The biggest worry of the year for book publishers has been answered, as Borders appears to have been granted another 12 months to sort itself out. Leading shareholder and lender of last resort Pershing Square has extended their $42.5 million term loan to Borders until April 1, 2010.
But Pershing has once again won big concessions for that extension: The "put" option to buy the Paperchase chain (which Pershing never wanted to own in the first place) will expire, and the big grants of 14.7 millio…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on March 31, 2009 at 11:32am —
5 Comments
One of the qualities common to successful nonfiction books is simplicity. They are based on simple ideas compellingly communicated by their titles, their covers and their marketing. So make your ideas clear, compelling and promotable, but keep them simple.
Continue
Added by David Hancock on March 30, 2009 at 2:52pm —
6 Comments
Every book is four businesses:
1.
an enterprise that creates a product or service
2. a marketing business that sells what it produces
3.
a service business that understands that service is whatever customers want it to be
4.
a people business that makes the first three possible
The larger the business, the harder it is to establish and maintain personal relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. Although they may be poor in capital, entrepreneurial authors can be rich in human…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on March 10, 2009 at 8:30am —
6 Comments
What are the characteristics of an entrepreneurial author as opposed to a traditional author? Entrepreneurial authors differ in twelve ways:
1. Traditional authors use as big a budget as possible; entrepreneurial authors substitutes time, energy and imagination for money.
2. Traditional authors are geared to big audiences; entrepreneurial authors, to laser focused niches with a big dream but not a big bankroll.
3. Traditional authors measure effectiveness with sales; entrepreneurial autho…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on March 6, 2009 at 10:28am —
No Comments
Publishers have been experimenting with promotional free downloads of books and worrying about the risks of electronic piracy, but there has been precious little data and analysis to work from. For the past eight months Brian O'Leary at Magellan Media has partnered with Random House and O'Reilly Media to rigorously study the "impact of free distribution on paid content," which meant examining both giveaways and unauthorized peer-to-peer distribution. The ultimate objective is to develop "a model…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on February 13, 2009 at 12:19pm —
No Comments
Following rapid expansion under Steve Ross, HarperCollins is "closing the Collins Division and realigning the imprint" and president and publisher of the division Ross is now leaving the company. In other realignments (see below), William Morrow publisher Lisa Gallagher is leaving the company as well. The Harper imprint, under Jonathan Burnham, will absorb the Collins general non-fiction list (which will be published as Harper titles), along with Collins Reference, which retains its name as an i…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on February 10, 2009 at 12:00pm —
No Comments
I received a note from John Ingram this morning that prompted me to reflect on how large a part he has played in our success and how much I appreciate him for being a trusted and reliable partner that is committed to our success and to the success of our industry.
Morgan James started with the belief that, for the most part, the publishing industry was broken and that change was essential for the future of publishing. Six years later we are living through extraordinary economic times. Our indus…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on February 5, 2009 at 6:43pm —
No Comments
The first thing you’ll notice about being a Entrepreneurial Author is that your goals will be different from the old-fashioned goals of a non entrepreneurial author. An Entrepreneurial Author is flexible, innovative, unconventional, low in overhead costs, dependent, interactive, generous, enjoyable, and profitable. The goal is to stay that way.
Look at the authors all around you. If you can’t see many, it’s because they are not Entrepreneurial Authors; instead, they’re buried in work, rarely co…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on January 12, 2009 at 8:25am —
2 Comments
Today, there are more authors than ever, but few true entrepreneurial authors. If you are contemplating the life of an author, the way of the entrepreneurial author is the path you should follow. If you are already an author that is the direction in which you should evolve.
Entrepreneurial authorship did not exist for your parents or for your grandparents, because the path has only recently been blazed. Technology and enlightenment have marked its way. The Puritan work ethic of your ancestors h…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on January 4, 2009 at 4:49pm —
No Comments
Morgan James Publishing has been invited to Ring Opening Bell at NASDAQ MarketSite along with Authors of New Book,
Do Your Giving While You Are Living! (
http://www.DoYourGiving.com)
Rick Frishman and I will join authors Edie Fraser and Robyn Spizman at MarketSite in New York City on Wednesday, December 17th 2008 (THIS WEDNESDAY). Serving as the epicenter for NASDAQ news and events, MarketSite is located i…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on December 13, 2008 at 11:21am —
2 Comments
In every down economy, some authors lose money while others seemingly coin money. I want you to be in the latter category. The plain fact is that Guerrilla Author's have an advantage during tough times. They are able to work in relatively shorter time frames. Their penchant for information enables them to market more quickly and creatively to market needs.
The Guerrilla Author lives by different rules during a tough times than during boom times. The Guerrilla Author attacks when the com…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on November 3, 2008 at 2:30pm —
No Comments
It's a hard step for a prospect to decide to buy from you. Guerrilla Entrepreneurs make that hard step a whole lot easier by offering prospects several soft steps.
Just imagine how difficult it is for a prospect to make the decision to buy what you are selling. That prospect has never purchased from you before, doesn't know all that much about you, and has been stung in the past by making purchasing errors from others.
Guerrilla Marketing makes that hard step a lot less hard by creating a seri…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on July 9, 2008 at 4:14pm —
No Comments
I am an Entrepreneurial Author and so are all of you or you would not be here.
Being an Entrepreneurial Author is about having the right mindset and approach to your book. It’s also about learning how to profit from your book, and making the most out of your opportunities.
What Does It Mean To Be An Entrepreneurial Author? Well I'm going to tell you.
Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing with you exactly what is an Entrepreneurial Author in short easily digested segments.
An Entreprene…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on July 3, 2008 at 9:32am —
No Comments
Each year The Wall Street Journal tracks the growing number of books written by consultants, real-estate moguls, retailers and other entrepreneurs. Over the past six years, the number of books written by entrepreneurs or about entrepreneurship has risen steadily, to an estimated 312 in 2007 from 188 in 2002, according to Books in Print, and publishers say there are more on the way. Morgan James actually published over 100 of those.
With layoffs and cutbacks dominating the headlines, demand for…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on June 16, 2008 at 12:48pm —
No Comments
Which would you like first?
Okay the good news it is. When Rick Frishman came on as our Publisher and partner one of the first things he mandated is that I take some time off. Building Morgan James from idea to a $15 million dollar company has been fun, but exhausting! So some time off to spend with the family has been much anticipated.
So what was the good news? Well, for me, that was it! But for you, it is that I will be unable for a short period of time.
And the bad news? I'll be taking th…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on May 15, 2008 at 9:30am —
No Comments
That is really good advice isn't it?! May not have been expected
to come from me, but still, good advice.
I, take this advice to heed, just as I have since I first heard
my very own mother preach it to me when I was too young
to know any better. She, my mother, works in our Southeastern
Virginia office, and I see her often. She still checks! I'm kidding!
But she would if she could ;-). But seriously, one of our new
authors, Alexis Martin Neely, is screaming up the Amazon and
Barnes & Noble…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on May 7, 2008 at 4:13pm —
No Comments
The family at Morgan James is deeply saddened by the news of Dave Mason's passing and extends our sympathy and prayers to the family.
AMHERST — RCMP forensics officers have wrapped up their investigation at the site of an unexplained death on Friday but are not prepared to say how David Mason died.
The 40-year-old was discovered by a family member at his Amherst-area residence late Friday afternoon.
RCMP Const. Paul Calder says police are still "awaiting the results of the autopsy before" the…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on May 6, 2008 at 2:30pm —
No Comments
Book Expo America (BEA) is held Friday through Sunday in May or early June every year. This year is May 30th - June 1st.
The primary purpose of the show has traditionally been to make booksellers aware of publishers’ fall lists. However, between the decreasing number of independent booksellers who now generate less than 20 percent of book sales and the fact that sales reps have already sold the fall list by the time BEA takes place, the convention is in the process of reinventing itsel…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on May 3, 2008 at 12:53pm —
1 Comment
Just think for a minute...
What if Stephen Pierce is right?
What if I he really can help you to turn your brain into a success magnet and automatically attract success, money, and friends beyond your dreams -- AUTOMATICALLY.
Please - for your sake – check out his course Mind Power University today.
If he can't help you, and you decide Mind Power University is not worth way more than the mere introductory offer price, simply let him know and you'll get a complete refund of the purchase price.…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on April 29, 2008 at 1:57pm —
No Comments
Well it is that time again, and boy are we excited. BigSeminar is only 2 more days away! As you may have heard when Armand and I did that teleseminar last month, Big has played a Big role in our success as an Entrepreneurial publisher. The networking, the contacts and the teaching all has been incredible. This one should be the best one yet. Many of our authors are on stage this year and their books have played a Big role in their success. From Armand himself, to Mike Stewart, Jim Edwards and mo…
Continue
Added by David Hancock on April 23, 2008 at 8:30am —
No Comments
Borders Gets Another Year
