Ok I admit it. I'm a Californian. We live in shorts, we dine at juice bars and our politics are nothing short of, well, a Hollywood movie. If you've been shaking your head wondering how someone with a narrow political background could be elected to a state boasting on of
10th largest economy in world, join club. That, my fellow savvy book promoters, is a campaign we could all learn from. Schwarzenegger is a guy who, while being well-known in movie world, is far less well-known in politics. During campaigning, he carefully avoided addressing issues Californians wanted to hear about. Nor did he ever stand on any one particular political platform. So, how did he win? He found a need and filled it. With recent indicators showing Californians leaving Golden State at alarming numbers, we desperately needed a boost.
Schwarzenegger's media team saw a need and filled it with an action hero who vowed to "terminate" traditional politics. Whether you believe Arnold will be a good governor or not, you have to admit he ran one heck of an amazing campaign.
While most of us can't afford pro team Arnold could, we can still effect changes in our book promotion campaigns that will turn tide in our favor. It's called trend-spotting. Many people make their living trend-spotting, and you can do same thing with a few clicks on web. Take a look at http://buzz.yahoo.com/ or http://50.lycos.com/. You want to anticipate a need and fill it.
To stay ahead of trends, our team at Authors Services spends considerable time brainstorming recent issues and how they'll affect various areas of our everyday life. These emerging trends are what we focus on as we prepare or launch a campaign.
If you're planning to write a book or preparing to work on your book promotion, take some time to study trends in your area of expertise. How will these trends look twelve or twenty-four months from now? How will that affect book sales down road? For example:
Escapism: new vacation. Many of us no longer have time for two week vacations. Instead, we're opting for one day outings and novels to give us that quick "out" when we need it. Does your book provide a mini-vacation for readers?
