Amazon Virtual Booksigning Zooms PP to Best-Seller List

Amazon Virtual Booksigning Zooms Self-Published Business Ethics Book From The Bottom of the Barrel to the Amazon.com Best-Seller List

Amazon Virtual Booksigning A Success!

HADLEY, MA: In one day, a self-published book on business ethics rocketed from an Amazon.com overall rank of 1,558,475--all the way to #83 (and #12 in the business category). Shel Horowitz, author of the new book Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, created a day-long "Amazon virtual booksigning" that took the book from obscurity. Participants who bought the paper copy at Amazon received--directly from the author--a complementary e-book version, with all 92 URLs in the book turned into clickable hotlinks

The 46-year-old author and marketing consultant had a gut feeling he could dramatically improve his book's low rank. "This book is creating such excitement that people are literally buying it right out of my hands when I take it to meetings and show it around. I wanted to see if I could generate the same kind of excitement online."

What's exciting people about the book? A few of the key ideas:

Businesses can succeed by combining honesty, integrity and quality--surpassing customers' expectations--and working together with their competitors

Many of the world's most successful businesses got that way by creating and building real relationships with people, not by cutting their competitors' throats

Major competitors such as Apple and IBM frequently expand the entire market by working together; smaller businesses can benefit from this approach too

Consumers can influence companies to be ethical and support their values

He asked newsletter publishers to spread the word. "I wanted to reach at least 200,000 people, and to break the top 100--and therefore earn a temporary spot on the Amazon best-seller list--on the book's own merits, on the recommendations of columnists who are known and trusted by their readers, such as David Frey of Marketing Best Practices and Eva Rosenberg of Tax Mama. I accomplished these goals and I'm delighted."

Horowitz pointed out that while he's not the first to use the virtual signing technique to boost one-day ratings, the others have thrown in bonuses with a stated value of hundreds of dollars. This is the first self-published book he's aware of that used an Amazon virtual booksigning to reach the Top 100 on its own merits. "I knew the message of this book is so compelling that the book could stand on its own--and I was right."

Also, in a book promoting ethics, Horowitz is careful to avoid impropriety. "I will not claim best-seller status out of context. People will always know it was a one-day spike."

The book has received other acclaim. Southwest Airlines made a significant purchase for distribution by the company president. And Horowitz collected 56 pre-publication endorsements, including Jack Canfield and other best-selling authors, successful entrepreneurs, consumer advocates, national speakers--even a former U.S. Cabinet member.

While the book's Top 100 ranking after the Amazon virtual booksigning was fleeting, "it's creating a buzz. I'm still seeing residual sales after the event is over--and I got 200,000 people talking about this important new book." One week after the event, its rank hovers in the high 4-figures--a huge improvement from its seven-figure starting point. More information about the book, including a full press kit, is available at http://www.principledprofits.com. Journalists: Horowitz is available for interviews; review copies are available on request.

Contact: Shel Horowitz, shel@principledprofits.com, 413-586-2388 (US Eastern Time)

Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, ISBN 0961466669, $17.50.
Distributed to the trade by Beagle Bay Books and available through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, etc.

To view screenshots of the book's progress to the best-seller list during the Amazon virtual booksigning, please click here.

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