We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jane Ubell-meyer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Bedside Reading Celebrates 7 years!
Once upon a time…. at age twenty-two, I embarked on a seven-day scuba diving trip to St. Maarten with a boyfriend. Unfortunately, upon arrival, he declared himself ‘just a friend,’ leaving me defeated, deflated, and seriously unhappy. Luckily, I had brought a book, “Cry to Heaven” by Anne Rice, which saved my trip.
This experience taught me always to pack a book when traveling, a lesson that stuck with me even after a successful career as a television and film producer. (GMA, ET WSJ-TV, and three films).
In 2002, a friend suggested that we start a business placing books and products on the luxury buses that carried passengers back and forth to NYC and the Hamptons.
To get the business going, I literally walked up and down Madison Avenue in NYC and into stores, asking if they would place an item or gift card in our “gift bags” for people heading to the Hamptons. It worked!
Back then, If you received a gift bag from “Buzz Bags” on The Jitney or the Luxury Liner, that was us! (but that was back in 2002). The day we launched, the NYT, we ran a short story about the new business. (which at the time was revolutionary, as we were the first or one of the first companies to monetize the gift bag experience).
Shortly after, we were interviewed by Entrepreneur magazine. That article attracted United Airlines, Universal Studios, and Sting’s Rainforest Foundation. Then the word got out, and we started gifting the opening parties for Broadway premieres, the GRAMMY awards, and Hollywood film premieres and were in business.
I love having a business partner. However, I learned that partnerships only work if both parties align, have similar work ethics, and have the same sense of responsibility for the goal.It was aA complex and expensive lesson, but in 2004, I went solo and launched a new company, Madison & Mulholland.
My new company went beyond the Hamptons and Hollywood and delivered gift bags for first and business-class passengers on United Airlines, worked with Virgin America (yes, I did hang out with Richard Branson), American Airlines, gifted Paul McCartney (for his fundraiser at UCLA), gifted Oscar®, GRAMMY®, Emmy® winners, and nominees, film festivals, Hollywood premieres and more! It was fun and exciting, and I was living my dream of a bi-coastal life and loved every minute of it, and yet, I never stopped gifting in the Hamptons. The Shift. My “ah-ha” moment came on March 27, 2017. One of my dearest friends, Noreen Fraser, the brilliant brain behind Stand Up to Cancer, passed away. This devastating loss forced me to reevaluate what I was meant to do in life. Noreen’s influence “from the other side” inspired my new “WHY.”
I returned to my love of books and to help authors navigate their book marketing journey. With two decades of experience as a TV producer, all the skills I learned come into play when marketing books, as does staying on top of the new apps, programs, and technology available.
Bedside Reading was launched on August 15, 2017, by placing two brilliant authors’ books at the Mandarin Oriental in New York, Salman Rushdie and Fiona Davis! In 2017, the products disappeared, and now I only place books in the Hamptons and around 50 hotels throughout the country (Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Kimpton, etc.). Growing the hotel and author business is my main focus. I also publish a magazine that contributes to the awareness of my authors’ books.
My journey became even more meaningful when I started focusing on my team. I have been inspired to teach, advocate, and champion them by lifting them up (hopefully) to look at their life and realize anything is possible.
The Bedside Reading team has become a growing, diverse family in so many ways, and I love them more and more every day!
I am proud to have partnered with all the major publishers, the ever-growing independent and hybrid publishers, the incredibly talented authors who have entered my sphere, and our hotel partners. Everyone has played a crucial part in our success.
My goal has always been and remains, “How can we help our authors become more visible and grow as a brand.”
A few months ago, I enrolled in an intensive publishing course to fully understand an author’s life and the complexities of publishing.
One of the assignments was to write and publish a book in 7 days! Last week, I did just that. On Day One, I became a #1 Amazon Bestselling Author. This experience has opened my eyes to what an author goes through. It is not easy. Book marketing is an art and a science, and the last seven years have sharpened my tools in my toolbox. What a great ride. And now I too am an author!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a painter, a knitter and my favorite thing to do (as I’ve been a great reader all of my life) is to spend a few hours in a bookstore. Prior to that I was a movie and TV producer. Marketing comes naturally to me. But the most important thing about me is my ability to see “how to market” something–sort of like a “superpower.”
I just see it! All the years I spent in TV/Film and now book marketing have made it my most valuable asset. My company is all about helping our authors.
Bedside Reading is the ONLY company in the world placing books in luxury hotels. We are a unique service combining traditional book marketing, technology and out of the box thinking.
I am most proud of my relationships with my hotels, authors and my team.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
Solving problems means there is a way to make money. Covid was a challenge. My hotels shut down with my author’s books!
I had to develop something to keep the payroll and the lights on. I created and published a magazine featuring my authors and distributed it throughout the hotels in the Hamptons and bookstores throughout the country.
Luckily, the hotels in the Hamptons were filled with New Yorkers, so I had somewhere to place my book and my new magazine. I reached out to hundreds of authors to create my first magazine, which was a huge success. We’re just about to publish our eighth issue this winter. The magazine is a great marketing tool and a money-maker, and it is now part of my ongoing business.
COVID forced me to rethink how to distribute books. I created a digital library, which has taken many years to do right. We just became approved by corporate Marriott, and we are diving deep into placing our digital library in hotels worldwide.
Book Covers are my “pet peeve!” Lousy book covers are the main reason books sell poorly. To highlight great book covers, I started an international Book Cover Award!
As challenges have come my way, I have made a few of them into money makers I call my “Verticals.”
My current “verticals” all came from solving problems:
1. Placing books in hotels
2. Book Cover Awards
3. Bedside Reading Magazine
4. Bedside Reading Digital Library
5. BestSeller Program (Guaranteed bestseller status on Amazon)
6. Author Events
7.AI generated ads to increase book sales
8.I am now writing my own series of books- based on the book I wrote and published in 7-days (https://amzn.to/3WY8qLV)
9. Teaching authors how to get sponsorships for their books
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I genuinely believe in word-of-mouth advertising. The most effective way to build an excellent reputation is to deliver and over-deliver on your promises.
Pre-Covid, 70% of my business came from publishers- who would place books with me–it was a great ongoing business. When Covid hit, the publishers’ marketing dollars were used elsewhere. So, I had to grow my business within the Indie-author world.
My biggest “win” in building my clients is working with hybrid-publishers—companies who already service authors. Once I found that niche, I have been working with them consistently. That and word-of-mouth among authors has been a big win.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BedsideReading.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedsidereading/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BedsideReadingUS/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bedsidereading/
Image Credits
Photos: Bedside Reading