How the P.S. In a Blog Post (And SEO) Landed Me a Book Deal

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In an early episode of HBO’s hit TV-show, Hung, a financially troubled Ray Drecker finds himself looking for alternative ways to support his family in addition to his high school basketball coaching position. He settles on the uncomfortable idea of becoming a male prostitute, hesitantly enlisting his friend Tanya to become his “pimp”.

In her enthusiastic style, she suggests to Ray that they partake in Viral Marketing in order to bring more clients to their ‘Happiness Consultants’ business. Ray quickly responds, “What the hell is viral marketing?”

Though the episode premiered in 2009, his response wouldn’t be too out of place in 2012. The phrase is certainly known, but how to go about Viral Marketing still baffles many a media executive, small business owner, and anyone with something to promote. This book aims to change that.

The P.S. In a Blog Post

On the 25th of April I published a blog post on this site that I’m the most proud of, entitled ‘The Future of Blogging‘. With almost 400 comments, it’s the 4th most popular post I’ve published, and at over 11,000 words it’s certainly the longest.

Something many of you may recall is that at the end of the blog post, I had this to say:

“P.S. If there are any publishers reading this, there’s another 20,000 words that I can say on this topic (I haven’t even started on mobile). I can see the “How a P.S. In a Blog Post Landed Me a Book Deal” headlines already ;) . Just a crazy idea to make life interesting…”

And life certainly did become more interesting, because on June 18th a woman named Claire emailed me to ask if I was interested in writing a book for Wiley, one of the largest publishers in the world. Though I’m not going to be writing on the future of blogging directly, it helped someone who was ‘scouting’ me to see that writing a book is something I was interested in doing.

After finding my website through Google for the term ‘viral marketing’ and reading through my articles, I was asked if I would be interested in writing Viral Marketing & Advertising for Dummies. Many of you will know about the for Dummies series already, since their books can be found pretty much everywhere around the world, with over 200 million of them currently in circulation.

I was very honoured and excited to be asked to write the book.

But I said no.

To the advertising part.

Officially, I’ve signed my contract and I’m well on the way to writing the definitive guide to Viral Marketing, due to be released next year, titled Viral Marketing for Dummies.

I Know You’re Not a Dummy

At first I was very excited about the offer, but I did question the angle a little bit. After all, nobody likes to be thought of as a ‘dummy’. I got to thinking whether or not I would buy a marketing book with for Dummies in the title. However, I did soon remember that I have purchased multiple for Dummies books in the past, and definitely never felt offended by the title (and clearly nor have 200 million others).

The books were DJ’ing for Dummies and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for Dummies when I was heavily immersed in writing about personal development. At both times I didn’t know much about the topic and felt I would quickly get up to speed on both subjects without feeling overwhelmed. In an age where knowing how to get people talking is more important than ever (think: increased competition), I don’t think there could be a better time for me to tackle this subject.

Even Google have teamed up with Wiley to help people learn more about how to best utilise their advertising platforms. Their head of marketing in the UK, Lee Hunter, recently said “The respect that our target audience has for the Dummies brand helped to ensure a successful campaign.”


A gift from Wiley to get a feel for their style

What was interesting to me when I was reading over the Wiley author guidelines was a paragraph which basically stated (I’m not allowed to copy directly) that the books in no way should be written as if you’re in a higher position than the reader. Or in other words, don’t treat the reader like they’re a dummy. Especially not in any negative context.

If you’ve read my about page then you’ll know at 16 I was actually mentioned in the book DJ’ing for Dummies due to a successful website I ran, so I think of me now writing a book seven years later as coming full circle on my marketing and web-development efforts.

Actually Writing a Book

To me, writing this book almost feels like the closing of a chapter in my life. I’ve spent years working for myself and promoting projects online. I spent countless hours working for some of the biggest brands in the UK from my bedroom, helping them to get attention. I then spent two years in Cape Town, South Africa working with newspapers, car manufacturers, alcoholic drink conglomerates and more, all on their social media and viral marketing campaigns. With a lot of success.

Though there’s still a huge future in Viral and the field is constantly changing, I’ve been doing it so long that I want to get everything “off my chest” (or really, out of my head) that I’ve learnt through trial and error over the years. You could literally name any platform or almost any niche and I could tell you of a company that has managed to go viral and dramatically improve their bottom line.

Every time I write something for the book, something else from my past comes back to me and I have to quickly scribble it down because I know it’s going to be valuable for readers.

It’s very new to me to have deadlines (and very tight ones at that) for my writing, and I’ll definitely have to get used to having multiple people edit and critique my work before it’s ‘approved’. As far as actually sticking to my schedule, I’ve found the trusty Pomodoro method (written about over here) has helped me the most in terms of just sitting down and actually writing.

Coupled with Evernote for taking the hundreds of notes based on ideas that come to me or I find around the web. Oh, and I can’t forget WriteRoom as well.

Why You Should Pick up a Copy

Pinterest has taken the internet by storm in the last few months, literally growing to tens of millions of users, seemingly overnight. Alexa currently ranks them as the 38th most popular website in the world. Their growth can’t be described as anything other than viral. But do you know how many users they had a full three months after launch? 100,000? 1 million? 5 million?

3,000.

Twitter now boasts over 150 million active users and 400 million tweets per day, but a full-year after launch that tweets-per-day figure was only at an average of 20,000.

With this book I want to rewrite the misconception that viral growth has to happen instantly, and that if you ‘fail’ with one attempt, there’s no way you can recover and have success in the future. I also want to highlight the clear difference between viral marketing and viral media. There’s already a chapter of the book with the title “One Million Youtube Views is Not Marketing”. If there’s no impact on your business from your marketing efforts, then you aren’t marketing.

The book isn’t going to be finished till the first few months of next year and it’s certainly not for sale now, so there’s no point in me trying to convince you it’s for you (yet), but I have been taking a proactive approach.

I’ve actually written in the book that no matter how fancy my marketing efforts are for its launch, unless it’s a really good read, it isn’t going to be very successful (though there are 50 Shades of exceptions).

I’m aware that you can’t please everybody, and I’ll have my fair share of negative reviews no matter what I write, but I’ve spent time reading a number of 3-star reviews on Amazon for books in the same field to see what people thought were missing.

Here’s one of them:

“The book unfortunately delivered nothing of substance. It was a mish mash of generic, over used popular business pablum. And never delivered on the promise of usable, nuts and bolts information.”

I actually enjoyed reading this because (no offence to the author) it’s a criticism I’ve had of other books on the subject too. I don’t just want to say “Create something good. Tweet about it”. I want to say, “Here’s how we came up with the concept for X campaign; here’s the platforms we looked at. Here’s what we didn’t use. Here’s what we did. And here’s what I would do differently if I were to do it again.”

I’ve already teamed up with some high-profile people involved in large successful campaigns, and went directly to the source by finding people with more obscure niches who have had large viral success.

As a final test of my own ‘abilities’ before I get totally immersed in this book, two weeks ago I launched a small viral campaign that took me 24 hours to put together. For the launch, I literally sent out 7 emails. I never shared it on Facebook, or on this blog, or to my email list. From the smallest of promotions it quickly made the homepage of Hacker News and received over 9,000 uniques on day one.

I’ll be revealing what that site was and more about it as a guest post on SEOmoz in the next couple of weeks.

I did another random test a few weeks ago as well, which had some promising results. All based on the ideas I’m going to be covering in the book:

It’s hard to walk into a modern bookstore anywhere in the world without seeing a for Dummies book somewhere, so I’m of course excited to have some kind of name recognition and to see my work on bookshelves. That being said, I like to think you all know I’m a perfectionist, so I’m going to be doing everything I can to make it the most valuable book on Viral Marketing that I can.

With the growing importance of content marketing and the growing blindness to ads online (there are over 15 million people on Google Chrome alone who have the AdBlock extension installed), I think there will be something for everyone to increase attention and grow their business. Whether you’re the single author of a blog or the marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company.

Thanks for sticking around through the irregular posting schedules of ViperChill. I’m always trying to work on something ‘bigger and better’ and hopefully some of you will be interested in the book when it launches next year.

Now, I have to get back to writing…




120 Comments


  1. Paul says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Congrats Glen, looking forward to buying your 20,000 word blog post !

    Reply
  2. Craig says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:11 am

    That’s incredible. Great news Glen, good luck with the book launch I will be picking up a copy.

    Reply
  3. Arbaz Khan says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:17 am

    Great Glen,
    I loved your post on future of blogging and that post made me subscribe your email list. I am looking forward to get my hands on your book.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  4. David says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:19 am

    Your ‘Pomodoro’ link is broken, the page doesn’t load up the content.

    Reply
  5. Kevin says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:20 am

    Its 4:18 am for me and I was about to force myself to go to sleep until I saw this pop up on Facebook. I had to read it and I was very happy that I did. I cannot wait for an update man!

    Reply
  6. Henri says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:33 am

    This is awesome.

    And well deserved, sir. Hope you’re doing well, wherever in the world you are ;)

    Reply
  7. Jeffrey Romano says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:34 am

    You always deliver high quality content on your blog and I have no doubt the book will be top notch too. Looking forward mate….and thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  8. AlinG says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Congratulations Glen! I’m really happy for you!

    Any test around the phrase “50 Shades of exceptions”? haha

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 8:49 am

      Thanks Alin,

      Appreciate your support over the years :)

      Hah. Not totally sure what you’re saying, but I’ve just heard too many people saying it’s a terrible book, yet it became wildly popular. Not even 4 stars on Amazon.

      Reply
      • AlinG says:
        October 22, 2012 at 9:16 am

        I thought you maybe were making some tests with this phrase. See how search engines or news aggregators pick it up with the popularity of this book.

        I was reading an article two months ago about someone making similar tests. He was using popular searches including them in unrelated articles but in a way similar to your phrase. Can’t remember exactly what was the purpose of his tests but I’ll look for the article and let you know.

        Reply
  9. BadJens says:
    October 22, 2012 at 8:55 am

    Now that will be a book worth buying! Might have to go and buy a kindle now as well – been waiting for a good excuse to get one of those.

    Reply
  10. Dev says:
    October 22, 2012 at 9:46 am

    That’s fantastic to hear, Glen. Looking forward to reading your 100k words blog post ;) .

    Reply
  11. Victor Balasa says:
    October 22, 2012 at 9:59 am

    Hey Glen, just wanted to pick your brain on the writing method that you’ll follow here. I’m not much for routine writing or schedules, but I do think that tackling a project like this, you have to stick to a certain research/writing procedure.
    Again, I hate this, I haven’t used it for any of my writing, but I guess that you’ll have to do this right?

    Do you feel this puts up walls in terms of your creativity?
    For example, now I’m writing a book on how to get rich, from a psychology perspective and a personal, empiric perspective on this subject. Thing is, I haven’t been able to stick to a writing schedule, between my businesses, my blog and other projects and I think that that has actually helped me, because it means I’m writing in my free time, enjoying myself, not rushing it any bit.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 10:38 am

      Hey Victor,

      Yeah to be honest it’s a strange transition for me (having deadlines) but I understand why they do it. Basically since I (and many of their authors) are writing a book for the first time, there’s a strong chance people will miss their deadlines or take years to write them. That’s why they’re in place basically.

      Fortunately I know the topic well so the ideas don’t need to come to me, and the time is just going to be writing, ensuring flow, and so on. Though the time limit is fairly short, it’s pretty much all that I’m doing, so I don’t think it will prevent any creativity :)

      Reply
  12. Victor Balasa says:
    October 22, 2012 at 10:00 am

    Oh, and giant congrats on using such a powerful law of attraction technique and getting contacted for this project. It just goes to show how powerful creators like you get things done!

    Reply
  13. MarleMac says:
    October 22, 2012 at 10:38 am

    This is absolutely GREAT news, Glen! I’ve been silently learning from you about online marketing over the years and have implemented a whole lot of things that you’ve suggested or mentioned, and have been growing in expertise slowly but surely! Thanks for that!
    I enjoyed your personal development blog immensely and was sad (and glad) when you moved on *grin*! Still miss you there! It’s where I first came across your work (via a post on ZenHabits!)
    You’re the perfect example of hard work and great personality coupled with an intuitive knack for the right way to approach and do things!
    Good luck with burning the midnight oil. Looking forward to study the end result in-depth and hopefully applying it to good effect!
    This couldn’t have happened to a greater guy! Proud of you!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 1:56 pm

      Thank you Marle!

      Glad to see the posts are helping you, and I’m amazed you’ve stuck around for so long.

      Thanks again, I loved this comment :D

      Reply
  14. Ryan says:
    October 22, 2012 at 10:57 am

    Congrats Glen!

    Reply
  15. Haroun Kola says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Congratulations on this achievement Glenn, you’re an inspiration and I wish you all the success you can handle… :)

    Reply
  16. Bob Stead says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:05 am

    Cheers Glen, I will be buying :-) I

    Reply
  17. mickey says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Glen, How does one go about building links now? With the disavow tool a lot of sites will benefit, but now the links have to really come from the right places. Are web 2.0 sites still useful?

    Reply
  18. Robert says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Great Glen! I can’t wait to touch my hand on your “dummy” book :) And I know that I would 3 or 4 copies since I want to give it to my friends too.

    Reply
  19. Fiona says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:11 am

    Congratulations and best of luck with writing the book. I will definetly be looking out for your book next year. I’ve got some of the marketing and running a business Dummies books so this will be a great addition to my collection.

    I think many of us dream of getting a book deal (I do too) but getting the right one is hard. I’ve turned down a couple this year that weren’t quite what I wanted to do so congrats on finding the perfect deal.

    Reply
  20. Mels says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:16 am

    Good luck Glen! Will definitely buy a copy.

    P.S. Still a hangover thanks to Ba’s header?

    Reply
  21. Michael says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:17 am

    Congrats Glenn, I stand in awe in front of your accomplishments, your success is very inspiring to me :-)

    Reply
  22. umashankar says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:24 am

    Awesome stuff :) my wishes .

    Reply
  23. Stefano says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:31 am

    Congrats. But I ll buy the book only if I can have a copy with your autograph. Seeing what you have done at 23 I am sure that I can resell the copy in a few years at eBay for 5 figures :)

    Reply
  24. Slavko Desik says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Reading a book, or even a blog article for that matter that lacks a specific advice and somewhat of a “how-to” is always going to be frustrating. Especially if you payed about the content. From a 20,000 ft view it has some definite merit in the sense of provoking ideas, but here is where the value ends.
    I guess that’s why I started to massively delete blogs from my RSS list. Some, having their name and brand built way back, rely on brand recognition and that’s it. Every post is something already mentioned, every other something in the lines of vague rhetoric. That’s why I decided to ditch even some of the big names (won’t name them though), and that’s why I cannot wait for a new post on ViperChill to go life.
    I’m glad that you outlined this issue, and that you plan to approach the content that you are about to compose in such fashion- no empty talk, only substance.

    I look forward to reading the post you will write for the SEOmoz community, and of course the book.
    Hey, and good luck :)

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 23, 2012 at 5:12 am

      Thanks Slavko,

      You’ve been a regular here for a couple of years now and I always appreciate your feedback.

      Hopefully it wont disappoint!

      Reply
  25. Chris says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:50 am

    I’ll buy a copy, because i’m still a dummy :)

    Reply
  26. Tony B says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:01 pm

    Great going geez,

    as so many have said a truly inspiring read you blog is..

    Top Banana

    Reply
  27. Hashim Warren says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    I love how you addressed the objection to the book title. I learn a lot about writing just by reading your stuff

    Reply
  28. Tom says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    Well done Glen, very cool to be offered a writing gig with the Dummies guys. Everyone knows those books and that’s a huge notch on your belt in terms of being an authority on your subject. Congrats!

    Reply
  29. james says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    nice work glen, you the man!

    Reply
  30. Andi the Minion says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    Excellent news glen, and a very interesting post. I most certainly will be buying the book and I am looking forward to it. Any chance of moving the deadline forward by 5 months? I want and need to read it now!! :-)

    Have a good day and happy writing.

    Reply
  31. Thomas @ Mobile App Tycoon says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:32 pm

    Congrats Glen! I’m super excited for this book and I love the fact that you’re STILL testing your tactics to make sure they are accurate and will give your readers the best chance of success. That’ along with your honesty and transparency is what makes you stand out in the blogging world and will make you stand out on the book shelf.

    Thomas

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 24, 2012 at 9:09 am

      Hey Thomas,

      Yeah, thought the fundamentals are generally the same (or they wouldn’t be fundamentals) it was important for me to test if I still know what I’m doing ;)

      Appreciate the support!

      Reply
  32. Saeed Sikiru says:
    October 22, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    Hey Glen,

    This is good news, and it call for real celebration. Don’t you think so?

    Thanks a lot for sharing this with us. Your success story
    will motivate a lot of your readers in their blogging
    endeavor most especially, me.

    I wish you good luck and success in your book deal.

    Cheers,

    Saeed

    Reply
  33. Erik Emanuelli says:
    October 22, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    Fantastic, Glen!

    My best wishes for your book launch
    and I will be following you for sure!

    Reply
  34. Samuel says:
    October 22, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    Very happy to learn that you are going to write a book about viral marketing..

    I’m reading a book , “Social Media is Bullshit” by B.J. Mendelson and found it fascinating that some of the often referred to as “social media successes” are simply fake stories with financial agenda behind the story tellers.

    To be honest with you, I am extremely happy that a book totally opposite the viewpoint of “social media is bullshit” is going to be written and especially it is going to be written by you. I have been quietly following your blog for a year and I really like what you’ve written so far.

    By the way, any chance you also write a followup for the post on productivity? about “The other success I managed t o achieve, which I said I would reveal next year, also required that I do certain things at specific times throughout the day.” I am sure I can learn a lot from it too.

    About changing old habit: not sure if you have read this study:
    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2008/09/09/study-probes-why-smokers-find-it–hard-to-quit

    It turns out that the reason we fail to change habits has a lot to do with the timing of our decision to change, not so much with the knowledge or information we have. It is an interesting read and hope this insight can help you too dealing with procrastination and your upcoming book.

    I presently live my life on my own terms and have my share of up and downs and have been battling procrastination too (been using EFT and the Release Technique for 3 years). This is probably also why your posts resonate a lot with me.

    Thanks again Glen for your post and best of luck with your book writing!

    Reply
  35. Frederik trovatten says:
    October 22, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    Big grats Glen!

    I know what mean about reading/writing “dummy” books.. It might not sound very sexy or super-technical challenging – but it will be as great as you write it, and even the most basic tips might change the game for some readers.

    Best of luck with the book!

    Reply
  36. Sergio Felix says:
    October 22, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    Hey Glen, I only have one question for you…

    Do you actually write the WHOLE thing or do you use dictation software when you’re writing lenghty stuff (i.e. books)?

    Thanks in advance man!

    Sergio

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 3:13 pm

      Hey Sergio,

      Yep, writing the whole thing. Never used dictation software but I write pretty fast (there’s a video on here on one blog post) and in a Pomodoro (25 minutes of pure working) I can write around 1,200 – 1,800 words. That’s before editing and generally I need to know exactly what I’m saying :)

      Reply
  37. Jonathan Cannovan says:
    October 22, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    Well done Glen – I look forward to reading the book

    Reply
  38. Filippo says:
    October 22, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    Congrats on the book deal Glen, can’t wait to get my hands on the thing!
    Just curious, why did they want a book about viral marketing AND advertising, and why did they agree to drop the advertising part? Are they going to publish a separate book on advertising or did you convince them to avoid that? :)
    You said the deadline is tight. Would you have preferred a longer one? I think having a tight deadline is actually better as it forces you to focus and get things done quicker.
    Best of luck!
    Cheers!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 3:21 pm

      Hi Filippo,

      I’m not too sure to be honest; that’s just what I was pitched with. Perhaps they didn’t think that a full book could be written just about viral marketing, and in a way advertising can be viral.

      They agreed to drop it because I asked them to do so, and basically stated my reasons why I think they are really two different topics for the most part. It seems like there is already an ‘Advertising for Dummies’ book available to buy :)

      Yep, another month or two would have been nice, but I don’t think I need it. After I’ve finished writing there’s still a couple of months before it will be on bookshelves. I get around 11 days per chapter from here on out. At 24 planned chapters – each one will be around 5,000 words. Some will be longer (I’ve just finished one at 7,500) and a couple towards the end will be much smaller.

      I hope that’s specific enough for you ;)

      Thanks for the support!

      Reply
  39. Debi says:
    October 22, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    How cool is that?!? I have no doubt you will overdeliver, Glen. CONGRATS!

    Reply
  40. Rosa says:
    October 22, 2012 at 3:34 pm

    I’d like a signed copy too, I am after all your number one fan.
    And try to read 50, you might enjoy it, although it was written for women.

    T. A.
    Rosa.

    Reply
  41. Veso Mitev says:
    October 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    ” (though there are 50 Shades of exceptions) ”

    made my day :D

    They should put it as a mediocrity filter or something like that.

    And btw, you got +1 book buyer :D My team is working on a social site and if we don’t get investor – guerilla marketing might be necessary.

    Reply
  42. mike says:
    October 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    Congrats Glen! I love your emails. I read an earlier post about your writing schedule. Do you have any posts or samples about setting up editorial calenders for future writers/bloggers.

    Keep up the Great work!

    Reply
  43. Gi says:
    October 22, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    Wow, very inspiring! Early on, may I request a signed copy delivered to my home? Great of you Glen! You share without thinking of what you are going to get, that’s why blessings are pouring in. Bless you more!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      October 22, 2012 at 4:53 pm

      You may indeed!

      Thank you Gi :)

      Reply
      • Gi says:
        October 22, 2012 at 5:18 pm

        So sweet of you to reply Glen. This is my day 1 of blogging, I am back reading, back watching, and browsing through viperchill. At the moment I stopped doing everything and just watching your Cloud Blueprint course.

        Looking forward to that special book. :) Thank you -Gi

        Reply
  44. Joel Bangahon says:
    October 22, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    Wow congrats Glen, I know you can do it well. You are a superb writer!

    Reply
  45. Casey Dennison says:
    October 22, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    I’m very proud of you Glen! I appreciate all the quality articles (including guest posts) you’ve written over the years. I’ll always be a reader. Congrats and good luck, buddy.

    Casey

    Reply
  46. charles says:
    October 22, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Hi Glen,

    This is my first comment here. Had been a silent follower for a long time.

    Congrats on your book deal. I am definitely buying this.

    Reply
  47. Daniel says:
    October 22, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    I’m really glad for you, Glen! I bet it’ll be a great read!

    Reply
  48. Michal DD says:
    October 22, 2012 at 7:03 pm

    I am buying this book. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be full of value. Congratulations Glen! and congratulations to Claire because she has definitely made a good job asking you for this project ;]

    Reply
  49. Serena Star Leonard says:
    October 22, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    Congratulations that is awesome!!

    The same thing happened to me 2 years ago (also with Wiley!) and my book became a best seller a few months ago. It was a really good feeling!

    The book journey is something I found extremely liberating and I find that readers are so wonderful to deal with.

    Good luck Glen, you really deserve it with everything that you do and if you want any help or tips please feel free to contact me.

    Reply
  50. Janet Walker says:
    October 22, 2012 at 7:52 pm

    Congrats Glen,

    It’s great to see the good guys make different transactions between on-line and offline world. It shows us that the possibilities are endless when you don’t limit your capabilities and continue you learn from what’s around us.

    Reply
  51. Brendon Held says:
    October 22, 2012 at 10:33 pm

    Wow Glen, this is fantastic news! Congratulations mate!

    I actually distinctly remember reading that “PS:” in the post you referred to, and remember thinking to myself, yeah, someone is definitely going to publish this guy one of these days… it’s just a matter of time, but I didn’t think a publisher would actually pick up on that specific statement. It just goes to show, you never know what the effect of every little sentence you write, could have in the future… which is what makes writing online so exciting I guess…

    Oh, and just the other day I was reading a story about you by Jon Morrow, which really got me excited for you, now I hear you are going to be on SEOMoz, and soon to be a published author…

    I am proud of you bud! Keep up the hard work… it’s been an awesome ride learning from you and watching you grow and prosper…

    B

    Reply
  52. Karen says:
    October 22, 2012 at 11:48 pm

    That’s funny, because as soon as I saw the p.s. on that post, I knew it was going to happen!
    Congratulations. It is fantastic to be reading original thought and testings on the internet… I’ve been studying a few folk lately, and there is so much ‘same old, same old’, but you will never fall into that category! All the best!

    Reply
  53. Gabe Meierotto says:
    October 23, 2012 at 2:06 am

    Awesome story Glen, very inspiring.
    Looking forward to seeing the 24 hour campaign that went viral.

    Congrats!

    Reply
  54. John Kremer says:
    October 23, 2012 at 2:26 am

    Glen – I’ve always enjoyed your writing and ideas. I look forward to your book on viral marketing.

    When you are ready to consider your book marketing options (other than viral marketing), check out my website.

    John Kremer
    BookMarket.com

    Reply
  55. Jeffrey says:
    October 23, 2012 at 3:39 am

    Hi Glen,

    Congrats to you. You’re such an inspiration to all of us.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  56. Alex B. (@DreamJobGuy) says:
    October 23, 2012 at 5:40 am

    Glen,

    Congrats! I’m so happy for you, and I certainly look forward to keeping up with your journey and your finished product!

    I wish you much continued success!

    All the best,
    -Alex

    P.S. You’re awesome! ;-)

    Reply
  57. Bethany says:
    October 23, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    CONGRATULATIONS! That’s awesome… where can I preorder a copy? lol…

    Reply
  58. Edrick says:
    October 23, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Congrats on the oppurtunity to write the book Glen, I know it will be a lot of work but I also know you’re more than capable :) . Looking forward to picking up my copy in the future.

    Edrick

    Reply
  59. sanjeev J says:
    October 23, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    Hi Glen,

    Congrats for landing the book deal. It took me 3 days to read – future of blogging. It was really good .

    I need advice on a problem :

    http://www.3mik.com is a place to share and discover india specific items. Basically You can call it – indian pinterest. Despite our efforts , traffic is not rising fast. How can someone increase the traffic on these types of sites ,where there are no articles – Just pages with image of item and one-two line of item description?

    Reply
  60. David Gadarian says:
    October 23, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Great news Glenn. I’d say the folks are Wiley are lucky to have you on board. Looking forward to picking up a copy in 2013!

    Best,

    David

    Reply
  61. Ruan Oosthuizen says:
    October 23, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    Looking forward to your book, Glen!

    I have to admit it will be my first ever “book for dummies” but hey, if it’s on a subject as interesting as “viral marketing” but better yet, if it’s written by Glen Allsop, who wouldn’t want one???

    What I look forward to most about the book is that it might be written to me specifically, after reading “viral marketing doesn’t have to happen instantly” and “if it failed the first time it doesn’t mean it won’t ever work” I am convinced I will find my lost-viral-marketing inspiration…

    Happy *cough* writing my friend, 100k is a long way to go! ;)

    Reply
  62. Filip @BlogAdept.com says:
    October 24, 2012 at 3:42 am

    And again, the miracles of blogging…

    P.S. Bill Gates, please lend me $1 million. Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  63. Yakeen says:
    October 24, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    Congratulations Glen! Your work and results are truly inspiring you RockStar you!

    Reply
  64. Alexis Avenal says:
    October 24, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    I’ll preorder it if possible. Your blog has helped me so much. I’ve been subscribed since the beginning, when the site was mostly blue and the RSS icon was yellow. I’ve purchased your products (yes, even affiliateskin), so of course I will buy your book too.

    By the way, I tried the Pomodoro technique and the results so far have been great. I get into the flow of writing after 25 minutes, so I don’t take a break until the hour mark. Thanks for the recommendation.

    Reply
  65. Helen Robertson says:
    October 25, 2012 at 8:17 am

    Congratulations. That’s fantastic news.

    p.s. Write faster, this is a book I need sooner rather than later.

    Reply
  66. Matt says:
    October 25, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    Congrats glen! I’ll be picking up a copy for sure!

    Reply
  67. Warner Carter says:
    October 27, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    I think your book is going viral already. One thing I wonder is “Will It Blend”

    Reply
  68. Bruno Babic says:
    October 29, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    Awesome story!! You never know where the course of life may take you if you are simply flexible and open enough what’s appearing in your life right now. The unexpected course of events in this story has actually reminded me of one of the 3 key secrets to living a happy, passionate and fulfilled life practiced and recommended by some super successful people is called “No Tension”.

    “No Tension” means as follows: When you are open to what’s appearing in this moment, you allow God’s will to move through you. When you hold tightly to your concepts of how things should be, you shut off the flow of life, which in return prevents you from enjoying the fulfillment of living your personal destiny.

    The other two key secrets to living such a passionate, happy and fulfilled life that’s fully enjoyed by some of the most successful individuals in the world (e.g. millionaire and billionaire entrepreneurs) are “Intention” and “Attention”.

    “Intention” – Consciously stating what you choose to create in your life is the first step in manifesting it.

    “Attention” – Your life becomes exactly like that on which you put your attention. In other words, if you give attention to that which you choose to create in your life, it will begin to show up. Or, to be even more precise here, this could also be said in the following way:

    “Whatever you put your attention on grows stronger and stronger in your life.”

    By the way, I’ve learned about these 3 ingredients to success in one of my favorite bestselling books that’s called “The Passion Test: The Effortless Path To Discovering Your Destiny” by Janet and Chris Attwood.

    Hope you’ve found these three key secrets to leading a passion-rich life interesting and educational.

    Please, feel free and welcome to visit my blog and post your comments there.

    In advance thanks a lot.

    Bruno Babic – Thinking BIG guy and Passionate Online Entrepreneur excited about leading a Luxury Playboy Millionaire Lifestyle supported by earning multiple streams of cash from an automated online business

    P.S. Whether you are a publisher or not, the first post of my blog is titled: “Naked and shocking truth of my 7 year painful struggling to net my ever desired millionare playboy lifestyle based on running an automated online business REVEALED: Here I get up again to finally win the game of making money online” and it counts 1145 words.

    However, the original first post of my blog that I initially published and then removed because it was astronomically too long has 6487 words and a much longer title…

    Reply
  69. alex says:
    October 30, 2012 at 8:55 am

    SOOO *insert expletive of choice* COOL!!

    Really liked the idea of reading mediocre reviews. The one about the book with nebulous “make something great and tweet it” made me chuckle ‘cos it’s all I see in the personal developmenty type stuff. Durr just relax and be cool. Just stop procrastinating. Okay, HOW? I think it’s the fact that toastmasters audience tends to be quite ‘special needs’ – but I’ve been looking at explaining things from the angle of talking to an intelligent alien. Like, not condescending but assuming no background knowledge at all and providing action steps first, with backwards interpolated theory/possible explanations after. Instead of the usual and ineffective other-way-’round.

    Anyways, looking forward to showing my mum my name in the acknowledgements ;)

    Reply
  70. NIck says:
    October 30, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    Awesome job man! I’ll definitely keep my eye out for a copy. I actually used “wordpress for dummies” during my early days of website development. The title is just a great way for people to know that the book isn’t filled with professional jargon that only professionals understand. You’re success is an inspiration and one day i hope that Goats On The Road can make its way up the ladder as you have.
    Cheers.

    Reply
  71. Mitesh says:
    November 1, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Glenn, congratulations on your book deal that is sweet. I have started an affiliate website trying to promote a product via click banks marketplace called Panic Away. Does it ring any bells? The site has been up for a few months and I have yet to see any sales, what do you think I’m doing wrong? I want a lifestyle like yours and be free from the 9 to 5 grind and finally leave my supermarket cashier retail job. It sucks I tell you.

    Reply
  72. Sonia says:
    November 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Glen, stumbled across your site quite by chance. I spent so much time reading through many of your posts, I’m behind schedule on my “today’s list”. Anyway, I can see why you were offered the opportunity to write a book, and congrats for sure is in order. I will most certainly be signing up for updates…

    Reply
  73. Danielle @ Work At Home Info says:
    January 5, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    Hi Glen,

    I was referred to your blog by another blogger and I must say I am in awe of you. To be only 22 years old you have accomplished A LOT! I would like to thank you for all of the information and help that you provide to aspiring internet marketers like myself. Good luck on your book and I wish you all the best.

    Reply
  74. Phil M says:
    January 5, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    Nice Post .This is a book i will be checking out ! Good look with it :)

    Reply
  75. jonam says:
    January 9, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    Congrats on your book deal…and you wrote a blog post with 11,000 words

    Reply
  76. Sohil Memon says:
    January 28, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    Hey Allen,
    Great Work bro :D
    A great book by great Author :) I hope that you will also write books on Guest Posts.
    Really thanks for sharing it!
    Happy blogging.

    Reply
  77. Anup says:
    February 15, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    Congrats on your book deal! And yeah, this was one great story to read :)

    Thanks,
    Anup

    Reply
  78. chok says:
    March 9, 2013 at 11:47 am

    thanks glenn. your blog is very nice. i gain some good knowledge for my blog..thanks a lot

    Reply
  79. ryan says:
    March 10, 2013 at 7:37 am

    I don’t know how you do it, but I just kept on reading. congrats on the book deal!

    Reply
  80. Garry Ponus says:
    March 25, 2013 at 9:38 am

    Hi Glen

    I’m very impressed – 9,000 ‘uniques’ on one day for 7 emails. That sounds like about 1300 unique visitors per email. Great work!

    Regards

    Garry

    Reply

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