I was all of 22 years old in this photo, living and working as a publicist in NYC, when I had the great honor of working on a project with Dick Clark: P.K. McCary’s Black Bible Chronicles. I remember I was nervous, and excited, and so ‘green’ as I met him at a restaurant in Soho. He was everything kind, warm, and gracious. Incredibly personable. He was a true creative genius in every sense of the word backing a project of this undertaking: a best-selling book that paraphrases the first five books of the Old Testament in black vernacular. He will be sorely missed and my prayers go out to his family.

All of this work resulted in the book getting picked up by two retailers nationally which included an order of 1,000 units matched with a front table display.  Essentially, creating enough of a demand in the market to show folks the versatility of this book marketing tool.

The results of our book marketing were beyond expectations

You can see the full story here: Religion News

Eugene Peterson rarely does interviews. I have heard that he once turned down the opportunity to hang out with Bono — Bono! — because he was busy with a writing deadline. So it’s a huge honor that he agreed to talk with me about the new edition of his Bible translation The Message, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. Today he talks about The Message Study Bible, and next Tuesday I’ll feature our conversation about his writing career and habits, his recent memoir The Pastor, and his passion for storytelling.

You can read the entire article here: Religion News

During our last trip into 30 Rock here are some insights we picked up from talking with a segment producer for a primetime show after we asked, so what makes you book a guest on the show:

1. It really bothers us when we get a pitch from a PR person who doesn’t watch our show and know what kind of guests we have on every day.
2. Don’t send me someone who isn’t well coached or can do more than a bang up job when we are fighting for our life in ratings.
3. Send me a video clip of your client so our team can take a look at it and decide if they will grab viewers.
4. Don’t email us this long pitch.  We get upwards of 1400 to 2,000 pitches a day.
5. If you don’t hear back from us that means we are not interested…don’t keep emailing us and asking what we thought.

A few things really stood out to our team here: watching the show and media coaching.  On top of that having a well produced video, as you can see there is no mention of sending a press release!

One example was all the fluff on vampires.  Many publishers released trending topics surrounding that larger niche.  But none did it as a ‘quick turn-around’ eBook but rather dropping it into their ever changing business model.  By the time that trending book hit the shelves in stores; the topic likely was already past its tipping point.

Look for this type of publishing to become more and more prevalent and common.

What do all of you think?  Sound-off, I want to hear from you on this if I am wrong!

There are stores across the country that get this and will more than survive.  They study the ebbs and flows of the market and are meeting a need in their neighborhood.  Their rents are lower than big box stores with two floors of books not selling.  They are more about knowing who their local customers are and what they like.

Indie Stores are for some readers the only stores they will visit.  I really believe these types of stores will more than survive the volatile book landscape and continue.  Listen, we get all the hype of having an algorithm and seeing a book shoot up any bestseller list because we know it works in helping a book make a mark.  But I have to admit there is something really nice about having a knowledgeable bookseller know their niche and help sell it.

What is your favorite bookstore and why?

Authors and publishers need to think more about how we can connect with our audience and sell a movement versus individual units.  Here are a few things I would suggest going forward:

1. Have built in links in all digital metadata to collect information
2. Build a relationship with an author’s audience long before the book is released.
3. Have sign-ups and ask readers do they mind if we stay in touch.
4. Ask readers to help build the book with their stories and not the authors
5. Take a holistic approach beyond just sales.  Think long term and far beyond book number 1.
6. Embrace forward thinking and use more inbound marketing than outbound marketing.

There is a reason folks like NBC Publishing are getting in the mix.  Watch what they do, track their sales, follow their books and learn.