I first discovered Shel Horowitz with his classic Marketing Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring.
That book is no longer in print. But not to worry. He completely updated and expanded it into his newer book: Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World. It is a comprehensive from-the-trenches field manual on marketing. If you sell anything you should get this book.
Shel understands marketing and he understands writing. So it should be no surprise that he has also produced a manual for every writer who kvetches "You mean I have to market the book too, not just write it?!" For those of us blessed (or cursed) with the need to put words on paper Shel has now published a guide specifically for writers: Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. It covers basic marketing truths and new innovations for those who understand (or need to understand) the reality that printed books don't sell themselves.
I good-naturedly sparred with Shel on IAOCblog about blogging ethics. And if there is anything that characterizes his work--in books and for clients--it is a dedicated commitment to ethics. Not all of us are blessed with this commitment. And even many of us who are could benefit from a reminder. Shel provided a gentle reminder in what he seems to consider his magnum opus. Not in size, but in significance. In Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First Shel forcefully and convincingly makes the point that you don't have to be a hustler to be a successful marketer. And he backs up his message with a guide to moral marketing.
You don't have to be religious to love Principled Profit. Give it a try. You may never go back to three-card Monte.
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