Smaller, Faster & Renamed

Both Robert and I have been fighting the flu for over a week.  I probably gave it to him, when we were celebrating in Scottsdale after verbally cutting our deal with Wiley to be our publisher. In any case, we've both been awful regarding this blog and we both promise to be more vigilant moving forward.

Lots has happened and there are several changes.  Let me summarize:

• Wiley knows more than we do about what sells on bookshelves, and if we didn't believe that, we shouldn't have gone with them. They like the title "Blog or Die," and unless someone comes up with something better, that's the title we'll go with.  Look for it a bookstore near you in January.
• This project shall remain known as The Red Couch.  It may becomne a continuing thing, but its first finished product will be "Blog or Die."
• To make that January deadline, Robert and I need to have final, edited, galley-ready copy to Wiley by Aug. 31.  That is squeaky tight.
• We've reduced our goal from 100,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 270 pages in an average hardcover volume.
• We've also reduced the book, due to advice from Jim Minatel at Wiley, from 20 to 14 chapters.  In a few days, we'll post a revised TOC (V3).
• For the last week, I've had my head down, writing Chapter 1.  I passed it over to Scoble tonight for his input (Scoble says he'll post it this weekend). He just skype-chatted me that he "loves it." I got all tingely, but maybe that's just the flu. Chapter 1 is a shade over 4,000 words.  Only 71,000 more words to go.
• Our next chapter will be about Microsoft and how blogging has moved the needle in general and most specifically with the developer community through Channel 9.  I'm flying down to Newport Beach to interview Robert's boss, Lenn Pryor, on Tuesday, then I'll be swinging up to Seattle to interview more people inside Microsoft for the chapter.
• I'm loving this.  I've spent most of my life wanting to spend my life as an author. I'm waking up before six every morning and champing at the bit to get started.
• You've all been great sending us cases for the book.  Please keep them coming in.
• The biggest success so far--Mark Cuban has agreed to an interview, albeit just by email.  I was hoping to get into the stands for a Mavericks game--he's made me a fan, but we'll take what we are given. He's an awesome writer.
• Before we incorporate them into chapters, we'll post our interview notes on the people we interview.

All-in-all, it has been a busy, productive week.  As Scoble would say--awesome!

Been a busy week.  Much more to come.

Comments

[alex]

i am happy to provide info. re: http://adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu i think we have had decent feedback, we are getting over 1k impressions a day and some of the search terms used to get to us are ammusing to say the least (i.e. relate to our peer schools). anyway, shoot me an e-mail if needed. cheers, alex

[Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate]

Please take the following comments in the spirit of friendliness that is intended....

"Blog or Die" is not the best title for this book. As a marketing professional, I feel I need to caution you here. I'm sure Wiley means well, but consider: do CEOs and business leaders, your primary audience for the book, accept threats or ultimatums?

"Blog or Die", my friend Bennett Theissen in Hollywood, would interpret, in his exile from New York East Village style, as "Agree with me that you need a blog, or I'll kill you". Cynical, but true.

Would you go up to a Mark Cuban or a Bill Gates and say such a thing? "Hey, dude, blog or die!" Somehow this sounds pushy, preachy, and prejudiced. That's my honest opinion.

Wiley is on the right track, but this title needs a subtle shift to be more appropriate and accurate.

No one's going to "die" if they don't blog. If someone told me "Podcast or die" or "RSS feed or die", I'd think they were daft punk joking or getting a bit cheeky with me.

Also, an email interview is wonderful, not "just an email interview." Actually, I think email is way better than telephone any day. I hate talking on the phone, and I don't like chitchatting in person either, unless I know someone well and we have a few Blue Moons with orange twists.

[Neville Hobson]

Whether 'Blog or Die' ends up as the final title, I can well understand Wiley's thinking on what will sell from the bookshelf.

'Blog or Die' is pretty emotive and a clear indicator of what the book's about (I'm interested to see what the strapline will be).

An ideal impulse-purchase title for the airport bookstore!

[hugh macleod]

I think "Blog or Die" is a great title.

I think writing anything for the hypothetical "CEO Market" is a bad idea.

CEOs will read your stuff if it's useful, relevant and interesting. They won't read it just because it's targeted at them.

[Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate]

I just know I would not buy, or take seriously, any book with the title "[Do this] or Die".

There are many other ways to communicate the idea that if you don't use a blog in your public relations or marketing mix of media, you may severely regret it.

Many creative ways to issue the warning that: your competitors who do start a blog could very likely have a distinct advantage.

To respond to the title, "Blog or Die", one must agree with the premise, must think, "You know, he's probably correct. If I don't blog, I probably will die. I don't want to die. Thus, I better buy this book and find out how to gain immortality via blogging."

Quite comical, really.

[Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate]

P.S. Here are some other books that use the "...or die" phrase in the title:

Innovate or Die--Jack V. Matson
Differentiate or Die--Jack Trout
Plan or Die--Timothy M. Nolan
Evolve or Die--Nesthone Antoine
Evolve or Die--Timothy Labadie
Adapt or Die--Kendra Okonski
Adapt or Die--Bob Betts
Dig or Die--William J. Hyde
Ride or Die--Solomon Jones
Grow or Die--George Land
Escape or Die--Ina R. Friedman
Do or Die--David Robbins
Detox or Die--Gerald H. Bagley
Truth or Die--Diane Hoh
Live Free or Die--Ernest Herbert
Alkalize or Die--Theodore A. Baroody
Detoxify or Die--Sherry A Rogers
Climb or Die--Edward Myers
Read or Die--Kurata
Do or Die--Leon Bing
Do or Die--Darren Coleman
March or Die--Howard Swigglet
March or Die--Philip D. Chinnery
March or Die--Tony Geraghty
Get Out or Die--Jane Finnis
Quit Monks or Die--Maxine Kumin
Go Free or Die--Jeri Ferris
Win, Lose or Die--Diane Hoh
Live or Die--Anne Sexton

The one that makes the most sense to me is "Differentiate or Die" by marketing specialist Jack Trout.

These are just a few of the titles in the ever popular "...or die" series.

Buy Them All Now...or Die.

[Doron Orbach]

"CEOs will read your stuff if it's useful, relevant and interesting. They won't read it just because it's targeted at them".
I think that CEO's will read stuff if they think it will improve there sales...

D. Orbach

javasight - java news & books

[Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate]

Blogs are for everyone. CEOs are a small and relatively insignificant market.

[Robert Scoble]

Oh, but you miss their power. They can buy a copy of a book for all their employees. I've seen this happen a few times.

You're thinking like a marketing guy, but missing the effect of the influential.

Here's another way to look at it. Nokia just installed Firefox on all their desktops. Thousands of them.

Who made the decision to do that? One guy.

Never underestimate the power of an influential. Yes, we'll have a whole chapter in the book about this.

[Jeremy C. Wright]

Nokia did not. Company officials retracted the statement the next day (see: http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/opensource/nokia-firefox-explorer-browser-wireless-40785.html).

[Robert Scoble]

Oh, I missed that. Thanks Jeremy!

[Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate]

You're right about CEOs being influential, and I remember one time my CEO bought everybody in the company a copy of some direct marketing book.

But I think there is a larger market for your book, and any blog book, than just CEOs. CEOs generally tend to do what other CEOs do, they rarely take risks like entrepreneurs.

So business people in general should be marketed to, they need to understand what blogs are, and they can take that knowledge to the CEO. Bottom up is how most good ideas and innovations occur, almost never top down.

[Andy Wibbels]

Just had to chime in - 'Blog or Die' is exteme but reminds me of Puffy's 'Vote or Die' campaign (as well as its parody on South Park). Perhaps strong sentiments require strong language!

[mikle]

I just know I would not buy, or take seriously, any book with the title "[Do this] or Die".

-----------------------------------
http://membres.lycos.fr/messengermsnfr/

[Blaine Moore]

I have to agree with Mikle on this one.

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