gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

You absolutely don't need a publisher (re-read your previous post and let it sink in).... Throw up Paypal - you'd easily pre-sell your book if that's what you really wanted to do.

he ...

and imo evelyn's right

The world needs more lovemarks. At least the RIGHT kind of lovemarks.

I love it.

Books are just one more tzchotske in the brand pyramid...

Seriously, do you think Kevin Roberts wrote "Lovemarks" for the money? Doubt it, somehow.

I love the Hughmark beyond all reason.

I think you underestimate the time it too you to come up with it though. I think it's been bubbling up your brainstem since you started posting about lovemarks. What took ten minutes was noticing it. but whatever.

"Books are just one more tzchotske in the brand pyramid..."

I like that.

I do think there are value in books, but like blogs, it's not the direct sales that matter, but where the books or blogs take you. When you're the guy who wrote the book, you can open a few more doors and charge a few more shillings for your advice. A book is the consultant's calling card.

Did I say don't do the book - I'm saying why wait around for someone ELSE to recognize your genius?

Erik Hansen at TP told me that Tom Peters self-published the first 15,000 copies of "In Search Of Excellence". Uh, 15,000 copies is a hell of a lot. No publisher in their "right mind" would put that kind of faith in an unknown author. But Tom had that faith.

I'm with John...this probably a legend but I like the point:

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk cafe. Not so thrilled that she could not be slightly presumptuous, the woman asked Picasso if he might sketch her, and charge accordingly.
Picasso obliged. In just a few minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.

"And what do I owe you?" she asked.

"Five thousand francs," he answered.

"But it only took you three minutes," she politely reminded him.

"No," Picasso said. "It took me all of my life." - Selling the Invisible, by Harry Beckwith

I agree with David Burn.

I was explaining the "pyramid" to somebody the other day. Starting from the bottom of the pryramid and working upwards:

-At the bottom, you have reading the stuff on gapingvoid for free.

-Then you have the affordable merch, let's say, blogcards, t-shirts, books etc.

-Then you have prints and drawings.

-Then at the top you have commissions and consulting.

Basically, all the layers inform and nourish each other...

I heard a rumor of a certain well-known marketing guru who (*ahem) shall remain nameless, who basically used his own money to buy wholesale from his publisher enough books to get his name on the NY Times Bestseller List. He made no money from his book. In fact, it cost him a fortune.

And then he would give his books out fro free at his seminars, or mail them out as upscale pieces of direct marketing.

But... he was able to put "NY Times Bestseller" on his business cards and marketing bumf. Made it easier to land those large, 6-figure contacts with big clients.

Having your work become part of the larger cultural matrix- beyond the industry it's in- makes it much easier to sell within the industry.

But any "creative" or "guru" will have a brand pyramid. Look at Tom Peters. Charges thousands of dollars an hour for personal appearances, but still manages to find the time to write his blog.

Ker-chiiing!

Get your imprint out there. Now. What are you waiting for? Step 1: Take Evelyn's advice, go Paypal, the market for your book is bigger than the current blogosphere. Get started. You have good ideas. You will continue to build on them. I'm right behind you. ...i hope. We all should be. I'm cheering for you! Let me know when you do it.