“I wonder if real art comes when you build the thing that they don’t have a prize for yet.” Seth Godin

I thought of Seth’s comment earlier this week as I browsed the bookstore preparing for my “competitive analysis” for the Write Synergies book that I am ostensibly working on. As I consider the focus for this [first] book, I’m not even to the point of being concerned that there’s no prize yet. What is a concern is that the book’s author (moi) rarely sees it fitting on any of the available bookstore subject shelves.

Part of the process of developing your book and message is to see where your big ideas and visions locate themselves on the continuum of other creations, books, and messages of other thought leaders. You want to be out there, but not too out there. You want to have a shelf and category in the bookstore as a destination, a place where your people will naturally congregate, where they go for information and books similar (but not too similar) to yours. And online, you want the keywords, especially the long tail keywords, that people search for to find you and your information.

Over here, things aren’t cut and dried. Over here, the subject boundaries are more like permeable membranes. When you’re a passionate interdisciplinarian, they don’t make shelves for that.

Post #12 for 30 Day Blog Challenge. Follow us on Twitter at #blog30.

Bibliophiles and bookstore lovers (and publishers and authors): Mark your calendars for Nov. 7 to celebrate all the bookstores you love! (Especially the independents!) Publishers Weekly, the publishing trade magazine, is sponsoring the national day to honor bookstores and all the benefits they provide. Check out the article from my old pal, Ron Shank, now PW’s publisher,  at: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6696364.html?nid=2286&rid=##CustomerId##&source=link

Berrett Koehler Publishers (affectionately known as BK) carries out its vision of “a community creating a world that works for all” by actively and transparently partnering with its authors, stakeholders, vendors, and shareholders.  As someone who has been in and around the book publishing industry for nearly 30 years, I can tell you with assurance: These guys are the real deal.

Given the situation as it stands, “a world that works for all”  recognizes that we need to change — personal change, business and institutional change, as well as societal change.  The publisher has resources to focus on leveraging change from each of these arenas. You pick the area with the greatest resonance for you.

BK Life titles address the personal transformations required; BK Business titles address institutional/corporate issues; and BK Currents titles focus on the largest, societal, and systemic issues.

BK Publishers are the folks who brought you John Perkins’ bestseller, Confessions of An Economic Hit Man, Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog, Repacking Your Bags, leadership classics like Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley (bringing quantum physics to business leadership!), Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute, A Complaint is a Gift, and Beverly Kaye’s half-million copy bestseller, Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em.

Newer  titles that I find particularly intriguing include: The Introverted Leader, Glow, Lift, and Framing the Future.

Click ForeWord Magazine to see my review of BK’s Breakdown, Breakthrough by Kathy Caprino. 

You, as a friend of mine,  can access over 800 resources from the BK publishing archives.  By ordering your BK titles through the link here, you will automatically get a 20 percent discount on any BK publication that you order.

PLUS, you can take advantage of a summer special for just a few more hours!  They are concluding their summer sale, so order through August 31 to receive an extra 20 percent discount  by entering “summersale09” during checkout on the BK website — for a total discount of 40 percent.

Act Now: Through Monday, August 31, 2009, all books, e-books, whitepapers, audio books, DVDs, and digital toolkits are an additional 20% off when you use the SUMMERSALE09 e-coupon during the check-out process. Click here: Berrett Koehler

Remember at checkout, use this e-Coupon code = SUMMERSALE09

To see the wealth of ways to “Create a world that works for all,” (and save money too) connect to Berrett-Koehler publishers or use the following  link:

http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000028480391

It’s time for the annual Publishers’ University–next week!  What happened to May?!  It’s sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association.  I’m leading two panels this year:  The Publishers’ Repair Kit and Converting Promotion into Book Sales.  We have attracted amazing speakers again.  I will also be up bright and early to share my expertise at the pre-breakfast round tables, “Ask the Experts.”  I love the chance to connect with colleagues in the book publishing business, to meet exciting new publishers who are passionate about what they have to say, and to help convene these panels where we all contribute to each others’ learning and success.

If you have been thinking about publishing and want some grounding in the fundamentals and good business practices for *every* aspect of book publishing, then you should consider IBPA’s Publishers’ University a required stop on your highway to success.  You can learn more at http://www.ibpa-online.org.  From that home page for the association, click on the icon for Publishers’ University.  If you can’t make it to New York, you can order recordings of any or all of the sessions.