Dave Balter seems to love proving people wrong. People thought he was crazy when he created one of the first word of mouth media companies, BzzAgent. But, through his work, he has proven that people are not only willing, but actually want to be involved in learning about brands and products, and helping spread the word about them, if engaged with and listened to.
Dave is being looked at askance once again, people wondering if he’s finally lost it. The reason this time is the release of his new book, entitled The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II. In an rather unorthodox move, he has decided to self-publish it. He didn’t have to self-publish it–his last book, The Grapevine, was published by Portfolio and did well. He also doesn’t have to release a free eBook of the material, something a publisher would never let him do, but he is.
After reading the eBook–reading how word of mouth marketing is the Grateful Dead to viral marketing’s Falco (“Rock Me Amadeus”) for example–you’ll want to buy the physical edition. Only a few thousand are being printed, so it’s sure to be a collector’s item, and each book comes with an original piece of artwork by their artist in residence, Seth B. Minkin.
If you’d like more material to start you off, Dave has previously written a ChangeThis manifesto, and Todd interviewed him after the release of his first book. If you’re interested in why he decided to self-publish, he has written a very well reasoned post on the topic.
Here’s the direct link to the PDF edition of The Word of Mouth Manual:
http://www.800ceoread.com/wommvii