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Image by Colin Craig, The Big Orange Slide

In Adweek (@Adweek), Tim Nudd (@nudd) reports on a panel of advertisers who said only 7 types of stories exist and the “challenge becomes finding which one best suits your brand, and then telling it skillfully, believably, and — if you're going to invite consumers to join in the story — extremely carefully.”

The discussion was based around author Christopher Booker's contention, in his book Seven Basic Plots, that 7 archetypal themes recur in every kind of storytelling

1. Overcoming the Monster. The classic underdog story.

2. Rebirth. A story of renewal.

3. Quest. A mission from point A to point B.

4. Journey and Return. About transformation through travel and homecoming.

5. Rags to Riches. From obscurity to prominence.

6. Tragedy. The barren human experience

7. Comedy. Emotionally elevating.

At the core of every brand, said one marketer, is a good story waiting to happen.

Read this in full.

Social media marketing speaker Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) encourages his followers to “Tell Big Stories.”

In a post on the HBR Blog Network (@HarvardBiz), Rosabeth Moss Kanter (@RosabethKanter) says people remember stories more easily than numbers, and if told in the right way and with the right message, they can motivate action. She says, if you want to transform your organization (brand), start by challenging the stories you tell about the company and how it operates.

Read this in full.

And MarketingProfs (@MarketingProfs) has a brief slideshow on “How to Tell Your Company’s Story:”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you tell your brand's story.

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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Since we’re only human and we all make mistakes, it’s important to know when and how to effectively apologize. This practice is especially important for business leaders who seek to maintain positive public relations (reputation management) for their companies among their constituents.

Tom Peters (@tom_peters), author of In Search of Excellence, encourages business leaders to become students of apology. In this video he says, "Learning how to apologize effectively is the real essence of strategic strength."

In their Forbes (@Forbes) article Creative Leadership: Humility and Being Wrong, Doug Guthrie and Sudhir Venkatesh say:

We are frequently taught that leaders, especially aspiring leaders, should hide weaknesses and mistakes. This view is flawed. It is not only good to admit you are wrong when you are; but also it can also be a powerful tool for leaders—actually increasing legitimacy and, when practiced regularly, can help to build a culture that actually increases solidarity, innovation, openness to change and many other positive features of organizational life.

Read this in full.

In another Forbes article, Courageous Leaders Don't Make Excuses...They Apologize, Erika Andersen offers an “apology primer”:

·         I’m sorry: this is the core of a genuine apology. Communicate that you truly regret your behavior.

·         Stay in the first person: don’t say “I’m sorry...you didn’t understand me.” A true apology sounds like, “I’m sorry I....”

·         Don’t equivocate: don’t water it down with excuses.

·         Say how you’ll fix it: if you genuinely regret your words or actions, you’ll commit to changing.

·         Do it: when you don’t follow through, people question not only your courage, but also your trustworthiness.

Read this in full.

In her article for the Ivey Business Journal (@iveybusiness) titled: Should Business Leaders Apologize? Why, When, and How an Apology Matters, Linda Stamato writes:

Questions of timing are critical. The longer it takes a business leader or a section manager, for example, to acknowledge his or her mistake, the more likely the undecided folks will turn against him or her. Business leaders need to understand that if, in the end, it is going to be disclosed that they have erred, it's better to own up as quickly as possible in order to have a hand in making repairs.

To acknowledge a mistake is to assert secure leadership; to take responsibility and prescribe a corrective course of action is wise management. Taking responsibility for an error earns the privilege of being forgiven, and thus granted a second chance.

Read this in full.

And for CNN (@CNN), Marsha Sampson Johnson decries the slippery new term “double-down’ that politicians are using in place of “apologize.”

Read this in full.

On a related note, pastor and author Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) writes in the article Coming Clean for Leadership Journal (@Leadership_Jnl) (from personal experience of enjoying beer too much but not admitting it) on just how honest and open confession is the right thing to do.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you authentically and strategically manage your brand’s reputation.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Christian Retailing (@ChristianRetail) says, “Christian retailers are reporting good sales and positive feedback for CBA's 3rd annual Christian Store Week (@CSW_2012)” Sept. 28 – Oct. 8.

More than 400 Christian stores nationwide — including 134 independent retailers and the Family Christian Stores (@FCstores) chain — partnered with World Vision (@WorldVisionUSA) to raise awareness of the need for hunger relief among American children as part of CSW, an effort to spotlight Christian bookstores and drive traffic, CBA said.

Read this in full.

See our previous blogpost, “This is Christian Store Week.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you reach the Christian store market with your brand message.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Reporter Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) writes on paidContent (@paidContent) about the new ebook selling and marketing Web service launched today, Ganxy (@Ganxy). She says, “In just a few minutes, anyone can create a “showcase” for a book that includes its cover, description, video and other marketing materials, and purchase options.”

Authors and publishers can sell books directly through the showcase or simply provide links to retailers. The entire showcase can then be tweeted, embedded in a blog, website, or Facebook page, or can just stand alone as a website....

It’s free to create a showcase, but Ganxy makes money in two ways. The company takes 10% of each sale when an ebook is sold through a showcase (authors and publishers can choose whether they want to sell ebooks directly). Ganxy also makes money through the affiliate links to retail sites that are embedded in the showcase. An author can also request to use his or her own affiliate links in the showcase; in that case, Ganxy displays its affiliate link 25% of the time and the author’s 75% of the time.

Ganxy also wants to appeal to readers. When someone buys an ebook directly through a Ganxy showcase, it’s added to his or her library and can be downloaded in any format (EPUB, iOS, Kindle and so on). All the ebooks Ganxy sells directly are DRM-free. (Publishers who don’t like that can just display retail links and not sell ebooks directly.)

Read this in full.

Read the news release.

And read our previous blogposts:

·         “How Ebook Buyers Discover Books”

·         “Sites That Facilitate Book Discovery”

·         "Family Christian Stores Now Selling Its Own Tablet"

·         "Parable, Mardel Latest to Launch Ebook Sales; Ebooks Now at 500+ Christian Stores"

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically plan your book’s disoverability.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Some book authors have a tendency to minimize the effectiveness of social media marketing. And, because of that perspective, they neglect to fully engage with it as a way to advance their personal brand among their readers and to introduce themselves to new readers. So let’s take a look at why Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney believe social media marketing is so important and how they approach it.

The New York Times Technology (@nytimestech) journalist Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) reports that “both [parties] rely heavily on Facebook and Twitter to solicit donations, blast out reminders of events, and share articles and videos conveying their stances.”

If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end. They are taking to fields of online battle that might seem obscure to the non-Internet-obsessed — sharing song playlists on Spotify, adding frosted pumpkin bread recipes to Pinterest and posting the candidates’ moments at home with the children on Instagram.

At stake, the campaigns say they believe, are votes from citizens, particularly younger ones, who may not watch television or read the paper but spend plenty of time on the social Web. The campaigns want to inject themselves into the conversation on services like Tumblr, where political dialogue often takes the form of remixed photos and quirky videos.

Read this in full.

Replace “votes” with “book purchases” and you see that social media marketing should be taken seriously by authors.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you plan your social media marketing strategy. And to learn more about SomersaultSocial.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

In his coverage of the recent Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) Discoverability and Marketing conference, Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) reports, “Reader behavior is in flux and the ways in which people engage with and discover new content has grown exponentially.”

–     In 2011, nearly half of consumers changed their book-buying behavior (chart below)

–     39% of books are sold online, 26% in stores, and the rest in nearly a dozen other ways (chart below)

–     People discover new books in up to 44 different ways

...Amid all the change in how readers read and discover books, one thing has remained constant: in-person, personal recommendations are the No. 1 way people discover books, no matter who they are or how they read.

Read this in full.

Also see "Discoverability & Marketing Conference: A Diversity of Challenges."

And read our previous blogposts “How Ebook Buyers Discover Books” and “Sites That Facilitate Book Discovery.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically plan your book’s disoverability.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

The purchase of the music CD Lift Up: Artists and Authors Unite to Feed America’s Hungry Children contributes to food relief services.

For more than 60 years, independent and chain Christian retail stores have represented the crossroads of faith and community for all denominations and walks of life. Also a safe haven for Christian consumers, these wholesome, family-friendly environments provide the best selection of the highest quality products in the Christian market.

It’s in honor of these retailers’ steadfast commitment to create a store culture of dependability and outstanding customer service that we celebrate Christian Store Week.

Visit the official Christian Store Week website.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you reach the Christian store market with your brand message.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Christian fiction readers now have the first “all-in-one” site to discover the latest information about Christian fiction including updates, recommendations, new releases, commentary, and exclusive articles from their favorite writers.

NovelCrossing.com (@novelcrossing), “the Intersection of Faith and Fiction,” is a website aimed at building a community of Christian fiction readers by being the most inclusive site on the subject of inspirational novels.

Developed by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group (@WaterBrookPress), NovelCrossing.com features content from all publishers of Christian fiction, allowing readers to discover new titles from across the publishing universe. Currently the site provides data on 10,000 titles from 50 different publishing houses.

“While there are a number of informative sites featuring Christian fiction book reviews and interviews, no one site combines a searchable database of books and authors, across all publishers in this category, with reviews, interviews, features, and a community component,” says Shannon Marchese, WaterBrook Multnomah senior fiction editor. “We built Novel Crossing to fill that gap. We wanted fans of Christian fiction to have a “one-stop” destination for finding authors and new reads, for leaving comments and making friends who love the books they love.” She explains more in the following video.

Read the news release.

See our previous blogposts on book discoverability.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your brand content in the new world of digital publishing.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

The American Christian Fiction Writers (@ACFWTweets) conference (@ACFWConference) (#ACFW) is being held in Dallas, TX and Somersault (@smrsault) is here telling authors, agents, and publishers about

• our online dashboard for publishers and marketers, SomersaultNOW
• this blog as a telescope helping industry professionals “see around the corner” to prepare for the future of publishing
• and SomersaultSocial, our new program to educate authors and speakers in the strategic and effective use of social media marketing.

Congratulations to Allen Arnold, winner of the ACFW’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award “in recognition of his impact on the Christian fiction industry, its authors, and its readers.” He’s the former publisher and senior vice president of Thomas Nelson Fiction, having launched the Fiction group in 2004.

ACFW’s other awards are Julee Schwarzburg - Editor of the Year, Nicole Resciniti - Agent of the Year, Allison Pittman - Mentor of the Year, Genesis winners for the best unpublished Christian fiction projects, and the Carol Awards for the best Christian fiction published in the previous calendar year.

If you’re attending the conference, please come to our exhibit booth and say hi!

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