The jury is in… and it’s a split decision. Split on the Google Book Search Program that is. Some people love it. Others think it’s the apocalypse. I really don’t want to get into the legal ramifications, copyright law and every other argument out there. The bottom line: From a book marketing standpoint, it’s a good thing. Why? It’s simple. People can’t buy what they don’t know about. Google Book Search lets people find a book with the topic they’re searching for and allows them to peek inside. If they like it, and want more they can buy it.

Most authors should open up their books to Google and submit them. I say “most.” There are some that should think twice. Academic books that have a low print run and have tiny markets, where there may only be hundreds or dozens of potential buyers may be better off avoiding Google Book Search. For the remaining 378,000 books published in the U.S. and U.K. in 2005, I say go for it!

And that’s the point. The world is awash in books. Bowker says 172,000 books were published in the United States, plus 206,000 published in the UK last year! How can Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, your local library or anyone else effectively sell or showcase that number let alone the millions of previously printed titles? Google has created a way for author’s and publisher’s current and back-listed books to be found, read and purchased. Book marketers, authors and publishers should embrace this enthusiastically.

Are there some issues in the program? Yes, and Google in my opinion is trying to deal with them by keeping the rules and policies flexible and by reacting to the feedback and legal decisions. But they are truly trying to move the world forward and improve distribution of knowledge while still protecting copyrights and ownership of that information. Google is being bold in their efforts and should be applauded by the publishing industry and authors alike.

Obviously Google is not doing this for its health. Their motive is clearly for profit by making money offering sponsored ads the same way they make it on their regular search service. Although Google management thinks they are a bit more altruistic. “The main motive is to make search more comprehensive,” said Jen Grant of Google. “Many of the books that we include in the program do not include sponsored ads. By including the books of the world in its search engine, Google is increasing the relevancy and usefulness of search for users and connecting them to more information from more of the world’s authors and publishers.”

Authors and publishers profit since the book is linked to their respective websites. Google does not profit directly from book sales as of now. How long that will last is up for debate as they are clearly leaving money on the table. With a market cap north of $100,000,000,000 Google (GOOG) is by no means as selfless as the transcribing monks of yesteryear. But, hey, profit is a good thing.

As a book publicist the one thing that’s very clear to me is that any serious promotional campaign must make use of Google Book Search since search engines are the first step taken by people seeking information. And Google remains the leading search engine by about a 2 to 1 margin over Yahoo.

The shift from Printed books to audio books has made reading, listening and derived a more convenient method for readers. Audio books are electronic form of conventional books, typically distributed on cassettes and CDs and give electronic-form comfort for yet another human habit.

In the US audio book market, cassettes/CDs sales comprise roughly 40% share. In addition, the recent swing from printed books to audio books among book reader society has led to immense growth in its readership.

A Short History of Books
The history of books starts in mid-15th century when developments in manuscript led to printed books and, in continuation today we have e-books. The 7th to 13th century was the age of religious manuscript books production. Books in this period were entirely hand-written, and are of large religious texts which were meant for worship.

Later, 13th to 15th Century was the period where secularisation in book production started happening. Books were produced only not to be worship objects, but to try explaining something about the observable world. The production of secular books was driven by increasing number of universities in Europe, originating from Italy.

The full printed books were produced from 15th to 16th Century. These are print versions of traditional works like the Bible, prayer books and the religious calendars. Books revealing European life style and society barely started coming after 16th Century.

In the Mid-15th Century, things begin to change with the advent of the printing press. In 1452, Gutenberg conceived the idea of movable type printing press and brought together the technologies of paper, oil-based ink and the wine-press to print books for us.

Using Printed Books

Paper books possess it own disadvantages as you need to maintain it, keeping away from bugs that eat away their pages. In long-term, you can see pages gone gray and fallen out, making book reading a rigid work.

You need to dust and wrap them all at least occasionally to maintain their condition and shape, and your wrapping could become horrible end up ruining the books. Extensive usage of a book make its papers to fallout from its cover and putting it together by applying glue or by using an elastic band won’t restore its original shape, making your reading an ache.

Volume of books occupies vast space pushing you to allot independent room for its maintenance. Desperately books need more room, and we know actual bookshelves cost much to stack it up all. Even though you have bookshelves soon your book collections start to overflow occupying newer spaces. To add, passionate book collectors really know how much awful lending a book could be.

Benefits of Audio Books

Firstly, listening to an audio book does not need as much as concentration you pay when you read a printed book. It is quite advantage comparing to conventional books that facilitate you listening to it while doing your other work. You can listen while busy preparing for yourself in your kitchen or driving your car. People with a job where it need to drive a lot can make extensive use of audio books. Listening to audio books while driving stops their activity from being a chore and instead makes it something to look forward.

In education, it is generally cheaper to provide set of books on cassettes/CDs as audio books for the class to share. This saves both time and money. Researches show that about 85% percentage of our learning and knowledge gathering actually comes from listening. Also it improves learner’s listening and comprehension skills. Audio books come in handy to teach kids and blinds and for adult’s self-help which range from public speaking to meditation.

Moreover you can have your own array of audio books collection in your audio bookshelves. Audio books allow instant replay of segments to which you need to comprehend more to your satisfactory. Imagine how many cassettes/CDs you can keep in the place where a set of book takes up leaving you enormous space.Listening to books on cassettes/CDs is pleasant because it is so much easier and more fun to do so. Moreover, it doesn’t take as long to listen to a book as it would to read it. Listening to audio books make feel, well connected to its subject.

If you are a new listener start with an audio book that you would enjoy listening first, a genre that you are comfortable with. If your interest is fantasy, start with it and if you don’t, chances are there that you like them in an audio book format.

The use of audio books gives you more power to motivate yourself to enjoy reading. It opens up a world of reading to one who has not yet felt what a joy in e-reading can be. Many listeners who start with little hitchusing audio books soon become enthusiastic listeners, branching into other genres, reading longer books, and searching new authors. Certainly, audio books serve as a wonderful tool for passionate readers.

Imagine your book at the top of the Best Sellers List of the New York Times. Most authors do. The question is, “How do I get it there and sell millions of copies?”

When planing your book, there is one critical thing that most authors forget – marketing. In the case of book reviewers this means pre-marketing.

Most reviewers require a copy of your book at least three months before publication. This is because most book reviewers need time to read it and review it plus publish all the reviews on books that they have reviewed for those who came before you. Also many publications come out on a weekly or monthly basis instead of daily. This means that book reviewers have a huge backlog.

So the best way to get a book reviewers to review your book, is to get them a quality copy of your manuscript or a galley, as soon as possible.

What if your book has already been published?

Is it too late to get a book reviewer to review your book? In some cases yes and in some no. There is an easy way to get your book reviewed without calling it a review.

Send out a press release.

Create a press release about your book and submit it to your local newspapers, magazines and radio stations. Make it interesting. Don’t just say Mary Joe Piper has just published her newest book Babes on Parade. Think about your story and what it can teach people. Does it have a theme about love or friendship or settling disputes?

Use the issue in your press release. Teach people how to solve their problems and then have the person interviewing you mention your credits, as a published author. At that point your book will be mentioned, you will have done them a service, and you will have saved thousands of dollars on marketing and query letters to editors.