martyweil.net

How to Get Publicity for Your Textbook

Luis Levy is a smart publicist.

He recently sent me a copy of Game Development Essentials: An Introduction. By doing so, Luis took a direct route to getting editorial coverage for the textbook. The reason it makes sense to send your client's newly published textbook to a contributing editor is because it is the contributor's job to suggest story ideas to editors.

The arrival of your textbook, along with helpful press materials, can spur ideas that contributors can then use to formulate suggestions for upcoming editorial coverage. The key to the strategy is knowing which magazines the contributor contributes to. By doing some homework (like reading a contributor's blogs for instance), Luis knows I write for a number of EduTech publications--the target audience for Game Development Essentials.

Luis did everything right. He sent quotes from the author, a link to a press release, a PDF of the cover, and, of course, the book itself.

Good thinking, Luis. And thank you.

Scholastic Administrator Superintendent "Merry-Go-Round" Article

My feature ("Is Your District on a Merry-Go-Round?") in the August issue of Scholastic Administrator takes a hard look at how changes at the superintendent level affect the entire operations of a school district.

 

Only Four Reasons Companies Fail Says CEO & Author Stevens

CEO Mark Stevens reveals that there are only four reasons any company fails in the pages of his forthcoming book "Your Company Sucks" (BenBella Books August 2011, $14.95). Stevens' four company killers are:

1. Rudderless Leadership.

2. Lust to Lax Syndrome.

3. Complacency.

4. Belief in Conventional Wisdom.

I mention the book here becuase its contents dovetails with several of the recent white papers I've written for enterprise software companies, who design solutions that address many of the pitfalls Steven's warns about in his new book.