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October 12, 2005
Biz Author Faces Critic
Earlier this week Vision Thing's Ethan Johnson posted a podcast with Laurence Haughton, who authored It's Not What You Say...It's What You Do. It's rare that critics face the authors they've slammed online or elsewhere. But Laurence, who must be a Cluetrain fan, didn't take the dressing down lying down. He invited Ethan (and me, because I linked to the review, which was hilarious if deadly) to have a conversation about his book. Ethan accepted the invitation literally.
The podcast meanders a bit initially, then the author gradually takes over center stage for a long and detailed explanation of, and plug for, his book. He isn't defensive about the original review. Ethan doesn't attack like an ego-driven media pitbull but asks questions like the business manager he is. The result, for me at least, is a fairly engaging back and forth. Nobody capitulates, both guys are respectful and the conversation is a useful introduction to the topic. As well as whip-smart book marketing.
Why isn't professional broadcasting like this more often? Hmm, could be there's a future for this podcasting stuff after all. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.
Posted by Deborah Branscum at October 12, 2005 01:24 PM