Inner Michael

Surge Sunday
I just got a note from Joe Vogel and we are close but not quite there yet. (At 211 and need to move up to 100) I know some of you have already ordered books and extra books in order to help the initiative.  Sunday will be a big day when we are going to try to bump up sales calling it “surge Sunday.” The Amazon glitch put us a little behind. So we will surge on Sunday. If there is any way you can buy again, please do.

This initiative is so important! I know some of you have done all you can do and for that I say “Thank You; you rock. I know you have stretched to your limit. That’s awesome. For some, if you can possibly get that extra book for the library, please do it on Sunday.  See what Sue did and her comment below.

Be sure to share the Voices Education Link with everyone. Joe’s article and the discussion questions need to get attention. Everybody in the world should be asking those questions! Keep spreading the page in the curriculum. Let people know it’s available. Send it to schools, colleges, anti-bullying programs, social groups like Boy Scouts, churches. You can do a great deal to change the world on behalf of Michael– so get “Michaeling!”

Keep the faith. Verbal or non-verbal. Vocal or silent. Doing or holding space. You are all important. You are all part of this drive to change the world. Imagine it! That is the thing that helps most of all. Just IMAGINE the best seller list. Hold space for it and imagine Joe’s book on the list; see it, feel it, know it. Amplify it. Pay it forward. Can you FEEL it?

Pay Michael Forward
The Pay Michael Forward campaign has been mostly successful despite a glitch in ordering books from Amazon. The link is being worked on. Meanwhile, Marilyn at Voices Education Project says she tried the Voices-Amazon link and found it to be working fine.

Contest Extension
Joe has requested an extension of the contest because of the problems with Amazon and in ordering books. So the deadline has been extended to November 13. The drawing will take place some time within the following month. Please tell all your friends about Man in the Music and if they won’t buy a copy for themselves, get them one for Christmas.

An Inner Michael reader wrote to me to tell me about her encounter with her library when she went in to gift them with her donation copy of Man in the Music. The librarian was very pleased and very excited that the library would have its own copy and to place it on the shelves. Finally! A historical account about Michael Jackson worthy of a second look and worthy of a library! The librarian grinned ear to ear. And the reader walked out of the library with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that she couldn’t describe to me. So be sure to gift a copy to your library just for the rush my reader says it gives you!

More Ideas:
Will you help me promote this book? Here are some other assignments I  want you to take on. Will you?

Media listens to consumers’ requests
1. Write to the major media outlets and ask them to invite Joe Vogel on their talk shows. Here’s a list of ideas:
CNN Piers Morgan (I know, I know. but he IS the premier interviewer now.) I have been sending suggestions to PBS, Public Radio, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Tavis Smiley… you get the idea. A publicist can send press releases and only do so much to promote a book. A request from a viewer can be much more effective. Especially if multiple viewers say the same thing about what they want to see.

When you write to the outlets, it is important to be seen as Joe Q public or a viewer. It is not effective to identify yourself in any way as a Michael Jackson fan. So DO NOT use email addresses or names with Michael monikers like (sueluvsMJ@gmail (dot) com.) Instead say something like: “I just ordered this new book called “Man in the Music” by Joe Vogel of Rochester University that is an amazing read about Michael Jackson’s musical legacy. It’s not tabloid junk but a remarkable thoroughly researched book about the genius of Jackson through his career. I’d like to encourage you to have Mr. Vogel as a guest to talk about this meticulously researched book! Will you consider it, please; I would like to hear more from Vogel.”

2. Call your local bookstores and ask if they have Man in the Music in stock. If they say “no” then ask them when they plan to get it. If the Store is a Barnes and Noble, tell them you were going to come down and get the book but since they don’t have it, you’re going to order it with your Amazon account. (You get the idea.) If consumers call and clamor for books, distributors listen. If there is demand, they will supply.

A New Idea at Inner Michael to promote Joe’s book:
3. Here’s an idea… I want to feature “Man in the Music” being read all over the world so this is what I want you to do: I want you to take a photo of yourself holding a copy of Man in the Music and send it to me with the location and a short comment about the book. I want to see people from all over the world holding this book and commenting.

If you have a highly recognizable landmark closeby or within a short traveling distance, please send a photo from there. For example, if you are close to the Roman Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower or Mount Rushmore– be sure to take your photo there. I am especially looking form someone to send me a photo from the Giza Plateau in Cairo with the pyramids in the background or between the paws of the Sphinx.

The picture must clearly show the cover of the book and be identifiable as Man in the Music. As an artist who is trained in photography, I will be looking for the best photos– the ones that are creative and really stand out. I will be judging composition, color, placement, etc. So, look your best (you don’t have to be dressed up and you don’t have to “pose”- in fact photos that don’t look “posed” are the best) smile your brightest and take your best promotional photos.

I want to say in a future article, something like this… They are reading Man in the Music… in Paris at the Eiffel Tower, in Tel Aviv, at Denver’s Mile High stadium, at the top of the Empire State building, at Magic Mountain at Disney, at Lambeau Field at the Packer Game, in front of the Music Hall of Fame… you get the idea. Whatever landmark is in your area, get in front of it and take a photo! Or do something really creative!

We need some “before and after” pictures too. We want you to show your displeasure and pleasure regarding reading material. The before and after  will look like this… Before: reading a disgusting tabloid and tearing it up or standing in front of a tabloid TV program or billboard, etc. The photo needs a newspaper that looks like a tabloid or is a tabloid or a rag magazine and you are taking an “unhappy” picture before tearing it up and stamping it into the ground, etc. Then take your “happy picture” with Man in the Music in your hands in front of your landmark or creative location. You are free to experiment with photoshopping in headlines, etc. As long as it looks professional, we may use it. Be creative!

Walking Moon studios will choose the best photo to be featured at Inner Michael.

If you can, somehow show your displeasure with a tabloid magazine by tearing it up or looking disgusted or appalled! Show your distaste for “yellow journalism” and instead pick up Man in the Music and snap that photo. The really creative ones out there might even send try a video clip.

Walking Moon studios and other documentary makers will be looking at your work so give it your best and make it sparkle.

If I choose your photo from among the photos sent, I will feature you, your photo and your “story” at Inner Michael and will send the photos to Joe and his publicist to use as marketing tools. Now go get your camera and get snapping!