Sold books and got shirts!

August 13
Data entry is more than 90% done. This is very exciting. My list for review books has grown dramatically. I will be sending them to business and book columnists, book reviewers, radio talk shows and radio shows that do book reviews, TV talk shows and TV shows that do book reviews and business editors for business and women’s magazines. In addition, I will send copies to executives who interviewed with me and other key contacts. It looks like the list will be about 1600 people. On one hand, this sounds like a huge list—and a great expense to reach. On the other hand, it will disseminate the message to people who have the potential to get it out to others. A full page ad in Publishers Weekly is $10,000. The money necessary to send books to my list, I think, is a much sounder investment.

Jason’s flash email went out to my present email list of friends and business associates. As a result some orders are starting to come in to the web site. In addition, I had a request from a journalist for a review copy the other day in response to a press release that went out on newsreleasewire.com.

We have ordered Louder Than Thunder t-shirts, which will be in shortly. Even my daughters have said they are willing to wear them! They will be black with white writing. “What is Louder Than Thunder’? www.louderthanthunder.com” on the front and “Order today. www.louderthanthunder.com” on the back.

Poster design and design for the CD inserts is in progress. These things should go to the printer within a week. The book itself is scheduled to go on the press on Monday—but may actually run over the weekend. I have upped the run to 6000 from 5000 since I will be sending out so many promotional copies.

Hot off the press!

August 16

I believe the book was physically printed today. I wanted to go in and take pictures of the pages coming off the press but I was told it was against company policy. I may be able to take pictures while it is in the bindery.

Meanwhile, back at the office one of my daughter Jocelyn’s friends, Ilana Goldszer, helped me create the sandwich board, which I plan to wear early next month to promote "Louder Than Thunder." I had two large, white foam core sheets for the sides. And I had ordered custom vinyl lettering which I was concerned about placing myself since I had never done it before. Ilana is an art student. She was meticulous about placement. The effort was a total success.

The lettering is very large and fills the whole sign. I do not want to punch holes that might interfere with the message. So now I just have to figure out how to affix shoulder and side straps.

I have started working on the media/press kit and continue to made additions to the list for columnists and reviewers. It seems as though the process is endless!

Time for the Press!

August 14

I wrote a new press release today for this week. The title is "Reality TV Trumped by Reality Book." I compare "Louder Than Thunder" to "The Apprentice" and show the similarities but how the stakes are higher in the book. The release shows one more way to look at the book—in this case, as a competition. The three vice-presidents compete to see who will be the next CEO. In the process they all reveal a lot about their character.

Late last night I finished the preliminary list for review books. There is more to do—but 95% is completed. It took a long time to put the list together and I am glad the lion’s share of that work is behind me! This weekend Steve posted a flash announcement on the home page that Jason created. It adds some pizzazz.

"Louder Than Thunder" is actually scheduled to be on press tomorrow—but the scheduler told me it might actually run this weekend. It is very exciting!

Data Entry and T-Shirts

August 10
It’s boring to hear about data entry, but believe me, it’s more boring to do it. The problem is that it is not a task that can be delegated because there needs to be some determination of which names and companies to include. The process continues.

Jason has secured a company to produce the T-shirts. And bids are coming in for the CD inserts and the posters. Hopefully, the design work for those things will be completed some time next week and those things can be taken to press.

I noticed that my last two releases have not been posted at Lexus Nexus so I called newswirerelease.com. They were surprised and said they would look into what the glitz was that was causing this. It's always a good idea to keep a watchful eye.
It’s 9 PM and I’m calling it quits for today!

It's coming! Get ready!

August 8

I have had a full day today working on Louder Than Thunder materials. Several days ago I wrote a press release, which I intended to use next week. After careful consideration I decided it was best to wait until Louder Than Thunder is actually out to disseminate it. Therefore, I wrote another press release today, which deals with shattering the glass ceiling. I posted it with newsreleasewire.com. It will be posted tomorrow and blasted to 20,000 journalists on Wednesday.

Next I started to get printing prices for posters and CD inserts. That information should start to come in in the next few days. In the interim it is necessary to get everything ready for press. I prepared all the writing and information for the four CD inserts and Learning Guide Cover for Steve Gertz, who is doing the design work. Hopefully, he will have time to wind these things up this week. I do not think they will be terribly time consuming. I assume he will be using In Design for this work.

Tomorrow I need to research where to order bulk CD packaging and padded mail envelopes etc. I need to start setting up book signing parties. I also need to start working on the media kit. Besides Louder Than Thunder, I have to spend time on One Hungry Child, the book I have written for the Food Bank of Oakland County because it is due out the middle of October.

Mailing lists!

August 9

I started the long, arduous process of assembling the mailing list for columnists, reviewers, talk shows hosts and others. I have already done a lot of research at numerous libraries including the Ann Arbor District Library, the University of Michigan graduate library, the University of Michigan business school library and the library at Oakland University. Different libraries have different resources. That’s why it was necessary to go to so many of them. Oakland University had the 2004 Bacon directories I needed to refer to so I traveled to Rochester, MI twice to access needed information.

Now I am taking all of this and entering it into a database. It is not simply a matter of typing in the information. I wish it were that easy. In some instances names and companies are in one place and addresses are in another. In some instances, I need to go through lists to determine which entries qualify for inclusion. Any way you look at it, it’s a lot of work. I have no idea how many days it will take to complete this. I just need to keep on doing it until it is done! I will continue tomorrow.

The Books are Coming!

August 7
Steve and I made all the changes needed yesterday after proofing the cover and book. After sleeping on it, however, I decided it would be a good idea to reread everything one more time instead of simply making the changes it appeared were necessary. Boy, was I glad I did. It turned out that somehow a typo had appeared on the jacket cover and in the Table of Contents of the book. I also found a few minor things that didn’t have to be changed but would be an improvement if they were.

I headed over to Edwards Brothers with a CD to replace the one Steve delivered last night. Although they work 24/7 over there, there was a decreased crew and it was tough to get access. Finally, I found someone working in a cubicle with an outside window—and it turned out to be my customer service representative, Tanya Eldred. Not only did Tanya welcome me in, she gave me a tour of the facility.

Ann Arbor is a book publishing center in the United States. And Edwards Brothers is the oldest of the major printers there having been established over 110 years ago. Tanya showed me the large web presses, offset presses, bindery and lots more. At any one time they have about 100 books in their system. It was very educational.

The books at this point are scheduled to be ready for delivery August 27th. This is not an exact date—but should be pretty close.

August 3
Today I worked with Gail Snyder at Radio and TV and Interview Report to finalize the ad that will run in that source at the beginning of September—coinciding with the book release. We worked together to come up with a slant that will be of interest to talk show hosts. The headline is “Score Points at Work or Home with the Top 10 Secrets of Successful Coaches & Athletes.” The whole idea behind this is that you don’t have to set foot in an athletic training camp to benefit from the same secrets athletes learn there that help them improve their lives on and off the field.

There are a number of references made to well-known athletes and how they have dealt with motivation and communication including Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Hank Aaron and John McEnroe. There’s a quote about Louder Than Thunder included from Davy Rothbart, NPR Commentator. And the ad makes reference to feature stories I’ve had on ABC and CBS as well as the Detroit News and Crain's Detroit Business.

August 3
Today I worked with Gail Snyder at Radio and TV and Interview Report to finalize the ad that will run in that source at the beginning of September—coinciding with the book release. We worked together to come up with a slant that will be of interest to talk show hosts. The headline is “Score Points at Work or Home with the Top 10 Secrets of Successful Coaches & Athletes.” The whole idea behind this is that you don’t have to set foot in an athletic training camp to benefit from the same secrets athletes learn there that help them improve their lives on and off the field.

There are a number of references made to well-known athletes and how they have dealt with motivation and communication including Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Hank Aaron and John McEnroe. There’s a quote about Louder Than Thunder included from Davy Rothbart, NPR Commentator. And the ad makes reference to feature stories I’ve had on ABC and CBS as well as the Detroit News and Crain's Detroit Business.