HONORING BOOKS AND AUTHORS

I'm finding the newspaper content here in Ireland to be much more literary in slant. It's also more informal and it is more...what can I say...vulgar? Earthy? Bare breasted women on page two could be called earthy I suppose. Using fuck on page one but ***in out cocksucker in the same paragraph could be called earthy I suppose. I've also seen that books have higher regard over here. I'm attending a book festival in Ennis and it seems there is a lot of devotion to the book...the non-electric kind. (Kindle's got its work cut out for it here.) I'm guessing there is more devotion to the book in NYC than there is in Superior, Wisconsin where the last word in the state is SIN, so I can't complain too much when I feel like my corner of the world eschews books for beer. But it is nice to be in a society where authors and books are more revered than cheese and brats. Though, one downside to the reverence is the faint aroma of snobbery now and then. All in all though, it is fun to be living and moving and having breath in a more book oriented, word oriented society. Keep writing.

Prison Awakening

The TV show Prison Break has nothing on Jill Downs' book Awakening of the Heart. Late last week a mom from Florida called and said she had been reading Jill's book over the phone to her son in prison. The son had only five minutes of call time for each call so it was slow going. And he loved the book. So she called and explained that the rules did not allow her to send him a copy but that he could receive a copy directly from the publisher. We were happy to oblige and now feel like there may well be hearts awakening in the state pen in Jacksonville. I'm thinking the moral of the story is, why break out when you can set your heart free from the inside.

SPI NEWS ITEMS

Tori Spelling owns a pug. She's also a new mom. And she's also getting a promotional copy of Luella. As Jessica Radzak our editor/promotions director said, "It can't hurt to have a copy of Luella floating around Tinsletown." I'm hoping Tori loves the book so much she'll help us promote it to all her A-list pals.

The Kat's Magic Bubble mailing to hospitals and churches is about ready to go into the mail. If you have any names, any names at all that you think should be on our mailing list, send them in ASAP. This includes friends, relatives, pastors, grief counselors...whomever...send us your poor, your wretched, your huddled masses of addresses.

The Last Spartan is getting some notice on Amazon. Go there and check it out. Leave a review behind.

Readers Are Leaders

Saw the slogan "Readers Are Leaders" on the side of a Levy Distributing truck a few years back and have been using it off and on for various reasons and in various ways ever since. Thougt of it this morning again when speaking with a woman who said, "I don't own a Television. All I do is read." And guess what? She's manages a business. Now, I suppose there are a lot of leaders who don't read, but I'm guessing that there are more who do. If you have the option of watching TV this weekend or reading, try reading. Who knows where such a choice might lead. You may become President some day!

Building Subscribers List/Going Viral

Hey All:

Here's some news about Savage Press.
Last week nine new subscribers joined the SPI Blog.
Would you be willing to get one friend to successfully subscribe to the SPI blog this week?
It would be a great thing to keep adding new subscribers weekly. Hopefully there is sufficiently fascinating content to keep people interested. We'll do our part.
Here's some additional SPI information:

1.) So far this year March was the most active month for Individual Book Visits to the SPI website. There were a total of 654 individual book visits in March.
2.) Last week there were 715 individual website pages viewed.
3.) On average people are viewing 35 "unique titles" weekly.

Seven unique book views a day is not viral by any means, but it is good, solid, consistent visitation to the range of titles offered. Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War is the most visited. With baseball season starting up Off Season and The Year of the Buffalo Marshall Cook's baseball novels are getting solid unique visits as well. Cook's Hometown Wisconsin is also getting looked at regularly.

If you are an SPI author and want to "encourage" your friends to promote your title by visiting the site, it would do wonders to increase your book's "visibility" on the net.

I'll always remember with fondness the advice given to me by the wise John Kuderle who was the SPI book buyer at Bookmen in Minneapolis. I asked him what was the best way to sell books, he answered dryly, "Mike, there are three rules to selling books. They are: One. Promotion. Two. Promotion. And, three. Promotion."

If everyone in the Savage Press family does one little thing daily to promote titles and the site, eventually we'll go viral and we would have to see how that fits us. Nicely, I presume. It would fit us all nicely, I'm sure.

Kat's Magic Bubble Mailing

Hey all, we're putting together a direct mail piece for Kat's Magic Bubble to be sent out in a couple of weeks. We're offering a "Buy One/Get One Free" coupon so there's a book bargain in the deal for some folks. We've got a nice long list of hospitals, pediatric units, and churches as our target customers. Would you be willing to submit potential "customers" to whom we can send our sales packet? Thanks tons.

SPARTAN Buzz Building

Tis nice indeed to see a plan come together. John F. Saunders' new book, The Last Spartan is getting some good advance notice and some downright excellent exposure in the Greensboro, NC media. He recently wrote to say that the host of the widely acclaimed Murphy in the Morning drive-time radio talk show read the book and loved it. John is scheduled to be a guest on the talk show on June 12th, the morning before the national book launch at the Barnes & Noble store at the Friendly Center in Greensboro.

If you would please pass this on, maybe The Last Spartan has a chance to go viral and end up as a movie with The Rock playing Frank Kane.

Pass it on, please.

GOOD REVIEW OF LUELLA

Luella by Melinda Braun got a nice review in Mankato State's review periodical, The Corresponder. Reviewer Teresa Bolstadt said, "Braun's watercolor and ink illustrations are sure to keep a child's attention with their elaborate details and often humorous depictions. The text is easy to follow and would make a great read aloud bedtime story.

LOSS

It's always sad for me when an author's book doesn't get the kind of notice in the mainstream press that it deserves. But, as I've been taught lately, "deserves" can be a violent word. Every book and author deserves notice simply because it was written and the author is (more or less) a human being of equal worth and dignity. Trouble is, the mainstream (the stream that is main) can only hold so much water flowing within its banks. It always feels like loss to me when we try to get a book noticed and an editor or reviewer doesn't take notice.

So, "What's a mother (a publisher or author) to do?" We can let Calgon take us away, or we can keep on trying to get the baby noticed as best we can.

The best notice is word of mouth. Oprah has only so many shows a week. USA Today only has about 20 or so reviews a month. Entertainment Weekly usually runs only ten or so notices an issue. These mainstream venues for giving recognition to books can only carry so much capacity. Yes, I know the Internet is supposed to be the big answer to capacity, but SPAM doesn't work and there's only so much time for your "audience" to surf and find our titles.

So, the "big" venues are more-or-less unavailable to small publishers and authors. Again, "What's a mother to do?" Ask the readers and supporters you have to talk your title up. I do this in nearly every email I send out to customers who have bought an SPI book through the site.
I say, (in essence) "We're small but we're awesome and we need your help to spread the word about this good book you just bought. Please tell your friends and family, and even perfect stranges, about the book, the author and the company. We are grateful for your purchase and for any notice you can give the title."

I read recently where Proctor & Gamble is paying people to do word of mouth promotion over the Internet. Would to God we had that kind of kaching in the PR budget. In the meantime, we're walkin' the talk and talkin' the walk for every book on the list.

Wanna help? Just mention one of our titles or authors to someone today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...and...THANKS!