Do What You Love

Gallup has long espoused the value of doing what you do best, every day, penning a sequence of bestsellers to help all of us identify our strengths and figure out whether we’re putting them to good use. Hand in hand with this school of thought is the idea that we should spend our precious time – perhaps the biggest scarcity in our ever wired world – doing what we truly love.

Given the tough state of the publishing world, it's a great time to be in the game for love of the written word.

Last week, we lost four Conde Nast magazines to the difficult economy and falling ad dollars. This week, our friends at 800 CEO READ passed on the last column written by their local book review editor, Geeta Sharma Jensen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She was among those taking an early buy out in early August. We think it's a poignant tribute to the passion that books can inspire.

Book Expo a Bright Spot in a Down Market

Attendance was down from the last Book Expo America (BEA), the annual publishing convention, held in New York and some attendees bemoaned the lack of freebies, galleys and other giveaways, but I walked away from this year's show with the Gloria Gaynor tune, "I Will Survive," going through my head. The publishing industry is moving in a digital direction, it’s being hit hard by the economy like every other business, but the authors – many, many great ones – were there, sending the signal that good books will indeed survive.

I had the chance to reconnect with Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder whom I worked with fifteen years ago and my old boss at Houghton Mifflin Joe Kanon who turned novelist years back and has churned out several bestsellers. Margaret Atwood, Michael Lewis, Francine Prose, R.L. Stine and Nicholas Sparks were all on hand as well, providing a literary and eclectic list of authors with a proven track record of getting people to read. Which, at the end of the day, when the booths are dismantled, the sore feet soaked, and the suitcases packed, is the goal after all.

Our fun moments included our digital media director Sara Schneider getting cozy with a Star Wars Stormtrooper, having dinner with our friends and colleagues at 800 CEO READ whose book, The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, continues to sell well and doing booth duty with the folks at Gallup Press who have over the years gone from being just clients to great friends.


Gallup's Geoff Brewer and me at the Gallup Press booth


Sara and the Stormtrooper

Gloria’s right, we will survive. And whether we read our books on a digital device or on the finest of papers, they are never going away.

Double Bestsellers for Gallup

American readers are apparently looking to their strengths to pull them through tough times.
The Gallup Organization, which ignited a national discussion on strengths nearly a decade ago when it released the results of a landmark 30-year study, has two titles on the January 16 Wall Street Journal business bestseller list. STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie hit the list at #4 (is also #12 on the general non-fiction list), just days after its official publication date. It joins Rath's other bestseller, STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0, which holds the #3 spot (#10 on the general non-fiction list).

For the new book, Gallup scientists surveyed a million work teams, conducted more than 50,000 in-depth interviews with leaders, and interviewed 20,000 followers around the world to ask exactly why they followed the most important leader in their life. What they found are three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths, getting the right talents on your team, and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

Sounds like a manual for leaders in tough economic times.

Thankful for Teamwork this Thanksgiving

It's been a tough week for publishing, along with the rest of the nation. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, publishers of literary giants such as Philip Roth and J.R. Tolkien, announced that it has put a freeze on acquiring new titles, an extreme move that has sent shock waves through an industry already battling weak sales report at the bookstore chains across the country.

But here in my little corner of the world, I've decided to focus the things that are going right. With every business title I read, whether to consider it for a pr campaign or just to educate myself on running a company, I learn more and more about the importance of the team. One of our books, STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP (coming from Gallup Press in January) uses Gallup research to prove that the best leaders build teams with a wide array of complementing strengths.

This week, I saw this work first hand. Caught downtown and on a conference call from a coffee shop, I saw my cell phone ring with a call from Dennis. While staying on the client call, I sent a him a text to check in. Turns out CNBC was looking for Harry Dent, author of THE GREAT DEPRESSION AHEAD (Free Press; January) for a live TV spot that night. I had him call Lew, our office manager, who would locate Sara, who is working with me on Harry's book, handling the digital campaign. Before I could conclude my own call, Harry Dent had been reached and CNBC was coordinating his appearance from a studio in Florida. Technology and teamwork together scored air time for an author, and I am infinitely grateful for a group of people who know that response time is key as we battle for airtime and space.

Sure, it's just one interview; but watching everyone jump on board without a nudge from me was the an incredible feeling. No dysfunctions for our team this Thanksgiving. What great news.

Update: Harry's interview on CNBC can be found here, here, and here.

Connecting with our community

I've been attending BEA, the annual book convention, for more years than I care to admit -- I remember when it was the ABA, recall the year it rained through all the outdoor parties in Miami, and even recollect the year that Oprah announced her own book, a deal she famously pulled out of before turning around to be the biggest advocate for reading and books the country has ever seen.

It never gets old to me, spending time with tens of thousands of people who passionately love books -- it's like getting a snapshot of the many talented hands it takes to turn a great author's idea into an equally terrific book.

Dennis, Sara, Lew and I holed up miles from the convention center at the boutique Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, a place we highly recommend if you're heading west and have any concerns about your environmental impact -- a very green hotel.

Our convention highlights and a few photos:
**World Cafe in Santa Monica where we celebrated with our friends from 800-CEO-READ (their book is coming out from Portfolio in early 2009).

**We all are forced to live vicariously through Sara, who wrangled an invite to the exclusive book party at Prince's house. We were jealous, but I helped out on wardrobe and at least my dress got to go to the Purple One's backyard and party until the wee hours of the morning.

**Lew scored Rick Riordan's autograph for her son Cody and tells us it was a huge thrill to meet the man "who inspired my son not only to read, but to become an avid reader."

**Barbara waited 30 minutes to say hello to Ethan Canin who was signing his new book America, America. She worked on Blue River with him in 1991 and reports he's still the "nicest and most talented novelist I've ever had the chance to work with."


Our goodie bags -- Sara made her famous toffee and marshmallows and my son posed for our promotional photo along with stacks of our great books.


Dinner at the Wilshire Restaurant with our friends from Gallup.


Dennis and Gallup editor Piotr Juszkiewicz with their selected reading material picked up on the convention floor.



We share a moment of levity before boarding our planes back home -- to the east coast and the heart of Texas.

Good show, good memories, always a great time.