Book Marketing Tips series
Seth Godin: On Books, Blogs, and Tribes
Seth Godin on writing books, blog posts, and more. And how to create avid fans for what you write (aka tribes!).
Here are a few things Seth Godin noted during the interview.
If you don’t have a book problem, you won’t be in a bookstore.
One of the costs of being right is that some people will think you are wrong.
Shame is a dream killer. Shame is the thing that will put out your fire.
It wasn’t three hours to success. It was nine years to success.
If you don’t have trust and if you don’t have attention, Kickstarter won’t work for you.
Book publishing is the act of bringing an idea to people who weren’t aware they needed that idea.
A copy editor is someone who makes sure you don’t use semicolons incorrectly. A line editor can think the way you want to think. A project editor is priceless: The person who keeps you from doing things that don’t work.
Bookstores have been savaged, brutalized, and ignored in today’s culture.
My job is not to make books. My job is to make change.
I blog every day (with about a million readers). I write books when I don’t think I can make the change with less than a thousand words.
Having tools that give you a boost are critical for writing books.
Seth writes every day. He doesn’t go to any meetings. He doesn’t watch any television.
Seth writes like he talks, so he never has writer’s block because no one ever has talker’s block.
Find ten people who will take what you have to offer. If they tell other people, then it can go viral. If it does, repeat. If it doesn’t, repeat.
Seth doesn’t use Twitter. He doesn’t use Facebook. He avoids most social media. He sticks with just a few big things.
Seth’s job is to notice things. And to engage with people, earn their trust, and use their attention wisely.
Seth’s goal: How can I build a platform where I get the privilege of whispering to people who want to hear from me about stuff they are interested in?
No one is entitled to speak, teach, or write.
Mediocre work is mediocre work. It’s not easy. It takes work and commitment to create good work.
Seth picked the book business because people in the book business buy ideas for a living.
Leadership requires enrollment. They understand what you are doing. Leadership is way scarier in our culture than management. Leadership and management are not the same thing.
Seth uses fear as a compass (because the action might work and require more time and work). Understand the general direction you want to go.
He has never set out to make lots of money. He has never set out to be famous. He has set out to make a difference to people who are on the same path as he is.
By a factor of three, what you do is not nearly as important as how it makes people feel. — Seth Godin
Again, you can listen in to the full Seth Godin interview here: http://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/seth-godin-on-books-blogs-and-tribes.
And check out how Jack Canfield, bestselling co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, promoted his books to New York Times bestsellers:
