March Is Small Press Month

Books Are a Great Buy!

In a December issue of Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote about the best books of 2008. Read his The Pop of King column (12/12/08) to find out what books he chose: Alas, EW.com doesn't maintain older articles. Too bad.

Meanwhile, he had this to say about books: "Books are still the best bang for your buck. Would Uncle Stevie lie to you?"

Best Book on Sales and Marketing

Today, I saw this headline in a Twitter feed: Top 5 Books on Sales and Marketing (or something close to that). When I clicked on the link, I was taken to the following blog post: http://heblogssheblogs.com/the-greatest-book-on-sales-marketing.

Now, being the egocentric marketing genius that I am, I thought the blog post might be about my 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Alas, it was about a children's book! To think, I was being out-classed by a kid's book. But, then again, it was a Dr. Seuss book, so I can't feel all bad.

The post made me want to read the book again: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

In the book, the hero tries 16 times to make the sale. And does make it. And, most important, gets a hearty Thanks! at the end from the customer for his efforts.

And a little tidbit at the end of the post: A Random House editor bet Ted Geisel $50 he couldn’t write a book using only fifty words? The result was this book: Green Eggs and Ham.

Do Book Trailers Work? Go Viral Now!

Publishers Weekly recently interviewed a number of book publishers and publicists to survey how they felt about the effectiveness of book trailers. You can check out the article here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/400000640/post/1210039121.html.

Here is my short response to PW's article:

Most book trailers are not effective. They simply don't attract viral attention. Videos only work if they are passed on to others. Book trailers as they are now produced rarely create that viral sensation. But many other videos do achieve pass-along value. That's what book authors and publishers should be creating -- not book trailers but truly viral videos.

What I teach in my Ten Million Eyeballs online marketing seminars is how to create truly viral videos, not flat book trailers. Those are boring. Viral videos are interesting, funny, challenging, involving, and pass-alongable (my new word :)).

Check out http://www.tenmillioneyeballs.com.

Learn How to Build a Large Email List of Subscribers

David Riklan of SelfGrowth.com is offering a free 60-minute teleseminar on How to Build a Massive Email Subscriber List. You have your choice of two times to listen in live:

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific time -- Dial-in Number: 212-461-5860 and use participant access code: 1215#
or
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 p.m. Pacific (noon) -- Dial-in Number: 212-990-8000 and use participant access code: 1215#

Note: David built a list of over 950,000 email newsletter subscribers. He has a lot to teach you.

For a description of the teleseminar, see http://www.selfgrowth.com/buildmylist.html.

John Kremer's Birthday Bash free teleseminar

I'm hosting a free Q&A teleseminar on my 60th birthday. Come to listen in and ask all your book marketing questions.

Date: Friday, January 16th, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Phone Number to Dial: 218-486-3695
Use Conference ID: 2092800#

You can listen in by phone or via the Internet (no phone charges!). To listen in via the Internet and to ask questions ahead of time (if you can't attend the birthday bash), go to the following URL: http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=5553039.

That's also the URL you would go to if you want to listen to the Q&A teleseminar after the event.

Also, check out the free giveaways I'm offering to any author or publisher as a way to celebrate my 60th birthday. You can find the details at http://www.bookmarket.com/birthday.htm.

Have a Great New Year ... And More to Come All Year!

Did you know that you could celebrate New Years Day all year long -- that there are more than 100 new years days throughout the year? Check them out at http://www.manyhappynewyears.com. Enjoy!