I don’t often share pictures or stories from Facebook, but this one really got me thinking. It is about a social experiment conducted by the Washington Post that measures people’s perception, taste and priorities.

I got to thinking about this in relation to book marketing. It really does show that you need to find and target the right audience to maximize your book sales through your  promotions.

Read on and you will see what I mean.

A musician shares his passion and talent by playing in the subway

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

This is what Joshua Bell is more used to.

I think this story draws great parallels with the book publishing industry. If you imagine Joshua as an author rather than a violinist, we can consider the reactions of his audience in a more familiar context.

Let’s say his $3.5 million violin is his manuscript and it was handed out to the commuters to read while they were in transit on the train. I think we could reclassify them as follows:

• The middle aged man who stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on: A literary agent who has never heard of you.
• The woman who threw Joshua his first tip without bothering to stop and listen: A reader who thought your title sounded interesting enough to download your e-book to read at an indeterminate date in the future (possibly).
• The man who leaned against the wall to listen for a few moments and then carried on as he was late for work: A reader interested in hearing what your story is about, but decides it is not for him.
• The children who actually stopped to listen: Your potential audience/readership
• The parents who pushed their children on when they stopped to listen: Anti self-publishing campaigners
• The 6 people who stopped to listen: Self-publishers, AuthorHouse for example.
• The 20 people who gave a tip: Your target audience / readership
• The 1,000+ people who didn’t stop to listen in the subway: The people who would never buy your book anyway
• The sell out crowd at the Boston theater two days prior: Your loyal fans

So if we interpret this scenario within those parameters, it just goes to show how hard it is to get your story heard and that most people won’t hear it anyway because, despite all your best efforts, your story doesn’t reach them, it doesn’t resonate with them or they are simply uninterested or don’t like it.

So what do you do about these people? And those that are looking to put you down for choosing self-publishing?

Forget them. There will always be people who say no, or who don’t share your opinions or style or taste.

Instead, focus on the people who are open to you. The people who are there to listen, the kids and adults who stopped, the people who gave money (whether they listened or not) and the people who already know you and respect you.

All you have to do is find out who is who. But remember, you can always share your story with the world through self-publishing. Even if only one person is touched by your work, that is one more than would have been if you never shared your story in the first place.

Carl Reiner will personally judge his his AuthorHouse novel Beginnings Writing Contest

A Happy New Year to everyone. I return today after rather a long lay off. But I am reinvigorated and ready to get writing in 2013.

Unfortunately I did not achieve my goal of completing my manuscript and having it published by AuthorHouse by the end of 2012. I could list a number of excuses, but they all basically boil down to a loss of focus on my part.

So, I am trying to get that focus back.

One way is to pick up my blogging again to get back into the habit of writing. I mean, I’m always writing for my job with AuthorHouse, but what I’m really talking about is doing my own writing and writing in different styles and about varying subjects.

Another thing that I am thinking of doing is entering writing contests to sharpen my skills and enforce writing as a habit.

It just so happens that comedy icon, Carl Reiner, has just published a book with AuthorHouse. I am not sure if I can, as an employee, but I am thinking of entering it myself.

Carl Reiner’s Novel Beginnings Writing Contest
Reiner has set the scene and what you have to do is write the story. He will chose his favorite and the writer will receive a free AuthorHouse Publishing Package. Carl Reiner will also write the foreword to your book. A pretty nice incentive!

If you are interested in entering, follow this link and the best of luck!

As I have said many times before in The Author’s House, the greatest part of my job is talking to AuthorHouse published authors. The advice and encouragement they give is great. It is a real inspiration for me in trying to get my own book finished.

A great place where you can find some really great advice is on the AuthorHouse corporate blog, the AuthorHouse Author’s Digest. There are loads of guest posts written by the authors talking about their own experiences.

I wanted to help share these tip with everyone, so here is a review of who has posted on the AuthorHouse Author’s Digest since my last update:

Bryan Crawford, author Letters My Grandfather Sent Me

Elaine Mellon, author of unREAL Education: Beyond Report Cards

Eugene D. Redman, author of Traveling America

Gloria D. Gondalves, author of I am Tausi

John Righten, author of The Benevolence of Rogues

Johnny O’Gradney, author of Fragments of Imagination

Mark Hanley, author of Sreemplays

Mary Rose Scinto, author of Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

M.M. Silva, author of Two Out of Three

Paul J. Binns, author of Paul and the Porch Gnome

Philip L. Rettew, author of The Fresno Incident

PM Sabin Moore, author of Storm Frost

Ernesto Zollo, author of Secrets of Colours

Ruth Marimo, author of Freedom of an Illegal Immigrant

One of the greatest things I have found working in self-publishing is the opportunity it allows anyone and everyone to share their story. You don’t have to be known and you don’t have to be writing a potential best seller. If you have something you want to share, then you can write it and share it through self-publishing companies like AuthorHouse.

I previously posted about the AuthorHouse Holocaust Memorial we ran. I was fortunate to meet the survivors andtheir families and privileged to write about their tales. A great example is Alter Wiener. He wrote his story and shopped it to a number of traditional publishing houses. Though they all said it was an interesting story and he had an important message to deliver, they were unwilling to publish him because he was not well known enough for his book to be marketable.

Alter Wiener was not writing his book to make a profit. He was writing it to keep a promise to never let the world forget what happened during the Houlocaust. He went ahead and self-published his book through AuthorHouse.

From a Name to a Number has now sold over 25,000 copies.

Today marks a similar event in world history. This day in 2001 will always be remembered as the day that changed America, and with it the world. AuthorHouse has been remembering 9/11.

I wanted to help AuthorHouse authors who have written books about this tragic event share there stories in some small. I am threfore listing a few books that can bee found in the AuthorHouse bookstore.   

A Commuter’s Story 9-11 by Daniel T. Stroppel

AuthorHouse author Daniel T. Stroppel. book tells his account of 9-11

9/11: A Tragedy Revealed  by Yan Iannucci

Yann Iannucci's is unbreakable

Former army first sergeant Trina Hines provides strategies to overcome unexpected catastrophes