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If you want some genuine perspective on book publishing and marketing, Scott Flora’s the person you want to listen to.

I had the privilege of attending SPAN’s annual small publishers’ conference last fall. Not only did it turn out to be extremely valuable for our business, but early on it became obvious to me that this was a very special gathering of people from the publishing industry. The presenters were world-class, the exhibitors were ethical and skilled, and the attendees received genuine support and concern in a collaborative environment. Behind it all was one man: Scott Flora.

The reason I invited Scott to join us on this month’s AdvisorPress Author Marketing Call is because of his unique perspective on publishing. He knows the authors, the small publishers and the service providers. As Executive Director of the Small Publishers Association of North America, he’s seen how the whole industry works, and he doesn’t have an axe to grind other than to provide community and support. Most of all, Scott is highly respected and admired for his integrity. What better person to talk to about success in publishing?

During the call, we visit some of the most critical issues facing authors and small publishers today. We discover where the best resources can be found, get a realistic sense of the time and money needed to make a book a success, how to build relationships in the industry, and how to avoid costly and painful mistakes.

About Scott Flora

Scott Flora is the Executive Director of SPAN, the Small Publishers Association of North America.

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Did you know that only about 5% of all book sales are made through traditional book retailers? A huge percentage of books is sold through alternative outlets, including businesses, associations, government, libraries, gift shops, military bases,airports, schools and universities, museum shops, catalogs and more. In addition, these outlets often provide more favorable terms than traditional bookstores. If you want to increase your book sales and level the playing field with the “big boys,” you must be aware of these great book sales opportunities.

About Brian Jud

Brian is the acknowledged expert on “special sales,” or book sales outside the bookstore. I promise you that if you haven’t heard Brian speak before, you’ll enjoy his information-packed, entertaining and light presentation style. He’s had a lot of practice, including having aired over 6 episodes of his television series, The Book Authority.

Brian is the author of the Publishers Weekly title, Beyond the Bookstore and The Marketing Planning CD-ROM that accompanies it. He is also the editor of the Book Marketing Matters email newsletter on special sales topics. Brian developed and introduced the Special-Sales Profit Center, the web-based, targeted-marketing system that helps deliver incremental sales and profits. This system is being used by publishers around the country and by R. R. Bowker to sell books to non-bookstore markets.

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Amazon.com Advantage is a proven and powerful means of distribution and order fulfillment. Work directly with the Internet’s leading retailer to market your products to customers. Benefits include:

• Access to tens of millions of Amazon.com customers around the world
• Leverage Amazon’s remarkable selling power with your whole catalog — including Not Yet Released and backlist items
• Your titles are eligible for Amazon’s world-class marketing programs like personalization and automerchandising
• Your products are available to ship to customers within 24 hours
• Control most aspects of your product’s Detail Pages
• Receive quick and easy payments when your products sell
• Enjoy limited returns
• Support from our member services team 7 days a week
• Log in to your online account to confirm orders, add titles, and review sales reports

Here’s an outline of the agenda for the call:

• Overview of Amazon.com — Customer Experience Pillars: Price, Selection, Availability, Convenience/Discovery
• Discovery: Merchandising
• Selection & Availability: Advantage and consignment
• Selection & Availability: Print on Demand
• Availability: Marketplace
• Discovery: Search Inside & Upgrade
• Discovery: AmazonConnect
• Convenience: Amazon Shorts
• Discovery: Associates
• Question and Answer

About Erin Eaves

As Manager of Amazon Advantage, Erin Eaves leads the company’s efforts to help small vendors and independent artists offer their books, CDs and films directly to Amazon’s tens of millions of customers. Since joining Amazon.com in 2, Eaves has had various leadership roles in inventory and vendor management for the company. Prior to joining Amazon.com, Eaves spent nearly 1 years as a buyer for major apparel retailers. Eaves earned a B.A. at Claremont McKenna College. She enjoys travel, hiking, camping, ethnic cooking, wine tasting, soccer and music, and can speak conversational Spanish and Mandarin. Eaves resides in Seattle with her family.

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Held April 5th, 2007.

Eric began his book publishing career at the Viking Press in 1970. In 1974, he was hired at St. Martin’s Press as Director of Sales. By 1977, Eric was National Sales Manager at Simon & Schuster. Eric has worked with independent publishers since 1981, and is currently the President of Midpoint Trade Books, Inc., a sales and distribution company for independent publishers, which was founded in 1996 by Eric and his two Partners. Eric is the author of The Book Publishers Handbook: The 7 Keys to Publishing Success to be published for the book trade by Beaufort Books, Inc. in May 2007. Eric has also taught book publishing courses at Harvard, Columbia, Hofstra and New York University. He has also served on panels at PMA University, SPAN, and other venues.

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Held March 1, 2007.

John Kremer is an acknowledged expert on book publishing and marketing. Besides being the owner of a publishing company (Open Horizons, in Taos, New Mexico), he is the editor of the Kremer 100 PR newsletter. John is the author of a number of books on publishing and marketing, including 1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers (6th Edition), The Complete Direct Marketing Sourcebook, High Impact Marketing on a Low Impact Budget, and Celebrate Today. He has also designed the Do-It-Yourself Book Publicity Kit, Book Publishing Reports on CD-ROM, and Book Marketing Mini-Book series.

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Held February 1, 2007

Penny Sansevieri is CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts Inc. She is a best selling author, and an expert in media relations and book marketing.

Links:

Author Marketing Experts

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Held January 4, 2007.

Yoder is a seasoned journalist, published in over 200 publications including The Washington Post, Financial Executive, Home Office Computing, Costco Connection, Industry Week, Brand Marketing and dozens of trade, business and consumer publications. He currently contributes articles about small business marketing and current affairs to dozens of trade publications and web sites.

Drawing from years of experience as a working journalist, Steven uses his inside understanding of targeted PR strategies to help small businesses reach their best clients and customers and develop a unique brand identity, and harness the media to become recognized leaders in their industries. Get Slightly Famous takes this approach a step further by helping small businesses reach out in all directions to become “slightly” famous and attract more business with less effort.

 Interview with Jason Van Orden [68:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Held December 7, 2006.

Jason Van Orden is a software engineer, a consultant, and a musician. But in this interview, he is the author of Promoting Your Podcast. A lesson in guerrilla marketing for the web as it applies to podcasting, and web 2.0 in general.

Links:

Jason Van Orden

Promoting Your Podcast

 Author Marketing with Steele [59:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Held November 2, 2006.