Mad Max, R.I.P.? Hail to M.J. Rose...

On two (or is it three?) separate fronts today, Mad Max discovered that he's been scooped on topics he's been sniffing at--rendered, effectively, redundant by super-sleuth/marketing braveheart M.J. Rose at Buzz Balls & Hype...

First, M.J. draws our attention ["A 47% Sales Increase? That's a big bite!" Nov. 30] to a fantastic author-promotion site called MEETTHE AUTHOR.COM (which she credits Galley Cat for bringing to her attention) that's more fun than a barrelful of monkeys, an innovative way of introducing authors to their potential readers that comes to us (surprise!) from an creative & industrious group across the pond (England, that is). Check it out and spread the news.

Then, after Max contacted scores of people around town over the last few days w/ a questionaire about opportunities--real and potential--in the realm of online marketing; and had begun preparing something similar for book-bloggers, inquiring about the extent to which they might serve as a supplement to/replacement for the diminishing pool of book-review pages, he discovered--yup!--that M.J. had come & gone on both those scores as well ["Bloggers as Reviewers," Nov. 29]. Check out the interview w/ Kelly Leonard, TWBG's executive director of online marketing, who talks at length about the increasing importance of blogs...

Oh, and while we're at it, we might as well credit M.J. w/ bringing our attention to two other promising book-marketing enterprises ["Why This Works ", Nov. 22], VIDLIT.COM (check out their Yiddish with Dick and Jane flash presentation, especially) and JIBJAB.COM, famous for their hilariously even-handed Kerry/Bush "This Land Is Our Land" animated parody.

Good thing Max ain't done quit his day job...