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| PR for Penelope Smith : Review of Animals in Spirit in Publishers Weekly |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/11/6 10:43:33 (122 reads) |
Animals in Spirit: Our Faithful Companions' Transition to the Afterlife
Smith, Penelope (Author)
ISBN: 1582701776
Atria Books / Beyond Words
Published 2008-01
Paperback, $14.00 (192p)
Pets | General; Body, Mind & Spirit | Reincarnation; Self-Help | Death, Grief, Bereavement
Reviewed 2007-09-24
PW
Those who live with and love animals dread the moment when their beloved companions will leave them. Smith, an animal communicator for more than 30 years, and author of two books on talking with the creatures, provides a unique and detailed account, from the animals' perspective, on the ways they transition from the physical to the spiritual realm. Smith discusses the timing of their departure, their feelings about living in the spirit realm, and reincarnation. Stories that recount individual experiences with animals on earth as well as the spirit realm are most of the book, including ones about animals who want their humans to know that they didn't suffer in dying, that they may have actually orchestrated their death for a particular reason, that they forgive any wrongs or that they are planning to come back in another form. Perhaps most helpful is the chapter in which animals counsel their human friends not to grieve for them but to seek joy instead. For those new to animal communication, Smith includes a short instructional chapter. Readers open to Smith's claims about animal communication or who grieve departed furry friends will find much in these pages to offer comfort and hope. (Jan.)
Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| PR for Klaus Heinemann & Micael Ledwith : NY: Symposium - ORBS: Light Beings and Doorways to Other Dimensions |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/10/30 11:23:06 (165 reads) |
Saturday, November 10th @ Synagogue of the Arts, 49 White Street, NYC
3:30pm - 10:00pm, $30 advance*, $40 at the door.
Chances are, you’ve seen one—a digital photo with what appears to be one or many balls of light. Are they dust particles, water droplets, lens flare…or something more? Bring your digital camera, see for yourself and hear the experts in this emerging field.
The evening will be introduced by Mariel Hemingway and include: Anamika of the Temple of Awakening, Nancy Burson with her extra-celestials, producer Tonia Madenford, Míċeál Ledwith of What the Bleep Do We Know!?™ Hosted by Alan Steinfeld of New Realities.
The evening will also be the World Premiere Orbs: The Veil is Lifting by Randy & Hope Mead featuring experts Klaus Heinemann, Míċeál Ledwith, JZ Knight, and others. And coincides with the release of the first book on Orbs: The Orb Project by Klaus Heinemann and Miceal Ledwith, published by Atria Books/Beyond Words, a division of Simon & Schuster, publisher of The Secret.
*For tickets and information: call 212.473.6388
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| Book publishing : NYT: The Author Will Take Q.’s Now |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/9/2 20:59:01 (208 reads) |
Yeah, what they said.
Quote: September 2, 2007
The Author Will Take Q.’s Now
By KARA JESELLA
FOR the publication in July of her first book, “The Late Bloomer’s Revolution,” Amy Cohen imagined a promotional tour of bookstores in Sydney, Australia. And Paris. And a few places closer to home, New York City, would work, too.
Then her publicist at Hyperion told her, as Ms. Cohen recalled somewhat tongue in cheek, “You aren’t going to Scarsdale.” Instead of some far-flung Barnes & Noble, there was Prillboyle. Rather than Borders, there was Bluestalking Reader. Ms. Cohen, a former television writer for “Spin City” and “Caroline in the City,” was surprised to learn that most of her “appearances” would be on blogs.
“When you’re not in the book business you think, of course they’re going to send you around,” she said.
Chances are, unless an author is especially high-profile or promising or willing to pony up for expenses, they’re not. |
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| Book publishing : 1,245,899....784,000...1,765... |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/8/6 9:04:49 (214 reads) |
The following is a tongue-in-cheek article from the NY Times on authors checking their Amazon ranking as a distraction from further writing, and how it's changed the face of publishing.
I always advise authors not to pay too much attention to Amazon.com ranking (generally ignored, I know), as it's pretty volatile and generally skewed reflection of sales. It also talks about the trend of timed campaigns, where consumers are encouraged to order a book on a certain date and time, to drive rankings up--mind/body publisher Hay House does this more of late, offering a number of add-on incentives to purchase at a particular time.
Amazon.com can also be a powerful tool for tracking the effectiveness of radio interviews--for instance Richard Bartlett's book Matrix Energetics peaked at #4 (overall!) after appearing on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory in early April, where it remained in the top 10 for almost a week. (The book has stayed in the 2,500 since then.)
Rather than checking your Amazon.com page constantly, consider using a service like Title Z, which offers title tracking & reporting...and for right now, it's free.
Read the article at the NY Times (sub req'd.) |
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| Book publishing : BEA 2007: Madness |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/6/4 12:10:06 (275 reads) |
I just returned from BookExpo in New York City, which I can honestly say was my busiest BEA ever. And with laryngitis, no less!
I have a lot of observations to share once I've recuperated a bit. Until then, here are a few articles about the show:
Washington Post
Publishers Weekly coverage of the show
USA Today (mentions Rhonda Byrne and the brilliant Alice Sebold, whose book I devoured on the plane last night...fantastic reading!)
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| Book publishing : The Secret on Oprah |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/2/7 14:34:37 (361 reads) |
In case you are one of the few people that haven't heard, The Secret will be featured on tomorrow's Oprah Winfrey Show. And if I get time later, I'll post my own Oprah experience--yes, even publicists can be tongue-tied!
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| Book publishing : LA Times on independent booksellers, online buying, and the long tail |
| Posted by lisa on 2007/2/7 7:27:57 (381 reads) |
This article from today's LA Times looks at the state of independent booksellers, especially those in the Bay Area. It also mentions Chris Anderson, and his long tail theory: "The Internet has transformed American culture from a place where a few sold the same thing to many — think network television or the Hollywood studios or even booksellers circa 1970 — to one where the middleman or gatekeeper can be circumvented."
The article also points out the availability of books in other, "non-traditional" venues, like warehouse clubs, and points out that those who buy books consistently are doing so online.
Quote: San Francisco — FIVE years ago, Gary Frank decided to sell his bookstore here.
The Booksmith had built a fine reputation over a quarter of a century, thanks to an impressive series of author appearances and a high-traffic location in the old hippie neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury.
Yet hardly anyone expressed interest. Frank was disappointed but not surprised.
"Maybe they saw the future," he said.
A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, open since 1982 near City Hall, sought a buyer, couldn't find one, and closed last summer. Cody's Books shut its flagship Berkeley store after a half-century run. Black Oak Books closed one of its stores and is considering shutting the other two if a buyer can't be found. Numerous small new and secondhand stores have fallen with little fanfare. |
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| Book publishing : Forbes series on book publishing |
| Posted by lisa on 2006/12/4 6:04:15 (341 reads) |
Here's must-read--a feature article from Forbes on the future of book publishing. Included is the brilliant Cory Doctorow, who was one of the first (if not the first) to promote his book via Second Life.
Quote: "Books are humanity in print."
-Barbara W. Tuchman
Are books in danger?
The conventional wisdom would say yes. After all, more and more media--the Internet, cable television, satellite radio, videogames--compete for our time. And the Web in particular, with its emphasis on textual snippets, skimming and collaborative creation, seems ill-suited to nurture the sustained, authoritative transmission of complex ideas that has been the historical purview of the printed page.
But surprise--the conventional wisdom is wrong. Our special report on books and the future of publishing is brim-full of reasons to be optimistic. People are reading more, not less. The Internet is fueling literacy. Giving books away online increases off-line readership. New forms of expression--wikis, networked books--are blossoming in a digital hothouse. Read the rest at the Forbes website. |
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| Book publishing : Selling literature and lifestyle (books & non-traditional sales venues) |
| Posted by lisa on 2006/11/3 8:32:46 (369 reads) |
This article, from the NY Times, looks at non-traditional sales venues, and tells us essentially what we've always known--that some books will do very well in non-bookstore venues, such as high-end lifestyle stores, grocery stores, wineries, etc.
Quote: Selling Literature to Go With Your Lifestyle
By JULIE BOSMAN
Most customers at the Anthropologie store in SoHo come for the delicately woven knits and the ultrafeminine floral dresses. But these days at least some are coming for the books.
Last Sunday the merchandise and books were coordinated with near-perfect precision. Resting beside a black sweater ($68) and a jet-black skirt with orange embellishments ($118) were copies of Annie Leibovitz’s “A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005,” big and black and gleaming, for $75. A pop-up book called “One Red Dot” echoed a display of polka-dotted canvas sneakers, while another title, “The Persistence of Yellow,” perfectly matched a strategically positioned yellow knit sweater.
Books are turning up in the oddest places these days. Read the rest of the article at the NY Times site. Hurry, before it's archived and costs you $. P.S. Apparently Michael Cader at Publishers Lunch is just as baffled as to how this "trend" ended up on the front page. |
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| Book publishing : Marketing backfire at social networking sites? |
| Posted by lisa on 2006/10/30 5:54:48 (379 reads) |
This brief article, from Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog, quotes a Wall Street Journal article that states that Facebook and MySpace users are dropping out of the social networks, for a few different reasons.
We've used social networks to promote authors, and they've been highly effective because the author participates in one on one conversation with their primary demographic--and the author becomes accessible in a way that they weren't previously.
Advertising is another thing entirely. I have a MySpace account, and I know how much it annoys me to get an invitation to private web cams, and have to view myriad ads in the margins that don't apply to or interest me...in fact, the opposite.
Quote: Facebook and MySpace Face Off Against Sinking User Numbers: Influx Of Marketing Spam And Illicit Requests Turning Users Off
Although social networking leaders Facebook and MySpace have been prime illustrators of the power of social media with their millions of users—and an even higher number in online advertising dollars—both sites have seen a decrease in members, reports The Wall Street Journal Online. What major marketing and promotion firms must now take into account is how to better place ads on both systems to continue to reach target audiences, while the higher ups at the social networking entities figure out how to keep user numbers from dropping. Read more at The Bulldog Daily Dog. |
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| Book publishing : Poets & Writers on the plight of the independent booksellers...and what authors can do to help |
| Posted by lisa on 2006/10/24 7:15:02 (398 reads) |
This article, from Poets & Writers, looks at some of the issues that independent booksellers face today, and highlights the reopening of Keplers...which is a rare scenario.
Even more dire, it seems, is the fate of the metaphysical bookseller. In just the past year, my list of thousands was reduced to about one thousand. Total. At least in the case of the metaphysical bookseller, they have the opportunity to offer services (and sidelines) that a traditional bookseller doesn't.
It's a great article, but it offers little by way of solutions. One suggestion is that author websites link to Booksense, the e-commerce arm of the American Booksellers Association.
Some booksellers that I am aware of, like Powells, and our local Magers & Quinn, have looked to social networks to increase their customer base--as we see marketing shift from tradition to 2.0, I think that's a wise move.
Quote: Indie Bookstores Face Uphill Battle
By Kevin Smokler
When fiction writer Barry Eisler heard last summer that Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, California, would close after fifty years in business, his first reaction was a loud expletive. His second was an e-mail to owner Clark Kepler with an offer to help. "I used to see those big author photos in the window…and I was working on what would become my first novel," says Eisler, the author of the Jain Rain series of thrillers. "My fantasies of literary success were all based on doing book signings at Kepler's."
Eisler was part of a cadre of Bay Area authors who offered to give benefit readings and drive as much business as they could to the bookstore. Their efforts, combined with an alarmed customer base and a group of Silicon Valley investors, helped Kepler's reopen to cheering crowds last October.
Kepler, whose father Roy founded the store in the spring of 1955, expressed both delight and gratitude for the community's generosity, but warned that Kepler's future was far from secure. "I think we were like frogs in hot water," he says. "The old way of buying books, putting them on shelves, and waiting for someone to come in isn't working anymore."
What will? Faced with increased overhead, diversified retail competition, and a dwindling reading population, venerable booksellers once thought invincible are changing locations (Denver's Tattered Cover), downsizing (Cody's in Berkeley, California, which was sold in September to Yohan Inc., a book distributor based in Tokyo), or closing altogether (San Francisco's A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books). And while the American Booksellers Association (ABA) reports that its membership has held steady over the last few years, dramatic rescues like those of Kepler's and Brazos Books in Houston, which owner Karl Kilian sold to a group of community investors in March, are becoming increasingly visible. Read the rest of the story at the Poets & Writers site.Thanks, Shelf Awareness!) |
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| Book publishing : LA Times: Bookstores glutted--can the market handle it? |
| Posted by lisa on 2006/10/2 19:04:25 (409 reads) |
This article, from the Sunday times, looks at the glut of books entering bookstores this fall, and the importance of trying non-traditional methods of promoting to survive. It's an interesting read.
Quote: NEW YORK — This fall, the largest number of new titles by brand-name authors in recent memory is hitting bookstores, and the publishing world is asking itself an unusual question: Can there be too many good books?
As Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Lunch, a book industry website, put it, "There's a legitimate question whether this is too much at once, whether the market can handle it. There are just so many of them." Read the rest of the article at the L.A. Times site. (Thanks, Shelf Awareness!) |
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