About Books That Also Works for Booklets

Thanks to one of our booklet authors, Peg Kelley, (www.facplus.com) , I share the following with you that was posted on someone else's blog, at http://www.reveries.com It makes for an interesting read and pushes those blinders open a bit more.

The Big Moo. "Our goal is to sell a million copies before the end of the year and to raise millions for three worthy charities," blogs Seth Godin, explaining his hopes for "The Big Moo," a new book which he co-authored with Tom Peters, Malcolm Gladwell, Guy Kawasaki and 29 other "big thinkers," known collectively as The Group of 33 (and that inexplicably includes some guy named Tim Manners). "Our bigger goal," Seth continues, "is to transform thousands of organizations: corporations, non-profits, community groups, whatever." Accomplishing that bigger goal, says Seth, requires finding a way to get "organizations to buy the book by the truckload," because "when a group buys 100 or 1,000 copies of a book, it gets talked about."Seth's strategy to make a million-seller out of "The Big Moo," is, of course, classic Godin: "For the first time that I'm aware of," Seth writes, "we're selling galleys to a book. The galley is the very expensive pre-publication, version of a hardcover book created to give reviewers a chance to read the book before everyone else." An "advance uncorrected proof," galleys are printed in soft-cover and are strictly "not for sale." Except this time: Seth persuaded the book's publisher, Portfolio, "to print 10,000 galleys, a huge number. And we're selling them at cost ($2 a copy)," he says. The catch is, Seth "only wants to sell the galleys (in sets of 50) to people who will give them to people who will buy a lot of copies of the $15 hardcover."In other words, Seth only wants to sell each "50-pack of galleys to people who will turn around and give galleys to people in organizations with the will and the ability to pre-order a hundred or more copies of the final hardcover." In other-other words: "Please don't order a set unless you know the right sneezers/connectors/influencers." But if you do, you can order a set of galleys here: http://www.sethgodin.com/bigmoo (assuming they are not sold out by the time you get there). Of course, if the galleys aren't for you, you can "pre-order the hardcover from various sites, see the bios of the co-authors and read about our charities. (Did I mention that Hugh McLeod is doing the illustrations?). And, again, "100 percent of royalties go to charity. "The Big Moo" won't hit the mainstream until October 20th.Historian v. Traveler. The relative fortunes of two best-selling novels by previously unknown authors illustrates "how relatively small differences" can give one book a big edge over another, reports Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in The Wall Street Journal (8/15/05). The two novels in question, The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova and The Traveler, by John Twelve Hawks, were both thought to have blockbuster potential. It wasn't that either "was expected to be hailed as a literary masterpiece," but their respective "publishers thought they had major potential to reach mainstream readers in the tradition of authors Anne Rice and Michael Crichton. And that of course means "the power to spawn sequels, movies and other spinoffs." Both books got good reviews, but a funny thing happened on the way to Hollywood.

What do YOU think?
Until next time,
Paulette
http://www.tipsbooklets.com