GalleyCat has posted about a comment Seth Godin made on his blog about
encouraging people to click on ads and that he was hoping we could create "the most robust ad environment for the web... one in which more surfers give permission to more marketers to make their case."

As an author and someone who has spent her life in advertising – pre “the net” and post, I agree with Seth.

Advertising has never been publishing’s strong suit, the industry still has a ways to go. The web can go far in helping our industry grow if we use it right because for the first time advertising is affordable.

Here are some basic mistakes the industry makes.

A.    All too often they wait for books to be a success before the start advertising instead of building a book with marketing.
B.    Too much is done in house by folks who simply don’t have an advertising background and can’t create the kind of compelling creative professionals can.
C.    Publishers tie the advertising effort for the most part to the two weeks of coop which ignores the fact that buzz takes 6-8 weeks to build.

I know, I know. All of this is because there is no money to advertise books correctly. And because there aren’t enough people in the marketing dept.

But that was then, this is now.

For years publishers bought ads, say for instance in the New York without having any idea whatsoever in the whole world if those ads were indeed effective or pulling or reaching the right audience. 

One ad, one day – or maybe if the book was a bestseller –two or three days.

The smallest ad in the NY is $7000 but in general publishers buy the next size up – in general they’re spending between $15,000 and on print ads without having any results to tabulate.

Enter the web.

You can take that $7000 and advertise for 3 or 4 weeks. Take the $15,000 and advertise for six weeks.

And while you’re doing it you can get information – what works, what catches people’s interest – change it if it isn’t. Experiment.

That’s hard to do though –takes time and people and money. (Or just hiring some of us who aren’t that expensive☺

But experimentation is loosing out to the idea of “conversion” this months magical buzz work.

What’s happening is that quite a few publishers who are now going online want conversion - instead what many of us know is more important – and that’s exposure.

People can’t buy a book if they don’t know it exists. And that existence comes before purchase and the two things don’t happen simultaneously. That’s why advertisers who do have money advertise all year long for the same product.

And its’ why I believe James Patterson’s books sell so much. He advertises his brand all year long in ads yes, and with books. Each one acts like an ad for the next one.

Like Seth says. Expose something to someone who might not have thought of buying it.

What he doesn’t say is do it over an over. You have to.

Most books are not toothpaste or apples. We don’t need them to survive – in a literal way. We can’t sell them the same way. We have to seduce readers into first picking up the book and thinking about buying it and then the book has to do its job.

Just because we can track when we never could before doesn’t mean we should loose sight of what we should be doing with our ad dollars. What an ad can do and what it can’t.

We shouldn’t expect an ad to do the job of a book.

When it comes to books here are a few different kinds of books – and what ads ca do different for each – all on line for a fraction of what it would cost in print.

A. Books written by very very top bestselling authors who already have a following. An ad can sell this book – meaning you can get conversion here - because the reader doesn’t need to think about the purchase.  She always buys Nora Roberts’s books and always will – the reader just needs to know the book is available. The reader needs to be exposed to this title and very likely will make a purchase without having to see/feel/read some of the book.

B. The book written by a famous person (Obama’s biography) or about an incendiary and/or very important subject (The Prosecution of George W. Bush). The reader needs to be exposed to this title and very likely will make a purchase without having to see/feel/read some of the book.

C. And then we get to more than 90% of all fiction titles and more than 30 % of the rest of the books out there.

The novel written by anyone other than a #1-#5 bestseller. A novel some people might be waiting for but more people aren’t. The non-fiction title on an interesting subject that but not one that is an immediate “have to have.”

These books won’t sell via an ad. They will interest a reader via an ad. The ad will expose potential readers to the book and hopefully the reader will hop over to BN, Amazon, Powell’s or stop in a store to read more about the book. Maybe even buy it or at least put it in their shopping cart. Or take it out of the library.

Do we want to damn affordable advertising now that we have it for the first time by demanding ads on line deliver conversion when we were able to data period from print ads?

Why are we suddenly judging ads by the most difficult criteria when for years publishers didn’t have any way to judge their ads at all?

Is it better to advertise a book to 2000 people who are die hard enthusiasts for that topic/author and get a 10% conversion rate and get 200 people to buy the book on the spot or is it better to advertise a book to 2 million people, get 100,000 of them to now be aware of the book and potentially look for it in the store?

Ideally you want to do both. And with prices being what they are on line you can do both. But I know a few publishers who aren’t not seeing the value of exposure because they are too hooked on the idea of conversion.

Conversion shouldn’t be the buzz word of our business. Exposure should be. Otherwise we are throwing out the potential that we’ve never had before and can be so valuable to our books and authors.

(Assembled with the help, as always, from Judge Page)

Emotions.  Our books are full of them but how about your marketing?  Today's Linktopia revolves around getting that special something in place when you are showcasing your work.

In this piece from Harvard Business Online, emotion might be what you need to make the difference in the crowded publishing field.

It seems that more and more organizations are finding that as technologies are copied instantly and the web levels the playing field on things like local pricing, emotions remain a strong differentiator.  The story is here.

The next stop on the emotional roller coaster involves taking a look at yourself.

With more authors being called on to be the face of their work, you just might be the part of the branding mix you are overlooking.

Share the passion you feel for your brand with everybody and give them a great experience. Treat every person (yes your vendors and internal clients too) like the biggest of your clients. Leave everybody you talk to each day feeling like you (therefore the brand you represent too) have made their day and leave them saying "no wonder they are (name of your brand here)!"

The rest of the post is here.

Finally, if you are in a relationship then you know all about listening and emotion.  Insert your own humorous memory here then continue.

"What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant curiosity of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult." - Freud  Strategic Marketing opportunities are new discoveries. A way to connect with people or find ways that people can profitably use your product or service and champion your company for the way it engages the ebb and flow of your offering (the Market is always changing).

If you've stopped smiling from that funny memory, then keep reading here.

(Assembled with the help, as always, from Judge Page)

Emotions.  Our books are full of them but how about your marketing?  Today's Linktopia revolves around getting that special something in place when you are showcasing your work.

In this piece from Harvard Business Online, emotion might be what you need to make the difference in the crowded publishing field.

It seems that more and more organizations are finding that as technologies are copied instantly and the web levels the playing field on things like local pricing, emotions remain a strong differentiator.  The story is here.

The next stop on the emotional roller coaster involves taking a look at yourself.

With more authors being called on to be the face of their work, you just might be the part of the branding mix you are overlooking.

Share the passion you feel for your brand with everybody and give them a great experience. Treat every person (yes your vendors and internal clients too) like the biggest of your clients. Leave everybody you talk to each day feeling like you (therefore the brand you represent too) have made their day and leave them saying "no wonder they are (name of your brand here)!"

The rest of the post is here.

Finally, if you are in a relationship then you know all about listening and emotion.  Insert your own humorous memory here then continue.

"What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant curiosity of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult." - Freud  Strategic Marketing opportunities are new discoveries. A way to connect with people or find ways that people can profitably use your product or service and champion your company for the way it engages the ebb and flow of your offering (the Market is always changing).

If you've stopped smiling from that funny memory, then keep reading here.

The following was emailed to me today by a lady at my local electric cooperative who had it posted near her desk. I asked her to pass it on to me because I found it interesting. I hope you like it as well. It's a great example of how something goes viral.

I believe . . . That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe . . . That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe . . . That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe . . . That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe . . . That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe . . . That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe . . . That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe . . . That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe . . . That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe . . . That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe . . . That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe . . . That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe . . . That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe . . . That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe . . . That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe . . . That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe . . . That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe . . . That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe . . . That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I believe . . . Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe . . . That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe . . . That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe . . . That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe . . . That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

AN ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHIING MODEL

Over the past few weeks, I have attended readings of two poets whose work appears in the recently published anthology Letters to the World: co-editor Rosemary Starace, a dear friend and valued critique partner; and Amy Lemmon, whom I met this year when she invited me to speak to her honors class at the Fashion Institute of Technology on challenges creative women face.

The readings, like the anthology itself, were notable not just for the quality of the presented work but for the inclusive and generous spirit which apparently informed the project from its inception.

The anthology is an outgrowth of the Discussion of Women's Poetry List (known as "Wom-Po"), a ten-year-old Internet community dedicated to exploring women's poetry and supporting women poets, both established and emerging.

I had experienced the warmth of the Wom-Po community a few years ago. My book, Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued, was originally conceived of as an anthology of essays by women on the topic of gender and creativity. Rosemary posted my "elevator pitch" on the listserv, and within a few days my inbox was flooded with fascinating emails containing not only descriptions of proposed essays, but suggestions for other ways to attract good writers. I corresponded with several of these women and included their essay descriptions in my book proposal.

When the editor who had solicited my proposal got back to me with the news that the publisher was most interested in my introductory material and wished me to expand that into a single-author book, I sent out an email to the contributors thanking them for their efforts and explaining that this project would not proceed further at this time. I didn't expect to hear back from anyone. But a number wrote back to congratulate me, wish me well, and say that they were looking forward to the published book. I knew then that this was a special group.

The anthology, whose title was inspired by Emily Dickinson's "This Is My Letter to the World," represents the work of 259 contributors from nineteen countries over five continents. The forms range from traditional to uncategorizable; the subject matter from romantic love through the mechanics of home pregnancy tests, the chemistry of decomposing bodies, and nearly any other topic a poem can be written about. No two are similar; all belong.

The readings were more like parties. There was no jockeying for the spotlight; no stretching of time limits at the expense of othe readers. Each anthology poet--three at Amy's reading; two at Rosemary's--read a selection of other contributors' work before presenting her own poems. There was nothing pro forma about any of this--the interpretations of the work of absent poets were clearly fully felt; often, the poem was followed by an expression of appreciation by the reader: "Doesn't that last line give you goosebumps?" or "God, what an image!" The result was a blurring of the boundary between reader-artists and audience; we were all drawn together into the charmed circle of participants in the appreciation of beauty and authentic expression. It was a magical and enlightening experience, one that, I'm assured, is typical Wom-Po.

This is not a model most writers can afford to follow. The list and the book are not profit-making ventures; their sole "business" is exploring and promoting art. It's fun to reflect, though, on what life would be like if that were the business of publishing generally.

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. Her book,  Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007) is now available in bookstores. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.  

While reading the July/August issue of ForeWord magazine, I discovered an incredible number of great book covers. You can review these covers to help you design your own great covers.



I love the cover of this romantic thriller.



I also love the design of Mara Purl's Milford-Haven mysteries, like the one above.



Here are two poetry books with great covers.



Kunati does some great book covers that must really appeal to the people who like to read their sort of novels. I find these covers very attention getting.

Check out the book cover designers featured at http://www.bookmarket.com/101des.htm.

According to FastCompany more and more of us are listening to books... I've blogged about it before. I started listening about three years ago and now half of my reading is hearing... Here's the FC interview with the owner of Audible.

And this is also true for me - is it for you? That reading a thriller gets my blood pounding as much as watching a thriller. Scientists have proves the books deliver chills and thrills as well as movies. The  anterior insula proves it. Read why here.

Little League World Series, The Olympics, and The Dark Knight Getting Unshelved with the Ten-Cent Plague
Can you tell me: Who watches the Watchmen?

This is probably one of my favorite times of the year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  The world descends upon our small city in northern-central PA for two weeks of baseball in it's purest form.  16 teams of 11 and 12 year-olds arrive in town after weeks of local, state and regional tournaments to play on the hallowed ground of Lamade Stadium, and a chance at the title of World Champion. 

There isn’t any ticket to buy and about the only thing besides food that you have to pay money for is parking on someone's front yard.  Over the course of a two week period nearly a million people will come watch the games and it never ceases to amaze me at how quickly the kids/athletes forget about the television cameras and the crowds. 

If you ever plan on coming to Williamsport to see the games-plan way ahead.  Hotels book up solid for an hour's drive radius.  Just ask President Bush's Secret Service advance team about their experience from trying to set up a visit only two weeks prior to the series a few years ago.   They wouldn’t have had a place to stay had it not been for the local chamber of commerce stepping in to help.  Hotels start booking rooms almost a year ahead of the games.

Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and The Lyrics to Our National Anthem.
It has been fun watching Phelps smash the records of Mark Spitz and strange at the same time.  I sat with my sons telling them that I also got to see Mark Spitz set records and win all those gold medals when I was a kid. That was a loooong time ago!   

When the Olympians are standing on the podium you will notice that some will sing the anthem and others will not.  Have you ever tried to sing the national anthem?  Think about the lyrics and then try to sing them.  It's almost impossible if you don't have a crowd around you to remind you of how the song goes.   I learned that a few years back when I did announcing for Penn State boxing tournaments.  My brother-in-law was the team coach and one time the tape, on which he had the national anthem, broke.  When this happened he turned to me and said "I need you to sing the anthem".  I said "Sure!" and just dove in not really knowing if I got the lyrics right.   No one in the crowd said anything so I guess I nailed it.  It did haunt me for the entire ride home so I went online and downloaded the lyrics.

Ugly Dolls and Interesting Sights at Comic Con
I was introduced to Alita Friedman, the woman who runs the Ugly Dolls world at San Diego Comic Con and what a gold mine she has!  I think we are so used to the 'Disney' marketing of characters with the big, puppy-dog eyes that their creations are a breath a fresh air. Somehow, they came up with these very cool dolls that defy the traditional research and development dream toy.  According to my nine-year-old daughter, "Ugly Dolls just rock". 

As for the interesting sights?  Well it is Comic Con after all and if you weren’t in costume you were probably working in one of the booths.  What struck me as rather funny was a line of superheroes waiting for the bathroom.  Those one-piece Spiderman costumes pose quite the challenge when it comes time to 'use the facilities'.  I thought about taking the camera into the bathroom but some things really are better left to the imagination.

Unshelved and The Ten-Cent Plague 
One of the funniest web comic series the planet, to me anyway, is called Unshelved and the genius creators behind this are Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum.  Unshelved is a twisted Doonesburean view of life in a library.  What's extra cool about these guys is that the stories they tell can be applied to just about any life-at-work scenario.   I also like that they find cool books and talk about them.  The latest book we agree on The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America.   The author, David Hajdu brings to life the history of comics in America complete with the hysteria, congressional hearings and book burnings that raged during the Eisenhower years.  Bill and Gene write a great comic strip and they know how to make the right call on books too.   

The Dark Knight, the Watchmen and the Future of Graphic Novels
I saw The Dark Knight on an IMAX screen while I was on vacation and now, I dont think I could ever see it on television.  What a ride! Heath Ledger gave an Oscar-winning performance as The Joker.  Scarily stunning.   If you saw the movie then it's no doubt that you saw the trailer for The Watchmen. In the trailer you see copy that reads "From The Graphic Novel".  Tell me that the money men in the television and movie industry won't miss that.   Alan Moore wrote over twenty years ago and yet it's relevant to the here and now that it's scary.  The book is selling so well that DC Comics had to order up another 900,000 copies.  The Watchmen is arguably one of the greatest graphic novels in history and also made Time Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels.  It really looks like the movie studio did a great job of creating a masterpiece.   Go check out the book and you will see some brilliant writing by Alan Moore. 

Get ready for a lot more because there are so many great graphic novels that will serve as the perfect books for more great movies.  We have only scratched the surface!

John Shableski works for Diamond Book Distributors as a sales manager with a focus on the independent bookstore market, public and school libraries.  He's been a moderator and panelist at Book Expo, a moderator for library panels at the New York Comic Con, a guest speaker at library events, regional book shows and a symposium coordinator. He is currently collaborating on several graphic novel symposiums across the country.  He can be reached via email at shjohn@diamondbookdistributors.com

Sometimes Linktopia offers related pieces and then like today you get the buffet from the world of marketing. (With help from Judge Page.

It seems each week a new story will surface on how our brain works when we make purchasing decisions.  The latest from Neuroscience discusses a field test by a bank that confirms what many of us already suspected. 

For the male customers, replacing the photo of a male with a photo of female on the offer letter statistically significantly increases takeup; the effect is about as much as dropping the interest rate 4.5 percentage points… For female customers, we find no statistically significant patterns. 

The rest of the article is here.

Marketing to mobile was noted here long ago and with the arrival of the iPhone it seems to finally be getting legs.  Ralph Lauren is making a move in that direction with a mobile commerce site.

"We recognize that in America this is going after somebody who is more comfortable with technology," Lauren told Reuters. "The truth is that in other countries, it's becoming a part of their culture. The trend is coming, and as a fashion company it's very important to identify trends and get ahead of them."
Continue reading here.

If you haven't seen this thought you would enjoy.  For all the authors of the world trying to figure out how to market, maybe it will help. It's a video called Process and  had been viewed more than 350,000 times and 600+ blogs have written about it. 

Read about it and watch it here: Creating the Stop Sign.

And, no matter how much or how little money you have, you still want creative that is memorable.  Brandweek has this look at drawing yawns without a pill.

If you think that marketing in the drug category is becoming less interesting and more monotonous, you're right.

A ranking of the most-recalled prescription drug ads shows that prescription drug ads became less memorable for consumers between this year and last, as measured by Nielsen IAG, New York.

The rest of the story is here.

Dear Dr. Sue:

I have a great opportunity -- the best I've had so far. A top agent is interested in reading my full manuscript, after I've made a deep revision based on his suggestions. He said, "If you can bring the entire novel up to the level of humor you have here, I can do a lot with it: movie deals, multiple book deals, etc. A lot." When I left the workshop where I met him, I was flying (as you can imagine). I made a revision plan, and I know exactly what the book needs. I know how to make it stronger. I know it's time for me: I have the writing skills, the knowledge about publishing, a rudimentary marketing plan, everything. It's time. I just can't seem to get the revision done (though I've revised novels before). Two things have happened. One, I started thinking, "be funny, be funny. Have to be funny." As a result, all the funny oozed out of my brain (and not onto the paper!). As soon as I started "studying humor," I forgot how to be funny. The other is that life got in the way. I've taken a series of emotional blows since then: a theft (several thousand dollars and a hard copy of  my manuscript), a big fight with my husband that remains unresolved (we never fight), old aches my parents have stirred up (complex issues that result in my feeling unable to ever measure up). I find myself battling what appears to be depression: none of the things that normally bring me joy have any interest to me right now, and even day-to-day tasks (feed the children, take a shower, do the carpool) seem overwhelming. And now it's summer. Three months of young children underfoot during my writing time. Revising the novel seems an insurmountable obstacle, and even worse, I can almost hear the clock ticking over my shoulder because the longer I take, the more likely it is that the agent will lose interest. I feel a little silly writing like this. I'm a smart girl, and I've worked through plenty of issues before. I feel like I should be able to work myself out of this funk (or even better, write my way out of it). But so far, I just haven't been successful, and it gets harder and harder every day to find the energy to even climb the stairs to my office. Stuck Dear Stuck: Let's address your last concern first, since it's a very common one. There is nothing "silly" about seeking help when you feel overwhelmed. The reason we consulttherapists, counselors, and online advice columnists isn't that we're not smart enough to work through our own issues, but that it's hard to see all of the possible pathways from the middle of the woods. Sometimes an outside expert can provide an aerial view. If it helps, think of us as psychic editors--even the books of the most accomplished writers don't go straight from the computer to the bookshelf, because none of us are fully capable of viewing our work with distance and objectivity. Second, I think it's important to let yourself off the hook a bit. Writing well is difficult enough in a tranquil, unpressured environment. You are dealing with multiple stressors, any one of which could make it difficult to focus your attention on your work in a sustained way. This is not to say you should give up for now--of course you want to take advantage of this exciting opportunity--but don't up the ante by excoriating yourself for failing to perform perfectly on demand. Remind yourself that a) you have revised successfully before, and can do it again; b) school will start again in a few weeks; c) this agent will most likely still be around, and still interested, when you have completed your revision; and d) even if "c)" is not the case, if your work is of sufficiently high quality to have attracted his interest, chances are good that other agents will be interested, too. So take a deep breath, and as you exhale, try to let go of any self-judgment or negativity. Third, while some writers might respond with unambivalent glee to the prospect of "movie deals, multiple book deals, etc.,"  many of us are most comfortable at home, at the computer or between the covers of a good book, and would be disoriented, if not intimidated, by the possibility of being thrust into the spotlight this way. You might want to spend some time exploring what "success" means to you, in your personal and professional life, whether this agent's agenda fits into this vision, and whether you feel ready for this level of exposure--and, if not, what steps you can take to prepare yourself. Remember that even if these offers do eventuate, they are not likely to materialize suddenly or all at once. There will be time to acclimate. Finally, I would encourage you to explore your responses to authority figures. Your reference to "old aches my parents have stirred up (complex issues that result in my feeling unable to ever measure up)" suggests that the challenge to improve your manuscript to meet the ambiguous standards of a person in power could provoke a complicated and fraught reaction. The last two issues, if I am indeed inferring accurately, may be difficult to work out on your own, or even with a trusted friend. Again, there is the matter of distance and perspective. I would strongly suggest consulting a professional--not because you are weak or unresourceful, but because, as you say, it's time--and you deserve to make full use of all the tools at your disposal to help you achieve your dream.

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. Her book,  Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007) is now available in bookstores. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.  

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

Q:  I’m not seeing good response rates from my ad… what could I be doing wrong?

 

A: Part of media planning is getting one’s advertisement in front of enough eyeballs.  A second part of media planning is targeting those eyeballs, so you aren’t wasting money displaying your ad to the wrong customers.

A third – often overlooked – part of the process involves working with the creators of your advertising to marry the message with the media.  If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you might’ve noticed one or two VISA commercials, since they paid roughly $75 million for the privilege of being an official sponsor. 

Now VISA could’ve used their Olympics airtime to run pre-existing ads like this, but instead they created an entirely new campaign to maximize their sponsorship.  What does Kerri Strug’s heroic vault have to do with using a plastic card to pay your dry cleaning bill?  I’m not sure, but I feel good while paying those high interest rates.

Advertising is even more effective when the creative message dovetails with your chosen media platform (i.e. television, radio, outdoor, direct mail, etc). Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

Absolut Vodka’s latest campaign – “In an Absolut World” – also includes the following ad that ran in the front section of several local newspapers.

Absolut could’ve reached more people by placing that same ad in Sports Illustrated, but by choosing local newspapers, they reach a targeted, self-selecting audience – someone interested enough in world politics to pay for a newspaper subscription and read past Dear Abby.  That type of person is likely someone who’d appreciate their politicians with a Pinocchio proboscis.

Here’s what the ad agency had to say about it:

Executives at TBWA/Chiat/Day say the “Absolut World” campaign tested well with the target audience, primarily urbanites ages 25 to 34. “It re-engages consumers with the idea that Absolut is the quintessential vodka, the true vodka, the standard by which you judge other things,” said Rob Smiley, worldwide creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day.

Two things of note in the above statement.  First, the creative testing was done within Absolut’s target audience (urbanites 25-34).  If you’re selling vodka, you shouldn’t worry if retired country-line dancers from Omaha don’t like your ad.  Can’t please everyone, so make sure your ad resonates with people who are going to provide the bulk of your sales.

Secondly, note the advertising buzzword: “re-engages.”  Engagement is something advertisers try to measure, because they know the more “engaged” a consumer is with the content – like an Olympics’ fan cheering on the latest Michael Phelps race – the more likely they are to respond favorably to surrounding advertising.

Or you can just follow the advice of Media Guru Erwin Ephron, “You want engagement?  Make a more engaging ad.”  VISA and Absolut have figured it out.  What’s stopping you?... aside from $75 million dollars.

 

Next column… we’ll discuss more about engagement, and how technology is making it possible for advertisers to further reach the right consumer with the appropriate creative message.

In the meantime, do you remember seeing a clever advertising campaign that married the message with the media delivery system?  Tell us about it in the comments section below.

 

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past decade, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, and the San Diego Padres. He recently finished his first mystery, KATZ CRADLE and is currently on submission. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

8-year-old website starts over: Karen Templer has totally rebuilt Readerville and  increased coverage of interesting bookish developments by way of an expanded weblog, a shiny fresh once-again-free forum, and the all-new Note:books.

Templer says:  "Note:books is  a natural extension of what we've been doing with Rville for eight years -- bringing readers together and helping them help each other find what's good in the world of books. It's a big improvement over our sad old reading journal system in the old forum -- the new version sort of combines the best of microblogging, forum and wiki technology. It's designed to be a very, very simple way for readers to track what they've read, when they read it, and what they thought. But, in a way, it becomes one big collaborative reading journal."

Note:books is still in beta but if you want a look email Templer for an invite.

The two satellite radio networks, XM Satellite and Sirius, have finally merged. The name of the new network will be Sirius XM Radio Inc., and the total number of subscribers will 18.5 million. Here's the story.

For this book publicist, that's a media marriage made in heaven. XM Satellite and Sirius radio shows were always relatively easy bookings. Of course, there are no easy bookings, but some media outlets are more approachable than others, and both XM Satellite and Sirius have both been notably open to guest suggestions and even, perhaps, "hungry" for experts to fill their airtime. So how cool is it that the listening audiences of XM Satellite and Sirius will double (I presume, based on my assumption that subscribers of either former network will now be able to hear shows on both networks -- which, naturally, is the new network).

See? This is what happens when book publicists have a cup of coffee in the morning and then blog. Okay. Time to book some interviews....

(Created with the help of Judge Page)

If you'll pour another glass of wine, I'll put on some music and then we can get busy.

It's good to know that some things are a lock for getting one's attention.  So what does drinking, music and sex have to do with today's Linktopia?  Over at Last.fm they've figured out how to make ads more interactive.

Aside from enabling ad messages that can react to music, the new site design allows ads that are based on and can "reflect" the music or activity on the page. For instance, ads can also now include interactive elements, such as maps with concert listings for the artist being played. They can also peddle tickets to shows and let people make hotel reservations near concert sites.
You can read more here.

Meanwhile, over at blog.futurelab there's an in-depth piece that asks the question - How do you market a product that your customers know is bad before they try it, and which they may well dislike if they do? That’s the dilemma faced by makers of boxed wines - even those of high quality that would fare well in a blind tasting.  You can read how they solved the problem here.

And as far as sex, well, in a nod to popular culture we acknowledge Kramer on Seinfeld:

Kramer You don't eat Oreos? The way you break them open? 
You're ~ practically having sex with them.

And with that in mind you'll enjoy an Oreo campaign that I'm guessing has the Freudians talking.  Watch it here.

Reviewer #1: If you keep getting a lot of negative reviews, then you need to change your strategy.

Reviewer #2: Yeah -- like try writing better books!

Over at Galleycat is a very disturbing note from an editor talking about how when a book fails everyone  blames the author when in reality, in most cases it's the publisher's fault.

I work as an editor at a major house...Nine times out of ten the author is blamed for poor sales; even though, the house more often than not does support the author in marketing the book. As an editor I can assure you that I have too many books to edit and there are too many books to promote. Why is it a safe bet to blame the author? Because we all want to keep our jobs, that's why. What I am telling you is very important because it will give you some insight into the mindset of publishers today. The bottom line is this: When sales are good we all pat ourselves on the back and take credit, but when sales are bad, we find fault with the author, when in fact many times the poor results are our own fault!

What's telling about the vote at the end - asking what "you" think goes wrong they list everything but "not enough marketing." They do mention the "publicity" failing... but in today's marketplace there's so little available publicity anyway, no one should be relying on publicity to get a book out there. Esp with fiction!!!

Of everything, it won't come as a surprise to readers of this blog that I believe lack of marketing is the reason most books fail. If no one knows the book exists, no one can buy it and publishers simply don't have enough money or time or creative thinking to give every book the marketing it needs to break through the clutter.

Its been a while since I've seen anything this good. Its not for a book but it shows you how much you can accomplish in a very short period of time in film using words and pictures together and how memorable something needs to be to get pass along.

Create some online pizazz! Learn how to create more Internet traffic for your website, service, book, product, cause, or idea!

You came to this website because we made an impression. That's what ten million eyeballs are all about.

What are eyeballs? They are impressions. And what are impressions? They are the beginning of sales. They are, first, the way to get the attention of the people who you want to reach. Get their attention, and then you have a chance to make the sale or to convince them to take whatever other action you would like them to take.

The next Ten Million Eyeballs Event will be held in Houston, Texas on Saturday and Sunday, September 20 to 21, 2008.



Dates: September 20 to 21, 2008, Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day

Location: Holiday Inn Select near Greenway Plaza, 2712 Southwest Freeway, Houston, Texas 77098; 713-523-8448. Web: http://www.houston-greenwayplaza.hiselect.com. Tell them you are with the Ten Million Eyeballs Event from Open Horizons to get a special room rate.

For more information, go to http://www.tenmillioneyeballs.com

Listen to me make a royal fool of myself, in fabulous company, in the most recent Litopia After Dark podcast!

Dear Dr. Sue,

I tend to be a really enthusiastic person, and I just sold my first novel to a really prestigious publisher but instead of being thrilled, I feel detached. I don't know why this is, though I've thought that maybe  I'm too afraid that something is going to go wrong to allow myself to be happy about it, or maybe I want to be under the radar so as not to be embarrassed if things do go wrong, or maybe it's something else.  But while I recognize that this is ridiculous, I can't seem to shake this feeling of detachment. Do you have any advice?

Would like to feel thrilled

Dear Like,

Congratulations on the sale of your novel! Of course you want to be fully engaged with such an exciting experience.

The possible reasons you list for your feeling of detachment seem plausible. The transition from omnipotent creator of an entire world to cog in an unstable machine that will determine the fate of that world is jarring and fraught, and emotional withdrawal would be an understandable reaction. Other possibilities include a jealous or competitive family member or important friend whose continued love and support require you to stay in a "one-down" position; a major life change or decision you have postponed until your novel was out of limbo; or the revival of grief for a lost loved one who would have delighted in this triumph. Or, as you say, maybe it's something else.

As you suggest, to dissolve this bubble that surrounds you it is probably necessary to identify the material it is composed of. One important step in accomplishing this is to ease up on characterizations like "ridiculous." There are always valid reasons for seemingly incomprehensible responses--and when we judge our emotions harshly (as so many of us have been trained to do), the information that would help us understand and address our conflicts tends to bury itself deeper in our unconscious.

Try outlining a story whose main character is on the verge of realizing the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. This character--let's call her or him "X"--is sympathetic but complex and somewhat conflicted. Flesh the backstory out with as much detail as possible--what is X's family and cultural background? What dream is about to come true, and what obstacles has X overcome to get to this point? Who has helped or hindered X in this quest? What are the likely repercussions of failure? Of success? What would it take for the story to end well--or unhappily?

Don't use your own experience--use your writer's imagination to create a unique set of circumstances. Try to live in X's world for a day or two, supplying as much information, and as many insights into the central conflict, as you can.

When you feel finished with X's story, sit down in a quiet place and reflect on your own. Outline your situation and its background as you did X's, as though you were the main character in a fascinating story (which you are). How would you understand a character who is unable to get excited about a major positive life event? How would you resolve such a conflict?

If you come up dry--or if you hit on material that threatens to overwhelm you--stop the exercise. Remember, your responses are in place for a reason--and the reason may be to protect you from intense anxiety or grief. Consider consulting a professional. You deserve to savor every moment of this process, and expert help in addressing any issues that prevent you from full engagement and participation is is a sound investment.

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. Her book,  Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007) is now available in bookstores. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.    

If you missed Steve Harrison's teleseminar from last week on selling books by the truckload, watch the following video that explains more about how to sell 10,000 ... 30,000 ... 200,000 books at a time: http://www.MillionDollarAuthorClub.com/videotruckload/?10005.