Pinterest: I’m in!

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Derek S

I’m more excited than I should be about getting my invite to Pinterest–the new, visual social media site that everyone’s talking about. I even liked the fact that they make you wait to join–a bit like Google+ but with more of an authentic feel–and it’s fascinating how they’ve taken a different, visual approach to social sharing.

I was thinking about how publishers might use Pinterest–what is the most visual representation of our products?– and immediately thought about cover design. As a veteran of the “cover wars” in more than one publishing role–you know, the ongoing discussion about packaging between design, marketing, sales, editorial, and the author (did I get everyone?)–I’ve come to believe deeply that good design matters. It’s where the consumer makes the first connection to a book. And of course that’s even more the case online.

For a while, it seemed like eBooks might mean the end of creative cover design for books–after all, is a cover really embossed if no one can touch it? So why bother with effects and special treatments? And perhaps there’s a degree of truth to that. But one thing Pinterest shows is that people have an emotional response to imagery. A great cover design communicates something about the content of the book, the perspective of the author, and appeals to that emotional response–even if the reader isn’t holding the book in her hand.

So, with that in mind, I was pleased to see the book cover from Hosseini’s The Kite Runner on my Pinboard the other day. That single image inspired many admiring comments about the book. I was curious, so I searched the title–and found hundreds of pinned and repinned cover images, likes, and comments about both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Pinterest reinforces that effective cover design isn’t only important in the physical world. We’ll see what happens as Pinterest grows beyond 10 million users, but I’d be advising authors to pay attention. When social lets consumers connect with appealing design, there are powerful forces at work–how exciting would it be for fans of The Kite Runner to see Hosseini comment on one of their pinned images? And how likely would that fan be to recommend the book even more enthusiastically? Effective cover design can help make that connection.

Business: sometimes it’s about the bees

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Derek S

Not long ago when I started this blog, I said sometimes it would be about honey bees. Given the amazing “spring” weather we’re having this week, today’s the day.

My son and I run a boutique honey business. It’s a great way to teach him about sales, marketing, and business planning–and it’s fun for me. On Tuesday, I checked on how our bees are doing through the winter, and I’m pleased that the hives are in good shape for this time of year. As a beekeeper, getting your hives through the winter is a test of how well you managed the hives in the summer and fall.

Given my background, business analogies are irresistible. There’s a very interesting book about this by Michael O’Malley published by Portfolio. He’s a Ph.D., teaches at Columbia Business School, is an Editor at Yale Uni Press and no doubt is smarter than me about these things.

But here are a few of my own bee-school lessons based on my own experience (yes, bee puns are also irresistible):

The Queen doesn’t rule, she serves
Bee management helps bees do what they do best
Even when the buzzing is loud and angry, patience and calm leads to fewer stings
Neglecting care and feeding of workers leads to failure of the enterprise
When the weather is fine, the honey flow is on, and life is good–work harder
Robbing is never good for the hive.

Mmmmm, Big Data: analytics, digital marketing, and the eBook

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Derek S

This week, in the space of a couple of days, I dropped in at Digital Book World and was invited to a dinner sponsored by Human 1.0 and DataXu (like Zoo). What’s the common theme? Analytics and Big Data.

Or, as Publisher’s Weekly put it in a Digital Book World overview: Consumers, Data, and Analytics in the Digital Book Era. The gist of what we talked about at dinner and at DBW is that we (and I mean everyone, not just publishers) are creating more and more data through our online activities–whether creating, purchasing or reading an eBook, browsing a website, tweeting, or posting a blog. Over time this adds up to petabytes and petabytes of data–big data–that a company can collect and could run through an analytics package. (DataXu provides one of these packages focused on Digital Marketing Management.)

This huge amount of data can be completely overwhelming. Lots of people I know are used to managing finite data points (small data) via spreadsheets and backward-looking reports. Having access to big data can be overwhelming. So while some publishers collect a lot of data, I haven’t seen many that have moved over into true analytics. Near real-time analytics could be a game changer for those publishers that want to build a deeper understanding of their eBook customer.

Why is this good? When your customer spends more and more time online and buys online–especially if they buy a digital product like an eBook–it becomes easier to collect and use consumer behavior to create effective marketing than it used to be. In the old days, a marketing manager might hang around a bookstore and watch as consumers flipped through books. At best, that yields anecdotal information. It might be better than nothing, but it’s not that much better.

So, it’s great to see the potential for big data discussed in industry forums especially as relates to digital marketing and eBook publishing. This year, it seems like retailers–B&N and Amazon in particular–have figured out the importance of using analytic tools to better reach eBook readers. I hope next year we’ll see more publishers talking about how their marketing and product development have been changed by customer insights developed through analytics.

Customer Experience: panmacmillan.com gets it right

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Derek S

Yesterday, I tweeted about the just-launched Pan Macmillan website in the UK(www.panmacmillan.com). While I appreciate the design and the functionality of their site, what I really like is the strategy behind it–putting the reader at the center of the PanMac customer experience. Not many publishers think this way, yet.

For those of you with access to Forrester research (www.forrester.com), Josh Bernoff (www.twitter.com/jbernoff) wrote an interesting piece of analysis about six months ago: Competitive Strategy in the Age of the Customer. He advocates four imperatives for customer-obsessed customers, and one of these is creating a customer experience that reaches across sales channels.

Until recently, this didn’t seem like a realistic proposition for many publishers –who often defined customer experience as the bookstore/online environment. Social media, email, web, and other digital-marketing tools now make it possible for publishers to curate their content and support a reader experience beyond the pages of the book. (Disclosure: while at McGraw-Hill, we created a site with similar intent though not as slick or complete as Pan Macmillan. Check it out if you’re interested: http://learnmore.mcgraw-hill.com).

It’s more important than ever that publishers make a meaningful connection with their readers (customers). Traditional retail around the world is under significant pressure. Without owning some part of the customer experience, publishers are at the mercy of price-promoting sales channels that, too often, see books and ideas as a commodity.

“I fear those big words, Stephen said, which make us so unhappy.”

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Derek S

Welcome to my blog. I’m writing about publishing, leadership, digital marketing, global strategy, creativity, good ideas, eBooks, and other topics that make me happy. Small words.

I think direct communication is best. Let’s not hide behind big words or abstract concepts. It’s not news that the publishing industry is facing enormous changes. How our business addresses these threats and opportunities will impact the livelihoods of many people around the globe as well as the world of ideas, education, and art.

Thanks for coming here.

Small Words

Digital marketing, strategy, and the global book publishing business

Author Archives: Derek S

Business: sometimes it’s about the bees

“I fear those big words, Stephen said, which make us so unhappy.”

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