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.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
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."
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."
Monday, August 11, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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?
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?
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