Media Hunter

Boned? “We may call it UnderTelly?”

Source: MediaSpy and news.com.au

Plenty of speculation still surrounds the identity of the author of the novel Boned which is soon to hit bookshelves.   Meanwhile, news.com.au has published an excerpt from the book which focuses on a fictional Kate Corish, an almost-40 news presenter who learns she is about to get the sack.

Heading the fictional Channel 8 network in the book is CEO Billy Simpson, bearing some resemblance to former Nine chief Eddie McGuire in his passion for football.

As to the identity of the author, even the book’s publisher Penguin claims to not know.  Some of the names being speculated as possibilities include former high-profile TV identities Tracey Spicer, Gretel Killeen, Naomi Robson, Jana Wendt, Helen Dalley, as well as the presenter at the centre of the original ‘boned’ saga, Jessica Rowe.  Back-stagers such as publicist Wendy Squires, Mia Freedman and David Hurley, all formerly of the Nine Network, are also on the rumoured list of possibilities.

All, and others, have denied being involved.

Current Nine CEO David Gyngell is looking forward to reading the book:

“If it’s good enough we might even make a mini-series of it, and maybe even call it UnderTelly.”

An evening with Tim Ferriss of the 4-Hour Work Week

by Craig Wilson

Media Hunter ventured down to Sydney last night to meet and talk with Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Work Week, as he does a short publicity tour Down Under.

Why is Media Hunter taking an interest in an American author of a "lifestyle design" book? Well, apart from being an interesting person, famous for his contrarian thinking, radical work-life philosophy, Tim has also become a social media phenomenon.

I asked Tim to explain how much social media has contributed to his success. He felt it had been a major factor in driving the 4-Hour Work Week up the bestseller ranks where it eventually hit number one on Wall St Journal, New York Times and Amazon lists.

New book set to haunt Nine

Source: MediaSpy, Herald Sun

A new novel about an Australian television network could come back to haunt the Nine Network and former CEO Eddie McGuire over its handling of the Jessica Rowe “boning” affair.

The anonymously-written book, titled Boned, is a a thinly veiled retelling of the 2006 sacking of Rowe from the Today show, which caused destabilised the network and undermined confidence in McGuire’s leadership.

Despite saying he called for Rowe’s “boning”, an affidavit by former Nine news director Mark Llewellyn claimed McGuire discussed “boning” or sacking the former Ten Network newsreader.

While speculation continues over the identity of the author, the word from media circles is that Rowe, Llewellyn, and even sacked reporter Christine Spiteri are possible suspects.

Nine publicists refused to comment on the text when contacted today, but insiders say executives have been nervous about its pending publication for some time. The book will be released in June through Puffin Books.

Meet the Age of Conversation 2 Authors

Now that The Age of Conversation is well and truly launched on Amazon, the team behind this amazing collaborative effort can begin focusing on their 2008 publication. Once again Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton have called on marketing and social media bloggers around the world to sign up for an even bigger and better book.

This years book is tentatively titled, Age of Conversation: Why don't people get it?  The boys have had an amazing response with 275 authors putting their hands up to contribute a chapter each. And once again, this is all for charity, with the proceeds of the book going to Variety, The Children's Charity.

Media Hunter is fortunate enough to be involved again this year, and has been joined by fellow Novacastrian Gordon Whitehead, aka The Marketer.

Age of Conversation rockets up Amazon bestseller charts

The power of social media was demonstrated today when the Age of Conversation online community combined to push their book near the top of Amazon's bestseller charts.

A 24 hour "Bum Rush" co-ordinated by Chris Wilson saw hundreds of bloggers mobilize to promote the innovative marketing publication The Age of Conversation.  In one day the book has risen from an Amazon ranking of approximately 110,000 to finish the day at  #262 for all books and  #36 on the Business Bestsellers list.

The "Bum Rush" marketing effort saw the book's release promoted on hundreds of websites and blogs around the world, then heavily pushed on Digg.com, where it was the fastest rising web topic in the last 24 hours.

Readers were encouraged to buy the book from Amazon, make comments, review it, Digg it and tell their friends, and discuss the progress on Twitter.

The rush started in Australia, which is only lightly represented in the book, then proceeded around the world until midnight on the US east-coast. Bleary-eyed bloggers stayed online for the entire push, giving encouragement in a real online-style festival.

The book had another breakthrough when it became listed on Wikipedia during the "Bum Rush". A profile of the book and listing of authors can be found here.

Of course thats not the end of the story. Now that Age of Conversation is well up the Amazon rankings, we want to maintain the rage and try to push it further. Its not too late to buy a copy. Buy one for your business, your clients, your friends or family. All proceeds go to Variety, the children's charity.

Buy Age of Conversation Now

Today we launch The Age of Conversation Bum Rush on the Amazon charts. From today, you can buy the book directly on Amazon -- with all profits going directly to Variety,the Children's Charity.

Please use THIS LINK to purchase your copy.

And if you are buying MORE than ONE copy, please do so one at a time (this improves our "best seller" status).

Keep up-to-date with our progress over at Chris Wilson's blog here.

Why don't people get it?

Last year I was privileged enough to be part of an innovative publishing exercise, The Age of Conversation. 103 authors contributed to a marketing book that was released world-wide via lulu.com and raised funds for Variety.

The book is about to be released on Amazon. In the meantime organisers Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton enjoyed the process so much that they have decided to have another crack this year. In  few months time the latest book Age of Conversation: Why don't people get it? will be released with, count them, 275 authors from around the world.

Meet the authors:

Age of Conversation ready for Amazon listing

Finally, after a few delays and hiccups, the innovative collaborative marketing book (including a chapter form Media Hunter), Age of Conversation is ready to list on Amazon.

Don't rush out to order yet though, wait until 29 March when it is officially listed. In the meantime the authors and editors are organising a Bum Rush to coincide with the Amazon listing to create awareness and focus attention on getting the book off to a flying start on the best-seller lists.

New book for the Age of Conversation generation

 
 

Not quite a year ago, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton asked a question -- would you like to write a business book. And over 100 people responded from all over the world ... contributing 400 words each to the book Age of Conversation.

Part way through the project, Drew and Gavin decided that they would go ahead and do it again in 2008.

 
 

Not quite a year ago, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton asked a question -- would you like to write a business book. And over 100 people responded from all over the world ... contributing 400 words each to the book Age of Conversation.

Part way through the project, Drew and Gavin decided that they would go ahead and do it again in 2008.

Media Coverage for Age of Conversation

Age of Conversation is off to a flying start in book sales and has been assisted by some invaluable media coverage in the last 48 hours or so.

This innovative collaboration has been covered already in the following media:

Fast Company (USA)
Business Week (USA)
Advertising Age (USA)
Big Biz Radio Show (nationally syndicated USA)
Social Computing
Media Post's Marketing Daily
Marketing Prof's Daily Fix
PSFK

Add to that 103 bloggers all writing and promoting the book and you have a very powerful campaign in action.

Once again the book is available for purchase at lulu.com/ageofconversation
It is available as Hardcover, softcover or e-book.