The Power of Face Time

I was reminded of a powerful principle this past weekend. A principle you can use to further your career as an author and book publisher.

I spent five action-packed days in New York City cramming an insane amount of activity into a short time frame. I attended and spoke at PMA's Publishing University, walked the endless aisles of booths at Book Expo America, and spent more than eight hours giving two music publicity workshops with PR dynamo Ariel Hyatt.

Yes, it was tiring. And yes, just thinking about airports and shuttle buses and luggage makes me cringe. But the people aspect of all this frenzy made it all worth it. (Check out my Flickr page to see some of the highlights.)

I hope you feel the same way about connecting in person with your readers and book publishing friends. Face to face interaction is vital!

For several years, my primary connection to the public was online. I spent hours on my computer at home spreading my words and ideas across the Internet. I still do. And that approach has proven to be very effective.

But it will never beat speaking with real, live human beings in person. I traveled more in the past year than I did in the previous five years combined (thanks in large part to the encouragement of my girlfriend, Pooki). And the experiences have been invaluable.

If you attended last week's panels at Publishing University, you know what I mean. We all learned more from each other in a live group setting then we ever could have through any high-tech "virtual" setting. Meeting people I had only known before through email and web sites was priceless.

So, make the effort to attend conferences and workshops. Spend face time with your fans. Introduce yourself to people at networking functions. You know the drill.

Keep an eye on my travel and speaking schedule. Hopefully, I'll get to meet you in person soon at an event near you.

Happy travels!

-Bob

P.S. Here's a short list of the great book people I got to meet (or reconnect with) last week in New York City:

Rhonda Byrne, producer of The Secret
Jack Canfield, author and speaker
Mark Victor Hansen, author and speaker
Louise Hay, author and founder of Hay House
Dr. John Demartini, author and speaker
Greg Godek, author and savvy marketer
Karen Buxman-Godek, author and speaker
Scott Ginsberg, that guy with the nametag
Peter Bowerman, author of the Well-Fed Writer series
Susan Driscoll, CEO of iUniverse
Brian Jud, book marketing coach
Penny Sansevieri, book marketing and media specialist
Steve O'Keefe of AuthorViews and Patron Saint Productions
Shel Horowitz, author of Grassroots Marketing
Robin Bartlett, publishing consultant and speaker
Ruth Klein, time and marketing performance coach
Eric Kampmann, president of Midpoint Trade Books
Carter Holliday from Lightning Source
Heidi Weber from RR Bowker
Lisa Ryan from Booksurge

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