TIP: Play poker, not Oprah

Got this from from Obie Joe fellow friend Max Nomad of Bohemian Griot Publishing. He saying what we've been saying about the old ideas about book promotion have got to change. As in, time to do the heavy lifting people.

"If it's any consolation, not too many publishers outside of the Top 10 publishing houses dedicate any time or effort trying to get on Oprah's book club list. Consider this:

• Since 1996, there have been 66 books to make Oprah's Book Club Book List. Even though that averages out to be about 5.5 books a year, it's actually closer to a couple of titles each year when you look at the entire list:
• According to RR Bowkers, there are about 275,000 new titles published each year.
• Do the Math.

To put it into perspective, the World Series of Poker currently hosts somewhere between 8500 and 10,000 players. Believe it or not, your chances of winning their multi-million dollar jackpot are much better.

I'm not saying to not make the attempt -- ahem -- just that you'd probably be better off dedicating your efforts to getting reviews like with the Midwest Book Review or the New York Times.''

Should you offer your book for free?

Mover of ideas Seth Goldin says yes. His last three books at various times, were given out gratis. Why? Perhaps to convert new readers for his line of thinking, but Ms. Obie Joe suspects the free run also rewards his long-time fans.

If you, or more likely, your publisher (an author who pirates his own work!) is squeamish about the free store, try one of these options:
• Before the final edition is completed, offer a free preview via an e-book format.
• Make elements of your book “go live.” Place podcasts of your interviews with your subjects, or in the case of a fiction title, put up a podcast of your thoughts on discovering a country road elemental to a plot twist.
• Go with a book trailer, with an offer to download a free chapter at the end of the trailer.
• Offer a free chapter, and with an offer for standard industry discount of 30% for complete book, in e-format or regular.

Listen when you work

Writing is a solitary business. Rare is the verse composed without other sounds in the room. Ms. Obie Joe is convinced the writing community invented iTunes, Pandora, or any of the other music quilts.

Add this one: the podcasts from the Author Talks at the Free Library of Philadelphia (by the incomparable Andy Kahan).

277 podcasts of authors, sometimes alone, other times in packs. Always interesting.

And, no, smarty-pants, Chip Kidd is not the only one Ms. Obie Joe hits on replay.

TIP: The care & feeding of your blog

Some of y'all, well, spicy talkers have given Ms. Obie Joe grief for the limited blogroll set up for this here conversation. Blogrolls, particularly for those in the book line of work are often, and wonderfully, quite lengthy. Which is good, because the conversation should never be limited to a few.

That said, when thinking of your blogroll, after you decide the size, theme and scope, make sure to keep it up to date. Which is one of the main reasons the Obie Joe blogroll is limited to the dozen or so sites we read on a regular basis; there are countless others we read, but just not as regularly.

Use the MySpace "Top Friends" approach, and list those dozen sites of greatest importance to you. From there, have separate categories for the blogs less visited by you; categorizing your blogroll will help you say yes to the bloggers who ask to be added to your blogroll.

Keep the blogroll specific to your book or genre. Save the link to I Can Haz Cheeseburger for the homefront.

Consider using an external source to manage your blogroll. Even though your site and/or blog has a spot for your blogroll, using an external source -- as an addition -- helps with your SEO goals. Obie Joe uses blogrolling.com, even though they've had some technical issues of late.

Absolute, unquantifiable heartbreak

Irvin Mayfield, Jr. and Ms. Obie Joe agree on one thing: a library system is one of the breathing manifestations of the Constitution. A city's greatest measure of success is its library system.

Within weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Public Library staff plunged their hands in the muck to retrieve what books could be cleaned, and make space for what books were needed. The libraries were one of the first municipal systems to open after the disaster, and in large part to these knowledgeable, passionate people within the library system.

Well, most of them have been canned, courtesy of the NOPL chairman of the board, jazzman Irvin Mayfield, Jr. In today's Times-Picayune article, the questions being raised about the health of the library system just make Ms. Obie wanna pitch a mud-caked book at a certain pint-sized player.

There are few greater sins than limiting access to the written word, sez Ms. Obie Joe.

TIP: How to be a good guest blogger

Sometimes, matters are spelled out with such detail you cannot avoid reading it. And printing out a copy to read in the car at red lights.

How to be a gracious guest...blogger, that is. The pioneer of online promotion, M.J. Rose (and oh look, is her latest book The Memoirist the hit it deserves to be?), features an excellent essay on a task you should be doing, which is be a guest blogger. So your name gets out there on more established blogs.

After you go to mjroseblog.typepad.com/buzz_balls_hype/, scroll down for the essay posted on Dec. 10.

TIP: Aw, just send it already

If the book moves us, many times Obie Joe Media will take on a book most publicists would consider small fry, by audience, or potential sales.

If you're an author unsure about hiring your own publicist, because you had faith your publisher would take of everything, or because you worried about affording the costs yourself, or other reasons, don't worry. We've happy to work with you.

There's just one thing. Sure, it's great we can talk about your book via e-mail or phone, but nothing can replace the sight of the book. If you are that interested, and we say we might be interested, send us that book. Too many times Ms. Obie Joe has struggled to send an estimate of services w/out seeing the book, and it's an odd and ultimately unsuccessful experience.

Ya want to know if we want u? Send the book. (P.O. Box 24610, Baltimore, MD 21214)

Even the President-Elect saw the importance of friends...

...when it came to selling books. In the sense that the first customers should always be your friends, and then thereafter, start the momentum of the wonderful "and she told a friend, and then she told a friend, and so on, and so on..."

If you are an author still clinging to the delusion that your book will sell once you, (or your poor publicist), gets that one big media hit, expand your thinking. Successful books are the result of campaigns that build audiences among many sectors. Some will be from media, sure, but many more will be from the friend-of-a-friend strategy.

Plus, you can always tell your friend that throwing you a book party (or coffee as they say in political campaigns) is fantastic networking. Back in 1995, Chicago-based attorney Valerie Jarrett threw a book party for a little known State Senator.

The book was Dreams from My Father, and Jarrett's party drew just 10 people. But even then Jarrett went the extra mile, and personally hand-sold dozens of copies.

Well, Mr. Obie Joe guesses you all know what happened to Jarrett, and her fav author, President-Elect Barack Obama.

TIP: Hire or borrow a media coach

In a recent interview on mediabistro.com, one of the top book publicists spoke about her effort to catch the attention of Oprah for her client's book on financial savvy.

In pitching the book, Heidi Krupp viewed the book as a vehicle for many other tasks.

One of the first steps is to polish your media presence. As in, how well do you speak, look and interact? In your budget for book promotion, consider throwing in $200 for a media coach. Outside major cities, you can find media coaches by calling your university's speech, theater, media departments. After the coaching, make sure to put together a demo tape. As Krupp noted, "To get on national broadcast television, you must have a very good tape. National shows won't consider having you on without a demo tape. It would be great to do something first in your local market."

Your appearances on local TV can serve as your demo tape, too.

Reading series are the new Oprah

(yes, Ms. Obie Joe is aware that's an ungrammatical title)

Look, there are two ways to attract audiences to your book. One is the new audience, often moved to buy your book because of hype built from some money-loaded project. Another way is to expand your circle of friends to include people who probably would love your book if you just set it in front of them.

Other authors are good bets. That's why a reading series is essential to your tour. Especially for first fiction. Ms. Obie Joe loves ferreting out a city's reading series; ferreting is the right word because many reading series have low-key presences, and often change their locations, names and focuses. Check around your town for a reading series. And make sure to solicit a reading spot at least 3 months before your book's publication (if you can).

But consider going to a reading series for some hella fun. Writers are a witty bunch, and their commentary -- sometimes loosened by a reading series' location in a bar, for example -- expands on the book immeasurably. Our favorites:

• Gist Street Readings in Pittsburgh
• 5ive:Ten Readings in Baltimore
• New & Emerging Writers Series in Boston

Wikipedia manners

If your book is a nonfiction title -- with the exception for memoirs -- one of the tenets of your online promotion is a Wikipedia page. Few other pages get higher SEO bounces than a Wikipedia page. Even if you don't generate your own page, or or wish to not replace a page similar enough to your topic, find other ways to participate in Wikipedia. Comment on a page; add a few lines to fill out a topic; or even send in a correction.

Just know one thing: Wikipedia is a world unto itself, and it is wise to know your Wiki manners. The administration of information on Wikipedia is taken very seriously by its unpaid volunteers. Ms. Obie Joe's toes still wince at some of her missteps, so take heed:

• When you sign up as a member, remember your true status is low. Even though you have access to the same options to generate, edit or dispute copy, in reality, the administrators rule.
• Know your administrators: these are the volunteers who are the creators of the base article. A good one will appreciate your e-mail, and might even engage in a lively discussion on the topic before determining which additions or corrections will go through.
• Be patient. Depending on a whole host of reasons - the administrator's whim, personality, etc. -- your suggested edits may take time to be included. Don't fuss.
• Do not, whether it's because you've lost your patience or manners, hit the Edit button in the upper right-hand corner. "This is considered very bad form, and the article administrators will usually (and arbitrarily) remove your edits the moment they find them," notes E. Keith JB Howick, Jr. of Wind River Publishing Company
• Instead, Howick says the proper form for submitting a correction is to click on the "discussion" tab, and then enter your requested change. "It will be reviewed by the admin and others, and if found worthy (yup, pretty subjective), it will be added or you will be given permission to "edit this page." Don't bother trying to find out who the admin is or how to contact them, it's intentionally and tremendously difficult. It's what the "discussion" page is for," he says.

(and yes, Mr. Obie Joe, that keychain is yet another addition to my wish list!)

No friends on Facebook

Because Obie Joe Media emphasizes online promotion of books and authors, we get this Q frequently:

"So, you think I should be on Facebook?"

While we think many social networks are innocuous at worst, and interesting at best, we haven't declared a preference for one form over another.

Except for Facebook. Here's why.

One of the beauties of independent bookstores is their familiarity with their customers, and to respect that familiarity by making recommendations for new books we're sure our customer might love. Not every recommendation is a hit, though, and when our customer declines, no hard feelings. We all move on.

Facebook has taken that type of familiarity and perverted it for profit that serves only someone else, and never you. Look, being the aged wonder that Ms. Obie Joe, she appreciates that her sense of privacy may not suit the modern version. Information is free in a sense that's never been seen before. When Facebook premiered its News Feed feature -- which broadcasts users' activity on their friends' home page -- there was a huge outcry over the perceived affront to privacy. Now? News Feed is one of the most popular features of Facebook.

When the bookstore employee "harvests" your preferences to recommend the next book, it's a limited use. Once you decline that recommendation, the bookstore ceases use of the information The bookstore does not share it with another bookstore, or a sneaker shop, or even your credit card company.

Facebook, on the other hand, mines every single aspect of you, save your actual DNA. "Most Facebook users have no idea their personal information is being commercially harvested and sent out to the thousands of third-party developers whose applications populate the site," notes Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy in an interview with GQ.

And even better? Your digital identity -- all of it -- will be further snagged by Facebook's newest collaboration with "connect." You log into your account on Facebook, and then, everywhere you go -- everywhere -- is captured by Facebook for their use and profit.

People trust Facebook because of that one little feature: the ability to say who is a friend, and who is not your friend. And Facebook’s defense for shirring away their users’ privacy is that these new systems afford greater connection between us (heh. depends who the “us” is). But what we should really pay attention to is the biggest friend-enemy of all: Facebook.

What a vision

Check out the auction now at PhotoNOLA.

TIP: Make sure your press release has a home

What's an arrow without a target?

Earlier this week Ms. Obie Joe viewed a new company promising all of the tools needed for a successful book promotion campaign. $100 for a press release (spell-checked and all!). $50 for bookmarks (also known as placecards). $200 for a web site. $125 for a book trailer.

All very well and nice, but without a strategy for these tools, what's the use? Meaning, you have a press release, but where is it going to land:
• Wide broadcast online via PRWeb, CSWire, etc.
• Mailing list to trade magazines, major media, TV/Print/Radio
• Online and mailing list to optimal vendors.

It's interesting to note that it's cheap to have a press release written, but twice the price for a customized list of targets for that press release. You could hire a firm to customize, but even after that, you should take your own chop at the list and customize it as you go along on your book campaign.

This is one of the reasons Ms. Obie Joe has lukewarm feelings for the enthusiasm for book trailers. (With the marked exception of any book trailer by Chip Kidd, of course). Book trailers just seem to flail at any old target, and unless your trailer features a sharp-shooter hamster, dressed like a Disney Princess, good luck on having your trailer seen on YouTube.

Freshening the sheets

Cobbler's children go without shoes, and publicist's web sites lie stale.

We've finally gotten around to updating the web site for the magical entity for book promotion & production that is Obie Joe Media.

Check us out.

Do the independents book more authors than chains?

Sure, all books and authors hold equal weight when we construct a campaign of venues, media and online. But truthfully? You know when you're really loved when your publicist emphasizes independent bookstores on your book tour.

Why the love for the independents? A few coins:
• They know how to bring the audiences. Not only through regularly scheduled salons which in turn encourages people to take a chance on an unknown author, but also through a relationship between bookseller and client which in turns tells the bookseller which books might be a bigger crowd drawer.
• They grant generous sale splits for smaller publishers, as well as flexibility in stocking.
• They talk with their customers with regular e-mails, newsletters, and even phone trees, all of which saves an author tremendous stress in publicity efforts.
• They welcome diversity; for authors with controversial topics, independent bookstores are one of the few remaining town halls to debate topics.

Best of all? When you call the person at the independent bookstore to request a booking -- they actually return your call or e-mail.

So. Don't forget. Shop local. Give your thanks during this holiday season for this cornucopia of generosity: your independent bookstores.

Some libraries like you more than others

Forgive Ms. Obie Joe's near-obsession with libraries as a market; it's just that, for many small publishers, libraries are rich Uncles for granting visibility and sales for your book.

Even though an author or publisher can connect the Acquisitions Editor for an library system, one can also move copies by contacting the sole Acquisition Editor or Head Librarian for a particular branch. Ms. Obie Joe thinks each branch has its own flair, and some might match your book more than others.

This morning, Ms. Obie Joe escaped the home office for the library's quiet. Of great distraction, though were the shelves of the new books. Dozens of photo narrative books. Like candy for Ms. Obie Joe's other obsession. Apparently the orderer at this branch loves photo narratives.

Sure thing Ms. Obie Joe will ferret the name of this fellow fanatic the next time Obie Joe Media represents a photo narrative book.

(photo by Rebecca Lepkoff, from Life on the Lower East Side, Princeton Architectural Press)

Book people offer the kindess of strangers

You know that old scraw that doctors and lawyers never escape a dinner party without a inquiry about a rash or ex-wife (or both)? Most often, however, these inquiries are met with hesitation.

Given that nearly every one of us thinks a book waits to be called from brain to paper, us book people can be popular people at parties, too. But here's a difference: with some exception, most any book person will offer free help when asked.

Today, as Mr. Obie Joe watches the game with the Miss Obie Joe, Ms. Obie Joe is working on a manuscript given to her by the friend of the neighbor on the hill. Some of the changes will be stylistic, others reside with defining the author's vision. Did the writer want to emphasize his growing up days, or with his time overseas as a mercenary soldier? We'll never be this author's agent, official editor or publisher, yet the impact of these early decisions will move the thing.

And that's why an acknowledgments section on a book can resemble a Christmas Card list with its sentiment and size. Not only does mean the author is a grateful sort, but is also an author smart enough to ask for help from all corners.

Which we're always happy to front free of charge.

TIP: Don't cheat when trolling for readers

While yesterday's post about Mr. Ritchie seemed a bit out of place, and even though one of the Obie Joes shares his grin, the real reason we stuck our nose into his business was for an experiment.

Turns out our hypothesis was true: feature a celeb on your page, and your web traffic goes up. Even if said celeb has nothing to do with the flavor of your blog or site. Yesterday's statcounter.com for this blog count quadrupled.

For those wanting to increase traffic, you could use celebs, but such contact is fleeting. To build true, consistent traffic, you want readers who like you, your book, your topics.

Light for the day

About a decade ago, we shared Mr. Ritchie's sentiment.

OH! Something for your Friday

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/14636

Love this! Great to listen to in the background.

I can think of a half-dozen authors who need to be kidnapped and placed in front of just so.

Any one else have experience with this format?

Frankenstein, uh, lives again

Book authors should be so lucky to have a character like Frankenstein live on as a name and representation of certain ideas.

Plus, Frankenstein got his author, dead for over a century, a booking in a hip L.A. bar. Ms. Obie Joe loves the contrarian mix of the "Dead Authors" event: a performer impersonates an author, with commentary on current events, and reading of works.

Ms. Obie Joe's only suggestion would be to match a Living with a Dead Author; the two could share a similar vibe, subject matter, or even just similar looks (well, why not? Who wouldn't want a double bill of the high-hair twins, Malcolm Gladwell and Mark Twain?)

Wanted: a financial book

These are interesting times, especially if your book is about finances, the war or politics. Any other book? Not such interesting times, at least when it comes to the competition for media bookings.

The past few months have given all book publicists fingertip calluses as we struggle to find media bookings in one of the most memorable news cycles Ms. Obie Joe has ever seen. The tip sheets we get from journalists used to have 5-7 genres (finances, health, parenting, cooking, etc.); today, we're lucky if financial only takes up 20 of the 25 journalist requests. 

TIP: To PDF your clips, or not?

After a bit of time you'll have a section for the press appearances. Book reviews, feature articles, and radio/TV interviews, your community association newsletter.

For those press appearances in print, you have a choice on the format featuring these articles. The most familiar format are the links. But, if an author is technologically adept, Ms. Obie Joe recommends the PDF version. Too often links expire, or reference another article, but the PDF can be perpetually viewed on your site. See this site for an example. 

What a coincidence dancy!

You ever noticed the helpful nature of the 1-star and 2-star reviews of a book on Amazon? Not only do these reviews take delight in detailing the many flaws of a book, they go the extra mile, and suggest other books. Whose worth of course, is much better than the book reviewed. Ms. Obie Joe would classify this as a less-than-scrupulous book promotion method. 

(BTW, this book here, Lopsided, most certainly does not deserve anything less than 5 stars. Whether you're a survivor or not, this book's mix of humor, education and outrage is compelling. Plus, is that book cover not one of the best EVER?)

TIP: Your Google Alerts whisper secrets

Many authors seek that standard measure of success: a media hit. An article in a major magazine, spot on a TV show, or radio interview. Fine and well, just don't forget the other media: online. As in online content, and online references to mainstream media.

To see who's telling your secrets, of course, Google Alerts is your best tool.

A wonderful measure of success is how often your book, your name, or your attachment to an issue appears in Google Alerts. Particularly in the midst of a push for media, online and otherwise.

Google Alerts can be a bit messy, and to avoid flooding your in-mailbox, Ms. Obie Joe recommends:
• Sign up
• With each sign-up, make each term as specific as possible, and with quotation marks:
-- Book title
-- Your name, particularly with initials
-- Title of an article relevant to your book
-- The name of your site and/or blog.

Also, make sure to choose "comprehensive" for the type of Alerts; you never know if a media hit will come from news, blogs, sites, or groups.

Most of us choose once-a-day Alerts; but if you know you won't respond to a Alert frequently, set aside a time once a week to go through the Alerts to see which ones need a response.

Who has the best voice?

Each time Ms. Obie Joe drives through the tunnel under the Baltimore Harbor, on her way South, she thinks of Haven Kimmel. Now while any thoughts of Ms. Kimmel are welcome, rather it's the memory of Ms. Kimmel's audiobooks. The distinctive voice of Ms. Kimmel (think combination of North Carolina twang, stretched by Indiana flats) read She Got Up Off the Couch, and A Girl Named Zippy. There's this one story in She Got Up the Couch, where Haven's mother races to a university President's Tea, dressed in clothes 20 sizes too large, and on a bike not her own. As we listened to it, whatever we were looking at become seared with the memory of that passage.

Now that's what a good audiobook is capable of. And given that the sales of audiobooks are one of the few sectors in publishing with huge gains, there'll be more of us appreciating the vivid ride. Except, those audiobooks that fall short. Or cringe. I guess, when in doubt, go with the Read by Author designation.

What is your favorite audio book? And how can we inspire Mr. Obie Joe to lend his fine voice to the same?

Computer literacy will never replace book literacy

Libraries, like many other public spaces, should offer grand designs to support grand ideas. Walk inside the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue, and you glide with a purpose.

In the main branch in Obie Joe's hometown in Baltimore, there's this beautiful, 60's-style reference desk to greet all visitors. Well, used to be. Recently, Ms. Obie Joe walked into the main branch in Baltimore, and saw the desk now dwarfed by approximately 100 computers (not even Macs!), with dozens slaving over clicks-upon-clicks.

No surprise when your library director, one Ms. Carla Hayden, freely admits that:

BC: Isn’t it interesting that you’re talking about computers, but the library is full of books.
CH: What’s interesting is that when we talked about libraries in the past, books were the main vehicles for getting information and also for entertainment, but definitely for information, and now it’s beyond books in terms of getting information. Most of the entertainment types of literature are still in book format, like Harry Potter.

Hayden then goes on to describe how her library system now emphasizes the ease of the digital: free DVDs, filling out government forms online, using the computer as a replacement to a doctor, and every way except this point: that a library fosters ideas via guidance to a literacy not considered by the patron.

Small wonder this library director picked "Solutions and Delights" as the logo. Of course.

Deep, deep, sad, sigh. Since when is a library, ideas, books, literacy about delights?!

(Photo credit. Look! Desks with no computers!)

A suggestion for Mr. Obie Joe

Ms. Obie Joe is mighty impressed with this dress. Isn't her birthday coming up?

TIP: Google drilling into your subject

Finding your audience online is an essential element of any publicity effort for your book. Particularly for nonfiction titles. But lots o' luck finding, via Google or any other search engine, the discussion group, blog or site specific for your subject. Type in, say, coal mining tools, and you'll have to sift through sites for equipment, unions, history, and so on and on.

Here's a tip from Ms. Obie Joe: Be more specific. "Oh, really?," you'd say. Like this:
Instead of: "coal mining tools."
Try: "coal mining tools discussion groups."
Or try: "coal mining tools blogs."

Once you start to collect sites of use, bounce off each site's links, or blogroll. When you google, type in: www.(the link):the site.com. Or via Yahoo, it would be: www.search.yahoo.com, and then enter link:http://www.thesite.com.

Of course there's also the personal approach: e-mail the site's author and ask them for best links to sites that love...coal mining tools.

TIP: Why blurbs don't always matter

'"Fantastic! The best since the Magna Carta!"
"Words previous to your brain will fall out once you read this book!"

Ah. The book blurb. Often on the back cover, on the jacket leaf, and sometimes, before the title page, blurbs are designed to pimp the sale.

But do book blurbs work? And what kind? Ms. Obie Joe counsels authors -- who can get more wound about blurbs than their publishers -- to think about what KIND of blurbs one would seek:

Log-rollers: You liked her book on the murderous mother-at-home, and now she likes your book on murderous stay-at-home dads. Tit for tat, these are the type of blurbs from authors closely connected by genre, friendship, agent, or other. These type of blurbs can be a bit inauthentic, reflecting less of the blurbist's true feelings about the book, and more about noting a favor completed.

Celebrities: While some celebrity blurbs can make a cover pop, the truth is, unless the blurb has good content, the blurb is often limited to, "Great book! Must love!" Plus, the time suck of chasing after celebrity endorsements is ridiculously out of proportion for the worth.

If You Like This, You'll Love This: We have to confess, these are our fav type of blurbs. If I see a blurb by Thomas Friedman on an obscure book of microeconomics, or Elizabeth Berg on a women's fiction title, I will try the book. Though these blurbists are often well-known, the difference in the depth of connection.

Frenemies: The blurb that hurts the book rather than hurts. Now who would do that to a book? A publisher, with a book that got lousy pre-pub reviews; the only option then is to run the glowing blurbs from the author's last successful book. See Amy Tan. Jennifer Weiner. And a whole bunch more authors who seem to be flailing with their mid-career books. (Sorry, but we love you gals, and it's killing us what has happened).

Never Too Many: Hardback editions usually get no more than 3 blurbs on the back cover. Paperback editions? They get all of the love: cover, back cover, inside, and even at the end of the book. As Eat, Pray and Love proved, many times the paperback editions outsell the hardback, so don't be shy in loading up the praise.

Or, for that matter, asking for a blurb that matters. Course, there's always the option to blurb your own book. What? You think it's not done?
"Packed with good things, like ink, full stops, and paper with words on it." (Spike Milligan)

To those who make fun of those with mental illness

Few writers have affected those in the Obie Joe family as did the writer David Foster Wallace. Today's news is a reminder of the wretched toll mental illness takes. Treatment is difficult, and often fraught with inconsistent progress. Many of those who suffer shirk from treatment because of the shame factor.

TIP: Is that a Tag Cloud on your horizon?

As more and more material begins to grow on your web site, you'll want an introduction for your new readers to orient them to what's important on your site. One way is to have a mission statement in the header; a search engine for topics on your site, and so forth. A Cloud Tag would be good, too.

A tag cloud describes the content of web sites, using single words listed alphabetically. In a field of about 50, a few of those words will host heightened status, with larger font size or type color. The tags are usually hyperlinks that lead to a collection of items that are associated with a tag.

Now. Don't make your Cloud Tag a mess. Avoid these storms:
• Use of multiple colors and font sizes. Use two colors, two sizes, and leave the distinction at that.
• Putting ALL tags in one cloud. Consider a 90-day cloud on the landing page, and then a gigantic cloud tag on the Archives page.
• Forgetting the importance of choosing the right word. A Cloud Tag is a visualization of the words you would say, or think. Consider the semantics. Make sure one word can do the work of 4.
• Being messy with the housekeeping of the Cloud Tag. Every month, take a few minutes to combine some words/meanings, add some new words, and do a general check for the misspellings, etc.

All book publicists produce worthless work

What is the worth of a book publicist's work? Number of books sold? Accolades and fame and gold-encrusted champagne bottles delivered to an author's door?

Ms. Obie Joe asks this after musing aloud with a client obsessed with solving the algorithm of which promotional tasks equal success. While she counseled the stressed author to think of the big picture -- efforts means something, but not guarantees -- Mr. Obie Joe slid over the new copy of Poets & Writers magazine.

In an interview with the incomparable literary agent Molly Friedrich:
Q. Did you like doing publicity?
A. In my opinion, the two jobs that are the most exhausting in this business are the jobs of the foreign scout and the publicist. The reason is that there is never an end to the job. If you're a scout, there is always another book you can cover, another house you can do well by, another report you can write. If you're a publicist, for every eighty letters you write, and eighty ideas you try, there are seventy-nine that don't work. But the only ones that the author hears about—and the editor hears about and your boss hears about—are the ones that work. It is a thankless and really difficult job. But I did it.

What a lovely ratio: 1 out of 80 ideas fly, garner a result, go anywhere.

Daunting odds, yet book publicists press on, mostly because we adore books with a passion that rivals food and sleep for necessity.

TIP: Face to Face beats Facebook every time

For those of you who've heard of WIRED cover girl Julia Allison, it is a marvel the speed and agility of her entrance into traditional and online media.

So what does this have to do with books, says Mr. Obie Joe to Ms. Obie Joe? Well, for those authors who wish to sell their books via personality and author platform remember this: for as much we love online marketing to cultivate and keep an audience, especially via blogs, Facebook and MySpace, nothing beats face to face when building a new relationship, market, or media stream.

When Allison -- with no discernible skills, talent, or products -- moved to New York in 2004, she went online. Set up a blog about her shopping, her boyfriends, her vacations. Predictably, her site hits were countable. Given that her goal was to become a cult figure, she needed not only readers, but people to talk about her and her musings. "Discover a niche, position herself at its choke point, and stay there until people start to notice."

She wanted gawker.com to be her friend. She tried every castle window: sent tips, links to her articles, left comments, e-mailed the editors. The turning point, though, was as low tech as it gets. Allison crashed the Halloween party thrown by Gawker's owner, Nick Denton.

Shazam. Gawker wrote about her, sometimes unkindly, sometimes with respect. But all publicity is good publicity.

Allison's choice for a face-to-face was brilliant. "Timothy Ferriss, whose skill at reaching bloggers helped turn his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, into a best seller, says it can be effective. "It's a matter of ensuring you have the channel with the least competition," he says. "Email is by far the most crowded channel, followed by phone. The least common is in-person."

Ironic summer reading

Did the teacher who assigned Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 smirk, just a little, when assigning this book for summer reading for Obie Joe's second son?

While discussing the advent of Montag's shift from book burning to book saving, said son, snapped up his neck and exclaimed, "Wow. It's like Bradbury is talking about how we're all about entertainment and fun and not about ideas."

Yep. Although there is the second irony that the teacher had to force a student to set down the world of warcraft game long enough to arrive at this insight.

Who shot this bookstore?

The news of Decatur-based Wordsmiths Books' dance with disaster has many shaking their heads at the possibility of another independent bookstore closing. Many of the specs are familiar to all: undercapitalization; unlucky gamble with shift in locations; downturn in the economy; unfair competition with online sources...but there is one other reason that fascinates Ms. Obie Joe.

And a big name author who did not bring in the crowds.

There are bookstores reluctant to sponsor author events -- even when the only costs are fixed -- lights, space and chairs -- and it's been one of Mr. Obie Joe's challenges to work with bookstores to conquer this fear. In the case of Wordsmiths, the costs for that killer appearance must have been way out of the norm, and must have included advertising, printing costs, transportation, non-returnable books, and most interesting, an author's reading fee.

Anyone want to take a gander as to who that author was? Looking at Wordsmiths' recent calendar of past events, some of the suspects could be...Kathie Lee Joel? Carl Hiassen? Or...Barbara Walters? Who?

Confidence game is right

Instead of reading the betting sheets, Ms. Obie Joe decided to read Publisher's Weekly round-up of the Fall offerings from publishers illustrious. Because the books listed represent some of the publisher's biggest bets, we've been interested in a few trends:

• Blond, beautiful, famous, and old: Suzanne Somers' new book, Breakthrough: Changing the Face of Medicine, is printing at 600,000 copies.
• Bald, famous and know-it-all: Dr. Phil's Real Life: Preparing for the 7 Absolutely Worst Days of Your Life at 1 million.
• Smart, rich and contrary: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life at 1 million copies.
• Connects with fans as you should: Debbie Macomber at 600,000.

Numbers we don't understand, but comprehend: Bill O'Reilly's memoir (1 million); Ina Garten's new bookbook (800,000); and Nicholas Sparks (1.5 million).

And Annie Proulx's new book at only 150,00. For shame! Ms. Obie Joe thinks a copy should be pressed into the hands of everyone, and not just 150,000 of us besotted fools.

So! The lesson in all of this for striving authors? Get famous, or write well, but in any case, make connections with your audience.

Of course, nonfiction would be first

For those who don't know any better, there is the conceit that an author scurries to the small publisher, or self-publishing route, because of a rejection from the big publisher. Perhaps. But Mr. Obie is fascinated to see more authors check out the small publishing route for more money, quicker profit sharing, and more collaborative publicity.

The business press has made about the innovations of the business model from the new imprint, Harper Studio, part of Harper Collins. Bob Miller is the new head of Harper Studio, and formerly of Hyperion. Elements like increased online marketing, no or low author advance, no book returns, and increased profit sharing (50/50 split!!)...is this "Engineering the Risk Out of Business?"

Kinda of, sorta of, says Ms. Obie Joe. Miller just announced the first set of Harper Studio's titles; 16 are nonfiction and one is nonfiction. Let's see, with nonfiction titles you have the following advantages in book promotion:
• Author platform with strong name recognition.
• Author with other income, so more willing to delay book income.
• Locked in audience, tied to author, and/or topic.
• Wider swath of venues for presentation by author.
• Large scale drilling into several niches in online communities interested in the book's topic.

Hmm. Sometimes the little teaches the big.

Do school summer reading lists kill or create?

In the Obie Joe household, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen is king. With four teenagers, and one soon-to-be, and of course, one wanna be (she's still a toddler, though), the Hatchet is a story memorized.

And while the story features Paulsen's excellence in Young Adult literature, Hatchet remains a bit of a sore topic in the household. Why? Because it's required reading. Hatchet is one of those perennials on the summer reading lists from teachers. Just try to get your hands on a copy from the library or bookstore in the weeks before summer's end.

Which makes us think about the usefulness of summer reading lists. Mr. & Ms. Obie Joe adore any spark to encourage young readers. Yet we can't wonder as to their wisdom when so many of the lists are copycats, uninspired, rigorous for no purpose and just plain unfun. In a world where the increase in YA readers is now outpacing every other book sector, do we really need reading lists to dictate every aspect? How about one suggestion, and then let the kids roam as they like.

Just like the kid in Hatchet -- he'll find his own way.

Listening to librarians

For those authors and publishers waiting for national distribution and media, or big box orders, it is wise to cultivate the interest of libraries. Each library system can be worth an order of an average of 20 copies.

There are a few essentials in catching the interest of libraries:
• Make sure you garner a prepublication review in the Library Journal. Your review might not appear in the print edition, but an online review is still worthwhile.
• When you get media -- a review, a feature on you, or whatever -- make sure to send a copy of the clip, along with your book, and a request for a speaking engagement. Granted, the speaking engagement is a dim possibility (libraries have become even reticent than chain bookstores in setting up events), but you probably will get a book order.
• Read blogs by librarians to vibe their language and their zeitgeist. One of Ms. Obie Joe's current favs is the peeping from this former librarian. Gotta love the industry language: Copies of The "Condition have been received in most libraries; holds to copy ratios are ten to one in some libraries." Apparently how many holds are ordered display interest, but Mr. Obie Joe wagers how long the book circulates is the long-term view.
• Participate in a co-op mailer. This involves sending about 1,200 fliers to the major library systems, using the mailing list and distribution system of a small publisher. Sam's got one we've used, but make sure to take care with the design. Librarians received an onslaught of book marketing materials, and it can be tough to catch their attention.

But not impossible.

Why you plow every cent into promotion

Say your first book, sold a decent amount of copies in the first three months after publication. Decent, meaning, about 15,000 copies.

Time to prop the Adirondack chair next to the mailbox and wait for the royalty check, right?

Nope. In many regards, now is when you really plow into the bank account and pony up for time off from work for a publicity tour that includes media, venue bookings and online promotion. Here's why: selling half of a typical print run is cool, but selling OUT the print run is like diamond ice.

Why? Because you do want decent royalty checks, but more importantly because you want to build your career as an actual author. After former Arizona Republic reporter Tom Zoellner published his first book, The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire (St. Martins Press), his publisher procured a few bookstores dates. Zoellner wanted to make sure his first was not his last, and on his own did a few more dozen bookstore dates, sleeping in his truck, across the U.S. See www.slushpile.net/index.php/2007/03/15/interview-tom-zoellner-author/ He ended up investing about $22,000 -- nearly the whole sum of his first royalty payments.

His first book was a hit. For his second book, Zoellner negotiated a much more generous advance and royalty rates. (His next book is Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World).

Take it from Mr. Obie Joe who speaks from painful and wonderful personal experience: do not expect to get rich from your first book. Instead, think of the experience as an investment in your career. Put that money and time into publicity; it will reap what you sow.

TIP: A twitter about Twitter?

Connecting with your audience, in specific and consistent ways, is the best way to sell books. Episodic promotion and marketing -- think ads, big events, one-time media hits -- rarely work to build an audience awareness for author, book or subject.

That's one reason Ms. Obie Joe has been recommending Twitter, a mini-blogging service; authors send out 140-word updates throughout the day, with whatever frequency is preferred, to subscribers. Your subscribes - many of whom will sign up via your blog or personal invite -- can follow the live life feeds via multiple channels: the Web, IM, SMS, etc.

"Great," says an author. "More content I gotta put out."

Well, yes. But the informality and real-time aspect of the very short posts might be easier to write.

Mr. Obie Joe can see some of the limitations of Twitter. Fiction writers, particularly those with a more staid profile, might find the Twitter an annoyance. But for nonfiction writers, particularly those in the midst of research, Twitter is a gold mine for readers who would love to hear more about an author's dive into Victorian train stations, or the jewels of 50s-era bombshells.

Twitter should only add to your audience; Twitter fans tend to be blog fans, too.

If you could pick only one media outlet....

What is the Holy Grail of the media bookings? One of the amusements clients give to publicists are their ideas on what media hits they want, and which ones will make all the difference.

Generally speaking, a good media booking can be a turnkey to a jump up in sales, and even better, create a cascade of other media bookings. Coverage from a major newspaper (The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc.), any one of the national morning show, niche radio, and some national magazines are gold.

Mr. Obie Joe has made many clients happy with placements like The Today Show, The Martha Stewart Show, The Wall Street Journal, and the Martha Stewart Show, and so on.

But if Mr. and Ms. Obie Joe had to pick only one media outlet for a spot to sell books: NPR. Any one of their programs, any day of the week.

Which media outlet is your number one? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? People Magazine? Guns & Ammo?

TIP: How to avoid hiring the "Bad Publicist"

In most professions, results are rarely guaranteed. Doctors cannot guarantee the cancer will never return. Lawyers cannot guarantee an acquittal.

Publicists cannot guarantee publicity, or exposure, will sell books. Mr. Obie Joe knows that is heretical to say, especially among book people, many of whom ascribe publicity to a lottery ticket approach, and wait for that perfect media exposure to make millions of sales.

A more practical approach, and one that looks at a book sale as part of building a brand, a career and an idea, is to think about what kind of publicist works best for your goals:

1) Open ended publicist: You'll work with this publicist on retainer, with a contract duration usually lasting 3-6 months. Your goal is to build a brand recognition. Mr. Obie Joe can think of a few authors who benefit from this type of long-term relationship: 1) an author with several books in store, now or later; 2) an author with zeal for live appearances, with a book on spirituality, business, parenting come to mind; 3) an author very new to the game, and needs to sort out the options for both marketing and promotion of the book. Depending on the scope of exposure planned, retainers can range from $1-$5,000 per month (not in New York, though). Define goals -- i.e., how many bookings for media or live -- but also be flexible to change goals as other opportunities arise. This type of arrangement requires a lot of collaboration between author and publicist; authors willing to be humble, hardworking, and relentless most welcome in this arrangement. An author can expect results, but know the results are sometimes not as immediate as hoped.

2) Project based publicist: This type of arrangement might give you the most direct shot at tracking results. An author picks a very specific goal, and hires the publicist most experienced at arranging that goal. There are publicists who do only one task, and do it very well. Examples include generating/sending a press release; setting up a radio tour; or researching professional development venues. Success is easy to measure, of course, but only in the short term.

Ms. Obie Joe's recommendation is to interview both types of publicist. Present your goals, your book, and your background, and see if the publicist thinks she will be a good fit to your project. Make sure -- and this is a very important step -- that the publicist you do choose agree on expectations before any task is done.

That way, you will be the Good Author, and your publicist will be the Good Publicist.

TIP: I Spy: How to find the places for your tour

Like most things in life, there's the official list, then there's the real list. In working with poets -- whose ability to find a port to read their work in any storm is unparalleled-- Mr. Obie Joe says an author can do a lot to scope out places for their next appearance.

Try these steps to success:
• Once you decided upon the city, get the zip code(s) for a range of neighborhoods.
• Go to Booktour.com, type in the zip code, and see a wide range of venues for authors, including the local V.F.W. Hall (really).
• For finding those more traditional book-oriented venues, check out the Events sections of the city's newspapers. Ms. Obie Joe is a big fan of the listings in the alternative newspapers, both for breadth and address details. Good search terms include: Literary Events; Spoken Word; Book Festivals; Readings; and Politics/History.
• Definitely stop the by the MeetUp for the zip code you're scoping, 1) to find a standard book club, or 2) to find one centered on a subject matter matching your book. We've found authors who've gotten dozens of sales in niches like cooking, military history, and politics.
• Stop by that city's Main Library web site, and see what type of events they like. Do note, though, that libraries often require the longest lead time for a booking; a year is not unheard of.
• If your book has a subject matter that matches with a retail store -- cooking, fashion, toys, anime, alternative healing -- make sure to call the stores and see if they'd be interested in a presentation for their customers. Anime stores are famous for welcoming these kind of events.

TIP: Own your list

As a scalpel is to a surgeon, a media list is to a publicist. Often the strength of a list can supersede a publicist's overburdened schedule or lack of creativity. Many publicists who move on from stints with a publisher have a distinct advantage because they take with them lists of journalists carefully cultivated by many within a publishing house.

There are those lists, and authors are wise to consider this when interviewing publicists. But. You might want to consider those publicists who customize a media list for your project. For a parenting book centered on the younger mother, Mr. Obie Joe compiled a media list that started with parenting magazines, and then delved into regional parenting magazines, and then went to online communities/magazines.

Another tip: when negotiating the contract, ask for a copy of the media list used for your project. Not all publicists will share the list with you, but at the least, most will give those aspects of the list most relevant to your project. From there, take that list and make sure you keep in touch with those on the list, via e-mail regular mailings, or personalized pitches.

TIP: Write your Discussion Guide

Often, and especially if the story is very good, at the end of a book, Ms. Obie Joe has lots of questions about the plot and characters of a book. Absent a book club meeting, or even better, a direct line of questions for the author, the only way for a reader to find answers may be a discussion guide. Also known as a reading guide, or book club guide, these guides illuminate many aspects of the story.

The level of detail can vary:
• Questions designed to spark group conversation only, usually no more than 15-20. Wendell Berry and Andre Dubus are spectral experts at the construction of these type of Qs.
• Paragraphs of explanation, followed by questions. Mary Doria Russell, with her intriguing brand of fiction, spirituality exercises and outright science fiction, has beautiful discussion Q&As at the conclusion of many of her books.
• Character sketches and questions.

Many authors have their Discussion Guides written for them. But if you're an author with the opportunity to write your own, please do so. If it's not to be included in your book, post it on your web site, include it in your press kit, and send it out as a great enticement for a presentation before a book group or school.

It's just another way to draw in your audience. And keep them for your next book.

TIP: Kill or Keep: what to do with a negative review on your Amazon page

Beyond the staving the staying sting of a one-star nasty-word, heartless review deposited on your Amazon page, what strategy should an author adopt about these reviews?

Some authors petition Amazon for removal for all sorts of reasons (none, of course related to the personal heartbreak). The author could point that the reviewer used inappropriate language (misspellings, defamatory, profane). Or, that the review gave away too much of the plot (to which Mr. Obie Joe says, have you SEEN the way Amazon usually summarizes the plot?). There's even the Reboot method, where an author deletes his page entirely, and starts fresh.

Mr. Obie Joe cautions authors to not worry the reviews. Instead, enjoy the attention, and that it will spur you on to encourage colleagues and friends to post their own more interesting and positive reviews.

Unless, of course, the review mentions yo'mamma.

TIP: Check out this blog

Savvy book fans know that when it comes to book promotion and production, Mr. Obie Joe's motto is "Find Your Audience."

Part of that search for actual audience members is sussing out what your audience likes. Part of this sleuthing is simple: if you have a YA novel, your book trailer had better find its home on mySpace, your FaceBook page and of course, YouTube with killer search terms attached to it. If you're published a travelogue for the recently retired, for Lawd's sake, make sure you blog continues with frequent posts from life on the road.

Check out this author blog/site by new author, DeAnna Cameron (The Bell Dancer, Berkeley Books): www.deannacameron.com. Ms. Obie Joe discovered Ms. Cameron on M.J. Rose's blog (also a must read, daily, at www.mjroseblog.typepad.com/buzz_balls_hype), and loved her advice about finding which method works for you as author, and for your audience, and then sticking to it.

DeAnna starts off each interview of an author, with the line, "How'd You Find Your Audience?"

Indeed.

TIP: What's your widget?

Adding a widget to your site is an essential. Even though most of the widgets you see are ones standard to most blogs and sites, an author should consider constructing a personalized widget. A personalized widget can tout a football team, your kid's nickname; others can emphasize function, for example, tracking how fast you can type. Do a few web searches to find a widget already made, or how to make your own, and start the process.

Mr. Obie Joe's widget preference? The Saints' 2008-09 schedule, of course, and Ms. Obie Joe would be inclined to agree.

TIP: Call your library

One of the best ways to juice your Amazon ranking (beyond writing a good book?) is to solicit your friends, family, work colleagues, and perhaps neighbors to place an order the first week of a book's release. Or, soon after a huge media appearance.

Don't forget to solicit friends and families for placing orders that won't cost them a dime. When a library orders a book, they tend to order many copies. For a recent title in poetry promoted by Obie Joe, we hit the jackpot with each library order, usually averaging 20+ books.

Ask your friends and family to call their local library to place a hold on the book. If told the book is not in stock, ask to have the book ordered. It may take a few calls before the library orders the books, but eventually a library will.

TIP: Put ya domains on auto renewal

If you own the domain name of your web site (this advice does not apply to blogs), make sure to put the annual renewal on automatic. Whether it's godaddy.com, register.com or whomever, the company should offer an auto-renewal function. Take it. Not all domain hosts will notify you of an expiration date.

Many of us in book promotion have stories of authors whose domain name lapsed. And either they did not get an expiration notice, or they did not remember to renew, but the sad day came when they learned someone else now had their domain name, either by auction or smart picking up.

TIP for the day: stop by and say hi

One of our large goals for this log was to post more tips on book promotion.

Here's a tip for Mr. Obie Joe: stop being so slovenly on the posts.

A tip for everyone else:
Optimally, your site's blogroll contains links to your favorite sites. Treat these sites like your favs, and give them a little bit of love every now and then. Meaning, make sure to visit these sites and leave a comment. If you more time, take a bit of something you learned from this site, and post a snippet on your site.

The advantages? Your friends will feel loved, and with some active blogs, your post will boost your Google position.

Why bother?

The author and the publisher is king(s), respectively, so their word is go when it comes to book promotion.

That said, like any other service provider, Mr. Obie Joe finds the situation a bit vexing when an author or publisher takes a direction not of sense to the goal of finding an audience for a book.

A lot has been hyped about online promotion. Get a MySpace page. Throw thousands of dollars for a web site. Do a blog tour. Put on podcasts. The focus is always on the wrong thing: a successful book promotion is less about the tools, and more about the actual CONTENT. Sorry to shout, but Mr. Obie Joe must remind authors and publishers to choose their online tools carefully. Few of us are as charismatic as Chip Kidd (sigh), or as funny and prolific as Haven Kimmel in their book trailers, websites, blogs and podcasts.

Make the commitment stick when you choose your tool for online promotion. Don't scramble all over. Pick one or two tools, and show up regularly. The bookmarks Mr. and Ms. Obie Joe bookmark are ones with regular posts; that's all, and that's enough.

The B.E.A. in L.A.

Similar to high school days, it's difficult for a book person to admit they are not going to the biggest book event of the event: the B.E.A. Book Expo. It's like saying you're not going to the prom.

And similar to the prom, being at the BEA can mirror the anxiety, crowd crushes, and the stealth drinking (at least until the evening).

For years Mr. Obie Joe was sure how the time spent was not equally maximized by those in the business for years. Then we read the account by Kim, the mighty agent, (pubrants.blogspot.com/), and nodded our head. For as many appointments, intended networking, one makes, the BEA is really about the awe of the scope of our industry.

See you in NYC in '09!

Online overdose

Online publicity tools are the new lottery tickets for many authors and publishers.

At least that's what Mr. Obie Joe hears. According to a new survey -- www.publishingtrends.com/Publicity_Survey.html -- the majority of publicity efforts are going towards online. Blogs, web sites, podcasts, IM'ing, book trailers, widgets, e-mail campaigns, obsessive social networking, and so on and on. And on.

We've been fascinated with the scatter-shot approach people take to online promotion. Instead, try to saturate yourself on one format, or tool, and let a natural evolution take you to the next online tool. For example, get the blog going, generating copy regularly, and from there, see where else the content takes you. Perhaps to syndication. Then to the development of an e-mail list. Add tools specific to the blog: flickr for photos, vox for podcasts/songs, etc.

Mr. Obie Joe has seen too many online campaigns that flame bright, and go out quick because of the lack of coordination, the demands of the complex tools, or because the lack of response.

Doing any promotion online provides no guarantees or lottery pay-offs. Online promotion is like any other promotional tool: it takes finesse, attention and heavy lifting.

Are you ready for the gold rush?

In a recent accounting of online book sales, it was noted that, while Amazon continues to be the beast in online book sales, other sectors are catching up. Online book sales are increasing on publisher web sites, and on individual author web site (these books are not under the classification of self-published). According to a survey by Fairfield Research, the percentage of books bought online jumped from 23% to 30% last year.

Most of the new sales to publisher web sites were inspired by deep discounts. For author sites, purchases were made because the visitor came as a fan, and then decided to buy once reminded at, and after, the visit.

Interestingly, online sales were not found to cut into sales at independent bookstores, proving once again, that the independents make their sales not necessarily on price, but on relationships.

So this is all a reminder for Mr. Obie Joe to remind the authors: online sales are going to only increase, and it would be wise for authors and publishers to include their online in their promotion and marketing. And, no, we're not just talking about a flatlined web site, but a vibrant, updated regularly web site; blog participation on yours or theirs, and subject network searching.

Debbie's list

You know those annoying boxes that float across the screen when you first access a web site? Before you even get comfortable with becoming a regular fan of the site, or the author’s newsletters, you’re swatting away the chance.

Among publishers, author Debbie Macomber is a phenomenon. Yes, Macomber’s sales are to be reckoned with -- 150 titles and counting, a total in print more than 60 million -- Macomber’s fans for her books are loyal and numerous.

Equally legendary, though, is Macomber’s e-mail list. Its size is truly magnificent; last year, Macomber estimated the number of subscribers to her quarterly newsletters at over 100,000. Macomber treats the list as one of her most precious assets, and gifts a targeted version of the list to bookstores soon to feature her appearance.

Mr. Obie Joe invites you to take a look at www.debbiemacomber.com web site. See if you find the floating opt-in box. Or the flashing box. Nope. Instead, Macomber quietly places the sign-up in her Guestbook. And the sign-up questionnaire is quite extensive, all the better to take advantage of a reader’s particular interest.

One other thing? In one year, the sign-ups for debbiemacomber.com doubled. From 50K to 100K. Tell a friend, indeed.

Online press kits: the basics and more

For all of its intrinsic benefits, it remains a surprise that there are not more web sites for authors and publishers with online press kits. Mr. Obie Joe knows many of the visitors are from media or venues, and for those sources, a downloadable or accessible press kit is essential for making that first contact with an author.

At the very least, place a button for a visitor to download the press release in Word or PDF format. If you want to really spruce up your online press kit, try these features:

• jpegs of book cover, author photo. Make sure the resolution is extra good so either can be used in newspapers, magazines and TV.
• Podcast of an author, or someone else talented, reading a particularly good section of the book. Increasingly Mr. Obie Joe is finding that podcasts serve as press releases of another type, particularly with listeners willing to test drive a book by voice rather than by pick-up in a bookstore.
• "E-mail to a friend" button so others can immediately share the text with a friend.
• Hyperlink to your site, and more importantly, the e-mail address for immediate follow-up.
• Opt-in box. Though most sites place opt-in boxes on their landing or splash page, include one here, too. This asks visitors to leave their e-mail address to receive news of your next event, or musing.

Mr. Obie Joe is sure there are more features to try out...what ones would you suggest?

Make your own little world

Loved, loved, LOVED reading about the publicist at Atria who's constructed his own little world for promoting books. David Brown started another place for authors to shout their book: Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour debuted on BlogTalkRadio last year.

As galleycat.com says:
"The weekly internet radio program airs live each Tuesday night at 9:00 pm Eastern featuring guests from the worlds of books, movies, current events and music. He even has his own theme song performed by the Long Island Beatles cover band, The Moptops (if you listen carefully, you'll recognize its Dr Robert sped up). With mentions in Page Six, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and the Star Ledger, Brown's alter ego Dr Blogstein is making the news. "This is what I set off to do," says Brown. "The bigger I could make my show, the better venue I would have for my authors. No sense in having a tiny radio show, I want to build it up as big as I can get so they can benefit from it." And with guests like Niki Taylor, Dick Van Patten, Evander Holyfield and Shirley MacLaine, he's doing just that."

Mr. Obie Joe had one client who put her podcasts on a very well-trafficked Second City neighborhood. There are authors who put podcasts of their appearances, or just musings on their myspace pages, or blogs.

But this -- a media outlet all your own? Very cool.

Message from New Orleans

Why can't all bookstores be like Octavia Books in New Orleans (www.octaviabooks.com)? Last week's visit to promote a new book about politics and jazz reminded us of the many wonderful qualities an independent bookstore can hold for authors, particularly new authors. Here's why Mr. Obie Joe thinks everything of Tom Lowenburg and everyone at Octavia:
• They publish news of the event in their newsletter (e-mail and print), in-store placard and e-mails to niche audiences.
• They send calendar listings to all local media (and this is not a slight task: New Orleans has the most independent magazines and newspapers Mr. Obie Joe has ever seen).
• During the event, they serve wine and cheese. Free drinks works wonders for an audience's enthusiasm.
• To wrap it up, Octavia Books has an excellent inventory accounting.

Octavia, like The Regulator in Durham and the Mystery Lovers in Pittsburgh amaze Mr. Obie Joe with their ease in booking dozens of events each month. There's the management challenge of that task, but more than that, it's simply wonderful their commitment to matching more audiences to authors.

How to send out the invites to the party

So you're heading for a new town, ready to invite one and all to your book signing, lecture, appearance. If you're an online savvy author, you've been collecting e-mail addresses from friends and family, work colleagues, and fans. Now you're ready to send an e-mail blast.

There are several formats:
• Constant Contact: Preferable if you already use this for your monthly newsletter. Plus CC manages your e-mail lists wonderfully, making it easy to segregate by geography for an appearance. The templates can be a bit limiting to spice up, though.
• Evite: One of Mr. Obie Joe's favs for ease of use, Evite is great for one-time use. Which can be a problem, because Evite does not save your e-mail lists; how many times do you want to type in e-mail addresses?
• Word PDF: Make your own invite! Using a Word file, type in the particulars, add a .jpeg or two, and then save the file as one of two formats: 1) Mail PDF (under the Print function) or a regular Word document that you will cut and paste to a regular e-mail. Then use AddressBook to import the relevant e-mail list needed for the invite.

A blog's no one home

As authors are increasingly encouraged to use blogs for book reviews, interviews and other coverage on their book tours, there is the question of what to do when no one is home on the blog.

The more popular the blog, the less likely there is an e-mail address for an author to send a pitch. Even more challenging are the blogs that only allow episodic, if at all, comments (i.e., www.dooce.com).

There are ways to send a message. First, for the blogs with no e-mail address, send comments. Get known by the community of this blog. Often, the comments can have the same resonance and readership as an essay or review, so make your comment well done.

But for the blog with closed comments, google the name of the blog and author for other places where his or her address can be discerned.

Codes, passwords

Mr. Obie Joe is willing to bet that many publicists are well on the vanguard of fighting Alzheimer's Disease. If remembering sets of numbers and letters, repeatedly, yet without connection, is a memory booster, than any publicist even lightly enmeshed in online publicity is covered.

Just this week Mr. Obie Joe and the missus calculated the number of usernames and passwords for our clients needed for sites like Amazon; Shelfari; MySpace; FaceBook; B&N; and the numerous other author blogs and web sites.

About 45. Is it any wonder why the password of "abc123" is so popular?

Taking a bit of your fans home with you

Before heading out for your book reading/signing/performance/panel discussion or whatever, make sure to pack your Sign-In Sheet.

What's a Sign-In Sheet you say? Whether it's a clipboard with a single sheet, a spiral bound notebook, or an Leeds officially sanctioned and ruled ledger, the Sign-In Sheet asks audience participants to leave their name and e-mail address. Some authors also ask for mailing addresses, but most have found that to be unnecessary. The e-mail addresses are what you want, as you send out news of your next appearance, essay or project to people who already like you. And who already are interesting in forwarding the e-mail to their friends to tell them about you.

There's some controversy as to where to place the Sign-In Sheet at an event. Some authors discreetly place it at the back of the room, with the hopes audience members will take the hint. Other authors place it on the signing table, as the author signs your book, you're told to sign your name, too. Possibly the most aggressive method witnessed by Mr. Obie Joe included a publicist walking up and down the aisle getting people's names.

We recommend a combination: at the reading's conclusion, tell people to please sign the Sheet at the back of the room, or on the table.

Because a connection this magical should never end with just one evening.

Hate/Love Book Trailers

Mr. Obie Joe collectively, for he/she is more than one, have a hate/love relationship with book trailers. Most of them -- as in the majority -- are forgettable because:
• The production values are hideous. If it's not bad lighting or jittery editing, the music is muzak and the featured author uncoached.
• The story being told -- usually of why this author wrote the book -- lacks drama.
• There's no real point to it; the trailer introduces the author, talks about the book, and that's it.

Plus, if we see one more book trailer with shots of the author writing and thinking, well...

Then we saw this new trailer: www.chipkidd.com Chip, wonder man, we want you. We want you to design, write, promote a book for us anytime.

Now, note his book trailer says nothing really of relevance to the book or the man, but damn, if it doesn't make you want to buy the man. Uh, the book. Totally, the book.

Serious conversation about serious black lit

A book is about an idea. Sometimes about one person's idea, but more often, a book contains ideas derived from conversations from dozens.

For black-identified literature -- meaning, books inspired by the black experience -- Mr. Obie Joe has sought to participate in more conversations. Frankly, it's been a tough going; there's not enough of it, and much of it feels confined to arch categories.

That's one reason the Mr. Joe is very happy to hear of the ringShout blog. The kick-off party was just a few weeks ago. Led by novelist Martha Southgate, the group of book sellers, writers and publishers hope to move the conversation in many ways, including a booklist, reviews, and tool kit for authors. (Thanks to fellow Baltimorean Felicia Pride for the tip).

The content is a bit light right now, so just bookmark the site and check back: www.ringshout.blogspot.com

Who knows your book better?

Of course, a decent book publicist reads a client's book. Preferably before signing the employment contract...

So, if you, as the author, ask your publicist to pick out the best quotes or excerpts from your book, you might expect a bit of hesitation. Sure, a publicist knows your book, and what the market wants, particularly for matching an excerpt to the publication.

But, really, who knows your book better than you? Why would you want the task of picking the quotes and/or excerpts to go to anyone else but the person who wrote it?

Are you in the database?

This goes out to small presses, or self-published authors, but even those of us with large publishers might find the exercise of use, too.

Recently one of our clients visited a location of chain bookstores; he wanted to check shelf placement. After checking several possible locations, he could not find the book. He asked a store associate to enter the book's title into the database. No go. How about the author name? Nope. The publisher's name. No go. Not even the ISBN #.

And this was for a book produced nearly exclusively for this chain.

So. Mr. Obie Joe says to make sure your book is in the book. If your book is carried by a major wholesaler -- Baker & Taylor, for example -- then you should be OK.

But to be safe, travel to your local independent bookstore, B&N, and even the library, and see how your book is listed. If it isn't, ask how to rectify the neglect.