Blowing smoke, breaking mirrors
A couple of jobs back, when I still worked only in marketing, I used to joke around with an ebiz friend about which of us had the bigger “smoke and mirrors” job. I developed media kits, sell sheets and emails to promote our wares, and fought with our emedia department tooth and nail on developing
Veteran’s Day
In this light, it’s arguably one of the better Veteran’s Days in many years. Certainly the best card I’ve ever received! More from someecards below the fold, and also on Facebook.
Review: TRIBES by Seth Godin
Just do it. Or, as Gandhi put it, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” That, in a nutshell, is the primary message of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin’s masterful mini-manifesto on what it takes to be a leader and why YOU should be the one to take
Why Your Book Will Never Be in Borders
The odds are pretty slim, and not just because they’re on the verge of going out of business: “I market books for a living, so I can tell you an unpleasant truth: the order for any book, from any account, starts at zero,” [Andrew Wheeler, a marketing manager at Wiley] warns. “The publisher’s sales rep
And he has a sense of humor!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SWQJWm6Tg] “And I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn’t think I’d ever run for President.” I just got around to watching Obama’s speech at the Al Smith Dinner the other night and it’s funny as hell, taking shots at McCain, Clinton, Schumer, Bloomberg, Giuliani, Wall Street and, most importantly, himself, showing a
Online vs. Print Reality Check
Buried in a glowing American Journalism Review article about the success of The Politico — a politics-only news website that launched a couple of years ago and is getting 25 million page views/month — is the fact that 60% of its revenue comes from its laser-targeted, thrice-weekly 27,000 circ print edition, without which, the site
Thrillerfest: Buzz Your Book
I was only able to make it to one session at Thrillerfest yesterday, but it was one I had a particular interest in as it focused on book marketing, a huge black hole in the industry as the minuscule budgets publishers set aside for it are invariably dedicated to the can’t miss A-list authors while the
Thrillerfest 2008
Thrillerfest kicked off yesterday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here in New York and I had the pleasure of attending the full day — I’ll be back tonight and most of Saturday — meeting some great people, picking up some interesting books, and taking in some insightful information on the publishing game from the perspective
What a Week
My first week at the new job was a whirlwind that has left me physically and mentally exhausted, not to mention off the internet for most of the week, but I’m feeling oddly energized at the same time. By today at 5pm it still had that “new job” smell — helped quite a bit by my adding a few personal touches to
Hello, March. You’re looking good!
This past Winter has sucked on a number of levels, not the least of which is the apparent Gonzalez Plague that’s been bouncing between the four of us for what seems like three months now. It was India’s turn this weekend — she stayed home sick today after not being able to sleep well with congestion,