• Thursday lunch speaker: "The World of Sales" (where I explain how books are sold to chain bookstores, online stores, distributors, wholesalers, and specialty accounts). Followed by informal coffee talk that afternoon.
  
• Friday workshop: “Crafting a High Powered and Saleable Nonfiction Book Concept." This is the same one I delivered for the first time in Athens. (See previous post.)
• Saturday workshop: “The Times, They Are A-Changin'." I discuss how major book and magazine publishers are beginning to recreate themselves into media companies. I help writers make sense of (and navigate) the ongoing transformation of writing and publishing in the digital age.

Whoa, there Nelly!

I've been on the horse for a very long time and you're galloping a bit to far ... ahead.

Don't like this kind of talk. Don't like my work being called "content."

I can't imagine any writer I know who would thrill at the sound of that word.

Easy does it, there. S-l-o-w. D-o-w-n. You know I'm forward-minded ... but this is a bit too forward for me.

As a Company, our mission is to strive to offer the highest quality content in a wide variety of formats – from print to digital to video – to highly passionate enthusiast communities. We provide compelling content engaging communities and most importantly consumer satisfaction. We are a media company with enormous potential for future growth through excellence and innovation.

• Method of delivery (or format) is irrelevant. Book, DVD, Web site, podcast? It doesn't really matter. What will do the best job of delivering useful, engaging content or community?
• While some people (or some audiences/consumers) may be enthusiasts specifically of the book format, first and foremost (at least when we're talking about the majority of the nonfiction audience), people are looking for an interaction, experience, or information. 
• I love this Seth Godin quote from an article in The Futurist, "The 21st Century Writer": "The book is a souvenir." What does that mean? It means that the book is becoming the ancillary product in a much larger experience, that people want more than information. Read "The 21st Century Writer" to fully explore this idea.
  

When you approach publishers with an idea, your main job - practically your only job - is to explain very clearly why the book is going to sell. (Here it really helps if your last name is Clinton.) If you're not a known author or celebrity who can guarantee some sales, then it's best to come in with a clearly defined, market-tested book idea... not to say a knockoff of a bestselling concept or a me-too book on a hot trend, heavens no, we'd never do that, just maybe something "inspired by" a successful book.

I've queried as the date grew near
(I'm so much an impatient creature)
but, at last, Poet's Market is now here.
 
The list is printed; that's the trick.
And with the wisp of smoke's transient nature
they'll soon be gone, so grab one quick.