Great Book Recommendations: this is what they look like:

Getting well written book recommendations is an important part of your marketing and selling process. Here is an example of a great book testimonial for Charmaine’s best selling book “On Toby’s Terms”.

Notice it includes what the reader enjoyed/how it impacted the reader, a note that they recommended it highly, and of
course their name and credentials (when applicable).

A Gold winner Reader’s Favorite

On Toby’s Terms is a wonderful book and Charmaine Hammond has done an amazing job sharing their story of Toby. I completely admire what they have done with Toby – you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll walk away with some great life lessons. I highly recommend this read!

Jen Panteluk
Director Development
Ronald McDonald House® Northern Alberta

What you can do on a TV interview according to Steve Harrison during a recent webinar:

Here are some great tips for authors related to Media and publicity from Steve Harrison during
A tele-class:

-Visuals, demos (e.g. show pictures, example, product etc.), turn your words into visuals

-Stand up and do something as it gives variety in their show

Note: have videos to show the host in advance:

Local TV clips that can be shown to producers (put links in email), 
this shows producer you have great media skills. They want to see 
you can talk and be a great guest.

Why Your Writing Style Can Make or Break Your Media Opportunities

by Lisa Elia

Lisa Elia tips.

Don’t be too casual with your writing style, when pitching the media. Many members of the media, especially at larger, more prestigious media outlets, are very well educated and can be picky about correct grammar and punctuation.

Some members of the media have told me that even one typo or grammatical error in a pitch or press release can make them disregard the pitch entirely. If you’re not a great writer, and even if you are, have someone proofread everything you send to the media.

Use Associated Press Style in press releases that you will send to the media (as opposed to those you may simply post online for consumer viewing).If you’re writing press releases or even if you are having them written for you, it’s important to know what Associated Press Style is because it will save you many PR service hours and/or dollars.

Associated Press (AP) Style is the media industry standard for journalistic style. Adhering to this style will make members of the media take you seriously, and it will make it easier for editors to publish your release immediately, and you ALWAYS want to make their job as easy as possible.

First, here’s a bit about the Associated Press, from the organization’s website:

“The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP.”

On the Net: www.ap.org”

So, you can see why Associated Press Style is important when writing press releases. If you’re planning to do your own PR, I highly recommend buying the Associated Press Stylebook, available at Amazon.com or at www.ap.org

AP Style is very specific. There are rules on punctuation, grammar, quotes, etc. that are specific to this style. It also changes with the times, so be sure to get a new copy of the AP Stylebook every year or so. AP Style is succinct, journalistic, objective and factual. Keep in mind that press releases are meant to be newsworthy, so write “news.”

If you want a more flowery, loose article on yourself or your company, consider pitching an article authored by yourself to media outlets that accept submissions or write whatever you’d like on your blog.

As a basic rule in business and in PR, supply people with the information in a format that is going to make it easiest for people to spread the word about you.

For more tips, register for my 10 PR Musts guide at www.10PRmusts.com

Resource box:

This article is provided courtesy of PR Expert and Media Trainer Lisa Elia, the CEO and founder of Lisa Elia PR and Expert Media Training. Elia has spent more than 25 years in the PR industry, securing interviews for clients with major media outlets that include CNN, Oprah Winfrey Show, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Redbook, Shape, Huffington Post, and hundreds of other outlets. To receive free tips on how to work with the media most effectively, avoid common mistakes and shine in every interview, visit www.lisaeliapr.com or contact us at lisa@lisaeliapr.com or 310-479-0217.

Our Children’s Book Now a Video Book

Our book Toby The Pet Therapy Dog & His Hospital Friends has now been released in video format through StoryCub.  You can listen and watch here:  http://vimeo.com/57906463

A great resource for children’s authors, StoryCub produces and distributes video versions of children’s picture books, and the program has been recognized by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for it’s innovative approach of connecting authors and publishers with educators and families who live in today’s mobile, on-demand environment.  StoryCub is currently being viewed in over 200 countries.

A dog book for children

Brian Feinblum wrote a great article about when the media is interested in your book, some of the highlights of his article included:

• · When your book is tied to something relevant in the media
• · When the author is media trained
• · When your pitch to media is clear, short and follows their standards.

To learn more about how to get your book in front of the media, read Brian’s article at:

http://sanfranciscobookreview.com/2013/01/the-news-media-wants/

Going forward, what do you need to learn to get more media coverage?  What media events or holidays can you tie your news with?

One of the ways to really maximize media and heighten the chances of your event being covered by media is to attach it to a “special holiday.”  Charity Village has created a directory of special awareness days.  This is one example of many different lists that exist.  You can check it out here:

https://charityvillage.com/directories/special-awareness-days.aspx

As you scroll the list, ask yourself?

-          Can I tie my book launch to a specific holiday or special awareness day?

-          What special awareness days relate to themes, characters or events from my book, and how can I make the connect?

-          How can I tie special awareness days to my social media, promotion or blog?

-          What other ideas do you have about using special awareness days to heighten the chances of securing media attention?

Tips:

1)      Create a calendar of all applicable special awareness days and holidays

2)      Add to this calendar as you learn other appropriate and relevant days

3)      Create your marketing, media and blog plan and schedule

4)      Put the steps into action

Maribel Jiminez was our guest on Your Book As a Business Radio. She works with entrepreneurs, coaches, authors and consultants teaching them how to launch 6 and 7 figures with successful product and program launches.  For the past 15 years she has written successful marketing campaigns for multi-million dollar organizations and her passion is helping people tap into their greatness and create prosperity in their business.  You can find her at www.thecreativesolutions.com and you can listen to her tips about successfully launching your book or next product at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/your-book-as-a-business/2013/01/23/guest-maribel-jimenez

The take aways from Maribel are to 1) systematize your launch, 2) create a process, and systems that you can replicate over and over again, 3) explore collaborations with strong marketing minded colleagues, and 4) build a service mindset.  When planning a launch make sure you Plan, bring on Partners and Prepare.  You can listen to more tips from Maribel here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/your-book-as-a-business/2013/01/23/guest-maribel-jimenez

The more buzz and shared influence around your book, the better for the launch and its longevity.

Our new book, release in May.

Plan your book launch, and ensure you have about 3 months to plan. Some of the planning activities and decisions include:

-          Deciding what kind of launch are you doing? If you are doing an Amazon Best Seller Campaign, I highly recommend you connect with Teresa de Grosbois, a leading expert on best seller campaigns and what is needed to get on the Amazon best seller lists.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/your-book-as-a-business/2012/07/21/guest-teresa-de-grosbois

-          Determine the date of your launch.  If you can tie your launch to a newsworthy holiday (e.g. if your book is about workplace safety, launch your book around Workplace Safety Week).  If your book is about women and leadership, launch your book around Women’s day. If your book is about learning disabilities, launch it around Learning Disabilities awareness month or on the birthday of a famous person who has a learning disability like Henry Winkler).

-          Create your media plan. Having a lot of media attention around the launch of your book will really help you out.  For example, when we launched GPS Your Best Life, we were on BTV in the morning of the best seller launch.  We also secured media in several newspapers and around book signings. Create a list of all your media contacts. Don’t forget to notify your college and university alumni.  Hire a publicist to write two phenomenal press releases and have them circulate to media contacts and you do same with your contacts. Please make sure you add these to your list

2012- 2013 Alumni of the Year award

-          Ensure your book is posted on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the other online stores. If you are doing an Amazon best seller launch, you will want to ensure your book is categorized correctly, Teresa de Grosbois is a fantastic resource for this.

-          Make sure your author profile (author central) is complete

-          Create a Facebook event page for your book launch

-          Post the book launch events on your discussion board on your Amazon author profile

-          Post your book launch events on Good Reads

-          Talk to your friends, colleagues, people who have endorsed your book, asking them to participate in your launch by a) posting social media posts, b) emailing to their list, c) or putting a mention in their newsletters. Some of the

-          Other activities you can do in conjunction with  book launch over the month of the launch:

• o   Virtual book tours and blog tours
• o   Mini speaking events. One example is 2 hour wine and cheese events whereby the people pay a nominal fee (e.g. $35 and included with that is a copy of your book and food)
• o   Video campaign
• o   Contests
• o   Signings at bookstores
• o   Signings at libraries
• o   Giveaways

-          Remember, after you launch is over, the work is not over, the work continues but in different targeted activities.

-          Here are some other things to ensure you do or the launch of your book.

• o   Write a press release announcing that your book hit one of the best seller lists. We wrote ours in advance and created the emails so as soon as we hit one of the lists, we pressed “send” on the emails. Remember to send that press release to your alumni, the library, your local chamber of commerce and other local groups in your community.

-          Ask your friends and colleagues to “like” your Amazon page, and your author page on Amazon and other websites. Make it super easy for them by providing them the direct links and remember to save the email copy in a file in your computer to systematize this, so, that next time you write your book or release a product, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

-          Let the college bookstores know about your book, if applicable, and suggest in the letter some of the programs or areas of study that would benefit from your book.  You can offer to do a presentation there as well.

-          When you get in media, ensure you do the following

• o   Thank the host (send a handwritten thank you card)
• o   Shout the host out on social media
• o   Share the link of the article or radio/tv appearance and tag the reporter
• o   Be active on that host’s social media pages
• o   Recommend them on linked in
• o   Stay in relationship with them
• o   When you get print media, laminate the articles, they are great to have at book signings and events.
• o   Ask people to take photos of your book where they travel and post to Facebook

The more buzz you create and the more champions and influences you are connected to, the more successful your launch will be.