Feedback on finding the audience for (non-traditional) XP educational material?

[Zee Spencer]

Hey y'all!

Ever since I saw Ron and Chet using illustrations during their presentations at Agile & Beyond and read Tim and Jeff's Agile in a Flash I've really really liked how things that aren't books or videos emerged. Recently, there's been some really great pieces of work illustrating Comp Sci and Unix concepts in Zines, which merge the delivery mechanism of Agile in a Flash and the "visual + words" presentation style from Ron and Chet. However I haven't noticed much in that arena from independent xp coaches...

So my co-coaches decided to throw together a kickstarter to take some of the "Old, In Head Knowledge" of XP and start distributing it in a Zine... So far... So good.

However what we realized is we have *no idea what we are doing* when it comes to actually marketing a book. We can pair/refactor/test all day but oh god wait how get broad set of people buy thing? Out of our reach.

So for those of you who *have* published successful (eBooks || online courses || etc), how did you go about getting beyond the audience of folks who like you for you and into the broader market? Is this something you've relied on your publisher to do for you?

Anecadata greatly appreciated :).

Zee

[Jeff Langr]

Hi Zee,

Thanks for the nod to the Agile in a Flash project.

I think most tech book publishers expect you to the do the bulk of the marketing. And while there are some book-specific marketing mechanisms, it's otherwise little different than other marketing. General presence is most important--Twitter, other social media, YouTube, conferences, user groups, podcasts, blogging, etc., and of course you have to be careful to not cross the line from providing value into pure advertisement.

Some smaller things that can help include various events (giveaways, webinars, etc.). Soliciting credible statements, reviews, articles,  testimonials, etc. from respected others can help.

Mostly, though, it helps to already have a big name / marketing reach.

The publisher generally will provide review copies to relevant media folks, but again you're expected to help with a list of names above and beyond what they typically do.

I remember that Prentice Hall, eons ago, had a few ads published in print magazines for the books I did with them. I've not seen much of that in quite a long time. I doubt it helped much.

The biggest thing you get from the publisher is their existing recognition / reputation and distribution channel--that generally gets you a minimum number of copies out of the gate.

Reaching out to folks here is a good place to start!

Regards,
Jeff L.

Zee Spencer wrote on 9/7/18 6:13 PM:

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[Yves Hanoulle]

My biggest advice would be, don’t be afraid to mention you have something out.

When you do a talk, on twitter bio, website.

Most people are afraid to be pushy, yet I see much more people not mentioning what they have. (Of course don’t be pushy)

I like What you did here , you asked for advice and you gave the link. Many people don’t do that. 

On top of Jeff said, talk on podcast, many podcast host love to have people with ideas on their show

Sent from YPhone3b 

On 8 Sep 2018, at 05:34, Jeff Langr <jjl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Zee,

Thanks for the nod to the Agile in a Flash project.

I think most tech book publishers expect you to the do the bulk of the marketing. And while there are some book-specific marketing mechanisms, it's otherwise little different than other marketing. General presence is most important--Twitter, other social media, YouTube, conferences, user groups, podcasts, blogging, etc., and of course you have to be careful to not cross the line from providing value into pure advertisement.

Some smaller things that can help include various events (giveaways, webinars, etc.). Soliciting credible statements, reviews, articles,  testimonials, etc. from respected others can help.

Mostly, though, it helps to already have a big name / marketing reach.

The publisher generally will provide review copies to relevant media folks, but again you're expected to help with a list of names above and beyond what they typically do.

I remember that Prentice Hall, eons ago, had a few ads published in print magazines for the books I did with them. I've not seen much of that in quite a long time. I doubt it helped much.

The biggest thing you get from the publisher is their existing recognition / reputation and distribution channel--that generally gets you a minimum number of copies out of the gate.

Reaching out to folks here is a good place to start!

Regards,
Jeff L.

Zee Spencer wrote on 9/7/18 6:13 PM:

Hey y'all!

Ever since I saw Ron and Chet using illustrations during their presentations at Agile & Beyond and read Tim and Jeff's Agile in a Flash I've really really liked how things that aren't books or videos emerged. Recently, there's been some really great pieces of work illustrating Comp Sci and Unix concepts in Zines, which merge the delivery mechanism of Agile in a Flash and the "visual + words" presentation style from Ron and Chet. However I haven't noticed much in that arena from independent xp coaches...

So my co-coaches decided to throw together

[J. B. Rainsberger]

I'm not convinced that my publisher did any of that for me. I don't really know.

As far as I can tell, this stuff grows by word of mouth, so I encourage you to do two things:

1. Yell loudly about your project, and

2. Make it easy for others to yell loudly about your project.

I have just yelled as loudly as I can on Twitter--at least I've scheduled that tweet--because I believe in your project and it took me 20 seconds. You don't need necessarily to induce people to yell on your behalf, but you might need to ask them and suggest something that takes them only 20 seconds of effort.

BTW, if a would-be supporter wants an on-site workshop, but they're in Stockholm and not the US, then let me know. ;)

Good luck!

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J. B. (Joe) Rainsberger :: tdd.training :: jbrains.ca ::
blog.thecodewhisperer.com

[Allen Holub]

I’ve published something like 10 books. The publishers don’t do anything at all any more (which is one of the reasons that LeanPub is so appealing—why pay them 90% to effectively do nothing?) The one exception is O’Reilly, not so much for the publishing side but because, as an O’Reilly author, you have a leg up into their conferences.

Marking is always an issue for me (I’m lousy at it), and unfortunately, I know of no marking person or company who believes in their own effectiveness enough to work for a percentage. Instead of a large up-front fee and no assurance of results or shared risk. So, I try to participate in some social media (Linked In and Twitter). I speak at conferences and users’s groups as much as I can. Right now I’m experimenting with Twitter ads, which can be pretty accurately targeted. I’ll report back once (if?) I see any results.

-Allen
___________________________________
Allen Holub
al...@holub.com
@allenholub
+1 (510) 859-3620 (skype ID: allenholub)

linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/allenholub

[Zee]

Allen, I would *love* to see if you have any headway with targeted ads. I've tried them in the past for things and the click through rate has always been pretty abysmal, which is more likely my own incompetence as a copy-writer than the platform.

Zee

[Mark Levison]

Suggest looking at a book called StoryBrand - By Don Miller. It is opening my eyes. 

Too tired to say more at nearly 10pm on a Sunday

Mark

On Sun, Sep 23, 2018 at 9:38 PM Zee <z...@zeespencer.com> wrote:

Allen, I would *love* to see if you have any headway with targeted ads. I've tried them in the past for things and the click through rate has always been pretty abysmal, which is more likely my own incompetence as a copy-writer than the platform.

Zee