BookWhirl.com

Dean Archers of BookWhirl.com phoned me while I was in Penang. The phone connection was poor so I asked him to email me too. He gave a few links and I checked them out this morning.

http://www.bookwhirl.com/Testimonials.php
http://www.bookwhirl.com/Services/Book-Marketing/Email-Advertisement-Campaign-Service.php

This is what I found out so far:

1. The email ad for a book as prepared by BookWhirl is very attractive and I like it
2. The colours used for the email ad makes a book stand out
3. The text brief describing the book contents is good
4. The marketing aim is targeted as specified by the author
5. Most authors are happy about the email ad campaigns prepared for them
6. The cost looks ok: USD799 for 500,000 email recipients (the one I signed up with Xlibris was for 100 email recipients only)

However, I have a few concerns. My concerns are:

1. There were no reports of the past years sales of a book advertised via email ad campaigns
2. I don't know how many universities worldwide teach history that have interest in Asia
3. I don't know if foreign professors even know Malaya/Malaysia/Singapore, to even suggest using my books for class use
4. I can subscribe to 500,000 email recipients, but the actual number of interested universities may only be >50%. So I lose 50% on email campaign alone.

I have other concerns. My concerns are:

1. Books today are heavily advertised for markets and sales
2. I can subscribe to so many markets and sales campaigns but what is one that is a definite one that will create good sales?
3. There seems to be a lot of ways to market books (email ad campaign, video clip, TV, radio, magazines, catalogues, book fairs, etc)
4. What combinations of marketing books are good for a particular book? I can't be subscribing to all marketing modes just to make sales work for my books.
5. A lot of emphasis is now placed on cross-cultural experiences and exchange

London Book Fair1  London Book Fair2

Arabic Book Fair1  Arabic Book Fair2  Arabic Book Fair3

How a book is printed