A
half-century ago history was made when a young British rock group invaded
America and sold out the first large-scale sports stadium concert in the
country. The Beatles, now a legendary group that has set many records while
making many records, performed on August 15, 1965 at New York City’s Shea
Stadium, home to the New York Mets. I write about this not because I love the
Beatles, though they certainly were a great band, but because the event’s
anniversary should remind us that book publishing can launch its rock stars
before large venues too.
Okay,
so most authors couldn’t fill a McDonald’s parking lot, but certainly some
could scale beyond a bookstore signing, library appearance, or a convention
room holding a few hundred people. Why
can’t some authors command a large space, such as a 15,000-seat basketball
arena or even a sports stadium?
I
don’t understand why a popular best-selling author like JK Rowling or EL James
don’t try to sell tickets to an author concert at a place like Chicago’s
Wrigley Field. They have each sold over
100 million copies of their books.
Couldn’t they get 30,000 or more people to hear them speak for the
admission price of a book purchase?
What
if a large publisher, like Penguin Random House, took four or five of its stud
authors and created a slate for the ages and allowed each one to speak for 30
minutes at Yankee Stadium? You could
break up all of the talking with local music acts or amateur comedians or circus
acts.
The
closest I’ve seen this happen was at some arenas, including Madison Square
Garden and Miami Arena, where a theme was picked, something like SUCCESS or
WEALTH, and there’d be six to eight speakers, some of whom happened to have
books but writing wasn’t what made them famous or successful.
When
the Beatles came here, the idea of a huge stadium concert was foreign to
Americans. But look at what’s happened
since then. Some bands and musical acts
may sell out a whole week’s worth of concerts in a big city venue. It’s normal to go see a musical act with
50,000+ fans but back then it was an unusual experience. But someone had the idea and took the
initiative to say “let’s do this.”
We
need that kind of leadership and initiation now. Think of all the books you’d
sell – and of the media coverage it would yield. Think of the great social impact such an
event would have on society in general and the reading public specifically. Heck, how about a hybrid concert - one part
music, one part author? Now, that would
be a sell-out!
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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