Conversations with Calliope- Writing and Marketing

(Weather Vane)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I missed you yesterday.
JOE: I missed you too.
CALLIOPE: Where were you?
JOE: On the road.
CALLIOPE: To where?
JOE: Marketing my new CD. I visited some stores I thought might be interested in selling it.
CALLIOPE: How did that go?
JOE: I made some new contacts and renewed old ones.
CALLIOPE: Any success.
JOE: I found a few stores. What I found interesting was the great variety in arrangements.
CALLIOPE: Such as?
JOE: One bought CD's wholesale. One took copies on consignment. Two wanted review copies first. There was also quite a variety of percentages requested, some quite reasonable and some beyond what I could afford to do.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like you are getting to know the real world.
JOE: I am. It's a fascinating place. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Marketing Lies

(Sculpture- Vigo, Spain)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Ready for another week?
JOE: Yes. I'm ready to go.
CALLIOPE: Did you finish Seth Godin's book, All Marketers are Liars yet?
JOE: Not yet. I'm about half way through it.
CALLIOPE: What do you think so far?
JOE: The title intrigued me. So did the picture on the front cover of Seth with a pinnochio nose attached.
CALLIOPE: Is that what got you to buy the book?
JOE: Mostly. I looked inside and thought the approach looked interesting.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I have been trying to approach marketing my books in a scientific way as if there were a logical way to go about it.
CALLIOPE: We muses don't get too involved in marketing. So it's not a scientific endeavor?
JOE: It doesn't seem to be. Seth's writing indicates that it is more an appeal to the emotions.
CALLIOPE: In what way?
JOE: When people consider buying something, they concern themselves more with whether having it reinforces their world view (lies they tell themselves) and confirms what they already think rather than due to benefits, features or anything else logical.
CALLIOPE: I never looked at it that way before.
JOE: Neither did I. But the more I read the more sense it makes. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Work and Socialization

(Butterfly in the trees)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Tell me about yesterday.
JOE: As I expected, I had little time to work on anything. I had to shovel my way out to go visit my brother in Rochester who is here on his visit from Hawaii.
CALLIOPE: What did he make of the snow?
JOE: It's the first he's seen in two years. He seems fascinated.
CALLIOPE: What else did you do?
JOE: We spent most of the day visiting at my mother's house and my aunt's and ended up in a bookstore at night.
CALLIOPE: Did you bring up your book in conversation?
JOE: It came up a couple times and I shared my experiences and the book itself with a few people.
CALLIOPE: How did you feel about doing it?
JOE: A little strange. I waited for quite a while for it to come up in conversation which it finally did.
CALLIOPE: What's your discomfort about?
JOE: I feel like I am in a sales rather than social conversation. It feels a little awkward. Still I hate to miss an opportunity to tell people about my writing since it is the main focus of my life right now.
CALLIOPE: Anything you can do about it?
JOE: I don't think so. I wear several hats as most people do. I guess it's just part of life. Talk with you tomorrow.