Book Marketing, Self Promotion

Tim Ferriss blogs about his formula for hitting highs on bestseller lists in How Does a Bestseller Happen? A Case Study in Hitting #1 on the New York Times.

The conclusion, in retrospect, is simple... It all came down to learning how to spread a "meme", an idea virus that captures imaginations and takes on a life of its own.

Doing that, however, included skipping the traditional book tours and signings and hitting the blogs:

* Go where bloggers go
* Be there with a message and a story that will appeal to their interests, not yours
* Build and maintain those relationships through your own blog too

The strategies he implemented were a tad more complicated, involving those to Phenomenize, Polarize and Communitize. He also notes needs to sell himself first, ensure boffo distribution for the book, and (oh, yeah) smashing writing. His book? The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, but that hardly matters. We're talking about a process here and using current technology to sell an old one.