Here is an interesting affinity card fundraising idea. A nice marketing technique for school and other non-profits:
Author: Stan Shinn
Stan is a seasoned digital strategist professional with broad Fortune 1000 and financial services sector experience. His specializations include accessibility, digital strategy and product roadmaps, large-scale digital projects, complex web redesigns, and enterprise website governance. Stan is also a published author and active innovator.
Young Adult Novels: Day 3
The New Trend
Some CBA publishers have dabbled in the YA marketplace, and not done well economically. When you sell a book for only $4.99 it’s a challenge to make money from it.
More recently books geared for older youths are selling in trade format in the $12 range. They run 300 pages or more, and cater to the same kids who gobbled up Harry Potter and Tolkien. Witness the success of Bryan Davis’ Dragons In Our Midst series, and Donita K. Paul’s Dragonspell series, both of which launched in the CBA market, but have now crossed over to selling on the shelves of Wal*Mart.
Some have called these types of fiction crossover fiction in that the fiction transcends the YA audience to appeal to older youth and adults alike.
If you’re writing to sell, take note of this trend!
Young Adult Novels: Day 2
The Economics of Trade vs. MM Formats
Consider the economics of book publishing, particularly in the CBA (Christian Booksellers) marketplace.
Fiction books are typically published in either hardback, trade paperback (5"x8" to 6”x9”) or mass-market paperback (4"x7") formats. When was the last time you saw a CBA fiction book in a mass-market paperback format? [Tip: some refer to these formats with the abbreviations ‘HC’ (hard cover), ‘Trade’ (trade paperback), and ‘MM’ (mass-market paperback)].
Why do CBA publishing houses avoid this size?
Economics. The CBA marketplace is a bit different than the books you see at the grocery store or other market outlets. CBA booksellers cater to a niche market, and customers will buy a trade paperback as readily as a mass-market paperback. The trade paperback may command $12 while a mass-market paperback sells for no more than $8.
Do the math. You can see which will make the publisher more money.
Young Adult Novels: Day 1
Young Adult (YA) novels don’t look like YA books anymore. Walk into any bookstore and you’ll see the books becoming bigger, thicker, and with beautiful covers.
The marketplace for Young Adult books is changing. Two reasons:
1) Harry Potter & Tolkien Books
2) The Economics of Trade vs. MM Formats
Harry Potter & Tolkien Books
First let’s think about the Harry Potter effect. Prior to H.K. Rowling’s blockbuster success with the Harry Potter series, conventional wisdom was that young adults wouldn’t read books over 200 pages. Harry Potter books are thick, almost Bible-like in size.
Now things have changed. Youngsters have voted with their pocketbooks to purchase books in the 300 to 400 page range. The Lord Of The Rings movies then rode on the coattails of Harry Potter to sell 400-500 pages books to a YA audience.
To be fair, this is really a change in the older YA marketplace. The 10 to 15 year old crowd has blossomed into a distinct buying group whose demand publishers are now rushing to fill.
Tomorrow we'll talk about the way economics is shaping the market.
Get A Reference
Most business opportunities come through word of mouth. Now word of mouth referrals are becoming automated!
Referral networking organizations such as www.linkedin.com and www.bni.com can help you get the connections to land your next opportunity.
Mac Hint: Using Multiple Home Folders on Different Disks
Everytime you log into your account while an external disk is attached, you can get all your preferences and documents from there. Logging into your account with no external disk present, you will work with your home folder on your internal disk.
The benefit? MacOSXHints says:
What's the use? My PowerBook has to be repaired, so I backed up all my data to another drive. While I am waiting for my PowerBook to return, I can work on either my sister's or my girlfriend's Mac, depending on whose Mac is free. Instead of copying my complete home folder to two different computers, I just use the external disk and can switch computers whenever I need to.
Recovering from a Failed Disk
Hopefully you've been good and have backups in place. But if that fails, here is a service that can help you out:
http://www.datarecovery.net
Podcasting to Promote Book Sales
Author Mark Jeffrey is using a free, fully-produced MP3 audiobook performance online to promote book sales. The Pocket and the Pendant is read by the author and accompanied by soundtrack music by composer Bjorn Lynne (www.lynnemusic.com).
Mark Jeffrey, together with scifi/fantasy website DragonPage.com, has so far released five chapters of his book, with nine more to go. The free podcast is available from DragonPage.com, PodcastAlley.com, and the book’s website at PocketandPendant.com.
Podcasting is a new technology, similar to blogging three years ago. Here is an overview of podcasting: www.dragonpage.com/podcast.html.
Says Jeffrey:
There really aren’t a lot of free MP3 audiobooks out there, which really surprises me. It’s a great way to promote paperback and hardback novels, as well as give your existing audience a new way to experience the book.
Asked if he thought he was cannibalizing sales, Jeffrey said:
Absolutely not. We’re already seeing thousands of downloads each week, and new listeners are emailing me that they are purchasing paperback copies on Amazon as a direct result of listening to the podcasts.
DragonPage.com is currently featuring three free podcast audiobooks, or ‘podiobooks’: "Morevi" by Tee Morris, "Earthcore" by Scott Sigler and "The Pocket and the Pendant" by Mark Jeffrey. New episodes for each – usually a chapter or two – are released each week. Subscribers use popular ‘podcatchers’ such as iPodder or other applications to get the new audio content delivered to them automatically.
Jeffrey says:
Podcasting is an amazing thing. It’s like TiVo for audio.
Tips On Note-Taking
I love Hyatt's notes on Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking. I like the symbols he says to use:
Use symbols so you can quickly scan your notes later. I indent my notes from the left edge of the paper about half an inch. This allows me to put my symbols in the left margin. I use four:
1. If an item is particularly important or insightful, I put a star next to it.
2. If an item requires further research or resolution, I put a question mark next to it.
3. If an item requires follow-up, I put a ballot box (open square) next to it. When the item is completed, I check it off.
4. If I have assigned a follow-up item to someone, I put an open circle next to it (similar to the ballot box but a circle rather than a square). In the notes, I indicate who is responsible. When the item is completed, I check it off.
The Weekly Review
Michael Hyatt has a great post here on The Importance of the Weekly Review. If you want to stay organized, block out two hours once a week to clean up your master list of tasks. I like to do my weekly review first thing Monday morning.