How many books to you read a year?  

I read about 52 books a year.  Not tons, but enough.  I have purchased a physical copy of a book in a long time.  Think of the last physical copy of a book that you purchased?  What was that book?

I purchased a physical book last week on amazon.  The book I purchased is called, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.  I heard about this book for the past few months on the authors blog, www.michaelhyatt.com.  It is a great website that you should check out.  I purchased Micahel Hyatt’s book last week not because I needed another book to live on my booksheve, but because of the deal he gave his readers.  The reason why I purchased his book is because of his incentives he had last week (The incentives are now over…sorry!).

Here is what he gave away!  

    1. Platform Video Jumpstart (a $179.00 six-session video series)
    2. Why Now Is the Best Time Ever to Be an Author (a $47.00 one-session video)
    3. How to Write a Winning Book Proposal (a $47.00, two-session audio series)
    4. Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal (a $19.97 e-book)
    5. Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal (a $19.97 e-book)
    6. All the Digital Editions of Platform (a $38.06 collection of the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and PDF formats)
    7. Audio Edition of Platform (a $24.99 audio edition of the entire book)

The total sum of all the incentives were worth $375.98.  I purchased a book for $13.00 on amazon and I got all that.  The thing I really wanted out of that list of incentives was, Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal.  I have been looking at that ebook for over a year, and I really wanted it.  I would love to start writing a book this summer on youth ministry.

Purchasing the book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, got me thinking about the publishing industry.  I feel like changes are needed!  Here are a few changes I would love to see:

You get a digital copy with every purchase of a physical copy.  I didn’t purchase, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, because I wanted to wait a week to read it.  When I purchase a book, I want to read it right away!  I would love to have a digital copy for every physical copy I own.

You get the author’s incentives.  The author needs to give something else to push his community over the edge to purchase the book.    For me to purchase Michael Hyatt’s book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, all it would have taken was a ebook worth $19.97.  That ebook pushed me over the edge, and it made me pull out my visa card and purchase it on the spot.  I love that Michael Hyatt gave all that stuff away to get people to purchase his book.  I don’t know why more publishers do this?  I hate reading a book only to realize that the workbook is the same price or more.  Throw more incentives in!

Build a community, and dialogue with that community.  If you want to be an author in this digital world, you better start building a social media platform.  Author’s need to be accessible to their audience.  I love that if you leave a comment on Michael Hyatt’s blog, he will respond.  The big thing isn’t just to dialogue, but to embrace your online community.  To build it, and to speak into people’s lives and allow them to speak back to you.

I love Michael Hyatt’s book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.  It is a must read, and  I will review it next monday.  It will also be my monthly give away for top comment!

What changes would you like to see in the publishing industry? 

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