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*** March is Small Press Month *** "With 200,000 book titles published in 2004, and the 'Big Five Publishers' taking home less than 45% of book sales," said Rita Mills, Executive Director of the American Book Cooperative, "the Small Press Industry is booming. "Today more than 78,000 publishers are enrolled with R.R. Bowker, the ISBN agency... Join the American Book Cooperative as we celebrate Small Press Month..." http://www.americanbookcooperative.org -- Courtesy of SandyLawrence@PerceptiveMarketing.com ================================================================ *** Proof that Grassroots Marketing Works *** As reported by The New York Times, Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of a book titled Pope Joan, sold more than 100,000 copies of her book using the kind of grassroots marketing methods recommended by Poynter and Snow. This is direct evidence of the potential for authors to cultivate significant sales, with "only minimal involvement by her publisher." While 100,000 sales is remarkable, 100 to 1,000 sales per year is not. However, you will find that your own sales are almost directly proportional to your own promotional efforts: http://www.popejoan.com/nytimes.htm ================================================================ *** Amazon Cited for Poor Service *** A University of Michigan survey released last month showed the first year-to-year drop in consumer satisfaction with e-retail. One of the biggest disappointments was with Amazon.com: http://www.booktrade.info/nr.php?id=5472 ================================================================ *** RIP: Hunter S. Thompson *** A selection of the quotes from the late father of "Gonzo" Journalism and author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: http://www.booktrade.info/nr.php?id=5473 ================================================================ *** "Random" Thoughts for Publishers *** Industry observer Michael Allen has published a provocative essay surmizing that success for writers and publishers is governed by randomness to a far greater extent than is generally recognised. Free PDF download: http://www.kingsfieldpublications.co.uk/rats.html ================================================================ *** Vonnegut/Matthiessen to Judge Competitions *** Kurt Vonnegut and Peter Matthiessen are the final judges of two contests sponsored by The Writers' Workshop, a literary center based in Asheville, NC, since 1985: http://www.twwoa.org ================================================================ Please feel free to forward copies of this bulletin to your fellow authors and publishers. This is a free service that is available to anyone in the book world upon request. We don't endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept advertising. You may subscribe or un-subscribe at any time. ================================================================ *** Site for Self-Publishers *** Cathy Pedigo is a homemaker and President of Winning Edge, a self-publishing business in Colorado Springs. You can find her site on self publishing at: http://win-edge.com/SelfPublish.shtml ================================================================ *** U-Publish.com Sells Audio/Reprint Rights *** Poynter and Snow have landed subsidiary rights deals to the new edition of our book. Sir Speedy has licensed reprint rights, while CDbooks.us has secured audio rights. Stay tuned for details on public release. Authors and publishers can wring additional revenues from books by selling translation rights, audio rights and other forms of subsidiary licensing. In many cases, the buyer does the work, while you simply cash the checks. See "Book Marketing: A New Approach" for details: http://www.parapub.com ================================================================ *** Reminder: Call for Entries *** PubInsider.com & USABookNews.com announce the 2nd annual "Best Books" Awards competition. $49 per entry, early bird deadline March 31. See sites above for details. ================================================================
