{"id":13199,"date":"2026-06-18T23:03:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T03:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/promotion-activation-conversation-seths-blog\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T23:03:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T03:03:34","slug":"promotion-activation-conversation-seths-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/promotion-activation-conversation-seths-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Promotion, activation, conversation | Seth&#8217;s Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[A long riff on book publishing with (perhaps) wide applicability to your work as well.]<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Publishing is different from writing\u2014it\u2019s the hard work of creating the conditions to help people get in sync, move forward, and get to where they\u2019re headed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best reason to publish a non-fiction business or how-to book in 2026 is to change lives. Transformation is possible. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Transformation can happen, but only if the book ends up in the right hands for the right reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, it\u2019s harder than ever to pull that off. <a href=\"https:\/\/tim.blog\/2026\/06\/12\/has-ai-already-killed-nonfiction\/\">Tim Ferriss<\/a> shares the numbers. We have a glut of information, but not nearly enough action. I\u2019ve been at this for forty years, but the change this time is significant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number of books in this category continues to expand, but their total impact has not. At the same time, more books are being purchased by more people\u2014the long tail is real. Publishing a book is super easy now, but publishing one that works is harder than ever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authors and publishers get stuck on the gap between interest and action. Too often, we don\u2019t act until it\u2019s too late in the process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The author\u2019s job in publishing begins long before pub day.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are three pillars:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Promotion<\/li>\n<li>Activation<\/li>\n<li>Conversation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first one gets way too much discussion, energy, and noise. <strong>Promotion<\/strong> gets the word out. Promotion can easily become all-consuming, and it can also become selfish. The promotion part of the equation asks, \u201chave you seen my new book?\u201d Promotion is everywhere, so we come to believe that it matters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Activation<\/strong> creates the tension that answers the promotion question with, \u201cI\u2019ll go grab a copy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And <strong>conversation<\/strong> is the unsung part of every single hit book in this genre: \u201cI need my friends to read this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Successful publishing, then, looks like this: Generate awareness. Create tension that leads to engagement with the work. Deliver an idea that works better for the reader when it\u2019s shared and discussed. Reader traction leads to the network effect. The transformations compound, and the book becomes a foundation of culture and alignment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s the work of publishing. Each component matters, not just the first one.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d break <em>promotion<\/em> into a few components:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Permission<\/strong>: When you can deliver anticipated, personal, and relevant messages to the people who want to get them, you\u2019ve <em>earned<\/em> attention, not stolen it. Letting people who read your blog or listen to your podcast know about your new book is mutually beneficial. This is a trust that\u2019s not to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shared permission<\/strong>: When you appear on someone else\u2019s podcast or in the media, you\u2019re bringing the message of your book to people who trust the host. The paradox is that the more trusted the media channel, the more difficult it is for you to appear when it suits you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Buzz<\/strong>: This is a side effect of a good story and a medium that wants to carry it. In the hyper-parallel world of social media, there are an infinite number of tiny media outlets, and when they start to vibrate at the same frequency, buzz occurs. This is 5% preparation and 95% luck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hustle and Hype<\/strong>: Burning bridges and crossing lines just because it\u2019s important to you. Please don\u2019t. No one ever ends up glad they did this. It might not feel like hustle to the hustler, but if the person you\u2019re targeting with your hype feels hustled, then that\u2019s what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But promotion is not worth much if it doesn\u2019t translate into people actually purchasing and reading your book. <em>Activation<\/em> overcomes inertia, fear, and inconvenience. Activation energy leads to someone not only buying a book, but reading it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most publishers have someone who does publicity and promotion. Most marketers think about their job in the same way. Where are the teams that focus on activation? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In two recent book launches, I worked to create awareness with a record-breaking podcast tour. Each time I appeared on more than <em>fifty<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seths.blog\/podcasts\">podcasts<\/a> on launch day. It took months of recording sessions and the kind support of some of the best podcasters in the world to pull this off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together we reached millions of people in just a few days. And yet, very few of these listeners bought a book as a result of a podcast. The math might be 1,000,000 YouTube interview views equals a hundred books sold.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?resize=1024%2C801&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?resize=1024%2C801&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?resize=300%2C235&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?resize=768%2C600&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?resize=1536%2C1201&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/seths.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2027\/01\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-at-11.43.12-AM.jpg?w=1852&amp;ssl=1 1852w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Estimated growth in hours spent (billions!) listening to podcasts or other forms of online productivity\/business learning<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The common-sense math is simple: Over the last two decades, hours spent listening to podcasts, blog posts and videos about non-fiction topics is exponentially higher than it was, but sales in the category are flat or down. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Podcast appearances often solve the problem of what\u2019s in the book (\u201coh, I heard it, I get it\u201d) as opposed to creating useful and generous tension that leads to a read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[Let me pause for a second here and clarify: If you can effectively give your idea away without writing and publishing a book, please do! Most of my blog posts reach more people than my books do, and I keep them as posts because that\u2019s the best way to get my point across. But if it\u2019s worth publishing a book around a set of ideas, it\u2019s probably not easily translated into a thirty-minute podcast. Buying, reading, holding, shelving, sharing\u2013these are opportunities the book has to amplify its impact.]<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, consider the idea of a knock-knock book. This is a book with a secret. The world asks about it (knock knock) and the answer is, \u201cbuy the book.\u201d This was a big part of publishing for a long time\u2014if you want to know, you needed to read the book. But now that the answer is free, online, there\u2019s not a lot of reason left to buy this sort of book\u2026 If all a book has is a secret, it won\u2019t have the secret for long. TLDR.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the most resilient books in this category serve a different purpose. They\u2019re shareable. They amplify a network. They serve as an instigator and a totem, a device that allows one reader to share insights with another, all in service of getting in sync. Books are souvenirs for some purchasers, but tools for most of us.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The step after activation is the one with the highest leverage: <em>Conversation<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Successful books in this category don\u2019t sell by the copy; they sell by the carton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How will my organization, my team or my relationships improve if we all read this book? Can we talk about these ideas and put them to work together?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is why <em>Purple Cow <\/em>and <em>The Dip<\/em> were two of my bestselling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seths.store\">books<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Dip on Billions\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/267237220?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"258\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When David and Brian wrote <em>The Dip<\/em> into <em>Billions<\/em>, they were using it as a shorthand. The judge was saying, \u201cwe need to talk about this nuanced idea, here\u2019s an anchor.\u201d The book becomes the foundation for a conversation that needed to happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Books that matter over time almost always fit this description: <em>Atomic Habits, In Search of Excellence, Grit, The War of Art, The Let Them Theory, Mindset, <\/em>and<em> Big Magic<\/em>\u2026 practical books that stand for something and offer a foundation for shared exploration and possibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can do all the promotion and activation you want, but if your book doesn\u2019t support conversation, it will soon fade away.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Have you seen my book? \u2192<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">   I\u2019ll grab a copy \u2192<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">      I need my friends to read this \u2192<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">         My circle is using this as a tool.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Don\u2019t tell me about your promotional strategy. Talk to me about activation and build conversation into your work from the start.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn the one hand, information wants to be expensive, because it\u2019s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time.\u201d Stewart Brand, 1984.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two ideas don\u2019t have to fight with each other. Information isn\u2019t enough. It\u2019s transformation and conversation that fuel our future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"date\">June 18, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t\t\/\/ Delaying FB pixel script to load after 4 seconds to not affect on initial page load.\n\t\tsetTimeout( function () {\n\t\t\t!function ( f, b, e, v, n, t, s ) {\n\t\t\t\tif ( f.fbq ) {\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tn = f.fbq = function () {\n\t\t\t\t\tn.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply( n, arguments ) : n.queue.push( arguments )\n\t\t\t\t};\n\t\t\t\tif ( !f._fbq ) {\n\t\t\t\t\tf._fbq = n;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tn.push = n;\n\t\t\t\tn.loaded = !0;\n\t\t\t\tn.version = '2.0';\n\t\t\t\tn.queue = [];\n\t\t\t\tt = b.createElement( e );\n\t\t\t\tt.async = !0;\n\t\t\t\tt.src = v;\n\t\t\t\ts = b.getElementsByTagName( e )[0];\n\t\t\t\ts.parentNode.insertBefore( t, s )\n\t\t\t}( window, document, 'script',\n\t\t\t\t'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js' );\n\t\t\tfbq( 'init', '221651354884486' );\n\t\t\tfbq( 'track', 'PageView' );\n\t\t}, 4000 );\n\t<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[A long riff on book publishing with (perhaps) wide applicability to your work as well.] Publishing is different from writing\u2014it\u2019s the hard work of creating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-purpose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}