A few of us just returned from this year’s Author Pow Wow in Austin, TX at The Driskill. As for me, I’m exhausted, but also refreshed with a sense of perspective. In support of my previous post, I do feel empowered, and I know others that attended do as well.

How are we empowered?

We heard from Erika Andersen, author of Growing Great Employees and Being Strategic about Being CEO of your book, which included great added comments by upcoming author Dick Cross. We participated in a great discussion with Nena Madonia about agencies being a hub for an author’s platform, and how they act as both communicators and creative assistants to serve and develop an author’s brand.

We listened to a great panel of publishers, including Ray Bard, Clint Greenleaf, and Karen Murphy discuss their different approaches to publishing, which culminated in a discussion about how publishers and authors do, and need to, view their customers to determine how to shape and develop the pool. We joined in a discussion with Tanya Hall and Erika Heilman about digital publishing, and how ideas can be distributed in different ways, and what limitations and opportunities exist in working with such a flexible medium.

Next, Will Weisser, David Hathaway, and Bill Roth talked about selling books, selling ideas, and the critical things for authors to understand and build in order to be profitable from sales of their ideas. It was a fascinating and serendipitous occasion to have Dave Hathaway present. Prior to his time at Greenleaf, Dave served as Barnes & Noble’s buyer for over 10 years, and his insight into what retail looks for, how they make predictions, and the growing challenges they face, was eye-opening for all involved.

Noah Rickun and Victoria Labalme both gave compelling presentations about speaking, showing what works, and what doesn’t, in smart and interesting ways. From slides to body language to content to value, they covered a lot of ground in a short time while remaining clear and entertaining. A perfect lesson. They certainly made it all look much easier than it is. And to boot, I got an official Victoria Labalme lip balm, which has me protected all winter, and a reminder of her awesomeness each time I use it.

By now, we were all nearly at mental capacity. Then Tim Sanders hit the stage and literally worked us over. Part re-energizing, part mind-boggling, and 100% amazing, Tim’s insight and research into human behavior, digital practices, the publishing industry vs. similar and disparate industries was captivating, enlightening, and at this point, nearly overwhelming. Ever hear the term “drinking from a fire hose?” This was like getting blown down the street by one. It was awesome.

We celebrated Day 1 by busing miles out of town to Salt Lick BBQ, and quickly filled our stomachs to the same level as our heads. Now, completely stuffed on all levels, we headed back to the hotel to rest and prepare for Day 2.

Day 2 was more focused on getting to work, as

Barbara Cave Henricks, Adrienne Lang, David Hahn, Rusty Shelton, and Phil Gerbyshak discussed publicity angles, social media strategies, marketing, branding, communications, media placement, and a variety of other outreach endeavors authors are doing, and need to be doing more of, in order to spread their ideas.

Erika Andersen recapped the ‘ownership’ segment she began with, and everyone in the room teamed up in various groupings to talk about Doing – new ideas, project help, platform partnerships, and more. It was a great way to extend all the information and knowledge into action.

Arriving back home, I quickly set up a Pow Wow! group on LinkedIn, in order for us all to continue the conversation, and add to it moving forward.

The Pow Wow family grows further!

Thanks to Noel Weyrich, Kalina Mazur, Les McKeown, Jennifer Ferrasci-O’Malley, Paul Sliker, Alexandra Kirsch, Rajesh Setty, Kevin Kruse, Denise Lee Yohn, David Osborn, Terry Doerscher, Richard Imperiale, Richard Hunter Cross, Erika Heilman, John Moore, Richard Shapiro, Judson Laipply, David Edward, Jennifer Whitt, Dain Dunston, and David Nour for being there, listening, engaging, and helping make the event so great!

And I can’t resist adding this poetic recap by attendee Judson Laipply:

Twas weeks before the Holidays
When we arrived at  PowWow
To learn about the book world
And answer the question “How?”

We mingled with each other
Then said our goodnight
Some awoke in the morning
With no power or light

We started by learning
To be CEO of your book
And we’d better be ready
For the Ipad, Kindle, and Nook.

We heard from some insiders
Who helped lay out a plan
You have to build a platform
To help drive demand

Is your book market
An ocean, well, or lake?
If it’s a bayou or puddle
Then publishing’s a mistake.

They helped us to see
That the book world is unusual
To be really, really successful
You have got to be delusional

Sales!Sales!Sales!
Supply no longer drives demand
You have to give content away
And create book-buying fans.

Then it was Noah
With his presentation skill
Who help us realize
What it takes to absolutely kill.

Victoria helped us to see
The 3 parts of a show
Seen through the prism
Of feel, do, and know.

A few more insights
They did say
Like never end your show
With Q and A.

Tim was up last
Before we went to dinner
And he was a force to be reckon
No wonder he’s a winner.

From Yelpification
To the digitizing age
Soon E-books will dominate
And be all the rage.

To Salt-Lick we went
On a bus that swaying
But the best thing of all
Was that we were not paying.

Then some sleep we did get
And awoke to full power
We started right back in
To maximize every hour.

Publicity was up next
And some stories were fun
But we learned that after p-date
The work has just begun.

Twitter! Link’d
Facebook and more!
Get yourself a Social Media Strategy
Or you’ll seem like a bore.

We discussed the merits
Of authentic tweeting
But had to stop short
To wrap up the meeting.

Then it was over
So much to digest
That our brains are not likely
To soon get any rest.

#PowWow11
Had come to an end
We meet lots of new people
Made some new friends.

But the information was key
And in abundance it was dished.
So that we all might fulfill
Our publishing wish.

Thanks to Rusty’s, Hendricks,
Greenleaf and 8CR
For hosting the PowWow11
That will make us a star.

(Edited to add: The Author Pow Wow has begun! Follow along on Twitter using hashtag #powwow11)

In a couple of days, some of the 8cr staff will be heading to Austin, TX for our Author Pow Wow. There, we’ll be spending a solid day and a half talking with authors and publishing industry professionals about Doing What Works. This is a key topic right now, as definition of this is as complicated as ever, with shifts in publishing formats, as well as the media to promote the work, continue at a rapid pace.

To step back a bit from the confusion, we’ll begin with helping each other think about why we’re even in this to begin with. Why our ideas are relevant right now, why we think they will help others, and why we should spend the time, energy, and resources on taking them from our heads into the world. The result, hopefully, will be empowered authors, filled with newly found knowledge and a sense of purpose that will create a positive effect in the world.

And for those who aren’t attending, you’ll get to digest what these people produce, in a number of different and interesting ways. This, of course, will empower you – to think differently about your work, and how to do it better.

2012 will be a big year for us – both as authors and readers.

Big thanks to Cave Henricks Communications, Shelton Interactive, and Greenleaf Book Group for helping us bring this event out of the cold north, to a much more comfortable (at least this time of year) Austin, TX.

We’ll certainly report more here when we return.