Much of our most beneficial client work is centered around this:

Give yourself permission to be interesting.

Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and all-around interesting guy, posted this video a while back.
The video is 3 minutes long, and you’ll get the point by the 2 minute mark (or sooner).

Do you wonder why people aren’t paying attention to you?

To do what God has called you to do can sometimes feel scary and awkward. But people are waiting for you to dance!

In an expression of increased frustration with Apple’s reluctance to lower % and not share subscriber data, the Financial Times has released what they call “new, faster, more complete app for the iPad and iPhone which is available via your browser rather than from an app store”.

Will Apple listen? And will consumers embrace an App in a browser?

Watch their video HERE.

In other news, Apple has reportedly backed down on a BIG component of its in-app subscription rules, which should provide a big relief to content companies. Under Apple's just-revised guidelines, "Content providers may offer In-App subscriptions at whatever price they wish and they are not required to offer an in-app subscription simply because they sell a subscription outside the App Store as well," MacRumors reports.

As for books, our enhanced e-book app development is going strong!

BONUS: Check out this graph on business adoption of various tablets. Do you think this trend is here to stay, or have other tablets not have time to make their mark?

We’re proud to present an interview with our clients, Dr. Jay and Julie Kent-Ferraro. In addition to creating a book and brand web site, Scott and Julie Spiewak have been working on branding and promotion for their new best selling book, Surprised By Love and have landed this couple on many national media outlets, including the Today Show on June 3rd!

Your book, and message of restoration, have been getting a lot of media attention with the release of your book. What's it been like to tell your PERSONAL story to a wide audience?

Freightening and exhilerating! Our passion is to change marriages by opening possibilities that didn't exist before people read "Surprised by Love", and that is happening every day with the release of the book. Just this week a man from California who is in the process of a divorce from his wife, and has been involved in an affair called me. His wife gave him a copy of Surprised by Love for his birthday as they traveled together to see a son off to college. He called me immediately following his finishing the book and asked if he could work with me to try and restore his marriage! So, while it has been challenging to reveal the intimate details of my own failures I am honored to be given the privilege of contributing to lives as we are through the sharing of it. If one child is spared a divorce and one marriage is saved because of sharing our story, then it is worth all of the challenge.

How would you describe the core message of your book?

That love is more powerful than any circumstance no matter how dire and possibility to reinvent a marriage, regardless of how broken, is available to anyone who is willing to evolve and learn how to truly love. We devote an entire chapter in Surprised by Love to the principles, tools and strategies for how we did just that!

How can couples who feel they have a good marriage (or even singles) benefit from your book?

We have more interest from couples in good marriages that want to invest in it remaining successful right now than any others! There are two ways people learn: Either from their own experiences, both good and bad, or from allowing yourself to be instructed by the wisdom of others. Our prayer is that all couples can benefit from our mistakes and more importantly from the wisdom lessons we garnered through many years of healing and redesigning our marriage which was destroyed by my choice to have an affair.

If you could shout one relationship (or life) message from the rooftops to MEN, what would that be?

That "soulmates", or finding that 'right' person who will make us feel alive, are NOT found, they are created! The Soul Mate trap is a lie. Most affairs happen because we are trying to find happiness and fulfillment in another person, a novel experience in the form of an affair partner, who we imbue with fantasy and fiction and wrongly believe that they will be a solution to our dissatisfaction in the marriage we are in. Nothing can be further from the truth! Being successful at love has nothing to do with finding the "right" person, but rather, becoming the right person capable of more perfectly loving the partner you are with and in so doing "creating" the conditions for soul mates to exist. Love is not about consumption, it is fundamentally about contribution to another and in investing time, energy, and focus on the person you are with. Then, through what we call "true love", you design the conditions for intimacy to blossom and real soul mates can happen.

What was the process of writing the book like for you both?

Very difficult! We has to re-live very painful memories and experiences, yet doing this was healing for us. In many ways it was a type of therapy, allowing us to think about what happened and why – the need to continue that made the magic of a new marriage and life together possible.

You offer various resources for couples, including counseling - How has this experience over the years shaped the message of the book?

We offer a perspective and approach that comes from having lived the reality of an affair, a divorce, and a reconciliation that very few people are able to do. The work we’ve done with couples allows them to not feel shamed and embarrassed because we too have walked the same path, and understand from living it – both the pain and also the opportunity that there is to heal, make new choices and forgive.

How does a marriage survive an affair?

(Julie) It all depends on how you define love. I chose to never allow Jay’s bad choices define who I was or how I would respond to them. I loved Jay, and despite the fact that he decided to have an affair he was not going to change the fact that I loved him. My defiant love for him, which didn’t stop me from divorcing him, ultimately became a pathway back to our relationship and eventually a new marriage. It’s also where the title of Surprised by Love comes from. We also learned that marriages do not end from affairs, they end because of how people deal with them and the principles in our book are the ones we used to build a bridge back to each other.

Have you had any experience helping those in the ministry with similar stories? What advice would you give those in ministry who are having marriage difficulties? And those who've experienced an affair?

We have, and believe that for those in ministry it is even more difficult to get the necessary help they need to heal. Being in positions with high expectations and clear roles make it easier for them to not be honest with themselves and others – and withour honesty, you cannot heal a marriage. The advice we offer is to find a safe place to tell the truth – all of it – so the healing and redesign work can happen.

What are some ways a person can “affair proof” their marriage?

It is rare to see an affair happen in marriages where both people are best friends, committed to one another’s fulfillment, understand who their spouse is, what’s important to them, and consistently bring their best to meet the needs in the relationship. Our responsibility in marriage is to make a “raving fan” of our partner by loving them completely. If not now, when?

For more info, resources, and to order their new book: www.surprisedbylove.com , www.drjayandjulie.com and see a recent interview here.

With the launch of the iPad 2 and several other tablets sales of those technologies will continue to build publishing in many different circles and so will the medium to reach users. Last week’s news of ABC getting involved in video books should come as no surprise to those who follow growing trends in PR and publishing.

One major benefit to an enhanced eBook platform is that you are hitting the trend before it really takes off. Reaching readers on tablets will be all the rage over the next 12 months. The benefit to this trend is being able to watch or listen to author while reading the text. Not to mention being able to post links from the text directly to a social media page of an author of fan. The experience on these devices versus just reading a text on an eBook is second to none. It’s like an eBook on steroids!

Has anyone seen an enhanced eBook and watched it on the iPad yet?

We can help you get to that platform, if you’re interested let us know today. Why not start selling your book on the iPad right now.

This is short, clever, relevant, and speaks directly to their mission.

Like it?

New York, California powerhouses take lead in publishing revolution:
Vaughn Street & Vook Announce Exclusive Partnership

Vaughn Street, a leader in communications and development of Christian media, and Vook the leader in enhanced e-books, have joined forces in an exclusive agreement. Because of their success working with faith-based authors and publishers, Vaughn Street announced this week that it has been named Vook’s exclusive creative development partner to publishers and authors in the Christian genre.

“The world of publishing changes almost daily, and this partnership gives our clients the opportunity to spread their message like never before,” says Vaughn Street’s Mike Loomis. “The ability to quickly reach all leading tablets and mobile devices, along with our expertise in interactive media and curriculum development opens up a whole new world. We handle everything for our clients, who want to be in the communication business, not the software business. And we won’t solely be working in the Christian market. Our sister companies at TheEastcoGroup.com will be offering Vooks to the mainstream as well. It’s all very exciting for us and our clients.”

“We wanted to work with Vaughn Street because of their success crafting messages for this audience, and for their excellent video production experience” Says Vook’s Head of Acquisitions, Matthew Cavnar.

- In January, Amazon announced that it sold more e-books for its Kindle device than it sold paperback books in the last three months of 2010, and the American Association of Publishers show e-book sales jumped 115.8%.
- Magazine content on tablets is expected to exceed $12 billion by 2010, according to MediaIDEAS, with users hungry for engaging content.
- Apple sold 14 million iPads in 2010, and tablet sales are expected to reach 81 million in 2012.
- By 2014, mobile/tablet devices will represent 64% of all computers, says RBC Capital Markets.

Now the leading enhanced digital book publisher, Vook was founded in 2008 with the vision of uniting the worlds of books and videos into one blended story. Vook has created an innovative platform where all forms of media (text, video, audio, social networking, web browsing, and more) come together to create a new experience. Vook titles include those from best-selling authors Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Stephen R. Covey, Deepak Chopra, and others.

“Vaughn Street has created many leading book and video products, consistently winning awards, inspiring audiences and selling in the millions of dollars. Our years of creating interactive multimedia experiences, and our understanding of the unique communication needs of this market, made for a perfect fit with Vook technology and distribution” said CEO, Holt Vaughn. “Not only can we create and edit the perfect media for this format, our PR team can also market them.”

The London Book Fair is going on this week and all the chatter is about digital books. More than ever publishers are changing their tactics; dialoguing what works and what doesn’t from app development to author percentages.

What caught my eye the most are the comments made about marketing directly to consumers - a key factor that authors need to learn to survive all the trends happening in the industry. Authors need to continually educate themselves on what the market is dictating and enter intentionally into that space.

Direct to consumer marketing essentially cuts out the middle man ... bookstores. With devices being released faster than anyone can breathe, it’s best to learn now so you don’t get passed up. There is more to this than having a database of emails or trading your email list with someone else to sell more books. Most recently, I had an author tell me they were frustrated with all their fans on their Facebook page wanting free advice. Do you relate? This is actually an opportunity to build a relationship with a potential customer - the whole point of the page. Authors shouldn’t be selective or choose to have selective hearing when taking advice. Do whatever it takes to learn and educate yourself on the trends. Take some risks now, so when the next device comes out you are leading the way instead of playing catch up.

It's important to know what social networks will work best for your marketing. For example, what social network has the highest percentage of female users? Which attracts the oldest demographic? The most educated? Which networks are in growth mode and which ones are on their way to extinction in a few years?

Mashable today has a great graphic that sums up the state of today's social networking industry. One interesting statement:

"It goes without saying that Facebook is the network du jour, but even though the reigning champion’s user stats keep soaring, social networking as a whole might be leveling off."
Check it out HERE.