Scott Berkun's Blog, page 34

How To Help with Book Launch (Today)

Thanks for even thinking of helping out with launching my next book.

What many don’t know is marketing is hard: harder in some ways than writing books themselves. I’m grateful for anyone who helps. To help you help me here’s a little tip sheet. The goal: get as many sales and mentions TODAY (Tuesday Sept. 17th). Things will pick up 9am PST.

How to help on Tuesday 9/17 (Today):

Set a schedule reminder for one or more of the following (iCal appt)
Buy the book :) Amazon is best for me (but any store / format helps including your local bookstore)
Email your coworkers or business associates about the book
Post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn with the link
If you’ve read the book, post an Amazon.com review (and Facebook / Tweet about it)
Spread word of the sample chapter, the movie trailer or the high profile endorsements
Multiple mentions throughout the day can only help

Sample Facebook / Twitter text:

Feel free to reuse, borrow, snip and edit these:

“Get it today: The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work – looks great http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books”

“Finally here! Behind the scenes book on WordPress.com The Year Without Pants http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books #wordpress”

“Berkun is one of my favorite authors. His new book about lessons from WordPress.com is out: http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books”

“Read this great free chapter about The Year Without Pants – awesome new book: http://bit.ly/samplepants #wordpress #nopants”

“Hate cubicle life? Watch this funny video about a great new book http://bit.ly/moviepants  – The Year Without Pants #nopants”

Best single link to use:

If you have something else in mind, this is the best single link to use. Good for Facebook (the cover will show automatically):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1118660633/scottberkunco-20/

Book Cover:

You can grab low-res and hi-res versions of the cover for blog posts or other uses.

Thanks folks! Stay tuned. I’ll be posting updates tomorrow and possibly tonight.

Want a Reminder?

If you’re following me in any medium you’ll be reminded :) There’s a special Facebook Event page, but my twitter, Facebook fan page and mailing list will all be updated in the morning, and likely through out the day with news.

If you leave a comment on this post I’ll make sure you get an email too.

 

How To Help with Book Launch (Tomorrow)

Thanks for even thinking of helping out with launching my next book.

What many don’t know is marketing is hard: harder in some ways than writing books themselves. I’m grateful for anyone who helps. To help you help me here’s a little tip sheet. The goal: get as many sales and mentions on the same day (Tuesday Sept. 17th).

How to help on Tuesday 9/17:

Set a schedule reminder for 9am tomorrow PST or anytime during business hours (iCal appt)
Buy the book :) Amazon is best for me (but any store / format helps including your local bookstore)
Email your coworkers or business associates about the book
Post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn with the link
If you’ve read the book, post an Amazon.com review (and Facebook / Tweet about it)
Spread word of the sample chapter, the movie trailer or the high profile endorsements
Multiple mentions throughout the day can only help

Sample Facebook / Twitter text:

Feel free to reuse, borrow, snip and edit these:

“Get it today: The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work – looks great http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books”

“Finally here! Behind the scenes book on WordPress.com The Year Without Pants http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books #wordpress”

“Berkun is one of my favorite authors. His new book about lessons from WordPress.com is out: http://bit.ly/ywopants #nopants #books”

“Read this great free chapter about The Year Without Pants – awesome new book: http://bit.ly/samplepants #wordpress #nopants”

“Hate cubicle life? Watch this funny video about a great new book http://bit.ly/moviepants  – The Year Without Pants #nopants”

Best single link to use:

If you have something else in mind, this is the best single link to use. Good for Facebook (the cover will show automatically):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1118660633/scottberkunco-20/

Book Cover:

You can grab low-res and hi-res versions of the cover for any purpose.

Thanks folks! Stay tuned. I’ll be posting updates tomorrow and possibly tonight.

Want a Reminder?

If you’re following me in any medium you’ll be reminded :) There’s a special Facebook Event page, but my twitter, Facebook fan page and mailing list will all be updated in the morning.

If you leave a comment on this post I’ll make sure you get an email too.

 

The 7 things authors do before book launch day

Authors lead odd lives. Most of what people know of us we control through blog posts and books. Behind the scenes things are different. As I wait for next Tuesday’s launch of The Year Without Pants, my fifth book, I know precisely how taxing this time can me.

Psychologically this is the hardest time. I have three years invested in this project, but before launch there are no rewards. It’s in these days that there is the widest gap between how much effort has been put in, and the results (which don’t exist yet). People fear writing books for this reason: it’s the biggest commitment to writing you can have and it will be a long time before there is a payoff, if there is any at all.  It’s also time when it’s clear that writing and marketing are two different things, but a successful book demands strong efforts at both.

If ever you wonder what us authors do during this period here’s a list.

The 7 things authors do before their book launches:

Exchanging limbs / future offspring to journalists and bloggers in exchange for reviews of the book
Offering of secondary organs to places that will let me speak about topics from the book
Spending most waking hours in email pitching people, or answering interview questions, about the book
Running up bar tabs larger than many 3rd world economies (there are reasons many authors have signature drinks)
Figuring out how to ask for marketing help from friends and colleagues without being “annoying author friend”
Making backup plans for changing identity via the Author Protection Program (APP), similar to the Witness Protection Program, but for writers of criminally bad books.
And the best, but hardest, answer: Start work on the next book. Nothing can ever really stop a writer from writing.

I hope that satisfies your curiosity. Ask a question and I’ll answer.

Are you an author? What did you do during this odd period of time? Leave a comment.

 

Does your charity want pants? (Seattle)

Sept. 17th is launch day for my book The Year Without Pants. I’m throwing a launch party, and I’d love to do something charitable at the event.

The best idea is to have a donation box for people to donate pairs of pants (and I’ll give them a free drink or a copy of the book).

Wanted: I’m hoping to find a volunteer from a local charity who can attend the party and man the donation box. It’d be nice exposure for your charity and of course you’re likely to leave with some nice pants to donate to your cause.

If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, leave a comment or contact me.

The Year Without Pants: Official Movie Trailer

I think you folks will like this, and it’s definitely worth watching thru to the last shot. If you dig it please help spread it around.

Make sure to set YouTube to HD (the gear button) if you have good bandwith and go full-screen (last button on the right).

The crew for this film:

Director/Editor – Stephan Gray / Twitter
Cinematographer – Ryan Purcell
1st AC – Alisa Tyrrill
Gaffer – Chris Taylor
Key Grip – Charles McDowell
Set Design – Samantha Stendal
Lead Actor – Erwin Galan
Produced by Bret Seeger, Scott Berkun, and Stephan Gray
Special Thanks to Matt Frey and Optimum Energy

 

Book Tour Schedule 2013 (Year Without Pants)

 Here is the current speaking schedule for The Year Without Pants.

Note: this is changing quickly and the further you go into the future, the less stable things are. I’ll update this page as details finalize, including details for how to sign up to attend public lectures.

Seattle

Tue 9/10 – @ Seattle IA “Designing without Pants” (SOLD OUT)
Thurs 9/12 – @Seattle WordPress meetup
Tues 9/17 – BOOK Launch – Party in Seattle, 7pm
Tue 9/19 – @ Seattle Town Hall ($5)
Tue 9/24 – Microsoft Research Author Series

Hi Amazon, Expedia, Boeing and other Seattle companies! Get in touch if you want me to come by to talk about the future of work, and what I learned in The Year Without Pants.

New York City

Tue 10/15 1pm @ CUNY School of Journalism
Tue 10/15 3pm @ The New York Times
Tue 10/15 7pm @ NYC WordPress Meetup
Wed 10/16 12pm @ Google
Wed 10/16 4pm @ NYU Stern School of Business
Thurs 10/17 12pm @ SquareSpace
Thurs 10/17 4pm @ Foursquare
Thurs 10/17 7pm @ Columbia University business school

Boston

Boston 10/21 (all day) @ UI Engineering Conference
Boston 10/22 (morning) @ UI Engineering Conference
Boston 10/23 noon @ Hubspot
Boston 10/24 TBD @ Constant Contact (tentative)
Boston 10/24 TBD @ Refresh (tentative)
Friday 10/25 10:30am @ Fidelity, Inc.
Monday 10/28 TBD @ Business of Software Conference

Hi Boston colleges. I’d love to speak to your students! Slots still available.

How to get me to speak near you

Three cities are on my list for December: San Francisco Area, Portland & Vancouver B.C. I just haven’t had time to do any planning.

If you’re in one of these places and want me to come speak, you can help!

Find a venue that can host me and help draw a crowd.
If I can get 3 or 4 lectures together on a single trip, I’ll be there.
As you can see above, think about corporations, universities or even large meetup groups you’re affiliated with.

While on book tour I sometimes speak for free or in trade for book purchases. It’s a good deal all around.

Free chapter: The Year Without Pants

Hi there. I’m proud to share with you today a free chapter for The Year Without Pants.

The official launch day is Tuesday Sept. 17th, but you can read the first chapter of the book right now and get a head start.

Please spread word of the chapter far and wide. It’s a great way to help get PR for the book going.

I hope you like it.

The Year Without Pants: SAMPLE CHAPTER

Labor day: facts on the future and present of work

16 days from now my fifth book, The Year Without Pants, launches, and I’m posting daily till that happens. As today is Labor Day in the U.S. it’s timely to look at some facts about work.

If you search on the term the future of work you find plenty of slop. There is no more well worn cliche in any field that people who slap “the future of ” onto the end of something, hoping to trick more flies to their sour, uninspired honey. I put the phrase in the subtitle of my new book reluctantly, only after making sure I could justify its use in the book itself (something I explain in the introduction).

The big facts on the future of work:

There are 6 billion people on the planet
Approximately 3.5 billion people are workers (World Bank data and also see this ratio)

Think for a moment on just how many different kinds of work there are in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd worlds on our planet. Work with hands. Work with danger. Work that has to be found every day. Wow.

At a grand scale you must admit the future of these diverse jobs must be different. Some will:

Grow in number
Shrink in number, or disappear completely
Will improve in quality
Will decline

This means whenever someone uses the singular, unframed, phrase “future of work” they really mean “the future of the kind of work  I do or is done by people I know” which is a far narrower topic. It’s big business to sell things to the wealthiest kinds of workers, distorting impressions of what most work on planet earth looks like.

According to World Bank Data:

Agriculture: 922 million (30.4%)
Industry: 740 million (24.4%)
Services: 1.36 billion (44.9%)

Now of course it’s hard to know how many of these vaguely categorized industry and service jobs involve sitting at a desk with a computer all day (anyone know a better data source?), but this gives a basic sense of how well divided the working world truly is. The latest software and gadgets mean little towards productivity for much of the working world.

While the trends in the U.S. are for many labor intensive jobs to move elsewhere (the number of globalized workers, or workers who do things for export, was 900 million in 2005, up 400% from 1980), those jobs still exist and those workers have a very different working future than the jobs that stay here.

Today is labor day: Take a second to think about all the different kinds of labor there are on earth and how grateful you should be about the kind you have, or that you have employment at all.

Thanks Joe McCarthy, MWilk and Ron Miller for research help.

I’m posting daily until YWP launches (and I’ll explain why)

I’ve been waiting 3 years for The Year Without Pants to launch and I can’t wait any longer.  For the next 17 days I’ll be posting at least once a day.

I have two four reasons.

Reason one: These sorts of stunts rarely excite me as a reader, but as a writer I can tell you one of the strangest parts of the entire enterprise of writing books with publishers is the waiting. And the waiting. And then after the waiting, the psychological challenge of staying excited about a book finished months earlier (and in this case about events that took place even longer ago). I can use a fun way to pass some time.

Reason two: One of the key themes of the book is about experiments and how important they are to just about anything we want to pursue as adults in life. I’ve never done a post-a-day stunt before (starting The Daily Post doesn’t count), and I figure why not. Lets see what happens.

Reason three: The way I blog I often have dozens of draft posts in different states of completion. It’s time to kick some of these clingy adolescent missives out into the world.

Reason four: Maybe you forgot who I am. I’m that Berkun guy? Who wrote that thing you loved and forwarded to you teammates and friends? Well I’m back with book #5!

Stay tuned for more. T-16 days.

Sign-up on Facebook to catch all the festivities for the actual Launch day - or read the general launch info here.

Sept 17th: Official Launch for The Year Without Pants (details)

Hi folks. We’re getting close.

Tuesday September 17th will be the official launch date for my 5th book, The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and The Future of Work.

The way PR works, the more attention I can garner for the book simultaneously, the better.

If you can help, please do one or more of the following:

Mark your calendar for Tuesday Sept. 17th
Buy the book (or 1052 copies) on the day
Plan to blog, tweet or Facebook about the book
If you’ve got a pre-release copy, post an amazon review on or before this day
Join the Facebook event, if you’d like to follow along there

Thanks for your support. It’s been three years of work and so excited to finally share the book with all of you.

As an appetizer: You can read chapter 1 of The Year Without Pants here. And some early reviews.