Finally, we get to tell you the good news about our publishing partners.

But first, some brief background.  As you may know, we are not book publishers.   When we got the idea for the first Age of Conversation — it was our original intention just to do an e-book.  But the authors really, really wanted a “real” book they could hold, give away to clients and put on their coffee table.

So naturally — we punted our way through the first Age of Conversation and Age of Conversation 2.  We won’t go into detail about all the challenges but they were many.  Some involved blood loss — but we got it done.

When we announced Age of Conversation 3 — we got an e-mail from two of the authors from the second book — Gretel Going & Kate Fleming.  Unbeknownst to us, they had started a publishing company called Channel V Books and they wanted to help us.  Please be clear … help us = do it all for free in the total spirit of the books!!

As contributing authors, Gretel/Kate and her team were familiar with our past struggles getting this book out through various self-publishing avenues. They were in a position to provide us with a fast turnaround time and broad distribution for the book without the hassles we’ve faced in the past. So, rather than deal with all the publishing nuances and details as we had in the past, we took them up on their offer and have benefited from an all-inclusive model that provides the flexibility and freedom of self-publishing but the comprehensive, turnkey services of a traditional publishing house.

Although we didn’t take them up on all of their services due to the nature of this project, I can share the key differentiators between CVB and a service like Lulu.com for those of you who have some interest or may be thinking of publishing your own book.

In particular, their in-house management of the entire publishing and marketing processes from start to finish (often working with the author from the beginning to shape the manuscript for his/her audience and create their platforms), and their seamless connection to major online retail distribution channels such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Finally, they handle all royalty and online distribution/fulfillment, which allows authors to focus on personal goals and business objectives, rather than on the business of their book.

Here’s my shameless plug for these really talented and smart folks:

They work with business thought leaders who need to publish books in order to promote themselves and their businesses, solidify their credibility and attract new opportunities—but don’t have the time (or desire) to learn and manage the intricacies of the publishing business in the process. Channel V Books bridges the gap between self-publishing and traditional publishing by offering the best of both worlds: the highest production quality, distribution channels, visibility, creative flexibility, ease and, most importantly, profitability.  To learn more about Channel V Books, visit  their website.

It has taken some time to come together, but the new book, Age of Conversation 3: It’s time to get busy!, is in its final stages. Very soon you will be able to purchase it directly from Amazon or a number of other online book stores. The new cover, as you can see below, was designed by Chris Wilson. And this, our new site, was designed and built by Craig Wilson and the hard working team at Sticky Advertising.

We’re excited to be at this stage of the process. The quality of thinking throughout the book is of the highest calibre – as would be expected from such an illustrious group. The authors who have contributed to this year’s edition are:

We are busily preparing, collating and sorting a raft of information from the 300 or so authors who have committed to the NEW edition of the Age of Conversation.

And while many of you may now struggle to remember which sections of the book you have volunteered for, please know that we will soon be sending you some information that will put you at ease.

We look forward to sharing this fabulous journey with you all!

Welcome to the all new Age of Conversation podcast. The Age of Conversation II: Why don’t they get it? will be published later this month.  This podcast will be a collection of "conversations" with contributors to the book. To kick it off, we have the guys who started it all, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan.

How did this idea of a collaborative book start? What does this mean? What’s different from the first edition in The Age of Conversation II? Drew & Gavin answer all these questions and more in this premiere episode. 

To get started, press the play button on the player below or download the show as an mp3 file from the provided link.
But you don’t have to just listen. You can contribute too. Please add your comment or post a question with the comments link below. Or send us an audio comment or question in the form of an mp3. Just send your audio to jay<at>themarketingspot.com.

Download the episode here: Premiere Episode of Age of Conversation
You will soon be able to subscribe via iTunes, so check back soon.

Hello Fellow AOC2 Authors!

The launch date for the Age of Conversation is fast approaching, and we would really like to help maximize your exposure and involvement. As part of the effort to build anticipation for the book (and to promote the authors who made it all possible), we’re going to compile and publish a series of short bios for each author, up to and beyond the publishing date.

Here’s what we need from you:

1. Photo
2. Name
3. Blog URL
4. Just 3-4 sentences that describe whatever it is you’d like others to know about you. Keep it to about 70 words. It can include where you’re from, what you do, where you work, or what your high score in Pong is.

Numbers 2-4 should be formatted something like this:

Version 1

Aki Spicer
http://fallontrendpoint.blogspot.com
Aki Spicer is Strategic Planning Director at Fallon Worldwide out of Minneapolis, MN. His previous work roles include Account Planning Manager, Urban ThinkTank at Vigilante / Leo Burnett / Publicis, Vice-President of Marketing at Rocawear and President / CEO / Brand Strategist at Machine. He is also a founding officer in the Facebook philanthropic network, ‘Planning For Good’.

Version 2

Firstname Last
http://www.yourblog.com
[Firstname] believes [insert mantra here]. With over [experience in chosen profession], [he/she] writes at [blog title] about [perspective and subject]. [His/Her] interests are [list interests]. [Firstname] is a [job title] at [company name] in [city, state/country].

Email all bios to aocbios@ymail.com NO LATER than OCTOBER 10th.

For maximum impact, we’re going to start running them about two weeks before the book is available.

Bizarro-email-hell
Originally uploaded by icarusjj

From time to time you may receive emails from other Age of Conversation authors. Indeed, you may, at some stage wish to send them all an email.
As you may expect, we respect the privacy of all contributors to the Age of Conversation. As such, we have a policy of NOT sharing email addresses or mailing lists.
However, if you do want to reach out to Age of Conversation authors, you can do so via the Age of Conversation Facebook group. And while this does include authors as well as interested participants, it at least allows individuals the choice of opting-in to communications.
If you are an author and do not want to hear directly from other authors, simply do not join the Facebook group. The choice is yours.

Feed Your Monster
Originally uploaded by hyku

Douglas Karr has taken the blog roll or all the Age of Conversation authors and turned it into a handy OPML file that can be imported into your feed reader.

So now you don’t have to go to the trouble of visiting each and every one manually.

You can download it here >> Download aoc2.xml .