I came across this headline on the blog of a celebrated British journalist Bryan Appleyard. He has written about Jeffrey Archer in the past and still writes about him a lot nowadays never favourably. But what interested me about the headline was the complete lack of connection between the two people mentioned. The only explanation I have is that Bryan Appleyard knows a thing or two about marketing as well as about journalism and that reckons that those two names juxtaposed will bring more traffic to his site.

This site averages 1500 visitors a day at the moment. Let's see if my pinching Mr Appleyard's idea can improve this number. A simplistic form of Google manipulation but most marketing ideas are pretty simplistic! I'll let you know the results of this scientific experiment although I am aware that Bryan Appleyard has written extensively about the threats to society of science itself.

Of course the problem is that if the results prove positive just about every book blurb will contain the words Paris, Hilton, Jeffrey and Archer, such is the me-too-ism of publishers' copywriters.

I've just received this extract from a marketing flyer about the forthcoming Frankfurt Book Fair:Record number of 7,223 exhibitors from 101 countries took part in the Frankfurt Book Fair 2005. 284,838 visitors came to the Fair from 121 countries, 6.3 % more than in 2004. About 30 per cent of visitors were from abroad. With these credential the fair needs to no introduction. This fair is the most important platform for the books and publishing industry to feel the pulse the market and open itself to the new opportunities. 

What this says is that approximately 100,000 visitors came from overseas. I estimate that the average cost per person of attending the fair from overseas (airfares, hotels, food and drink, transport, cost of stand, opportunity cost etc) is of the order of $5,000. That means a total of $500 million. If the average margin from selling books is, say, 10% it would be necessary to sell an additional $5 billion just to pay for attending the fair. Hmm.