No, really. I thought everyone was pretty much into videos now—thanks to the ever-rapid growth of platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts et al. And, I also thought there was no such thing as readers any more—gone with the wind, completely extinct. I guess I was completely wrong. Bookworms and readers are completely alive and kicking.
This is after I visited Big Bad Wolf earlier today. There were so many people there. From their faces, I think they are all extremely excited to be there as if the place is the ultimate hideout for them or something. The I-am-so-freaking-excited-to-be-here faces I was seeing in them were obvious. This is just here in Klang Valley, Malaysia. I’m sure there are a lot more out there across the globe.
This is indeed a good thing. I will tell you why after this.
I bought a couple of books just now. One of them is Always Day One by Alex Kantrowitz. The book explains pretty much how the tech titans plan to stay on top forever. I saw the book for the first time there, fully wrapped. It means, there was no chance for me to take a peek at the inside part of the book without buying it. I decided to purchase it anyway. It was only RM17.
I noticed one thing. Every single book there was completely wrapped, except those low-price and low-value ones. It means these are meant to be let go by the organiser. I somehow related this to my marketing newsletter—Pelantar. FYI, it is a marketing newsletter. If Big Bad Wolf can gate all their precious books from free readers, I too can gate my precious thoughts on marketing from free readers. The asking price is not exorbitant at all. Same for Big Bad Wolf who offers a range of affordable prices end-to-end for all the books there, Pelantar is doing exactly the same. For unlimited access to all its marketing insights, ideas and how-tos, the newsletter is only asking for $3 per month.
It shows that I made the right decision then.
Why did I say “This is indeed a good thing” earlier? Well, I love to read. I’m glad to see people still read. And, there are so many of them. It means that my marketing newsletter is definitely going to survive. All I need to do now is to find those marketers out there trying to make it. My target is only to find 3,000 subscribers although I won’t complain if there are more.
Wish me luck.
