Over the years, I have had the mis... uhm.. Great Luck to meet some really special people. Guys like Joel Elad here. Joel has just had a book published, How To Sell Anything on Amazon and make a Fortune. Not only do I plan on trying it, we have a review of the book coming up. Here is Joel, telling us all about himself.

Joel Elad on How To Sell Anything on Amazon

Interview by Larry Stanley

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1) First off, just who is Joel Elad?

Wow, that's a deep question... Just who am I? You know... I don't know for sure!
Actually, I have a good idea: I'm the guy who knows a ton about comics, eBay, and everything in between. I'm an MBA-trained entrepreneur who's done everything in comics except write or draw one, and who's done everything with eBay except work there or own the stock.

So, naturally, I figured it's time to branch out, so I've moved onto other online pursuits and Amazon is one of them. Today, I work at an e-commerce startup, maintain some comics businesses on the side, and try to have some fun with the few free minutes I have left every week!

I love to teach and give seminars, travel, watch movies, hang out with friends, get free stuff at conventions, and play poker in Vegas.

2) Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself personally, Joel? Where do you hail from, your background - both in and out of writing?

Ooh, the Elad Experience... In the year nineteen hundred and seventy three, in a quiet hospital nestled in Knoxville, Tennessee, I was born. I grew up in Oak Ridge, TN (which I guess makes me an unofficial Oak Ridge Boy) and then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma when I was 9. From there, I fled to California for school and never left the state after that.

I started collecting comics at 13, and the hobby became a pursuit by college. I have a college degree in Computer Science & Engineering from UCLA, but around that time, I started setting up at local comic book shows to sell parts of my collection. By 1996, I found eBay and that's when the comics selling became more of a business. By 1998, I started my own comics subscription service known as NewComix.Com, which I still operate today.

At business school, however, I met my future co-author for business books. He was a book expert, as he had cranked out 15 books like Windows 2000 Administration for Dummies, and a book about the Itanium computer chip from HP. I was the online expert, he was the book expert, and we hit it off right away.

We pitched an idea for an eBay book in 2003, finally got picked up by McGraw-Hill, and it came out in January '05. We were itching to do another book together and went back to our publisher for more opportunities. This book about Amazon was one of those proposals.

3) Where did the idea for a book like this come from?

From our end (mine and my co-author) we saw the need for something we call "multi-channel strategy." Lots of people know how to sell on eBay, or some just sell on Amazon, or some sell on Craigslist. But very few retailers take the time to use multiple sales channels to move their merchandise. So we saw a need to become experts in all the leading channels, and Amazon is offering people some great opportunities to sell on their site.

From our publisher's end, they were looking to partner with a seminar company who was going to teach a class on how to sell on Amazon, so this book was going to be the textbook for that class. Unfortunately, the seminar never came about, but the book is out in stores!

4) You worked Comics for a while with Top Cow. Did anything you learned or used there benefit the work you did on the new book?

Oh, I learned quite a lot in my time at Top Cow, how much time do you have? :) For this book, I learned how Amazon can really help publishers reach the marketplace directly without the dependance on distributors. Of course, Top Cow can't get into comic book stores without Diamond, but it's good to know there are alternate ways to reach consumers if the need arose. As a publisher, it was good to know that Amazon lets the publisher define their own presence on Amazon and custom tailor the look of their product detail pages.

And of course, just like at Barnes and Noble and Borders, graphic novels do pretty well on Amazon.

5) How is the book being marketed and distributed ?

This book was published by one of the biggest publishers in the U.S., so we're a part of the "McGraw-Hill" team. The book was sent out to all the major news sources with a press release, and was marketed to bookstores along with McGraw Hill's other offerings. We got some good placement inside the McGraw-Hill/Osborne press kit, so bookstores were willing to stock our book. It's distributed through all the major book outlets and can be found at any major bookstore, and of course, on Amazon.

My co-author and I are doing our own marketing efforts as well, as I speak out at places like the Learning Annex in LA and New York about the power of Amazon and eBay.

6) Why a book on this? Do you think that market outlets like Ebay, Amazon or Yahoo still have room to grow?

There's a zillion books about selling on eBay. There's a number of books on how to make your own website. Amazon estimates there are at least 925,000 independent sellers on their site and there's not ONE mass-market book that helps people get started with this. We saw this obvious need and filled the void.

Is there potential for growth? Yeah, there is. More and more people are getting broadband, the fear of using credit cards is rapidly dropping, and today's youth are so tech-savvy that they could teach me a few things.

7) What else will you be working on? Can you use a co-writer? (Ignore that last part. Unless you think you might :0) )

I'm always on the lookout for a good co-writer, Larry, what do you want to write? Personally, I'd love to write a comic, but I have zero idea how to get started. Ok, that's not true, I worked for a publisher, I have an idea. But I've never studied a comics script and never practiced. I guess I'd need to do that first.

As far as business books go, look for my next book, Starting an Online Business for Dummies All-In-One Desk Reference, out this summer. I'm co-writing it with someone else, it's my first Dummies book, and it's huge! It's one of these massive "11 books in 1" bright yellow Dummies book, and I think the retail price is only $29.95! Great deal! Ok, no more sales pitch. After this, I'm working on some custom products to help people sell on eBay and the Internet in general, so we'll see what comes about.

8) If I had to sum up your career in a single sentence, what would it be?

I've developed a solid background in computers, e-commerce, and a taste of the publishing world. It's only onward and upward from here!

9) How do you want people to remember you?

I'd like people to remember me as the friendly, knowledgable, honorable guy who gave a damn and made a difference in people's lives.

10) Lets say I have a couple of boxes of Comics to sell. Mostly newer stuff, Infinite Crisis, Civil War; the hot Marvel and DC books out right now. What would you suggest as a way to make the most profit out of them?

Good question, as I get that question a lot since people know me as "the eBay guy." If it's not too much trouble, do an inventory of your collection. Try to pull together any complete runs or sets that you have, as a complete set will do better than individual issues. Because a lot of people are dumping their slightly older comics at a low price, don't expect to get a lot for them necessarily.

Next, pull out the most valuable comics from the collection. Any rare variants, limited editions, early Ultimate titles, stuff like that. If your collection doesn't have a lot of sets, try selling the entire thing on eBay, but pull out the most valuable comics and have those sticking out of the box or lying next to your boxes, when you take your pictures. If you have an inventory, put the inventory in your eBay listing.

If it's too hard to inventory, take pictures, etc, I'd say, take one picture of the pile of boxes, and take out an ad on Craigslist. It's free and you reach a local market that can come to your house and pick up the books. But the more work you do in presenting your collection, the more you should get for it!

If you've got graphic novels, though, put them on Amazon. You can get each one listed in less than a minute, no picture taking required, and you'll know when you list what you can get for it. Plus, you don't pay a listing fee, just a fee if it sells!

11) How much of your own advice do you take when you sell on the Internet?

Gee, Larry, I think you know me too well. It's funny, the motto with teachers is Do what I say, not what I do. I follow most of my own advice, but not all of it. I still get caught up in certain auctions and don't do all my research before I bid. I don't use the most advanced tools to list my own items because I'm so used to doing it my old way. But I do stick to most of my ideas, especially if I'm not rushed for time.

With Amazon, our book is so straight forward that I really practice most of what I preach there, except maybe for Amazon Auctions. eBay is still the King of Auctions, especially non-CGC graded comics. (ComicLink has some good potential against eBay in the high CGC graded market.)

12) WIll you be doing any conventions this summer?

San Diego is a definite, since I live there now. I've been to every San Diego con since '92, and the only year I missed the Masquerade was to be a groomsman at a friend's wedding. As big, massive, and non-comics-friendly as the con has become, it's my favorite show by far and I can't wait for it to happen!

That said, I will say that Wizard World Chicago has become a very strong 2nd favorite show. There's so much energy and excitement at that show that it's fun to be there! Plus, everyone drinks at one or two bars, so you get to see everybody in the industry and catch up.

Besides those two, I'm not sure what else. I doubt I have time for the Wizard Philly show or Heroes Con. I may attend the Baltimore show and stay for the Retailer Summit. The Baltimore show is a true hidden gem. The crowd is large enough, but not massive, and the guest list is PHENOMENAL! There are years the guest list alone is worth flying out from California!

And if you see me at those conventions, ask me about this new book, How to Sell Anything on Amazon... and Make a Fortune! It's in bookstores, online at Amazon.com, and I'll probably have a few copies with me as well!