Seth Godin’s advice for aspiring authors

by Mathew on October 8, 2008 · Comments

Cartoonist and wine-marketing genius Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void asked marketing guru Seth Godin some questions recently, which he has posted on his blog. One of my favourites is when Hugh asks Seth what the hardest lessons are for a first-time author to learn:

“Books are souvenirs that hold ideas. Ideas are free. If no one knows about your idea, you fail. If your idea doesn’t spread, you fail. If your idea spreads but no one wants to own the souvenir edition, you fail.”

If I were a publisher, or an author’s agent, or teaching a class on writing, I would engrave that somewhere very prominent.

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  • Much as I love Hugh Macleod, I get a little annoyed by hearing how he's a "wine marketing genius". His campaign for Stormhoek was innovative, but even he's dismissed the wine itself as plonk. Now if you want a real wine marketing genius, I'd have to point to Gary Vaynerchuk. And at least he knows and loves wine.
  • That's a fair point, James -- I think the emphasis with Hugh is on the marketing part rather than the wine part. Gary seems to have both going for him.
  • Solid.
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