So, just the other day we offered up our new ebook The Problem Isn't Piracy, the Problem Is Obscurity and now we look like freaking geniuses. 

To recap, Cory Doctorow's essays, as reprinted in The Problem Isn't Piracy… argue that authors should chill about people copying and downloading their books online, because, ultimately, the added exposure will help sell printed copies of the book.  Not everyone, to put it mildly, sees things that way.

Well score one for Cory.  I give you the current #1 best selling book on Amazon.com:

Go the F**k TO Sleep is a picture book parody and it's a pretty funny idea.  But here's what's really fascinating about it:

PDF copies of the book (which won't be released in print until June) have been floating around the Internet for months.  Booksellers and publishing industry insiders have been sending copies of the book around and the buzz kept getting louder and louder.   Loud enough to drive the book to the top of the charts weeks before its release and without a shred of promotion from its publisher.

So what do we learn from this?

1. Having people talk about your book is a good thing, no matter how it gets started

2. Even if they're given ebooks for free, readers still want print editions of  Illustration-heavy books (Gawker.com opines "Books with artwork have a tactile, archival appeal lacking in the latest Grisham potboiler, say.")

3. Having a great title and easy to grasp concept is always a winning combination when it comes to viral attention.

Forget this specific book, and whether you appreciate the language or the joke.  That's not relevant.  But pay close attention to what happened here — a book was "pirated" and the treasure ended up in the hands of the "victim". 

Maybe, just maybe, it's time to change the terminology a bit. 

'Go the F— to Sleep': The Case of the Viral PDF

How Viral Copies of a Naughty Bedtime Book Changed Publishing

Book marketing keeps changing, and genius new ideas keep popping up.  Here's one I really like:

"I need your help naming my new book…"

The link takes you to a video from a fellow named Frank Kern.  You may not know him, but he's pretty much the Lady Gaga of internet marketing. A real superstar.

Anyway, Kern's piece of book promotion for his upcoming title is so simple, so smart and so unique I wanted to bring it to your attention.  Go watch the video and you'll get a three minute masterclass.  See how beautifully it's shot, even though it seems homemade.  Notice Frank's demeanor (his persona — which, by all accounts, is authentic –  is "laid back surfer dude") and how soft the sell is.

The end result of this little bit of book promotion?  He gets early buzz for his book, he makes at least 1000 people feel invested in the book's creation, he manages to get his distribution of teaser copies of the book subsidized and he builds a personal bond with potential buyers.

Think about how you can use this technique for your own benefit.

"I need your help naming my new book…"