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

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