–> Frugal Marketing Tip, Ten Great Rules for PR in the 21st Century

–> Friends and Colleagues Who Want to Help

• Real-Life Law of Attraction Success Stories: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness is the name of a brand new and very nice book just released (December 1) by Rich German and Robin Hoch.
• OS Radio is looking for guests to join them on Book World News.
• Yvonne Perry has a nice new e-book focused entirely on book promoting online, called Book Marketing in the Digital Age: Online Promotion Made Easy.
• Among the more interesting people I’ve found on Twitter is Kenneth Yu.
• Marcia Yudkin is giving away a 12-page report,”33 Keys to Thriving During a Recession”
• Small Business CEO is a nice new magazine available online at no cost, from the good people at Healthy, Wealthy N Wise.
• My friend Susan Daffron has a nice new book called Publishize: How to Quickly and Affordably Self-Publish a Book That Promotes Your Expertise. Order it on December 11th for free shipping and a big pile of bonuses, including my report, Buzz-Based Book Marketing

(Click here to continue reading)

–> Hear and Meet Shel, December 2008

–> Recent Media Coverage of Shel and His Work, 12/1/08

–> Anatomy of a Promotional Offer
This is a real offer (actually two real offers) that I’m making to you–and then I’m going to analyze it and show you my exact thinking in constructing it. I think this may be extremely helpful in your own marketing, especially since I deliberately violate two key marketing rules. (Click here to continue reading)

–> Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?

–> Latest Additions to the Websites

–> Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.

–> Don’t forget to play our games, at the top of any page on FrugalFun.com– no fees to play, prizes to win, and you help me continue to bring all this good information to you.

Published monthly since May, 1997 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388

Quoted in ECommerce Journal on recognizing and marketing around other winter holidays besides Chanukah and Christmas.

Quoted as the first source in an article for Seattle Business Magazine on Greener offices.

Featured in e-zine article, “Best Advice I Ever Got,” by Linda Hollander, The Wealthy Bag Lady (can’t find it on her site, though).

Article, “Why You Need a Book,” accepted into the forthcoming book 42 Rules for Driving Success with Books, edited by Mitchell Levy. This book has several superstar contributors, including (alphabetically) Jason Alba, Michelle Dunn, Joshua Estrin, Liz Goodgold, Jay Conrad Levinson,  and a number of others. Click on the title to pre-order your copy.

Article, “Web Traffic Strategies for Book Promoters,” featured in Small Publishers of North America e-zine and website.

Blog post on solarizing our pre-Revolutionary-War (1743) farmhouse on Sweet Solar Home. (Photo is not my house)

Shel had three articles accepted recently on Best Management Articles (all of which can be freely reprinted noncommercially with proper attribution): Three Pathways to Publishing Your Book, 10 New Year’s Resolutions for a More Ethical, Ecological, Profitable, and Successful Business, and To Thine Own Self Be True – It’s Better for Business – What Arthur Anderson Would Say to His Company

This post (along with about 300 other articles) is available exclusively to subscribers or to members of the Clean and Green Club. If you are a subscriber or Club member, please login at www.thecleanandgreenclub.com/members If you are not a subscriber or member, please visit www.thecleanandgreenclub.com

If the economy is squeezing you, these gift items cost nothing or nearly nothing:

1. Gifts of time: “I will watch your kids one Sunday a month, for eight hours.”

2. Gifts of service: “I’ll handle the lawn mowing for you all summer”

3. Gifts of homemade or home-grown food

4. Gifts of love: “Good for a two-hour full-body massage at a mutually convenient time”

5. Gifts of memories: photo albums or scrap books filled with memorabilia, childhood-friend reunions, this-is-your-life videos…

8 Eco-Friendly Ways to Wrap Gifts With Newspaper

–> Going From Self-Published to Major Publisher
Some people think this is every self-publisher’s dream. Well, having been a big-publisher author (Simon & Schuster, 1993) and being married to one (D. Dina Friedman: Simon & Schuster AND Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, both in 2006), I can tell you that both methods have their advantages.  For me, every book is different, and for each book, there are reasons to do it one way or another.  (click here to continue reading)

–> Holiday Special: Principled Profit
Get a special deal on Principled Profit this holiday season, perfect for gift giving! Order 4 to 9 copies for just $12.95 each plus shipping (actual shipping if they’re all shipped to the same address, or $4.30 each if you’d like them shipped to different addresses), or order 10 or more copies and pay just $10.50 each plus shipping. For foreign orders, order 4 and pay $12.95 each plus $12 shipping, or order 10 or more copies and pay $10.50 each plus shipping. Please note if you’d like a gift acknowledgment included and/or autographed copies.

–> Do Your Holiday Shopping With Us–Discounts on Books for Your Favorite Entrepreneurs
With the holidays coming up, this is a great chance to save money on Shel’s books–they make fabulous gifts for the entrepreneurs, authors, marketers, and business managers in your life, or for those who’d like to be authors or marketers.

–> Recent Media Coverage of Shel and His Work
A new feature: spotlight on some of the places where Shel’s been featured recently.

–> How to Get Grassroots Marketing for Half-Price
Over 300 pages of solid information on lowering your marketing cost, boosting your return

–> Friends and Colleagues Who Want to Help

• Real-Life Law of Attraction Success Stories: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness is the name of a brand new and very nice book being released today (December 1) by Rich German and Robin Hoch.
• OS Radio is looking for guests to join them on Book World News.
• Yvonne Perry has a nice new e-book focused entirely on book promoting online, called Book Marketing in the Digital Age: Online Promotion Made Easy.
• Among the more interesting people I’ve found on Twitter is Kenneth Yu.
• Marcia Yudkin is giving away a 12-page report,”33 Keys to Thriving During a Recession”
• Small Business CEO is a nice new magazine available online at no cost, from the good people at Healthy, Wealthy N Wise.

(Click here to continue reading)

–> A No-Cost Way to Connect with Reporters Seeking Stories
My friend Peter Shankman, a very well-connected PR guy in NYC, has started a no-charge service called Help A Reporter Out. He sends queries from reporters a few times a day, and if there’s a good fit, you answer the journalist. And he gets some leads that never make it to Profnet/PR Leads. This should be a no-brainer–but don’t abuse it. Only answer if you’re approrpiate for the query, or else you’ll spoil it for yourself and everyone else . If you get one good lead in a year, it’s worth it. He has passed on leads from the NY Times and Washington Post, as well as lesser venues. Sign up at www.helpareporter.com

–> Finally–An E-Book Site Puts Authors’ Needs First
Writers: Mark Victor Hansen (of Chicken Soup fame) has just launched a very author-friendly e-book/multimedia content distribution site at http://www.youpublish.com/referredby/shelhorowitz. No fee to set up, no fee to upload your files (wide range of types), 50% commission.

–> Facebook Teleseminar with Mari Smith
If you’re not on Facebook yet, you may be missing valuable business opportunities. If you are on Facebook, are you getting the most out of it for your business? Recently, The Blog Squad grilled Mari Smith about why you need to be on Facebook and how to use the social networking site to be smart about building your business. Now you can get access to the audio program from the live teleseminar for an investment of only $20.

–> You’re invited to join Foundercontact
Christophe Poizat, founder and chairman of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs (INSE) has invited you to receive a free membership with Foundercontact. Foundercontact International Ltd is a web 2.0 online marketplace designed to bring entrepreneurs into contact with 3500 investors for seed, early stage, or growth capital. With members from 5 continents and 93 different countries, it opens up international business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Sign up at http://www.foundercontact.com/user/register

–> Hear and Meet Shel, September through December 2008

–> Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?

–> Latest Additions to the Websites

–> Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.

–> Don’t forget to play our games, at the top of any page on FrugalFun.com– no fees to play, prizes to win, and you help me continue to bring all this good information to you.

Published monthly since July, 2007 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388

Last week, I signed a contract with John Wiley & Sons to do a book based largely on my 2003 self-published book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First.

Some people think this is every self-publisher’s dream. Well, having been a big-publisher author (Simon & Schuster, 1993) and being married to one (D. Dina Friedman: Simon & Schuster AND Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, both in 2006), I can tell you that both methods have their advantages.

For me, every book is different, and for each book, there are reasons to do it one way or another. I chose to self-publish Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First because I wanted absolute control; the ideas were pretty revolutionary at the time, and I didn’t want anyone watering it down. I also wanted to seize a moment that I wasn’t sure would still hold in the two years before my work would see the light of day with a big publisher. But I always hoped the day would come when I could resell that book to someone else.

Another book I’m circulating a proposal for needs a big publisher and a large advance. It will take far too much research time to do on my own, and the people I need to interview hide behind a lot of gatekeepers. Those gates swing open a lot more easily if a big publisher has backed the project. If I don’t sell that book, I simply won’t write it.

A project I just managed for a client went to the printer last week. Speed was essential, because the story is very relevant to a major movie being released in January. We only started working together in June, and most of the work took place after September. A big publisher simply wouldn’t do that for anyone other than a superstar celebrity. I found a copy editor, cover and interior designers, and a printer, and the book will be out in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I wrote a letter that the client used to build a relationship with people at Paramount Pictures, and wonderful things might happen.

Also, that book hadn’t been in shape to be taken seriously by the publishing world. It needed cleanup and rethinking, and most big-house editors these days aren’t willing to put that kind of effort into a book unless they know they’re going to sell many thousands of copies.

Which leads me to the key point: the big houses no longer buy many manuscripts on the basis of their merits, but on the author’s strengths as a marketer. They will take a mediocre or adequate book with a superstar marketing platform any day over a fabulous book with no platform.

The reason I got to sign this contract with Wiley is because out of 32 pages (not counting sample chapters) in the proposal, 27 of them deal specifically with marketing and the market for the book, including changes to make the book more user-friendly and marketable, involvement of a celebrity co-author, a market analysis, recognition the book has already received (awards, endorsements, foreign republications, etc.)—and six entire pages about my platform: my speaking, writing, e-zines, media interviews, social networking communities, and perhaps most important, a credible and substantiated argument that I can reasonably expect to use pre-existing relationships with various newsletter publishers (relationships I’ve carefully cultivated over the years) to reach about five million people with news about its publication, when the time comes.

Is this the only way to get a big-publisher contract? Certainly not. But it did propel a self-published book with relatively modest sales into a book that the New York publishing world is taking seriously.

Given that, here’s a homework assignment: Over the next month, write down every useful connection you’ve established, every credential you’ve earned–and then, if you ever want to pursue a big publisher, you’ll have something to work into a marketable proposal.

Down to Business Magazine:

• 101 Tips to Rock and Be Rocked by Twitter
• Can Long Copy Sell Soda?
• Face Your Dragon
• 7 Newsletter Writing Secrets That Will Retain More Clients for Life
• Recession Proof Your Business—How to Avoid Business Failure & Increase Sales in a Lagging Economy
• Good Things to Social Bookmark
• Effective Podcast Tips
• Maximizing Your Price – The Value / Benefit Equation
• Midwest Book Review’s Business Bookshelf

Global Travel Review

• Midwest Book Review’s Travel Bookshelf

Global Arts Review

• Midwest Book Review’s Theatre/Cinema/TV Bookshelf

Good Business Blog

• Adoptive Mother Takes Personal Risk Over Ethics Practices
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Another Lesson Obama May Take From Mandela
• Don’t be a “Jargon Jrip”
• Why I’ve Joined the Twitter “Twibe”
• Social Network Penetration: Obama Trumps McCain
• What Is It About Politicians and Corruption?
• The Power of Patience, Persistence, and Positivity
• Marketing Lessons from Barack Obama and John McCain
• The RIGHT Reasons I’m Voting for Obama Today
• Maybe Sex Doesn’t Sell as Much as We Thought It Does
• Wal-Mart Finally Moving Forward on China Labor Conditions