A Book With A View

If you could go back in time to meet a younger version of yourself—say, the 25-year-old Jeff Yamaguchi—and had 30 seconds to tell him something that would help him with his career in the future, what would it be?

Yamaguchi: Probably the same advice I would give myself now, that I need to remember to adhere to [today]: Take chances, be creative, have fun with it, work hard, look for and try new ways of doing things. All those things sort of go hand-in-hand. It’s easy to say or give that advice and much harder to actually pull-off consistently, but I think the best work comes through when all those elements are in play. Oh … and learn how to sell. No matter what you are doing, you have to sell it.

As a book marketer, what kinds of books do you find yourself drawn to outside of the office, and what have you read most recently?

Yamaguchi: I have read three books recently: “The Long Haul” by Amanda Stern; “Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima” by Stephen Walker; and “A Designer’s Eye” by Ali Edwards. I’m always reading more than one book, a mix of fiction, nonfiction and how-to.

What would you point to as the biggest challenge for today’s online marketers?

Yamaguchi: Getting the money and the time to do effective marketing campaigns. Doing online campaigns is not cheap and easy, and it takes time. There is a depth to it, and sometimes it’s hard to actually … go deep enough.

What’s the most fun you’ve had working on a particular book’s campaign?

Yamaguchi: Working with the creative agency Honest (Stayhonest.com) on the online campaign for Michael Crichton’s “Next.” We created a view into the world of that book through a Web site and lots of online videos. It was a very creative process, and a very effective campaign.