I first met Marion a little over a year ago, when I limped into an Arizona Book Publishing Association meeting and grabbed a seat in the back. I was just starting to get out and about after struggling with piriformis syndrome. She came over immediately to greet me and welcomed me to the association.

I’ve gotten to know her better since then, and admire her mission and commitment to “giving voice” to others. She told me, “I have always been fascinated by who people are and where they come from, and why they live one side of the street instead of the other.  Imagine my surprise when I met a group of women who chose to live on no street at all. What started out as a desire ‘to give voice’ to these women, wound up with a www.togivevoice.com website and an audio CD and then a book.”

Marion is a great example that you can be any age and from any walk of life to write a book that resonates with the public and exemplifies your passion.   Over the past few years, she has given voice to these women in a variety of formats, including the book, the website, and through recorded interviews to help bring them alive. She has begun Internet-based marketing with blogs, podcasts and a Buy page on the website.   Throughout the journey, she has relied on the Arizona Book Publishing Association to help her understand this new world of self-publishing.

“A mentor recommended in 2007 that I join the association,” says Marion. “The members have quietly guided my publishing growth while challenging my marketing focus. They honor my passion ‘to give voice’ while reminding me that I’m not crazy.”

I admire her because she hasn’t stopped there.  Her next project is  a new book called “The Noble Art of the Printed Book Through Social Media Publishing,” (the working title) which is being developed this summer.  She is interviewing different experts to articulate the unique value not only of the tangible, printed book in a world where electronic formats are gaining more and more prominence, but the value as well of authors seeking outside help during their publishing journey, and not going it alone.

Her five-year plan is to transition back into the Arizona East Valley RV lifestyle. According to Marion, there is no retiring from her life’s passion, but a continuing commitment to give voice to those who want to be heard at this point in their lives.

To find out more about Marion and her work in progress, visit her website at www.togivevoice.com.

Is there something or someone in your life that you want to give voice to? It’s never too late.

In 2008, over a billion dollars of audiobooks were sold in the U.S.   They are typically purchased by “educated buyers over the age of 30 who have busy lifestyles,” according to demographic stats.

Here in Arizona, John Mahoney of Ravenpheat Productions specializes in audio books.   After listening to him rattle off the ins and outs of turning a print book into audio format, I realized it really behooves authors to work with someone who knows what they are doing.   Do NOT try this alone!

If you’re in the market to produce an audio version of your work, visit the studio you’re considering and take a look around.  Is it organized?   Are all of your questions answered?   Are the hours flexible, or fixed?  

John says that of the books he has helped produce, about 50% of the authors read their own books.   The other 50% use professional audio talent from his database of voice samples.   The danger in reading your own book is that you just might not be that adept a reader.   “If they can’t read smoothly, I have to do twice as much editing, which will cost more in the long run,” John says.  Better to listen to a few of the MP3 clips he has, mostly of ex-radio talent who know how to read professionally without slurring words.   “You have to be relaxed,” advises John.   “Once you let go, everything flows.   The energy is everything, however.   For most books, there is some acting involved – playacting to keep the energy level up.” 

He will only record the voice talent 2-3 hours at a time, to keep the energy consistent.   If he detects the energy flagging, he will stop the session. 

It takes about 10-12 hours to read a 50,000 word book, and 40-60 hours to edit that audio.   The cost is roughly 2.6 cents a word if he’s not in crunch time, and he provides 2 sets of masters on CDs.  About 10,000 words will fit on a CD, so a 40,000 word book will be 4-6 CDs.  One of the largest projects he has worked on was a 170,000 word book, which came out to 12 or 13 CDs.  

The voice talent cost is separate, and starts at $60-$70/hour.   The music, which is used for introduction, outros, and fillers in between chapters, is royalty-free, which saves the author both costs and hassles.

Carra Riley lives in Arizona and wrote, “Cosmic Cow Pie:  Connecting the Dots,” which contains 14 principles to reduce stress.  She recorded the audio book at John’s studio, and sells the CD version of her book and the MP3 version on her website, www.CosmicCowPie.com.  “Most people tell me they love having the author read the book to them,” says Carra.   “It makes them feel part of the message, and like I am a friend.   I wrote the book from my life experiences so with me reading it, the message is very authentic and sincere for those who have listened.”

So many formats to deliver these days – print, PDF,MP3, ebooks, audio CD, video…and they all represent additional revenue streams to suit individual tastes.

Just think – what if Margaret Mitchell had a book video trailer for “Gone With the Wind” in 1936?   What would it have looked like before the movie trailer in 1939?

Video book trailers are the latest development in book promotion.  A company right here in Scottsdale, Master Duplicating Corp., creates affordable video book trailers ($300 – $400 on average).  Designed like movie previews, these 30-90 second video clips help sell a speaker, author or entertainer’s talents and promote them to prospective clients.

CEO Janita Cooper works closely with her clients and will create the video clip using non-royalty based music and graphics.   The authors and speakers can be featured in the clip, or not, depending on their preference.   Unlike a lot of radio talk show hosts, Janita actually reads the book beforehand, to get an idea of what sort of clip would work best.    As part of her planning session with an author, she gets them to think hard about their fan base, she says.   “What would you tell your fan base about the book?   What are the five most compelling words you can tell me so someone will enjoy your book?”

The final clip can be formatted for disk, YouTube, or as an email attachment.   Costs average between $300 – $400.   Scottsdale author Marcia Fine worked with Janita to create a trailer for her new book, “Stressed in Scottsdale.”  Marcia raves about her experience creating this novel form of book promotion.  “Janita’s team was very professional and creative. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of my book trailer. I attach it to emails, press releases, and Facebook as well as other writer sites like Celebritize Yourself and The Truth about Books. It gets people’s attention and let’s them know your message in seconds. I highly recommend it as part of an author’s marketing plan.”  You can watch Marcia’s book trailer here on YouTube. 

For more information, visit Janita’s site at www.masterdup.com.   Wouldn’t it be neat if all authors had created video book trailers?   How wonderful it would be to see Sylvia Plath talking about “The Bell Jar,” or Thomas Wolfe explaining “You Can’t Go Home Again.”   Which famous book author would you have liked to have seen?

”

Author Diana Gabaldon finds that her readers buy both the hardcover and ebook versions of her works

Windowing” is the practice of delaying the release of a digital version in order to deliver the hardcover version first.  It has been used with books and ebooks, movies and DVDs.   In high-tech, it’s also used to avoid cannibalizing the original product with the release of the later, more feature-happy version.

An article by Ken Auletta in The New Yorker (April 26, 2010) included interviews with representatives from Amazon and publishing houses.   There’s a big difference in philosophies in these two cultures about windowing.   Amazon doesn’t like the idea of putting up a “barrier” to keep a book out of the hands of “someone who might evangelize it.”  Publishers, on the other hand, practice this tactic frequently in order to promote their hardcover sales. 

I think windowing will go away soon.    At the recent ABPA awards, I was talking with several other people to Scottsdale author Diana Gabaldon.  She indicated that her loyal readers buy both the hardcover and ebook versions of her works – they read the ebooks on their Kindle and buy the hardcover as a sort of pristine work of art to keep on their shelves.  

Fears of cannibalizing one form of the product with another seem to be moot these days….

New guide features history and details of the trails in the Arizona Superstition Mountains

At the Arizona Book Publishing Association annual Glyph awards event last weekend, I sat next to Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart, authors of the “Superstition Wilderness Trails East.”  This hiker’s guide won several awards that night, and here is the story of their road to self-publishing success, in Jack’s own words:

How did the idea for the book begin?

When I left Motorola in 1992,  I combined three of my interests–engineering, writing and hiking. Our Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness book is somewhat like a technical document with lots of  maps and diagrams, calculated distances and hiking times, and research into the historical aspects of the trails. I have a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and also a MBA degree, so the business part of book publishing also attracted me to the project.

What resources did you use to help yourself along?

 Elizabeth was the only source of help at first. Motorola provided editorial assistance on one writing project where we wrote two small pamphlets on engineering techniques. After Elizabeth and I started the Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness book project, we joined the ABPA (for publishing help), and the Arizona Authors Association (for writing help). Dan Poynter’s Self Publishing Manual was our guide to everything.

How did you divide up the responsibilities as co-authors?

We both hiked the trails, researched official government documents, and interviewed local ranchers. I wrote the initial draft and Elizabeth made corrections and adjustments to the flow and presentation of the information. We both selected the photographs. I made the maps. I run the publishing business with the advice of Elizabeth.

What would you say to encourage other writers who feel their genre might already be crowded with too many competitors?

Hundreds of books have been written on the Superstition Mountains. We found that by combining hiking and a very detailed history of the hiking trails we were able to attract a new audience. The key is to add something unique to your subject. We try to listen to the suggestions that others give us for clues to what is missing in other publications.

How long did it take to complete the books?

 It took about 3 years to write and publish the “Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness” book in 1995. It is in the 9th printing now. It took us 14 years to write and publish the Superstition Wilderness Trails East book in 2009. 

How did you publish the guides?

We published both books with our own company, Clear Creek Publishing, established in 1993. We hire freelance book designers and editors, and have been using Thomson-Shore as our printer for many years. The process of going through another publisher seemed confusing at the time. Also, selling the manuscript for a small royalty was not attractive.

It never occurred to me that with the growing popularity of ebooks, book cover design might go the way of my favorite album covers of the 70s and earlier.   Had it occurred to you?

As this recent article points out, if book jackets disappear, something in the total experience of reading a book will be lost.   I’ve often picked up a book based on the cover, not so much the topic. 

CDs are okay, but I miss buying album covers and spending time reading lyrics that are actually legible instead of point 6 size.    It was all part of the “experience” of buying music.   I hardly look at CD covers now – they’ve definitely lost something in the translation to a smaller footprint.  And as we have more and more ebooks, we may lose the art of intriguing book cover design.   

I have a collection of Zane Grey books that belonged to my father.  Most have the original dust jackets on them.   If you’re not familiar with Grey, he lived in Payson, Arizona for a time, and wrote beautifully of the “Rim Country.”  The dust jackets speak to an era in book design that was so rich in complexity.   

I don’t know if current book design does it for me.   I can’t get excited over the Twilight series covers, for example.   But maybe to the target teenage audience, covers don’t matter as much.  

How do you think book cover design will change in the next 5 years?   I think more emphasis will be on distribution channels and less and less on the artistic component.  Pity.

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a book publicist?   Here are some insights from Heather Fox, senior publicist for Pearson:

Q: What advice would you give someone in PR who would like to move into book publicity?

The publishing industry is especially dynamic at this time with lots of changes in how customers are purchasing and consuming books, eBooks and other mobile and multimedia formats that deliver learning material in different ways. I would recommend anyone interested in this industry to be an avid reader of the trade publications and informed blogs that cover it, including ones such as Publisher’s Weekly and Mediabistro’s GalleyCat.

 Q: What do you think is the top misconception about your field?

I represent authors who are advanced technical experts, some of whom have invented the very technologies about which they write, and so people sometimes ask me if I need to be well-versed with those technologies. Of course, I do my best to appreciate and understand the topics from a 30,000 foot-level (humanities major that I was!), but generally speaking, the most critical skills and approaches involve getting to know the movers and shakers in the relevant technical communities; that is, who’s writing about what, who’s excited about what, and then as a publicist, connecting with those individuals to introduce them to our authors and to establish an ever-growing web of networked relationships.

Another area where people have vastly different expectations is the question of how book publicity drives sales. With an increasingly greater percentage of book publicity happening online, there are more and more tools arriving every day to measure and correlate “hits” with purchases. As a publicist, I am definitely aware of some sites that appear to really help sales whenever they review or mention our books, but just as well, there’s the confidence and belief that the accumulation of “smaller-site” mentions, reviews, Q&As with our authors, etc. are absolutely critical in gaining visibility for our authors and products over time. I guess you’d call that the “long-tail” effect.

 Q: What is a typical day like for you? What kinds of projects do you work on?

A portion of my days is very structured; i.e. a new book has just published and so there is an infrastructure of action items in place to support each new book, such as communicating with a pre-determined set of media contacts, user groups, talking about new products in social media channels, etc. As well, there’s definitely a free-flowing, unstructured aspect to my job which involves reading a lot of technical trade web sites– and an increasing universe of tech bloggers– and as one interesting link often leads to the next, in this way, I discover enthusiastic new reviewers eager to read/watch our content and recommend it (or not), to their groups of respective readers.

 Q: How did you get into this field?

I’ve been with Pearson for 7 years and my career prior to it was pretty varied, with stints as a business journalist and positions in business development and financial public relations. I started my career just as the Internet was arriving to the mass population (at the news agency where I worked, I recall many a company’s stock price would increase exponentially just by virtue of announcing a simple e-commerce site), and so I became highly interested in finding a position that would utilize my core skills— marketing and public relations—but focused on the world of technology.

 Q: Is there a certain part of the country that people should move to if they are really interested in pursuing this profession?

Within the U.S., I believe New York City is generally considered the mecca for publishing and many large houses do have substantial corporate functions based here. That said, given how knowledge work is increasingly conducted in virtual environments, I believe enterprising individuals are no longer bound as greatly by geography. Even so, living in a city where publishing is a major industry affords professionals the opportunity to network face-to-face through trade groups, meetups, etc., and for many, this personal interaction remains as important as ever to moving forward in one’s career.

 Q: What kinds of books do you represent?

When I first started at Pearson, I was pretty focused on highly technical books; that is, learning materials for high-level computer programmers, system administrators, security experts and systems developers. As business and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined, I’ve been representing many more books that are developed for business people to better comprehend and realize the opportunities offered by enterprise technologies. This has been a gratifying transformation, as it means reaching a much broader segment of the population.

 Q: What kinds of audiences do you outreach to?

Given our publicity team here is striving to connect and engage with technical professionals, we’ve had the advantage of sort of getting pushed fairly early on into all the new Web 2.0 communications mediums, simply in order to meet our customers and prospective customers where they were actually congregating online. As a result, I can say that our media approach is really quite integrated, in that we’re aiming to connect with any informed individual who has a platform to discuss, and to recommend our authors and learning products, whether that person is a full-time professional journalist, a part-time hobbyist blogger, or a compulsive minute-by-minute Tweeter.

Economic Futurist Joan Foltz

Those of us who attended Joan Foltz’ presentation at the Arizona Book Publishing Association luncheon yesterday left the meeting somewhat more encouraged than when we arrived, as the hot button in publishing today is what effect ebooks will have on our beloved traditional, physical book. Her talk was entitled, “What’s Up/Down with the Publishing Industry.”  She was the perfect speaker for this topic, as she has a master’s degree in futures studies, is an “economic futurist,” and is in the process herself of putting out two books. She looks at industries and analyzes their cycles and what is changing the behavior and structures of those systems.  You can find out more about her background and newsletter at www.edgyeconomics.com.   

What’s our pulse now? 

We are now in a state of “disequilibrium,” according to Joan, where we are trying to determine which is fad, and which is permanent change. Destruction is scary, she said, and some people will be knocked out, but it also represents new opportunity. 

The short story — – there will be both physical book and electronic publishing for at least 50 years. As an author or publisher, determining which format in which to produce your book will depend on what your target customers want, and what the giant bookstore Barnes & Noble does. She advised that we keep an eye on B&N as a bellwether as they address this challenge. 

It was comforting to hear that she felt, based on her analysis, there will be a combination of print and electronic for a long time. She contrasted books against sound (music) and movies, saying that the book is a product, a testament to our accomplishments. Even more than that, it’s an art form. It represents connection and environment. We find comfortin being surrounded by books, and eat, sleep, and even hang out in the bathroom with them.     This emotive factor of physical books cannot be translated to e-books. The physical book makes a statement, and personalizes spaces. It invites people in. 

Barnes & Noble is important because what they determine on the profitability of different formats will determine the evolution of those book formats. The ebook has disrupted the chain. Like other technology inventions, it will morph into the phone or computer and will not be a separate device.   Joan even predicted that it will be given away for free – just as cell phones are given away when people sign up for service. 

Publishers will see a split between books that have physical attraction and books that have current, timely information. There is a lot of emphasis placed on the purchase point, and this will affect textbooks. You will be able to download just the chapters that you need.  Also, the producers of content are changing, and Amazon won’t be our leader anymore. Distribution and producer will merge. 

The competition we will see will be companies that are not in the traditional publishing industry. New players from outside the industries, like Kinko’s/Fed Ex will appear, since they have so many local stores. There will be a consolidation in the industry and a lot of players will be knocked out. 

So how do we plan for the future? Watch the publishers that cater to the babies and youth, she said. Watch the big publishers — this will form the future. Teens, for example, want a lot of interaction. Interestingly, however, she mentions studies that teenagers who are saturated with technology early on are often no longer keeping up – they’re tired of it. It’s a saturation point and things have come full cycle. Unlike some futurists who predict that we will go completely into a virtual world, Joan does not believe or predict this. She feels there is embedded in us a physical attachment to books, and to the physical connection that we get in bookstores. She mentioned that there is an explosion in store pickup, where instead of having a book sent to us that we found online, we go to the bookstore to pick it up. She pointed to Apple as an example of how they changed the whole computer buying experience for the retail store. There are real connections there. 

Publishing will really be marketing as we move forward. The interactivity in the websites will be extreme. If you’re good at that, she says you can be a big player in your area. 

Forces 

Multiple factors will affect the future of book publishing. In addition to watching what aging boomers are doing in their retirement years, she advised we keep an eye on the next boomers and watch them and what they adopt. The big publishers and their search for profitability will shape the future. Tech companies will infiltrate and will squeeze authors’ royalties because they have a different model of profitability. The dumbing down of society will be a huge factor, too, as we are becoming lazier and lazier. We are increasingly relying on visualization because it’s fed to us — there’s no cognitive translation effort. 

For authors, the future means more publishing options and larger readerships. It also means a different kind of writing, as crafting copy for the printed physical form is different from crafting electronic copy. She referenced a presentation I heard last week hosted by Business Wire (see my post here) in which the Arizona Republic Social Media Editor, Chad Graham, informed us that the reporters now have to write two versions of their stories, one for print and one for online. 

The keys for publishers are to make sure they 1) provide top service for their clients, 2) pay attention to the need for speed, 3) focus on marketing, and 4) recognize potential. She cited the example that Arizona author Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, sent her manuscript to dozens of publishers before landing a successful contract.  Those publishers who didn’t recognize her potential must be kicking themselves now.    Focus on what readers are looking for, she said, and what they want is a good story. 

I was riveted during the entire presentation, because her predictions validated the research I personally conducted in 1982-1984 as part of my master’s thesis on the viability of electronic formats as an alternative medium for book publishing, which you can read about (if you’re a book wonk, like me) in my January 27th post here.   The ability of a book to stand as an art form and as a comfortable environment may be what ensures its success through future generations, even if those generations grew up from the beginning with electronic exposure. As I write this, I am facing a wall in my office lined with beautiful books.  I used to think my attachment to books would perhaps die with my generation, but based on Joan’s analysis, this attachment is embedded in us at a deep level.  I find that immensely encouraging. 

Social Media 

Joan ended the presentation by talking about social media, and I must confess that this is where I somewhat politely disagree with her analysis. She referenced the saturation in the cycle of social media, particularly Twitter, saying that companies feel it isn’t productive for them.  Small business owners don’t have the time to dedicate to social media. She’s certainly right on about that prevalent attitude.   In fact, in the most recent Phoenix Business Journal (March 26), Reporter Chris Cassachia interviewed several local business owners who have opted to “shun the social media bandwagon.” 

It was at this point that my Twitter friend in the audience, @firefighterjoy, asked Joan what she felt was the future of social media, and Joan said she didn’t know, admitting that she didn’t use social media extensively.  This is where I digress from Joan’s analysis of the role of social media in the future. Those of you who know me know I am on Twitter and Facebook quite a bit, in addition to blogging here and for Valley PR Blog, so yes, I’m eating my own dog food.   I am constantly scanning twitter for 1) Information on current events  2) Information on factors that will affect public relations’ best practices going forward  3) Just in time information on specials or deals related to topics that are interesting or hobbies of mine (for example, I follow @dunkindonuts and @redsox_bb !) and 4) occasionally promoting my book, “Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy,” to my followers.   When a business owner says he or she doesn’t have time to waste on social media, that immediately raises the radar in my head that they don’t understand it, and more likely than not haven’t learned that there are invaluable tools such as Tweetdeck that filter out the information most pertinent to their business and provide an easy interface into the Internet.  Or perhaps they haven’t been on it long enough to find the many incredible people there are online to follow – I learn something new every day from them, and I’ve gained exposure and credibility as an author and PR consultant.  It’s an excellent branding tool.

Experts like my friend Katie Paine have spent their lives measuring communications and in the last few years, measuring social media as well.  Read her wonderful post, “How’s all that tweetey changey stuff working out?”   The data is out there and the books are out there as well – Now is Gone by Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis, The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breckenridge, and Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.   You can’t read these books and not come away with a clear picture of how social media will play an immense role in who survives and who doesn’t.  As Brian points out in his book, blogs (and social media in general) “are more than ranting diaries — a common misperception and underestimation, yet a popular assessment of anything written online by a citizen.” 

Anyway, these beautiful books are all part of the comfortable environment I’ve set up in my home office – no (April) foolin’.  Thanks for allaying my fears, Joan! :)

Master's thesis, Boston University, 1984

Steve Jobs demoed the Apple iPad today, which although not available for several months, promises to take us closer to e-book reality.

Master’s Thesis

I first researched e-books in 1983-84 as part of my master’s thesis at Boston University’s College of Communication. The project analyzed what was then an emerging communications technology, driven through the videotext channels at the time.  Videotext is a two-way interactive system which transmits information on telephone or cable lines to a specially adapted television set or home computer. Book publishing stood to be affected by videotext because it offered an important alternative to the familiar physical book that we all know.

Back then, future based institutes were predicting that by the year 2000, 35% of all households would have videotext. It was seen even back in the 80s as a trend toward media that are more specialized and less indistinguishable, a divergence from the truly mass media of before and occurring at a rate rapid enough to cause great confusion among media professionals.

Videotext for timely information

Videotext focused on distributing timely, as opposed to timeless, information. It was a sister companion to teletext which was broadcast over the airwaves as opposed to telephone or cable lines. Videotext offered the capability of two-way communication, allowing the user to interact and actually manipulate the information.

It was difficult back in 1983 to project how well e-books would be adapted because the screen technology was so primitive at the time. Since videotext was carried on (non hard-definition) television sets which have poorer qualiy than video display units, there was more of a jittering effect because of the different refresh rates. It was a challenge to read text off the screen. We know now that with the development of technology, screen readability is no longer an issue.

Costly distribution
In the early 80s, the distribution cost of data was also formidable. Source Telecomputing Corporation was founded in June 1979 in McLean, Virginia as a way to give the public affordable access to updated information. Daytime rates were over $20 an hour, and nighttime rates were $7-$10 an hour. The Source offered featured news, research, shopping and transaction, and education although limited.

Blind Pharoah – first electronic novel or ebook

The Source also had the distinction of offering the very first electronic novel, which later changed in nomenclature to “e-books.” At a Toronto computer show in early 1983, Burke Campbell wrote a suspense novelette at on an Apple III and sent it to The Source, which then edited it and had it online for Source subscribers only three hours later. Subscribers had the choice of reading “Blind Pharaoh” on their video display terminal, printing it, or storing it on a floppy disk. To download the story into computer memory was over two dollars at nighttime fees, which was still considerably cheaper than a paperback novel. The book had 20,000 words and 19 chapters.

Other services such as CompuServe, which was formed in 1969 as a time-sharing service and then as an information service in 1979, offered distribution rates for information at much lower fees, such as six dollars per hour during the daytime. Over the last 27 years, since I first researched electronic novels, there has been a lot of debate in the publishing world about where and how they can best be distributed.

Universal formats will bode well for e-books, so that users can ultimately choose the electronic version of their favorite book no matter what device they are carrying.  The publishing world is still settling the issue of digital piracy, and that will remain a thorny issue.

What hasn’t changed is that people still like the ease and portability of traditional book formats. In 1983, I predicted that this wouldn’t change. I still support that notion, but have backed off it a little bit because of the dramatic improvements in technology in terms of the look and feel. Society has also changed in terms of its consumption of information and its demand for immediacy of content. It may be that as generation outgrows generation, those of us who grew up with physical books are replaced by younger generations who have only known electronic media, and eventually the traditional book will only become a curiosity in a museum.

Technology has made ebooks more palatable

In the thesis, I described how unstable the refresh rate of characters on the screen were and how annoying they were to the eyes for any extended length of time. I concluded it is difficult to conceive of a scene where a user decides to call up the latest novel on his videotext terminal and read it on the spot. The issue then also was that the computer-like typeface of the medium when printed did not approach the sophisticated, readable typeface found in traditional books. I theorized that videotext equipment would have to be improved substantially to achieve this goal which seemed unlikely because it would undoubtedly mean higher prices.

Since directories are updated continually, I wrote, it is reasonable to expect that perhaps videotext will eliminate the traditional print formats of highly timely material if only to save printing costs such as scenario is in no way detrimental to book publishers as electronic transmittal in this particular case is much cheaper than print production. The experts I interviewed in the early 80s at different publishing houses, videotext service companies and cable companies felt that partnerships were the way to go. In the early stages of an industry, commented Shelley Isaccson, partnerships make sense.

The future as predicted in 1983

Obsolescence is defined as the situation occurring when a new product performs functions more effectively than the old.  Videotext, now in the form of ebooks are not a threat to printed books, nor vice versa. Each medium has particular instances where its convenience outperforms the other. For e-books, the selectivity of timely information is its major advantage. Books are more appropriate for portable and lengthy “escapist” material. The two forms are merging and moving toward coexistence. It remains to be seen what the final arrangement will look like.

Note:  It is interesting that I typed the thesis, rather than used a computer, as I did not have access to or own a computer in 1983.    I owe a debt of gratitude to my three expert readers for the project, including Professor David Sykes at Boston University, Analyst Berge Ayvazian, and Computerserve Branch Support Manager Antonio Dutra.  

Author Alan Korwin

Book publicity is a talent that a lot of authors don’t possess.  However you feel about the controversial topic of gun laws, (and I’m squarely in the middle), you have to admire someone like Alan Korwin.   Through hard work and a natural promotional ability, he has taken his Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide through 24 successful self-published editions.  

1).   How did you first get the idea for your book, The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide?

Moved here from NYC, where guns in the hands of the public are virtually unknown, and found Arizonans sold guns and ammo in supermarkets. When I asked,  ”What are the rules?”, the guy at the counter asked me what I meant by rules. I figured there was room in the market for a book on it. I certainly wanted to know. People started making me offers for copies before I had it written.

2).   You self-published your book.   How did you promote it in the beginning?

I secured a book contract with what I thought would be the best publisher in the state, but I could see they had no idea how to handle this project, and even if they did, I wasn’t going to make any money on the deal. So I took my wife out for a walk and told her I was going to do this. Now we’re both in it up to our necks.

How did I do it in the beginning? Just like now. Insane amounts of effort, energy, venturing where I had no idea what I was doing, and learned quickly. Met people, made friends, helped others, zeroed in on the movers and shakers, networked nonstop. Traveled the entire state and went into every gun store I could find. Not bad for a kid from the Bronx who had never been in a gun store. I figured that’s where the customers were. Used copy machines like a demon. This was before the web, 1989. Now I just push buttons, like I’m doing for you Linda. How many people will this reach?

3).  What edition is the book in now?

24th. We put out three editions in one year once, to meet demand (the Brady Law changed the whole landscape, and then the concealed-carry permit did the same again).

4).  Can you summarize all the developments since that first edition two decades ago?

My little firm Bloomfield Press, from that inauspicious beginning of one skinny book (it’s grown 100 pages thicker), is now the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the nation, eight of which I’ve written (and more than 220 products so far — DVDs, buttons, stickers, related topics). I was an invited guest at the U.S. Supreme Court for the benchmark Heller case last year, and joined an amicus brief (my first) in the Chicago gun-ban case coming up in March 2010. Get one of my full-color catalogs, it’s free, request it online.

5) What’s your theory about book publicity?

 If it works, it counts.  If you’re smart, you follow your industry.  If you’re really smart, your industry follows you. You know you’ve written a good news release when they run it verbatim.  If you want to know what I think of reporters, see my newsmedia watchblog, Page Nine http://www.gunlaws.com/PageNineIndex.htm.  Or even better, their record on accuracy and objectivity http://www.gunlaws.com/NewsAccuracy.htm. That’s press relations.

 6) What are some of the PR mistakes you see first-time book authors doing?

• Getting an interview and saying “my book” five times, instead of saying “The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide” five times.
• Being on camera without your book in your hand, or worse, holding it at waist level or not holding it dead still. It’s got to be right next to your face to get in the shot.  Feels awkward at first. Then it’s second nature.
• Failure to put copies of your books on a table in camera range prevents the camera guy from zooming in for closeups they crave.
• If your cover is bright and colorful (an asset newbies often overlook) camera people love what it does to a TV set when it airs.
• Letting the interviewer control the dialogue, instead of knowing what you want to get across ahead of time and always working toward that. For example, ”So Mr. Korwin, what do you think about gun control?” “Well, that term has become a euphemism for disarming the public, and so it faces stiff resistance. But the public has guns and they’ll be have them tomorrow, so don’t you think it would be good if they knew the rules? That’s why I wrote The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide. So people could get a copy of the rules — in plain English! It doesn’t make sense to own a gun and not know the rules, wouldn’t you agree?”

 7) What advice do you have for someone who wants to promote their book?

First, recognize that this is show business.  Second, read read John Kremer’s “1,001 Ways To Market your Book.”