If I were to look into a crystal ball and imagine the publishing world ten years from now what would I see? Who would still be standing?
Well, in my humble and obviously online-marketing schooled opinion, consolidation would indeed continue. Only a few large publishing companies would still be standing.
I see POD becoming even a larger, more profitable industry because of the option of small print runs, and the availability to anyone and everyone. With the industry declining in profit, publishers will probably be even less likely to publish books from unknown authors on unfamiliar or unpopular topics. Sure, POD enables crappy books to be published, but with the crap comes the quality literature that otherwise wouldn’t have a home.
Self-publishing in general will rise. Already there are so many resources available to anyone and everyone. There are books on the subject, classes, websites..etc..With blogs and websites people are able to distribute their writing on a limited level.
While I don’t see e-books completely obliterating the physical book, I do see the industry rising and not just as a passing fad. In my mind there will always be some kind of market for the physical book. I do see college textbooks becoming e-books entirely. It makes sense, cheaper for students, no buybacks, less confusion when the textbooks are updated (new editions arrive).
While conglomerates dominate the industry and revenue, places like Powell’s will still exist because they are distributing the big titles produced by the conglomerates. Their small press section will be comprised of self-published and POD books, because let’s face it actual small presses will be a rarity.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Hey Social Networks, Let's Be Friends.
I like to think that Facebook isn’t really that applicable to businesses or organizations. To me, it’s more of a social network that allows me to reunite with old classmates (er look at what they’re up to, without actually talking to them) or discover what a person’s all about before pursuing them as a friend or love interest. Really it exists to ease awkward social interactions by making them virtual instead of actual. Why be bold, when I can obtain the same info meekly?
This thought gets tested on a weekly basis. Last week was a first for me. Last week my opinion on Facebook was tested outside of our Online Marketing class discussions. Shocking, right? It wasn’t just tested once, not twice, but thrice. (Ok, I admit it, I made thrice by including the guest speaker presentation.)
The conversation about the Writers’ Dojo Wednesday was the precursor. This was an insightful discussion, because it clarified that although Facebook business, writer, and book pages aren’t the be all end all to publishing success, they are part of the plan as a whole. The plan being to sell or market yourself as a charming performer, but also keep it real. While I don’t fully understand how to do this, I do understand that selling yourself is a crucial aspect of selling your product. Even when we create personal Facebook profiles we are creating an image of ourselves that we wish to project to our friends, and acquaintances, both old and new.
For this reason alone, Facebook can be a pretty depressing place to visit; it makes me believe that everyone is doing better than me. Everyone seems so successful and happy with about 400 (!) friends. What’s my deal?
Thursday the KBOO radio news director asked me to come in to write a grant for them that is due March 1(!). While writing a grant in a weekend is especially daunting, what added to the drama was that we had to create a program idea to get the grant. Our program idea is to create a show of news stories that listeners post to their Facebook page, website, blog, or text in.
The success of this show depends entirely on the amount of traffic to their website and Facebook! They currently don’t tweet a lot, or get a substantial amount of Facebook comments. The task at hand is to figure out how to get people to post.
The ideas that we came up with were to create a team of news volunteers to post so many comments per day, present the idea to high school and college journalism classes, ask them to participate, and credit the people whose stories we use on air.
If the program gets funded, it will be interesting to see how effective this strategy will be on getting posts generated.
On Friday I had an interview for an Editorial internship. The editor asked me about my classes and I proceeded to talk about social networks, and online marketing. Obviously, a topic that concerns them, they were excited by my interest in this area, as well as all the blogging I had been doing, and I got the internship (!).
So, no social networks aren’t necessarily the key to success, but keep the conversation going because everyone’s looking for a solution, and talking about it creates the illusion that you may just have the answer.
This thought gets tested on a weekly basis. Last week was a first for me. Last week my opinion on Facebook was tested outside of our Online Marketing class discussions. Shocking, right? It wasn’t just tested once, not twice, but thrice. (Ok, I admit it, I made thrice by including the guest speaker presentation.)
The conversation about the Writers’ Dojo Wednesday was the precursor. This was an insightful discussion, because it clarified that although Facebook business, writer, and book pages aren’t the be all end all to publishing success, they are part of the plan as a whole. The plan being to sell or market yourself as a charming performer, but also keep it real. While I don’t fully understand how to do this, I do understand that selling yourself is a crucial aspect of selling your product. Even when we create personal Facebook profiles we are creating an image of ourselves that we wish to project to our friends, and acquaintances, both old and new.
For this reason alone, Facebook can be a pretty depressing place to visit; it makes me believe that everyone is doing better than me. Everyone seems so successful and happy with about 400 (!) friends. What’s my deal?
Thursday the KBOO radio news director asked me to come in to write a grant for them that is due March 1(!). While writing a grant in a weekend is especially daunting, what added to the drama was that we had to create a program idea to get the grant. Our program idea is to create a show of news stories that listeners post to their Facebook page, website, blog, or text in.
The success of this show depends entirely on the amount of traffic to their website and Facebook! They currently don’t tweet a lot, or get a substantial amount of Facebook comments. The task at hand is to figure out how to get people to post.
The ideas that we came up with were to create a team of news volunteers to post so many comments per day, present the idea to high school and college journalism classes, ask them to participate, and credit the people whose stories we use on air.
If the program gets funded, it will be interesting to see how effective this strategy will be on getting posts generated.
On Friday I had an interview for an Editorial internship. The editor asked me about my classes and I proceeded to talk about social networks, and online marketing. Obviously, a topic that concerns them, they were excited by my interest in this area, as well as all the blogging I had been doing, and I got the internship (!).
So, no social networks aren’t necessarily the key to success, but keep the conversation going because everyone’s looking for a solution, and talking about it creates the illusion that you may just have the answer.
Friday, February 26, 2010
The Giver--A Gift That Keeps on Giving
I got really excited when I read the blog topic for the week. My first reaction was--I get to write about a book..YES! I spent a lot of time pondering my favorite books, and discovered that an answer to this question wasn't so easy. While I could argue that they were entertaining and thought-provoking, I couldn't really make a case for life-changing.
Next, I thought back to my elementary school reads such as the Garth Brooks biography or The Anne of Green Gables series. Oddly enough Garth Brooks' life story was a pretty interesting read for me at the time, and The Anne books were a pleasant escape. Life changing? No. I was pretty close to just selecting a book and creating a case for it, then I remembered The Giver!
I went to a small elementary school (100 students, K-8). Our librarian was a collector of bookmarks, had character voices for story hour and still read children and young adult books, not just because she was a librarian, but because she genuinely liked them. Mrs. Portner was the ultimate trusted source for book recommendations.
Every week our class would go to the library, where we would engage in exciting activities such as straightening, card cataloging, but more importantly book check-out. Each week I'd ask Mrs. Portner for her recommendations. On one of these particular days in fourth grade she said, "Have you read The Giver? No? Well, you gotta." And so I did.
I think it might have been the whole concept of "sameness" that got me, growing up my favorite book theme was always: be who you are, it's okay to be different, etc..I read this book at a time where fitting in was pretty important to me and everyone around me. This whole concept of all families being the same in structure was intriguing, so was elimination of emotions through pills. A structure that sounded good in theory, but of course was problematic in reality.
I'd say this book changed me because it made me think about the structure of my current society, withholding emotion, etc. On one hand, it would be great to eliminate pain and heartbreak, but at what cost? love? Last year I found a copy of The Giver in a free box. I reread it and I got to say. it's one of those reads that still ring true to adults just as much, if not more so than to children.
Next, I thought back to my elementary school reads such as the Garth Brooks biography or The Anne of Green Gables series. Oddly enough Garth Brooks' life story was a pretty interesting read for me at the time, and The Anne books were a pleasant escape. Life changing? No. I was pretty close to just selecting a book and creating a case for it, then I remembered The Giver!
I went to a small elementary school (100 students, K-8). Our librarian was a collector of bookmarks, had character voices for story hour and still read children and young adult books, not just because she was a librarian, but because she genuinely liked them. Mrs. Portner was the ultimate trusted source for book recommendations.
Every week our class would go to the library, where we would engage in exciting activities such as straightening, card cataloging, but more importantly book check-out. Each week I'd ask Mrs. Portner for her recommendations. On one of these particular days in fourth grade she said, "Have you read The Giver? No? Well, you gotta." And so I did.
I think it might have been the whole concept of "sameness" that got me, growing up my favorite book theme was always: be who you are, it's okay to be different, etc..I read this book at a time where fitting in was pretty important to me and everyone around me. This whole concept of all families being the same in structure was intriguing, so was elimination of emotions through pills. A structure that sounded good in theory, but of course was problematic in reality.
I'd say this book changed me because it made me think about the structure of my current society, withholding emotion, etc. On one hand, it would be great to eliminate pain and heartbreak, but at what cost? love? Last year I found a copy of The Giver in a free box. I reread it and I got to say. it's one of those reads that still ring true to adults just as much, if not more so than to children.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Clear Cut, Matt Briggs, and Publication Studio
I got interested in Clear Cut Press a few years ago after someone recommended the book Shoot the Buffalo by Matt Briggs to me. The whole concept of this press excited me, validated my taste in books, and I must confess made me feel arty and intellectual. Clear Cut, is subscription-based and run by two ex-indie-music-label execs. The books are all the same size and are sent to subscribers and distributed only to independent booksellers.
Their marketing plan is interesting because it aims at putting books into the hands of people who want it and not to appeal to everyone. In an interview the founders describe how creating the model for the press has self-educated them on how to get books from the warehouse and into the hands of their buyers. There’s something to be said for their readership. We like feeling like part of an elite group, like we’re receiving valuable knowledge and information that the rest of the world is not privy to, and they know it.
I was doing some research for sustainability and I started off at Clear Cut and then linked to the author Matt Briggs’ blog. While on his blog I discovered that his book was recently reprinted by Publication Studio--a new press in Portland, OR.
Well, I had never heard of Publication Studio before. I went to their website and discovered that it begun last February as an experiment. The press prints and binds books on demand. They print books that “both respond to the conversation of the moment and can endure.” The Studio offers fee-based services, ($15/hot glue bind, trim to up to 500 pages at $5/book, etc) Publication Studio is run by one of the co-creators of Clear Cut Press. It started out in The U of O’s White Stag Building with a publishing project with Phil Everum--musician and painter.
This is a really intriguing concept to me because they have a storefront and aren’t internet run. If I were to print on demand with them I could actually go into their space and check out their products before committing. From their business description it almost sounds like they only print work by artists and writers they like, but they also describe themselves as a fee-based service provider.
They occasionally have happy hour discussions where they discuss the future of publishing in The Ace Hotel, in December their topic was bootlegging, pirating and non-exclusive rights. They posed the question should electronic reproduction be controlled and commodified, and. if so how?
Their marketing plan is interesting because it aims at putting books into the hands of people who want it and not to appeal to everyone. In an interview the founders describe how creating the model for the press has self-educated them on how to get books from the warehouse and into the hands of their buyers. There’s something to be said for their readership. We like feeling like part of an elite group, like we’re receiving valuable knowledge and information that the rest of the world is not privy to, and they know it.
I was doing some research for sustainability and I started off at Clear Cut and then linked to the author Matt Briggs’ blog. While on his blog I discovered that his book was recently reprinted by Publication Studio--a new press in Portland, OR.
Well, I had never heard of Publication Studio before. I went to their website and discovered that it begun last February as an experiment. The press prints and binds books on demand. They print books that “both respond to the conversation of the moment and can endure.” The Studio offers fee-based services, ($15/hot glue bind, trim to up to 500 pages at $5/book, etc) Publication Studio is run by one of the co-creators of Clear Cut Press. It started out in The U of O’s White Stag Building with a publishing project with Phil Everum--musician and painter.
This is a really intriguing concept to me because they have a storefront and aren’t internet run. If I were to print on demand with them I could actually go into their space and check out their products before committing. From their business description it almost sounds like they only print work by artists and writers they like, but they also describe themselves as a fee-based service provider.
They occasionally have happy hour discussions where they discuss the future of publishing in The Ace Hotel, in December their topic was bootlegging, pirating and non-exclusive rights. They posed the question should electronic reproduction be controlled and commodified, and. if so how?
Friday, February 19, 2010
Emusic: love and loathe
Okay, so I was one of the email advertising haters during Wednesday's lecture. I even stumbled through an explanation of my proclaimed hatred. The truth is while I do hate email advertising, I have responded to offers, therefore I'm proof that this method actually works.
The standout example would be emusic. I was a member of emusic about four years ago. For those not in the know, emusic is a song downloading program that enables you to download a specific number of songs each month based on the price of your subscription plan. The problem with Emusic is that it does not have every song or artist; it specifically caters to the lesser known. Another issue is if you don't use all your allotted downloads for the month, you lose them. I hadn't been using the program so I deleted it and thought I was no longer a member. I thought this for several months. Well the joke was on me. If I had checked my expenses more regularly I would have noted that I was still a paying member. Apparently, I didn't go through the correct unsubscribing process. After a lengthy conversation with emusic they determined that the error was mine and I'd have to eat the cost.
After this interaction, I swore to never resubscribe. Well, a few years passed. I was unemployed and stll receiving email updates. I had an outstanding library fee that stopped me from checking out cds. I was bored and I wanted music. I received an email from Emusic that said come back to us and receive seventy-five free songs with a trial membership. I opened it and thought: "Kaza, I'll just unsubscribe before the trial runs out and free music will be mine!"
Well, I signed up, downloaded, went through the process of unsubscribing and discovered that all my music would be lost unless I burned it to disc. I didn't have any discs at the time and so I kept the subscription for another month. Well, it's a year later, I still don't have any blank cds, but I do still have the subscription.
I'd say that their email marketing strategy is pretty freaking effective. They lured me with the promise of free stuff, they give me free music per holiday, and they keep me based on fear of music loss and my extreme lack of motivation to buy cds. They know their consumer that's for sure.
The standout example would be emusic. I was a member of emusic about four years ago. For those not in the know, emusic is a song downloading program that enables you to download a specific number of songs each month based on the price of your subscription plan. The problem with Emusic is that it does not have every song or artist; it specifically caters to the lesser known. Another issue is if you don't use all your allotted downloads for the month, you lose them. I hadn't been using the program so I deleted it and thought I was no longer a member. I thought this for several months. Well the joke was on me. If I had checked my expenses more regularly I would have noted that I was still a paying member. Apparently, I didn't go through the correct unsubscribing process. After a lengthy conversation with emusic they determined that the error was mine and I'd have to eat the cost.
After this interaction, I swore to never resubscribe. Well, a few years passed. I was unemployed and stll receiving email updates. I had an outstanding library fee that stopped me from checking out cds. I was bored and I wanted music. I received an email from Emusic that said come back to us and receive seventy-five free songs with a trial membership. I opened it and thought: "Kaza, I'll just unsubscribe before the trial runs out and free music will be mine!"
Well, I signed up, downloaded, went through the process of unsubscribing and discovered that all my music would be lost unless I burned it to disc. I didn't have any discs at the time and so I kept the subscription for another month. Well, it's a year later, I still don't have any blank cds, but I do still have the subscription.
I'd say that their email marketing strategy is pretty freaking effective. They lured me with the promise of free stuff, they give me free music per holiday, and they keep me based on fear of music loss and my extreme lack of motivation to buy cds. They know their consumer that's for sure.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Tale of The Tail blog has begun!
Attention readers and/or classmates:
I did it. I know that as a fellow Online Marketing student, and more importantly friend, you pay close attention to my blogs and therefore recollect a blog about a future blog I planned to create. Well, the wait is over! As of today my blog for my future book The Tale of The Tail exists. thetaleofthetail.blogspot.com Add me..Please! I posted the link to my facebook today and as of this minute I have four followers. Okay, so what if one of the followers includes myself? Nothing wrong with that..
So far I've created an author bio, as well as project and book description. I have also posted one illustration. I'm thinking more pictures of the actual process might be interesting.
I also want to make the blog more interactive by perhaps posing a question to the readers. Another idea I had is to pick a person each week and ask them a question. I will then post both their response and picture on my page. The people posted will be related to either the field or my process. For example, when I make a copy/print of an image, I'll ask an employee of the shop for a suggestion. There is definitely a possibility that this person will be irritated/not interested in participating. I'll just have to keep approaching people until someone concedes. Obviously, if they allow me to take a picture of them and post it on my blog then they're gonna wanna see it. Perhaps their friends will want to check out the blog to see their friend. Perhaps the word of mouth process will create more traffic.
I'm trying to establish my blog a bit before I contact the big guys--magazine blogs. In class Marty made a really good observation about etsy and how the more items you posted and the frequency with which you post them dictates how often you appear in their feed. This got me to thinking about other items I could create and sell through my account. I have several wood blocks that have already been carved. I could make some prints and post these.
The biggest problem is getting people to come to the blog. I don't necessarily want people to come and check out the page now while it's underdeveloped. It hasn't reached its full potential yet, and thus isn't extremely interesting. I don't want people to see it and leave uninterested and never return. Another risk is waiting too late to obtain followers. I could be done with the book and have an interesting blog, but with no followers, or at least none that watched the process as it unfolded. The only solution I can see is work really hard on the book and blog now, while at the same time trying to attract a readership. Attracting a readership is a process that surely doesn't happen overnight.
I did it. I know that as a fellow Online Marketing student, and more importantly friend, you pay close attention to my blogs and therefore recollect a blog about a future blog I planned to create. Well, the wait is over! As of today my blog for my future book The Tale of The Tail exists. thetaleofthetail.blogspot.com Add me..Please! I posted the link to my facebook today and as of this minute I have four followers. Okay, so what if one of the followers includes myself? Nothing wrong with that..
So far I've created an author bio, as well as project and book description. I have also posted one illustration. I'm thinking more pictures of the actual process might be interesting.
I also want to make the blog more interactive by perhaps posing a question to the readers. Another idea I had is to pick a person each week and ask them a question. I will then post both their response and picture on my page. The people posted will be related to either the field or my process. For example, when I make a copy/print of an image, I'll ask an employee of the shop for a suggestion. There is definitely a possibility that this person will be irritated/not interested in participating. I'll just have to keep approaching people until someone concedes. Obviously, if they allow me to take a picture of them and post it on my blog then they're gonna wanna see it. Perhaps their friends will want to check out the blog to see their friend. Perhaps the word of mouth process will create more traffic.
I'm trying to establish my blog a bit before I contact the big guys--magazine blogs. In class Marty made a really good observation about etsy and how the more items you posted and the frequency with which you post them dictates how often you appear in their feed. This got me to thinking about other items I could create and sell through my account. I have several wood blocks that have already been carved. I could make some prints and post these.
The biggest problem is getting people to come to the blog. I don't necessarily want people to come and check out the page now while it's underdeveloped. It hasn't reached its full potential yet, and thus isn't extremely interesting. I don't want people to see it and leave uninterested and never return. Another risk is waiting too late to obtain followers. I could be done with the book and have an interesting blog, but with no followers, or at least none that watched the process as it unfolded. The only solution I can see is work really hard on the book and blog now, while at the same time trying to attract a readership. Attracting a readership is a process that surely doesn't happen overnight.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Portland Red Guide: Sites and Stories of Our Radical Past
history/historical
radical
Communist
Anarchist
Socialist
Portland has long been coined as radical in terms of thought and lifestyle, without ever really being credited for inciting any historically-radical-movement. So, it was with great interest and curiosity that I perused The Portland Red Guide: Sites and Stories of Our Radical Past. We may not be San Francisco, and we may not be Washington D.C., but we do have a red and radical past..flavored with socialists, communists and gasp anarchists..and..and Allen Ginsberg visited for a bit and got NAKED at PSU! Scandal.
In all seriousness, Portland has a socialist, communist and anarchist history. Color us red. Some of these organizations still meet, specifically the socialists at the Central library downtown. I especially enjoyed reading the radical history behind places that act as backdrop for my world today such as Unthank Park or The White Eagle Saloon--where radical meetings were going down, and of course the appearances made by radical celebs such as Emma Goldman and Woody Guthrie. Radical Woody even lived here for a bit, while writing songs inspired by Bonneville Dam. Previous to this book I would have never pegged Bonneville Dam as a radical site, historical perhaps, but radical no. For most of the famous radicals who stayed in our city, Portland was merely a footnote. To Portland these footnotes were hallmarks and a great source of pride in our history, radical or otherwise.
Perhaps, some of these details don’t really seem so radical. What interests me is the historical aspect of it, or the reminder that the buildings we see and streets we tread all have a history behind them. When put into a historical context it becomes clear that each of these events were indeed a big deal. It’s nice to be reminded of the people who made history here, history that for the time period was radical. Maps and photos provide a window into the world of the radical--the locations and their faces.
radical
Communist
Anarchist
Socialist
Portland has long been coined as radical in terms of thought and lifestyle, without ever really being credited for inciting any historically-radical-movement. So, it was with great interest and curiosity that I perused The Portland Red Guide: Sites and Stories of Our Radical Past. We may not be San Francisco, and we may not be Washington D.C., but we do have a red and radical past..flavored with socialists, communists and gasp anarchists..and..and Allen Ginsberg visited for a bit and got NAKED at PSU! Scandal.
In all seriousness, Portland has a socialist, communist and anarchist history. Color us red. Some of these organizations still meet, specifically the socialists at the Central library downtown. I especially enjoyed reading the radical history behind places that act as backdrop for my world today such as Unthank Park or The White Eagle Saloon--where radical meetings were going down, and of course the appearances made by radical celebs such as Emma Goldman and Woody Guthrie. Radical Woody even lived here for a bit, while writing songs inspired by Bonneville Dam. Previous to this book I would have never pegged Bonneville Dam as a radical site, historical perhaps, but radical no. For most of the famous radicals who stayed in our city, Portland was merely a footnote. To Portland these footnotes were hallmarks and a great source of pride in our history, radical or otherwise.
Perhaps, some of these details don’t really seem so radical. What interests me is the historical aspect of it, or the reminder that the buildings we see and streets we tread all have a history behind them. When put into a historical context it becomes clear that each of these events were indeed a big deal. It’s nice to be reminded of the people who made history here, history that for the time period was radical. Maps and photos provide a window into the world of the radical--the locations and their faces.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
World Domination--Book Style
Amazon clearly has a monopoly over the book publishing industry. Although they finally backed down to Macmillan, their initial refusal proves that they are used to getting what they want. Amazon assumed that Macmillan would surrender, and in this case they were proven wrong.
This means a couple of things for book publishers. Primarily, there is no argument that Amazon is a force to be reckoned with. With its POD/distribution company, e-book platform and retail capabilities, saying no to Amazon is a risk, especially for small publishing houses, whose worth seem trivial in comparison to Amazon’s wealth. Macmillian stepping up to Amazon proves both its company’s power in the publishing realm and also that it is possible to say no to Amazon and survive.
The danger in this can be found in the line “absolute power corrupts.” It does indeed. With Amazon having full control of the industry, they basically have full control of what sells and what doesn’t. Amazon has gained control over book content and monetary value. have the power to censor or play big brother. Everything must meet their approval to be sold on their site. They can also place more emphasis on titles coming from their POD/distribution company and set the price of the market. This also means less work for book distributors because Amazon already has their own. With their finger in every aspect of the process, there will be less work available in the publishing industry.
The benefits for the consumer would be if other stores tried to compete with Amazon’s prices and or shipping charges. Another benefit would be consistency and dependability. Patrons will know what to expect as will publishing companies trying to distribute their books through Amazon. No one will really feel the need to shop around, when they can just go directly to the source.
This means a couple of things for book publishers. Primarily, there is no argument that Amazon is a force to be reckoned with. With its POD/distribution company, e-book platform and retail capabilities, saying no to Amazon is a risk, especially for small publishing houses, whose worth seem trivial in comparison to Amazon’s wealth. Macmillian stepping up to Amazon proves both its company’s power in the publishing realm and also that it is possible to say no to Amazon and survive.
The danger in this can be found in the line “absolute power corrupts.” It does indeed. With Amazon having full control of the industry, they basically have full control of what sells and what doesn’t. Amazon has gained control over book content and monetary value. have the power to censor or play big brother. Everything must meet their approval to be sold on their site. They can also place more emphasis on titles coming from their POD/distribution company and set the price of the market. This also means less work for book distributors because Amazon already has their own. With their finger in every aspect of the process, there will be less work available in the publishing industry.
The benefits for the consumer would be if other stores tried to compete with Amazon’s prices and or shipping charges. Another benefit would be consistency and dependability. Patrons will know what to expect as will publishing companies trying to distribute their books through Amazon. No one will really feel the need to shop around, when they can just go directly to the source.
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Tale of The Tail: Online Marketing Inaction!
A few years ago I wrote a kids' book for a class, but I never illustrated it. I said I would after I was out of school. I graduated, got a job, didn't finish the book. I became unemployed and still didn't finish the book. What's my point, and how does it tie in with Online Marketing? Glad you asked.
In my marketing class we were assigned to market a book that has yet to be published. My fellow classmates all planned on marketing books that either they or a friend had already written. This inspired me to tackle my own book. Not only will I finish illustrating The Tale of The Tale, I plan on completely making it. The Independent Publishing Resource Center just got a Bindfast 5 machine that perfectly binds 20-30 books an hour. I'm taking the class in mid-Feb. Reading Frenzy (an independent bookstore) takes commissions from works created in the IPRC and so my plan is to create the book, get Reading Frenzy to sell it.
As part of my grad project, I'm creating a blog that will document each step of this process. I'm going to create a link on my facebook to the blog, and contact magazines such as Ready Made through their websites. I'll send them both a description and link to my blog. Ready Made has their own blog, or I should say blogs in different areas with topics ranging from cooking, environment, fashion and style and art. If I could get one of the writers to blog about my project and blog that'd be pretty epic. Other magazines with blogs include Juxtapoz. While my work isn't necessarily edgy enough for that magazine, Theo Ellsworth, a Portland illustrator, was featured in the last copy. I want to get my book into Theo's gallery The Pony Club. Not sure how this all relates, but connections, people, connections.. After the book has been created and bound, I will post a link to my etsy account by which people can purchase the book.
Basically, I plan on taking the information I have learned in Online Marketing to promote a book that I will essentially be self-publishing. As I have no source of income, I plan on optimizing social-networks to their full potential. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/criticisms on this plan please share!
In my marketing class we were assigned to market a book that has yet to be published. My fellow classmates all planned on marketing books that either they or a friend had already written. This inspired me to tackle my own book. Not only will I finish illustrating The Tale of The Tale, I plan on completely making it. The Independent Publishing Resource Center just got a Bindfast 5 machine that perfectly binds 20-30 books an hour. I'm taking the class in mid-Feb. Reading Frenzy (an independent bookstore) takes commissions from works created in the IPRC and so my plan is to create the book, get Reading Frenzy to sell it.
As part of my grad project, I'm creating a blog that will document each step of this process. I'm going to create a link on my facebook to the blog, and contact magazines such as Ready Made through their websites. I'll send them both a description and link to my blog. Ready Made has their own blog, or I should say blogs in different areas with topics ranging from cooking, environment, fashion and style and art. If I could get one of the writers to blog about my project and blog that'd be pretty epic. Other magazines with blogs include Juxtapoz. While my work isn't necessarily edgy enough for that magazine, Theo Ellsworth, a Portland illustrator, was featured in the last copy. I want to get my book into Theo's gallery The Pony Club. Not sure how this all relates, but connections, people, connections.. After the book has been created and bound, I will post a link to my etsy account by which people can purchase the book.
Basically, I plan on taking the information I have learned in Online Marketing to promote a book that I will essentially be self-publishing. As I have no source of income, I plan on optimizing social-networks to their full potential. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/criticisms on this plan please share!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
E-book
So I’ve spent a lot of time being indifferent to e-books. I really have zero interest in reading a book online, but I can see its appeal to other readers. Considering my stance on the subject I decided it was probably time for me to take a look at the e-book industry--an industry I really know nothing about.
For my research, I turned to google. One of the first links to appear was cengagebrain.com. I kid you not, Cengage brain changed my outlook on e-books. There is indeed a type of book that I never considered would be better as an e-book--the textbook. Cengage offers consumers e-textbooks at 50% below list price and the first e-chapter of every book is free. Purchasing books by individual chapters is another option. During my undergraduate studies I purchased a multitude of books, many that didn’t apply to my major and many that I had no interest in keeping. Reading an entire textbook for a class, was indeed rare and most likely didn’t occur. E-book textbooks are genius because a student is able to gain access to a book they don’t plan on keeping for a price that can’t be beat even with buybacks. Cengage offers book rentals as well. Customers are allowed to rent textbooks for the duration of one term.
Cengage makes me think about Netflix, or the Netflix for books. If there was a plan by which one could “check out” so many new e-books a month for a fee, I would so be on board here. Help me out fellow internet marketing gurus, does such a thing exist? If not, let’s create a site. E-Books would work much better than actual books in this situation because of book damage and shipping. If actual books were shipped than how much damage an individual caused to an actual book would be in question, as well as delivery schedules. If I was provided with an option of reading as many books as I liked online I would totally be an e-book reader.
For my research, I turned to google. One of the first links to appear was cengagebrain.com. I kid you not, Cengage brain changed my outlook on e-books. There is indeed a type of book that I never considered would be better as an e-book--the textbook. Cengage offers consumers e-textbooks at 50% below list price and the first e-chapter of every book is free. Purchasing books by individual chapters is another option. During my undergraduate studies I purchased a multitude of books, many that didn’t apply to my major and many that I had no interest in keeping. Reading an entire textbook for a class, was indeed rare and most likely didn’t occur. E-book textbooks are genius because a student is able to gain access to a book they don’t plan on keeping for a price that can’t be beat even with buybacks. Cengage offers book rentals as well. Customers are allowed to rent textbooks for the duration of one term.
Cengage makes me think about Netflix, or the Netflix for books. If there was a plan by which one could “check out” so many new e-books a month for a fee, I would so be on board here. Help me out fellow internet marketing gurus, does such a thing exist? If not, let’s create a site. E-Books would work much better than actual books in this situation because of book damage and shipping. If actual books were shipped than how much damage an individual caused to an actual book would be in question, as well as delivery schedules. If I was provided with an option of reading as many books as I liked online I would totally be an e-book reader.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Part vs Whole
The difference between product and brand marketing can be best compared to the part versus the whole. A brand is a company such as Nike, Gap, or Kitchen-Aid. Brand marketing pertains to selling an image of the whole company. Marketing schemes for brands relate to the company in its entirety. Product marketing relates to an individual item. For example, marketing Kitchen Aid would be marketing a brand. Marketing a breast cancer awareness salad spinner would be marketing a product. To a company marketing their brand is more important than marketing a product. Products come and go, but a brand name and image forever follow that company.
In the world of books, a publishing house would be considered the brand and a book would be considered the product. Whether a book is marketed as a brand or product depends entirely on the author, title and publishing company. If the author is well-known or if a book is already famous and being reprinted then these elements are the driving forces behind the book’s success. Another factor is whether or not a book is part of an edition or series of books. Penguin produces a Classics Deluxe Edition line. This line is comprised of classics such as Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein that have been reprinted. The cover is redone in a pop-arty manner by a fashionable artist of today’s culture in hopes on landing the book a new younger audience. All of these books look connected and can be discerned as a penguin classic by front cover appearance. Two books from W.W. Norton are currently placed side-by-side at Powell’s in their 30% off clearance section. I immediately wondered if they have been published by the same company based on cover design. The books had similar graphic placement, and font size and leading. These books were The Ticking Is the Bomb and In Other Books, Other Wonders. Overall if a publisher is selling a book because it’s written by a famous author then the author carries the weight of the work and no one really cares who published it. If an author is unknown and is riding on the weight of a particular well-known publisher then this book will be sold by brand name.
In the world of books, a publishing house would be considered the brand and a book would be considered the product. Whether a book is marketed as a brand or product depends entirely on the author, title and publishing company. If the author is well-known or if a book is already famous and being reprinted then these elements are the driving forces behind the book’s success. Another factor is whether or not a book is part of an edition or series of books. Penguin produces a Classics Deluxe Edition line. This line is comprised of classics such as Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein that have been reprinted. The cover is redone in a pop-arty manner by a fashionable artist of today’s culture in hopes on landing the book a new younger audience. All of these books look connected and can be discerned as a penguin classic by front cover appearance. Two books from W.W. Norton are currently placed side-by-side at Powell’s in their 30% off clearance section. I immediately wondered if they have been published by the same company based on cover design. The books had similar graphic placement, and font size and leading. These books were The Ticking Is the Bomb and In Other Books, Other Wonders. Overall if a publisher is selling a book because it’s written by a famous author then the author carries the weight of the work and no one really cares who published it. If an author is unknown and is riding on the weight of a particular well-known publisher then this book will be sold by brand name.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
It's All Politics
In an article entitled “Non-Stop News” featured in this week’s New Yorker, Ken Alletta presents the argument that Obama was able to market himself successfully to the country during the 2008 election by being selective on the media outlets he spoke with, and through social-networking. This process enabled Obama to build a character or create a presentation of himself he wanted the world to see.
Alletta quoted Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, with this statement “Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allowed the campaign to ‘go around the filter’ of the press--an obsession in The Obama White House.” Obama used social networks to help shift the focus of potential scandals. When the press questioned his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama made a speech illuminating the issue of race in America. Millions of people watched this speech on YouTube. While Obama didn’t personally post the video, he wrote a good speech that shifted the focus off of himself to the broader topic of race and these words received mass-distribution through YouTube.
Book Publicist, Greg Mowery spoke with our Marketing class and triggered a little bit of a debate in our online marketing class with his comment against online book marketing. Mowery spoke specifically about finding scandal or controversy in a book and then presenting that information to the media. Mowery incapsulated this idea with the statement “get straight to the sex.” Unlike the Obama campaign, Mowery does not have the automatic attention of the media. He often must create press for a book through scandal and gossip.
Obama had the attention of the world and in this position he was able to pick and choose media sources. Once his story was presented to a selected media, social networks acted as catalysts to get this information to the public.
The difference between marketing a book and a presidential candidate is vast. For one thing the release of a book is not necessarily a life changing event. Online marketing/social-networks can be effective for books. The problem is the task of creating enough buzz for a book or press to gain an internet audience. If controversy is created for a book in the papers or on TV then people will search the internet and potentially look at social-networks involving the book/author/publisher. The problem is getting the public to care enough to search this material out. This problem is magnified for small presses that don’t have any pull with the media or consider Oprah a personal contact. To create press for their book they must try at a more local level, such as through weeklies like The Portland Mercury.
Alletta quoted Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, with this statement “Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allowed the campaign to ‘go around the filter’ of the press--an obsession in The Obama White House.” Obama used social networks to help shift the focus of potential scandals. When the press questioned his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama made a speech illuminating the issue of race in America. Millions of people watched this speech on YouTube. While Obama didn’t personally post the video, he wrote a good speech that shifted the focus off of himself to the broader topic of race and these words received mass-distribution through YouTube.
Book Publicist, Greg Mowery spoke with our Marketing class and triggered a little bit of a debate in our online marketing class with his comment against online book marketing. Mowery spoke specifically about finding scandal or controversy in a book and then presenting that information to the media. Mowery incapsulated this idea with the statement “get straight to the sex.” Unlike the Obama campaign, Mowery does not have the automatic attention of the media. He often must create press for a book through scandal and gossip.
Obama had the attention of the world and in this position he was able to pick and choose media sources. Once his story was presented to a selected media, social networks acted as catalysts to get this information to the public.
The difference between marketing a book and a presidential candidate is vast. For one thing the release of a book is not necessarily a life changing event. Online marketing/social-networks can be effective for books. The problem is the task of creating enough buzz for a book or press to gain an internet audience. If controversy is created for a book in the papers or on TV then people will search the internet and potentially look at social-networks involving the book/author/publisher. The problem is getting the public to care enough to search this material out. This problem is magnified for small presses that don’t have any pull with the media or consider Oprah a personal contact. To create press for their book they must try at a more local level, such as through weeklies like The Portland Mercury.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Websites Offer Valuable First Impressions
The vast majority of online consumer book sales are not conducted on publishers' web sites, but this hasn't stopped most publishers from targeting their web sites primarily at consumers. What do you think is the reasoning behind this? Do you think that book publishers can expect to see significant, ongoing growth in direct sales through their web sites? Should the presence or lack of strong direct sales affect the manner and extent to which publishers address their web sites to the general reading public (as opposed to their primary market of booksellers)?
Ok, so I have to admit this whole marketing deal is new territory for me. Last week I blogged and praised Random House's website, while my fellow classmates cited it as poor design. Perhaps I'm not the best candidate to wager publisher's websites goals, but I am a consumer and as such I have insight into what makes me buy.
I think that book publishers are fully aware of where online consumer book sales happen and choose to target the consumer anyway. The website is the perfect place to layout and establish who a publisher is as a company and what they publish. It's also a place to organize and perfect a business model. Appealing to the everyman/woman has its advantages. If a website is created with the hope of intriguing a consumer, then perhaps the company can make a few direct sales.
Another more likely option is that by having a user-friendly website consumers will find out about the book or the publisher and purchase these books from places like amazon. When I found out about the book entitled Shoot the Buffalo by Matt Briggs, I searched for it online and was connected to its publisher--Clear Cut Press. While on the site I became intrigued about their company and other books they'd published. While I didn't purchase any books from the site, I ended up buying and reading several other books from Clear Cut. Perhaps their website was ineffective in terms of direct sales, but it was more successful in gaining exposure to their books.
While it is unnecessary to spend a lot of time and money on a website for a book publisher, it makes sense to make it easy to navigate to all parties. Book sellers are already purchasing books by website, and will continue to do so regardless of design. Why not attempt to reach another audience in the process? Websites are all about presentations and introductions. Publishers should want consumers and sellers to be intrigued by their first encounter with them (ie the website). If they make a good first impression chances are that this won't be the viewer's last encounter with them. Even if the publisher's sales do not increase, the amount of website traffic will. Attractive presentation can increase store sales both on and offline. It's in the publisher's best interest to create a site that presents them self attractive to the consumer.
Ok, so I have to admit this whole marketing deal is new territory for me. Last week I blogged and praised Random House's website, while my fellow classmates cited it as poor design. Perhaps I'm not the best candidate to wager publisher's websites goals, but I am a consumer and as such I have insight into what makes me buy.
I think that book publishers are fully aware of where online consumer book sales happen and choose to target the consumer anyway. The website is the perfect place to layout and establish who a publisher is as a company and what they publish. It's also a place to organize and perfect a business model. Appealing to the everyman/woman has its advantages. If a website is created with the hope of intriguing a consumer, then perhaps the company can make a few direct sales.
Another more likely option is that by having a user-friendly website consumers will find out about the book or the publisher and purchase these books from places like amazon. When I found out about the book entitled Shoot the Buffalo by Matt Briggs, I searched for it online and was connected to its publisher--Clear Cut Press. While on the site I became intrigued about their company and other books they'd published. While I didn't purchase any books from the site, I ended up buying and reading several other books from Clear Cut. Perhaps their website was ineffective in terms of direct sales, but it was more successful in gaining exposure to their books.
While it is unnecessary to spend a lot of time and money on a website for a book publisher, it makes sense to make it easy to navigate to all parties. Book sellers are already purchasing books by website, and will continue to do so regardless of design. Why not attempt to reach another audience in the process? Websites are all about presentations and introductions. Publishers should want consumers and sellers to be intrigued by their first encounter with them (ie the website). If they make a good first impression chances are that this won't be the viewer's last encounter with them. Even if the publisher's sales do not increase, the amount of website traffic will. Attractive presentation can increase store sales both on and offline. It's in the publisher's best interest to create a site that presents them self attractive to the consumer.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Department of the Interior
Design has been on my mind, well, it has since about last Monday. Our class discussion on if the ability to see inside a book ranked among our “top five components needed to purchase a book” triggered a bit of self-reflection upon my own tendencies as a book consumer.
For all the arguing I do against e-books on the basis of lack of tactility, when it comes down to it it’s almost comedic that holding a book in hand didn’t rate with me. When I initially made my own mental list, I didn’t even think about what’s inside. In retrospect, it’s a pretty obvious factor. I usually purchase books from a physical store. When I pick a book up off the shelf, I do leaf through it, especially when the book purchase isn’t premeditated.
All of my online book purchases have been textbooks I was required to buy, books that I knew I wanted before going on amazon, or I decided to purchase based upon my familiarity with the author, or my interest in the book description, reviews or website recommendations. The later books have mostly been used-novels, all below ten dollars. At this stage I did take a passing glance at the cover, but it wasn’t really a factor in my final purchase.
Some of the factors that would require me to see inside the book would be a high monetary price, an inadequate book description, and especially the visual nature of the book. If the book was an instruction manual, full of photographs or illustrations, or recipes, I would need or at least want to see inside that book.
Enter the “see inside” feature on amazon.com. This feature enables the consumer to see the front and back cover, table of contents, sometimes an author bio, and a couple of other select pages.
The question is--does this feature offer an apt enough representation of the book for me to purchase it? I decided to try this feature on a couple of my favorite “visual” books off of my own bookshelf. My two selections: Miss Spider’s Wedding and I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.
Miss Spider’s Wedding is a children's book filled with stunning illustrations crafted in oil. “See Inside” enabled me to see the front and back cover and a few illustrations. In this case, I would agree that the tactile quality of being able to see the work in its physical form, printed on high quality stock, is something that a website can’t provide. Still “See Inside” succeeds at providing a bit of insight into the book. If a consumer liked what they saw based upon this feature then they would be pleasantly surprised after purchase, book in hand, because the images would be more vibrant than the online depiction.
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence is a bit of a different story. The layout of the book is sections of texts accompanied by recipes, lists, and photos (both large and small). The problem with “See Inside” here is the consumer is able to see front, back, table of contents and a few photos. This is not an accurate representation of the layout of the book. One of the pages is a full-page picture of a girl made from dried beans, another is a full-page photo of Amy Sedaris. The table of contents is a list of specific events that wouldn’t make sense unless the viewer had viewed the section of the book to see what Sedaris means by titles like “tgif.”
In conclusion, the physical nature of a book matters, however it matters in different degrees based on the consumer. Persons deeply invested in design or designers are gonna want to hold and see any book before purchase. People, like myself, who are affected by design, but do not realize it are gonna want to check out this “See Inside” feature if they are unfamiliar with and if the book they wish to purchase is of a visual nature. Tactility and the physical book do matter to me I’m just not always aware of it.
For all the arguing I do against e-books on the basis of lack of tactility, when it comes down to it it’s almost comedic that holding a book in hand didn’t rate with me. When I initially made my own mental list, I didn’t even think about what’s inside. In retrospect, it’s a pretty obvious factor. I usually purchase books from a physical store. When I pick a book up off the shelf, I do leaf through it, especially when the book purchase isn’t premeditated.
All of my online book purchases have been textbooks I was required to buy, books that I knew I wanted before going on amazon, or I decided to purchase based upon my familiarity with the author, or my interest in the book description, reviews or website recommendations. The later books have mostly been used-novels, all below ten dollars. At this stage I did take a passing glance at the cover, but it wasn’t really a factor in my final purchase.
Some of the factors that would require me to see inside the book would be a high monetary price, an inadequate book description, and especially the visual nature of the book. If the book was an instruction manual, full of photographs or illustrations, or recipes, I would need or at least want to see inside that book.
Enter the “see inside” feature on amazon.com. This feature enables the consumer to see the front and back cover, table of contents, sometimes an author bio, and a couple of other select pages.
The question is--does this feature offer an apt enough representation of the book for me to purchase it? I decided to try this feature on a couple of my favorite “visual” books off of my own bookshelf. My two selections: Miss Spider’s Wedding and I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.
Miss Spider’s Wedding is a children's book filled with stunning illustrations crafted in oil. “See Inside” enabled me to see the front and back cover and a few illustrations. In this case, I would agree that the tactile quality of being able to see the work in its physical form, printed on high quality stock, is something that a website can’t provide. Still “See Inside” succeeds at providing a bit of insight into the book. If a consumer liked what they saw based upon this feature then they would be pleasantly surprised after purchase, book in hand, because the images would be more vibrant than the online depiction.
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence is a bit of a different story. The layout of the book is sections of texts accompanied by recipes, lists, and photos (both large and small). The problem with “See Inside” here is the consumer is able to see front, back, table of contents and a few photos. This is not an accurate representation of the layout of the book. One of the pages is a full-page picture of a girl made from dried beans, another is a full-page photo of Amy Sedaris. The table of contents is a list of specific events that wouldn’t make sense unless the viewer had viewed the section of the book to see what Sedaris means by titles like “tgif.”
In conclusion, the physical nature of a book matters, however it matters in different degrees based on the consumer. Persons deeply invested in design or designers are gonna want to hold and see any book before purchase. People, like myself, who are affected by design, but do not realize it are gonna want to check out this “See Inside” feature if they are unfamiliar with and if the book they wish to purchase is of a visual nature. Tactility and the physical book do matter to me I’m just not always aware of it.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Book Publishing Websites = Information Overload
Previous to this blog post, I never would have considered the world of publishing to be competitive in the industries of entertainment and technology. I wouldn’t have guessed that the presentation of a book publisher’s website would focus on captivating a media crazed audience.
After perusing a dozen or so websites, I started to detect a common thread and thus discover that my conceptions were sorely misconceptions. The majority of publishers are attempting to provide consumers with the most information possible in a multitude of ways. These companies are trying to reach the consumer culture, or those captivated by social networking and youtube, flashing graphics, twitter links, iphone app ads, and video links. A large publishing company’s homepage (such as HarperCollins) strives to reach as many audiences as possible through organization or by dividing their books by subject, as well as bestsellers, new releases and upcoming books. These sub-categories enable consumers to directly access the books they wish to see in as little amount of time as possible.
Out of all the publishing sites I surveyed, I found Random House to be the most successful. LIke all of the other large publishing sites, Random House’s goal appears to be providing the most information to as many people as possible. Where they succeed is through organization. While other companies‘ website presentation leaves much to be desired in terms of accessibility, Random House breaks their information down into subgroups and links, in an organized fashion. Subject categories are easily accessible in a list form. Authors, books and features run horizontally on the top of the page. “Books for a New Year” are centrally located and customers can see both the title and book cover. Editors picks, featured authors, best sellers and kid’s books all have precedence on the homepage and the presentation is anything but cluttered. Random House does have links to facebook, myspace and twitter but the user must scroll down to the bottom of the page to access them. The website format appeals to a media-happy audience, but in a covert way. Random House claims to bring the consumer the best in fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. Their website speaks directly to this claim. Children’s books, nonfiction and fiction are all represented. Random House is aware that their readership is quite diverse, some readers want to know and read the latest and newest book, others want to read whatever is the most popular, while others are concerned with awards and reviews. This website is successful because it satisfies the company’s readership needs.
I am a fan of McSweeney’s, as such it was my first website to explore. McSweeney’s appeals to a hip, young and presumably educated audience. Their backlist features a lot of experimental works as well as new writers. I assumed that their website would stray from the ordinary. While McSweeney’s is surely not trying to reach the consumer culture through flashing graphics and twitter links they also really aren’t trying at all. Boring and bland are two credible adjectives that aptly describe the layout of this website. It’s almost as though they aren’t trying to sell anyone to buy their books. You have to already know about them and be willing to suffer through their website. The homepage is just a long list without much color or graphics. There is a link to their magazine and store but no descriptions. Then the consumer must scroll down past an angel food cake recipe, past submission guidelines, etc. There is virtually no organization, no navigation tools, and no separation between any of the content.
After perusing a dozen or so websites, I started to detect a common thread and thus discover that my conceptions were sorely misconceptions. The majority of publishers are attempting to provide consumers with the most information possible in a multitude of ways. These companies are trying to reach the consumer culture, or those captivated by social networking and youtube, flashing graphics, twitter links, iphone app ads, and video links. A large publishing company’s homepage (such as HarperCollins) strives to reach as many audiences as possible through organization or by dividing their books by subject, as well as bestsellers, new releases and upcoming books. These sub-categories enable consumers to directly access the books they wish to see in as little amount of time as possible.
Out of all the publishing sites I surveyed, I found Random House to be the most successful. LIke all of the other large publishing sites, Random House’s goal appears to be providing the most information to as many people as possible. Where they succeed is through organization. While other companies‘ website presentation leaves much to be desired in terms of accessibility, Random House breaks their information down into subgroups and links, in an organized fashion. Subject categories are easily accessible in a list form. Authors, books and features run horizontally on the top of the page. “Books for a New Year” are centrally located and customers can see both the title and book cover. Editors picks, featured authors, best sellers and kid’s books all have precedence on the homepage and the presentation is anything but cluttered. Random House does have links to facebook, myspace and twitter but the user must scroll down to the bottom of the page to access them. The website format appeals to a media-happy audience, but in a covert way. Random House claims to bring the consumer the best in fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. Their website speaks directly to this claim. Children’s books, nonfiction and fiction are all represented. Random House is aware that their readership is quite diverse, some readers want to know and read the latest and newest book, others want to read whatever is the most popular, while others are concerned with awards and reviews. This website is successful because it satisfies the company’s readership needs.
I am a fan of McSweeney’s, as such it was my first website to explore. McSweeney’s appeals to a hip, young and presumably educated audience. Their backlist features a lot of experimental works as well as new writers. I assumed that their website would stray from the ordinary. While McSweeney’s is surely not trying to reach the consumer culture through flashing graphics and twitter links they also really aren’t trying at all. Boring and bland are two credible adjectives that aptly describe the layout of this website. It’s almost as though they aren’t trying to sell anyone to buy their books. You have to already know about them and be willing to suffer through their website. The homepage is just a long list without much color or graphics. There is a link to their magazine and store but no descriptions. Then the consumer must scroll down past an angel food cake recipe, past submission guidelines, etc. There is virtually no organization, no navigation tools, and no separation between any of the content.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Age of Engage
I must confess that I judge books by their titles. Perhaps this is an unfair method, but in all honesty this was the method by which I used to choose my book. First I perused the reading list and the three books that stood out to me were Guerilla Marketing on the Internet, The Age of Engage, and Twitter Revolution. Guerilla Marketing made my list simply because it uses the word guerilla. Guerilla conjures up images of brutality, force and in general has a badass vibe. The Age of Engage is a cute and clever title. As for the third selection, I hate twitter. I don’t understand it. I don’t believe in it. Perhaps if I read Twitter Revolution I could gain a little insight into its purpose and function in marketing.
After narrowing the selection down to three I then googled each book. Amazon used words like arsenal and advertising jungle to peak my interest in Guerilla Marketing. Reviews ranged from “over-hyped piece of garbage” to “thumbs up.” In general, I got a sense that this book is good for beginners and those on a tight budget.
Amazon claims that The Age of Engage is written for professionals that have a basic understanding of marketing terms. The book covers social networks as well as the internet in general. Here the customer reviews ranged from “not very insightful” and “the textbook for the 21st century.”
Twitter Revolution describes its purpose on amazon as to teach people how to use twitter. I had to axe this title off the list right then and there. I am not down with a book that isn’t critiquing nor explaining twitter’s purpose.
When I made the choice between The Age of Engage and Guerilla Marketing it really came down to content. Guerilla was described as basic and rudimentary, while Engage goes a little more in-depth. I chose Age of Engage because it gets more into terminology and in general sounds complex and engaging.
After narrowing the selection down to three I then googled each book. Amazon used words like arsenal and advertising jungle to peak my interest in Guerilla Marketing. Reviews ranged from “over-hyped piece of garbage” to “thumbs up.” In general, I got a sense that this book is good for beginners and those on a tight budget.
Amazon claims that The Age of Engage is written for professionals that have a basic understanding of marketing terms. The book covers social networks as well as the internet in general. Here the customer reviews ranged from “not very insightful” and “the textbook for the 21st century.”
Twitter Revolution describes its purpose on amazon as to teach people how to use twitter. I had to axe this title off the list right then and there. I am not down with a book that isn’t critiquing nor explaining twitter’s purpose.
When I made the choice between The Age of Engage and Guerilla Marketing it really came down to content. Guerilla was described as basic and rudimentary, while Engage goes a little more in-depth. I chose Age of Engage because it gets more into terminology and in general sounds complex and engaging.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
