Posts Tagged Bea
Booksellers & BookBloggers, Spirited & Passionate
Posted by Wanda in Get in Bed Project, GiB Booksellers on June 16, 2010
Get in Bed With a Book Blogger #1
Booksellers are first entrepreneurs. They are spirited and passionate for books and their businesses in a way that many cannot imagine. These are people who want to build a business that serves their community, protects the First Amendment, and provides a cross-section of choices for consumers. And they want to be able to make a living, support their families, and provide for their employees. This is no small feat any time.
And especially now, booksellers are trying to do everything they have always done, and add a whole slew of new things to their day. Blog, Tweet, Post, Website, E-Commerce, Events, Newsletters, on, and on, and on and on. So SIBA wants to help you break it down. Let’s just do one thing a week. This week, I want you to learn about blogging, what it is, what it can do, and how you might not need to do it at all. You might only need to find someone who is already book blogging who can see that your established name in the industry, bevy of contacts, extensive expertise, and unparalleled passion is all they need from you to support you and your store’s efforts.
Take a stroll around The Book Lady’s Blog: Literary Adventures of a Panty-Throwing, Book-Loving Wild Woman. This is the blogger that has partnered with The Fountain Bookstore. Everybody wins. Fountain Bookstore promotes The Book Lady’s Blog at the store website. Kelly shares ARCs & Galleys with Rebecca. Rebecca has introduced some of her favorite authors at Fountain Bookstore’s events, and Kelly and Rebecca went to BEA together where Rebecca garnered favor with Kelly’s contacts, and vice versa. Kelly has enjoyed sales via Rebecca’s blog, Rebecca has garnered advertising for her blog, and both have gained some recognition in the industry as players.
FOR WEEK ONE:
1. Watch this video, Blogs in Plain English (this will help you understand just how blogs came to be and their value)
2. Read a book blog or two (http://bookbloggerappreciationweek.com/index.php/awards/2009) , if you don’t already (learn who these fine folks are and that they love books just as much as you do)That’s it. Stop. Go shelve or something. More next week.
Cleaning Out my Email Inbox
How did email become such a burden? I remember the first time I was able to email hundreds of people at one time with information that I had before had to print, proof, fold, insert, address, post, and mail. And the first time I was able to send an attachment to several folks for review. When before we had done these round-robin mailings where folks would make their comments, and mail it on to the next recepient. And likely, it never made its way around and would have to wait until folks got together in person. Email is a beautiful thing.
And yet, I struggle with David Allen’s GTD strategy of emptying my email box daily. When I move items to folders before they are done, I forget about them. And it does not seem productive to have a folder called Stuff To Do. Sometimes I print them out and make a stack in my physical inbox so that I can move them out of my email inbox but that seems counter-intuitive, like handling a piece of paper one too many times. And then there is my volleyball strategy. It is where I basically throw the email back over the net to the person that sent it without really dealing with the issue at hand, by continuing to ask questions, or further delineate, or sometimes to even ask them to call me. (I want to apologize to you personally right now if you see yourself in any of my email responses, and, if you do, feel free to email me about it.)
I have 79 emails in my email inbox right now. I plowed through a ton of them today which led me to thinking about this blog post. And still I have 79. The oldest one is dated Jan. 31, 2010. It is a welcome email to compete.com that I have not visited since I signed up. I have flight info for trips I have yet to take. There are many emails about BEA events and the SIBA Book Awards, SIBA Trade Show Info, and Google reminders. And all of these things are important to me. Proof of their importance is that they are still in my inbox. But at the same time, they are still in my inbox. Tomorrow, it is my goal to empty my email inbox. Wish me well.
Lady Banks Bookshelf
