Entries tagged with “grassroots” from Tools of Change for Publishing

What Authors Can Learn from Silicon Valley

Mac Slocum
July 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Listen

Sramana Mitra of Forbes.com sees parallels between author Elle Newmark's grassroots audience development and Silicon Valley's software process:

In Silicon Valley, we do alpha and beta products -- small prototypes of our vision -- and recruit a small number of customers to gain early validation of the products' viability. These alpha and beta products, along with early customer validation, help us sell our ventures to investors and raise millions of dollars in venture money.

In Newmark's case, she spent less than $10,000 of her own money to "bootstrap" her self-publishing effort, she found customers online, and then she recruited William Morris agent Dorian Karchmar as her "investment banker," who then got her Simon & Schuster as a "venture investor." Newmark's deal with Simon & Schuster is widely rumored to include a seven-figure advance.

The Secret to Penguin's Trade Paperback Success

Mac Slocum
April 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Penguin is carving a niche for its trade paperbacks by treating the titles as entirely new books. From the Associated Press:

... Penguin has mastered the paperback blockbuster, taking a book already out in hardcover and giving it the kind of promotion once reserved for a new release: prominent store placement, author tours, online marketing, appeals to book clubs and community reading organizations.

Norman Lidofsky, head of Penguin's paperback sales, says success is largely driven by a recognition of grassroots growth:

" ... the books grow organically and then we focus on it and never stop. We've coined a phrase, 'These books should be brought up during every sales call, every account, every time'."

(Via Shelf Awareness.)

Tags: book groups grassroots paperback penguin publishing

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