by: Alain Thys
Now here's a publisher (or should I say publicist) who knows how to market its wares, and I think it should be rewarded with a post. Instead of sending me the usual (advance) review copies that go to bloggers, Holly Cariddi of Planned TV Arts started up a dialogue with me first. She basically asked if I would like to review or give visibility to a book she represented, but left it open how this was to be done.
After a few emails up and down, the answer was not to do a book review (I have 10 books in backlog anyway), yet simply to give part of the book away for free publication. In other words, don't spoil the blogger, spoil the reader. She immediately got on to the publisher, and got permission to give a free chapter away ... in which she even gave me a pick of the chapter I liked most. As an ex apparel boy I of course couldn't resist the piece on Columbia Sportswear.
OK, Seth did this years ago, and with the exception of Charles Leadbeater's We Think and the Age of Conversation are already well beyond sharing a PDF, yet the unique thing here is that some people are "getting it" and are starting to have real conversations. Let's have more of this !
About the book
So, when you click this link, you can download a chapter that is excerpted from Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands by David Vinjamuri. Copyright © 2008 by David Vinjamuri. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For more information on the book or to purchase a copy, please visit: www.accidentalbranding.com The book is a series of interviews with people who "accidentally" developed their business into a brand. Their stories. Their tips. Their wisdom. Whether it is your cup of tea, I'll leave up to your judgment, yet I already would want to encourage more publishers to start taking the example of Holly Cariddi and start having these conversations.
Great post--very interesting article about Gert and Columbia Sportswear. I know some apparel people who will find this of real interest. The book looks extremely interesting.
I agree with you, this kind of promotion is quite good--and the way to go. I have come across chapters from the book Blogging Heroes, and Marketing to the Social Web--to name a few. I'm greatly appreciative when I do. And I always go on to read the book.
Sometimes you have to give a little. People like to get a taste sample from everything from ice cream, pastry, wine and books and their thought leaders.
Kudos to Holly Cariddi of Planned TV Arts.