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What Dave just did

Written by: Seth Godin

Article Overview: Dave Balter, an old friend and colleague, has written a new book. It costs $45 on Amazon. But, for my loyal readers...you can get a copy of the ebook (the entire book) for free here.

What Dave just did

Dave Balter, an old friend and colleague, has written a new book. It costs $45 on Amazon. But, for my loyal readers...you can get a copy of the ebook (the entire book) for free here.

The way he is bringing his idea to the world is instructive.

First, he wrote a book. You should write a book, too. Publishing a book is easier than it appears (in some ways, like the typing, typesetting, printing, and distributing part) but more difficult in others (like the writing something worth reading part.) Writing a book forces you to be organized and passionate and persuasive. Isn't that worth trying?

Second, he rejected the idea of having a 'real' publisher publish it. A real publisher adds time (perhaps six months or a year or two) and limits many of your options re: pricing, distribution, royalties and promotion.

Third, he realized that the ideas in a book are different than the book itself. The ideas are free. Dave made the ideas even easier to share by putting them into a PDF. If you want the souvenir edition, the one you can hand to a friend or read on the beach or store on your shelf, that costs a lot of money, but you don't mind, because you've already decided you wanted one (no risk, cause you've read it!)

Fourth, he figured out a way to use scarcity to create promotion. On the day a book is released, it's scarce. Scarce because no one has read it yet. That scarcity makes it more likely that someone will blog about it, because it's a scoop. News. Cooler still, he's not offering a copy of the book. Instead, he let me and a few other people offer it exclusively.

No, this doesn't work if you haven't worked with the blogger for years, haven't earned a reputation and most especially, haven't written something worth reading. In other words, it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success. So, if you're going to write a book in six years, please start now and focus on hard work, breaking new ground and being a standup guy.

If you follow Dave's tactics exactly, you'll certainly fail (at least with me), because it's already been done before. But, I have no doubt that variations on this method are going to get more and more powerful. (You can read my original free ebook--it was seven (!) years ago--right here. That book was a total homerun for me and for my readers--it has been downloaded, emailed and purchased millions and millions of times. I'm surprised the tactic isn't more popular.)

Find hundreds of other free ebooks at changethis. I started changethis with some talented interns a few summers ago, and because I'm not involved with it any longer, it's cooler than ever.

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Article Tags: amazon, blogger, breaking new ground, colleague, dave balter, ebook, loyal readers, old friend, overnight success, publishing a book, royalties, scarcity, scoop news, six months, six years, souvenir edition, standup guy, typesetting, worth reading, writing a book



Related Forum Posts
Re: Keeping up wtith the (super rich) Joneses - [quote="OmnivoreInk":ooof1b5b]What's a guy gonna do with 4 mansions??? [/quote:ooof1b5b] I live very close to Albemarle County, VA which is where the members of the Dave Matthews band live along with a large number of other people with a lot of money. That's convenient to the business people who cater to these residents. The reason I mentioned Dave Matthews and his band members is because they have 3 properties in one county. If you feel that you NEED 3 or 4 homes, why not buy them in different places??? I've worked on a number of these high end homes over the years and it is astounding how some people live. But, I still don't see the reasons for 4 mansions or your own island. Chris
Re: Hi from Adelaide Australia - Hey Dave, Welcome aboard! Great to have you here. Looking forward to your contributions in the forums. Take Care, Alan
Re: Selection of Free SE0/SEM Tools - Hi Dave, I just joined Kooiii. Very simple sign up process and the site is also easy to navigate. I'll be back to post some articles when I get a moment...
Re: Social IMPACT!! Marketing - How it will change your Business - Hi Dave Thanks for all this info, I will read through it and join as soon as I have had a chance to digest it, as I have never been too sure on how to use social networks. You already have a few of my articles on your site so will be joining in the next couple of days. MichelleJ
Re: Twitter Members, Post Your Twitter ID Here - Hi GT, Thanks for the update on Dave who I will re-tweet. I think I had everyone upto and including Julie Melillo so I will tweet everyone else after that, regards, Mal.


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