP:  How would you characterize your listening audience? Are there any differences between those who listen vs. those who read the book?

Scott:  My Junkies are the best audience on the planet, for any kind of entertainment, anywhere. They are rabid fans. They are my friends. My reading audience also likes my stuff, likes it a lot, but there is a significant connection between me and the listening audience. To my print readers, there is the story. To my podcast listeners, there is the story, then there is the author, and they get to know both very well.

FPP:  Were print publishers tracking your podcast downloads before you contacted them or was that something you had to make them aware of as you marketed your work?

Scott:  Print publishers don’t get this at all. I mean, AT ALL. This is all a mystery to them. Dragon Moon Press is a small publisher that completely understands. Crown Publishing is a major publisher, and what they understand is that I have rabid fans and I can hit Top-10 on Amazon selling an indie book with zero advertising, zero promotional support and zero media support.

Crown is smart enough to know they don’t need to understand every last nuance, they just need to know something works.

FPP:  Do you think the availability of podcasts has a positive, negative or neutral impact on sales of the print version of your books? Why?

Scott:  Positive, positive, positive. It’s free exposure and advertsing. Some people listen and still buy print. Some people listen and buy the book for people they know who like print. Some people listen and don’t buy, but they send a link to dozens of friends, and the process repeats itself. If you can try my fiction for free, wherever you like, whenever you like, and you’re deciding between my book and one that makes you go to the bookstore and shell out $24.95 just to give it a shot, which are you going to choose? I’m grabbing mental marketshare like there is no tomorrow. The podcast exposes me to thousands of people, where if I’m just on a bookshelf between KING and KOONTZ, I can’t possibly compete.

FPP:  Is there anything you would change about the way you did your earlier podcasts?

Scott:  Not really. Everything I do now I learned from those endeavors.

FPP:  Will you continue using podcasts as a way to connect with your audience for your future titles?

Scott:  I will always podcast. Crown is behind this 100%. I wouldn’t be anywhere without the Junkies, and I will continue to provide them high-grade stories as long as I live. Even after that, because I want to have a story “in the can” that people can listen to after I die. Just to fuck with their heads a little bit more.

FPP:  Do you see more authors using podcasts as a way to get the attention of publishers?

Scott:  I would say wait to see how INFECTED sells on April 1, 2008 If it’s a hit, if it charts in the New York Times Bestseller list, then the model is forever proven.

FPP:   Looking back  on your own experience, what advice would you give them?

Scott:  Use examples of people who have used podcasting to sell books. At the end of the day, publishers spend a load of money to produce, distribute and market books. If you can prove to them that you have an existing audience, they are more likely to take a chance on you.

Authors (and bloggers) are always on the lookout for new tools to help them research their subject more effectively.  The Internet represents a potentially massive information resource, but finding, organizing and publishing the information you want in a coherent, systematic way can be a challenge.  Simple surfing has proven to be a time consuming and inefficient method for writers to get the informatino they need.  We recently interviewed Tara Calishain, one of the preeminent Internet research experts, about information traps.   Information traps are a collection of technologies that helps automate many information gathering tasks.

Tara Calishain is the creator of ResearchBuzz, an award winning website covering the world of Internet research.  She has written or co-written numerous books on search related topics, including Web Search Garage, the New York Times bestseller Google Hacks, the Official Netscape Guide to Internet Research and most recently, Information Trapping. 

FPP:  How would you define information trapping?

Tara:  I define information trapping as using alert services, RSS feeds, and similar services to bring updated content to you as it’s generated. Like the “push” technology we were all hearing about ten years ago, except that this time it works!  

FPP:  How did you first become interested in information trapping? 

Tara:  I have been interested in RSS feeds for over seven years, and for site monitoring an equally long time. I became interested in information trapping when I realized how much time it was saving me as I wrote ResearchBuzz. I have hundreds of traps I check daily for information on new search engines, databases, information collections, etc.

FPP:  What are the primary benefits of information trapping?

Tara:  It requires some time up front, but once set up information trapping will save you time. The information in which you’re interested will come to you. You will not have to go looking for it on a regular basis. And let’s face it — the Internet is so darn big you can easily get overwhelmed!

FPP:  What are some of the tools that an individual uses to trap information?

Tara:   Generally speaking, Web page change monitors and RSS feeds. Specifically speaking, Google News, Yahoo News, Yahoo Alerts, Web Site Watcher, YouTube, and basically any page or resource that either generates an RSS feed or outputs its data on a page that’s easy to monitor.

FPP:   How do you trap information about podcasts and videos?

Tara:  Depends on how specific your information needs are. If you’re looking for general information, like trapping for information on the Green Bay Packers, you might be able to find one or two (or several) Packers podcasts out there.  If you’re looking for more specific information (for Brett Favre) you might want to use a site that allows you to search podcasts by keyword, e.g. Everyzing.

FPP:  What hurdles is someone likely to encounter when they initially try to set up information traps?

Tara:  The first hurdle is probably being TOO general and ending up with a firehose full of information aimed straight at them. It’s not manageable and because of that it’s not useful. Being as specific as possible is the key. (The Green Bay Packers example earlier might be too specific - you would certainly have to be VERY picky about what you monitored.) The second hurdle is not doing research on the kind of keywords you want to use to monitor your topic. When setting information traps, experimenting with keywords is very important. You don’t want to end up with information that’s off-topic - or no information at all!

FPP:  Can you give an example of how a blogger might use information trapping?

Tara:  Sure. Say you’re a blogger who’s covering the Presidential elections, but you don’t want to cover the Republicans and Democrats. You want to cover all the “third party” candidates. Mainstream media will not be giving those people nearly as much coverage as the Ds and Rs, so you could set up traps across mainstream media, Web-based media, Washington-bloggers, etc to find news and information on those people. If they have Web sites you could set up page monitors to watch them for news and press releases.

FPP:  Are there some best practices for storing, organizing and cataloging the information you trap?

Tara:   Try to have a separate mailbox or folder for your trapped information. Don’t save too much if you can help it. Keep your cataloging process as simple as possible - as simple as a text file if you can manage it.  The more complicated your cataloging gets the tougher it’ll be to keep up with.

FPP:  Can you direct information you trap to mobile devices?

Tara:  Yes. Some sites offer alerts in the form of text messages for cell phones. And of course if your phone uses e-mail you can get your alerts that way. And if you have a phone that can have applications installed on it, you might want to see if that phone has an RSS feed reader available for it.

FPP:  How do you see information trapping tools and techniques evolving in the next few years?

Tara:  I think there’s going to be a lot more done with video and multimedia. We’re only just beginning to get beyond text-based and still image-based information online.

Social media has created quite a buzz in marketing circles.  Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are wildly popular and growing rapidly.  Blogs, podcasts and video sharing sites like YouTube have become part of the Internet mainstream.  Yet many authors and publishers are uncertain about how to leverage this new phenomenon for their marketing campaigns.  Paul Gillin, author of the bestselling book The New Influencers, agreed to share some of his thoughts about publishing and social media with us. 

Paul runs a consulting/freelance writing business specializing in new media..  He has been writing and speaking about information technology since the early ’80s.  Paul is an accomplished speaker and is known for his ability to demystify complex concepts and explain them in understandable terms.  His book combines historical perspective and the insight gained from 25 years of experience as a technology journalist.  As the many annecdotes and profiles in the book attest, he is an engaging storyteller with a briefcase full of fascinating accounts of the people and events that are shaping social media today.

FPP:  What does the term “social media” mean?

Paul:  I actually like Wikipedia’s definition: “Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves.”  Or as Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University terms it, “the writable Web.”  It’s new technology that enables people to publish for themselves and to comment on each other’s published work.  This can be highly individual or highly networked. The key component is that individuals now have the potential to publish to a global audience.

FPP:  What are the factors driving the rise of social media?

Paul:  There’s a whole appendix of my book devoted to that topic, but I’ll try to summarize.  The two major factors are technology developments and innovations in search  People have been able to input data through Web browsers since the early days, but the capability to capture, store and publish that information was limited.  With the rapid decline in hardware costs, services like photo and video sharing are now affordable.  Open source software has also made it inexpensive for people to experiment with new kinds of services. You no longer have to invest tens of thousands of dollars to put together a web server and a software stack.  Broadband has also reached the tipping point, with over half of all US households now using it and considerably higher percentages in some other countries.

Google is a big part of the phenomenon. Until Google came along, there really was no good way to reliably find information that was important to you. The early search engines just paled in comparison. Because Google figured out a way to index information by the quality of content, it became much more attractive for people to publish and hope to be found. Google also pioneered advertising models that made it possible for businesses to provide very powerful services for free. Adsense was a true innovation in business and its impact on the development of social media can’t be underestimated.

FPP:  Is the use of social media limited to a younger demographic? Is it a global phenomenon?

Paul:  It’s very much a global phenomenon. In fact, the number one language in the blogosphere is Japanese, according to Technorati. While young people are very comfortable with these media, I think the most interesting innovation is being done by grownups. The new influencers I wrote about are all adults who are passionate about topics and who use social media to become shakers and movers in those markets. I think adults and kids both appreciate the value of social media for finding like-minded people, but I think the adults especially value the power to have their voice heard where previously they were silent.

FPP:  How can book publishers and authors leverage social media to generate more interest in and sales of their titles?

Paul:  There are many ways. Blogging is all about expertise and sharing your expertise with other people. Book authors must develop expertise in their subjects, and they can generate awareness and conversations with other interested parties by publishing their insights on a blog. Increasingly, authors are publishing their books in this way. I published my entire book on my blog for the three months prior to submission to the editor. This not only generated useful feedback, but the bloggers who commented on my work became excellent prospects for reviews after the book was released.

When the book is in the market, a blog is a good way to expand upon the topic, publicize reaction and find potential buyers. People who are searching on the topic that the book is about are more likely to find the author and the title. I think any author should have a blog related to his or her book, at least in the non-fiction realm.

FPP:  What type of influencers should publishers tap into?

Paul:  People who care deeply about the topics addressed by their titles. These are the people who are most likely to read the book, write about it and generate word-of-mouth awareness.

FPP:  What practices should they avoid in their social media marketing campaigns?

Paul:  Never lie or deceive.  Don’t be overtly promotional.  Social media practitioners, whether they be bloggers, podcasters or online video producers, want substantive content to work with.  They want access to the author and the author’s sources.  If you just send them press releases, they will react negatively. You need to follow up and engage them with the author and the publisher.  Don’t treat them like second-class citizens.  Bloggers should be afforded the same courtesy as mainstream media.  If you excerpt and link to their work, you should publish the bad as well as the good. That shows that you are honest about the outreach effort.

FPP:  How does search marketing relate to social media marketing?

Paul:  Search marketing is about raising awareness for your content by making it easier for search engines to find it. That can be done through “organic” search optimization or through paid results placement.  Social media vehicles tend to do very well in search engines for a variety of reasons.  This is another reason why a blog is a good way to publicize a title. You have a higher probability of being found by a search engine if you are providing useful content than if you are simply listing the book on a catalog site.

FPP:  How can publishers and authors measure their influence in the world of social media?

Paul:  Use conventional analytical tools like Google Analytics and traffic logs to get a view of how many people are coming to your site.  Register on Technorati.  Its rankings of blogger popularity are controversial, but they are also the metric bloggers use most often.  Check referral reports to see how much traffic is coming to a book site or sales landing page from your blog or from mentions on other bloggers’ sites.  Look at how much commenting activity your own posts are generating.  There are other things you can do, but those are some of the most immediate opportunities.

FPP:  What trends do you see in social media marketing during the next few years?

Paul:  Experimentation. There is some panic about social media in the marketing world right now.  People think it’s the thing to do, and that you’re going to be left behind if you don’t get your plan together quickly.  In fact, no one has figured out social media marketing.  Everyone is just experimenting, and the successes still don’t fit any particular formula.  There are a few best practices emerging, but we are still in the first inning of this game. That said, I don’t advise waiting on the sidelines.  The earlier you get started, the faster you will realize the substantial benefits and low costs of social media marketing. The good news is that right now it’s a very forgiving environment.  People are making lots of mistakes but no one is particularly upset about it.  The costs are still low and the audience realizes that everyone is still feeling their way around.  So take advantage of that, take some chances and learn from your successes and your failures.  Few people are going to remember your failures five years from now, anyway.

Personal publishing in the form of blogs, podcast and online video is becoming fairly well established.  I think the most interesting developments right now are in the social networks like Facebook and Flickr.  This is where people gather around communities of interest and the power of recommendation and grass-roots organization take hold. It’s hard to organize people around a blog, but with a social network you can do some very interesting things.  I think it’s impossible to predict five years out at this point with any kind of certainty.  I do think that over the next two years you’ll see a lot of experimentation in social networks.
 

Marketing is always a challenge for self published authors and small publishers.   There are many channels and venues to consider and usually a very limited budget with which to address them.  We recently interviewed Sue Collier, one of the experts in this field, to get her thoughts and advice about how to tackle the book marketing maze. 

Sue has been working with authors and small presses for more than two decades. She is the current owner of Self-Publishing Resources, which was originally founded by self-publishing guru Marilyn Ross and provides authors and small presses with full-service book packaging and book marketing/consulting services.  

FPP:  There so many different ways to market a book. What factors should an author or publisher take into account when developing their marketing plan?

Sue:  Authors/publishers need to focus on nontraditional and niche markets. They should consider both before even starting work on the manuscript.

FPP:  What are the most important things an author publisher should do to promote a new book?

Sue:  The very first thing is choosing one’s subject matter carefully. This goes back to niche markets — there should be one, two, three, or even four specific niche markets for the book that can be targeted in marketing efforts. Also important is awareness of the whole issue of publication dates. In order for authors/publishers to take advantage of prepublication reviews and essentially making a “big splash” with prepublication publicity, publication dates should occur well after books are in hand. Additionally, authors/publishers should never quit marketing their books. For instance, The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross (my partner at Self-Publishing Resources) originally came out in 1979. Subsequent revisions of the book ensure that marketing efforts continue to this day.

FPP:   What are some common mistakes self published authors make in their marketing efforts?

Sue:  Not choosing the proper publication date for their books (see above). Appearing “self-published” is another error many self-published authors make. In this day and age, there is simply no reason for this. Authors should do their research ahead of time, put out a quality product, and choose a professional-sounding publishing company name. They shouldn’t lie about being self-published, but they should present a product and business front as though they are a small press. Another mistake is not having a full arsenal of promotional/publicity pieces.  At Self-Publishing Resources, we provide authors/publishers with a news release (targeting specific niche markets), mock review, customer order flyer, pitch letter, spec sheet for the trade, and other pieces that can be used for a variety of PR/marketing purposes.

FPP:  How has the web changed the strategies and tactics used in book publicity?

Sue:  It has expanded publicity options tremendously — this once again goes back to finding niche markets for your book. Websites, blogs, chat rooms, forums — all of those provide ways for the self-published author to penetrate niche markets effectively.

FPP:  Are blogs effective book marketing platforms, and if so, why?

Sue:  Not necessarily one’s own blog — unless the author/publisher has a tremendous amount of time or the staff to continually update and offer readers a lot of value. Otherwise, it might not be worth the time. But the blogs of other’s can be used selectively. There are many blogs out there that are very effective, given a good audience and timely information. Some are excellent and a source people look to daily for information in a particular subject area. Authors/publishers need to spend time researching what blogs might be appropriate. There can also be affordable advertising on some blogs; this is another possibility to consider.

FPP:  What are some other examples of cost effective online marketing publishers and authors can use?

Sue:  At Self-Publishing Resources, we put together a spreadsheet for our clients that identifies sites offering possibilities for selling books, reviewing books, listing articles/book exerpts, as well as interviews, podcasts, blogs, and so forth. This information can be worked in various ways, the majority of which cost nothing to the author/publisher.

FPP:  How can authors and publishers effectively blend their online and traditional book marketing?

Sue:  Put your URL everywhere — not just in the traditional places, such as your business card. For instance, it should be on your book and every other promotional piece, and you should mention it if you are giving a radio interview. And have a top-notch website.

FPP:  There has been a lot of buzz about social media sites lately - e.g. MySpace, Facebook, Digg, YouTube. How can authors and publishers use these new social media sites in their book marketing campaigns?

Sue:  In my opinion, these fall into the same category as blogs, and should be fairly low on the marketing priority list at this point.

FPP:  What emerging trends do you see in book marketing?

Sue:  Interactivity - communication between the author and readers - on the Internet will be huge. Amazon.com has started to utilize this tool to some extent. Authors/publishers will also want to come up with ways to use their websites as a tool for interactivity.  E-books is another area, that although it is still lagging, will likely continue to gain popularity. Authors/publishers should be sure to have their books available as an e-book, especially business books and others that might have obsolence.

You can reach Sue at sue@SelfPublishingResources.com.