How do you get journalists to write articles about you? In the past year, I’ve been featured in over 100 magazines and newspapers worldwide (including many of the biggies, from The New York Times to Fortune Magazine). How do you get that kind of attention for your book or business? Here are my top techniques

I got a phone call from a telemarketer. She told me that she represented a Famous Marketing Legend and that the Famous Marketing Legend had wanted her to call. Years ago, I’d purchased some products from the FML. Along with those products, came the FML’s Gold Membership program. This membership, free for the first three months, was promised to turn me into a money-making machine.

Not without Divine intervention, and even then it might be “iffy.” And of course, your book won’t sell itself. If the public is not aware of your book’s existence, it really does not exist. This means someone has to promote your book so it can be sold. That someone is you. To paraphrase Pogo, “I have met the publicist and it is me.”

I received a voice mail from a sales representative:
‘The purpose of my call today is to introduce myself and take a moment to briefly describe for you two core-based technologies; laser Internet on-line office and an Internet broadcasting technology. I don’t know whether or not if any of these applications may be of interest to you, I would appreciate a brief moment of your time to review that.’

Raising awareness of your book and making a beaten path to your door is considered one of the hardest aspects in the book industry. To have recognition for your work even to feel satisfied with yourself is a tough path that everyone has to walk. But, there are a great many resources and companies that will help you attain your goals as a publisher and/or author along the way making your journey smoother

In 1988 a first-time author, British mountaineer Joe Simpson, wrote of his disastrous climbing accident in the Peruvian Andes. His book, Touching the Void, got good reviews, but wasn’t too popular outside England. It sold modestly and then, like most books, began fading into obscurity.

Reading groups have proliferated over the past decade thanks in part to Oprah and her book club. These groups, often referred to as book clubs, should not be confused with book clubs that allow readers to purchase discounted books at regular intervals. Reading groups are made up of individuals who read books and like to discuss what they’ve read with other people.