The good news is that Walmart.com is selling upcoming hot books — including Sarah Palin’s book — for $10.

The better news is that Amazon is either going to match them or go a penny better.

And that includes shipping!

While this is good news for readers, it is bad news for authors. I don’t suspect that anyone will make money at $10 per book.

If Walmart.com is hoping to get spinoff sales on other products from browsers, good luck. That’s the only way they will make money. But if those buyers are looking for deals on books, they will also look for deals on other products Walmart.com carries. Coupon discount sites are only a click away.

This is also bad news for authors. If readers expect books to cost $10, there’s not much upside left for traditional publishers or self-publishers.

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Here’s what TV producers are looking for in a guest

Steve Spangler is a scientist who creates cool tools to teach kids about science. He’s also appeared on Ellen numerous times.

So when he spoke to the National Speakers Association a few weeks ago, he offered these tips to get on Ellen.

– Don’t ask me to introduce you. She really doesn’t know who Steve is. She interviews several people a day, several days a week. Outside of the interview, she doesn’t spend any time with the guests.

– Don’t pitch the producers. They get more material than they can look at. Instead, they have teams of people scour the web looking for new, interesting guests.

Their advice?

"Be active on the web and we’ll find you."

Steve posted numerous "science experiments" on You Tube, including many that blow up things. That’s great TV. See www.SteveSpangler.com for more info about Steve, or search You Tube for fun stuff!

I’m paraphrasing here, so please forgive any artistic liberties, or faults in my memory for exact quotes. But the sentiment and tone is correct.

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Publicity can be a great tool to build your webinar profits. Here’s a great way to get the press to promote your webinar!

1. Write a press release and send it to reporters who cover your topic. There are many trade publications  - online and in print – that print notices of events. The press release should contain the essential information of your webinar, including:
   1. Title
   2. Date and time (include time zones!)
   3. The cost of the webinar. If it is free, say so. That’s always good!
   4. What topics will be discussed
   5. Who the appropriate audience is (perhaps by skill level, i.e. beginner, intermediate or advanced)
   6. How to register. List your website sales letter. Don’t list the front page of your web site. They might not find the link to register.
   7. Contact information, including your phone number, email and website
   8. Send this via email about a month before your event to online publications and blogs. Send this via email to print reporters about four months before the event. For a list of reporters, go to www.BullsEyePublicity.com They have a database of more than 50,000 reporters in every vertical market you can think of. They are always looking for a good story to write about!

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