what I do
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A Book Guardian Angel…
Let a Book Guardian Angel assist you in Getting Published NOW
The Power is in YOUR Hands…
Definition of Author:
An originator or creator or initiator…
To assume responsibility for the content of (a published text).
GET PUBLISHED NOW
* Obtain a Literary Agent and/or Traditional Publisher OR Self-Publish
* Write like a Professional Writer
* Become published while promoting your business
CeliaSue Hecht, the book guardian angel, is a Journalist with a special interest in Angel to Zen topics including pets (shaggy dog tales), fairy tales, healing tales and chocolate. Her work has been featured in 40+ publications (newspapers & magazines). She has interviewed, promoted and worked with celebrities and best-selling authors such as John Robbins, Debbie Reynolds, Dr. Patch Adams, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, and others. Has co-authored five romantic travel guides and one e-dog travel guide. She has also led seminars and workshops in the US and Europe.
Free consultation… 702-225-8206
Happy New Year !
One of the most important things for people who say they want to obtain publicity for their book or biz is knowing the who, what, where, when, why and how of pitching the media.
For the New Year, you might consider doing some coaching to set your New Year UP for Success.
You might learn a few things such as who are the best media contacts for YOU, when and how to approach them specifically and customized/personally, and what the benefits will do FOR YOU.
Just saying.
Now, I am listed as a freelance journalist on Cision (used to be Bacon’s) and every day I receive pitches from people just like you, who would like me to write about their book, product and/or service business and/or interview them. Many of the pitches, too many, even from PR companies, unfortunately miss the mark.
Here’s an example, from a CEO who has an interesting product. And her pitch was for the upcoming New Year’s EVE holiday. I bought her pitch and immediately responded to the pitch (within half an hour). Too bad she was NOT at all READY nor prepared to receive a YES, all systems are GO. She wrote back to me saying that since her staff was gone for the holidays, she would have to send me a sample of the product AFTER the New Year. Anybody see the Problem here? Instead of OVERNIGHTING the product to me, she LOST out on an opportunity to get her product written about BEFORE New Year’s Eve. No PR, no sales. If she sells her product to me via a pitch and then DOES NOT DELIVER, how does that bode for her customers and her business? Not good news.
If/when you send out press releases and/or pitches to the media, bloggers, reporters, editors and so on, BE PREPARED and READY TO GO. Otherwise, you are spinning your wheels and wasting people’s time. And busy bloggers, reporters and editors DO NOT like having their time wasted.
Just saying.
Call or email me if you’d like to do some PR coaching to Set UP your New Year for Success. Good reasons to Celebrate.
gobble up these turkeys
there are badly written press releases and there are worse than bad, here are 25 turkeys … press releases my dog would not even eat up… would not touch with a 10 foot pole… (and she will eat anything and everything)…
Here are seven reasons why these news releases fail:
- No news – totally lacking in “news” value for readers or audiences.
- Headline sucks – without a great headline, your news release is headed to the waste basket fast.
- Crammed with corporate-speak – your CEO may like his quote but if it sounds silly, it is!
- Filled with marketing-speak – a news release is not a marketing brochure.
- Poorly written, badly edited, terrible grammar – remember, you’re pitching people who write and deliver news for a living.
- Loaded with techno-babble – geek-speak reeks.
- Did I mention “no news?”
http://www.theprcoach.com/bad-news-releases-25-press-release-turkeys/
This one features a too long first sentence and the headline is blah blah blah… if you do not know what a Target of Opportunity is you are gone. This book is supposed to be Action Packed Thriller… So write the Press Release the same way, with SHORT exciting sentences, duh… Plus, this PR person sent me eight other press releases all in the same day. Don’t email blast me all of your press releases no matter the subject matter. Consider what the reporter/editor writes about. Otherwise, BIG FAT WASTE OF TIME. I’d NEVER read a book like this nor write a review of one. And the other releases range in subject matter from Uncle Al Capone to small business tips, Big Medicine and Family Court and party planning. Hello, is anybody discerning? I DO NOT write about all of those topics. Nor will I interview all of those ‘experts.’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Just When You Think It Can’t Get Deadlier – Another Radical Force Joins The Assault On Targets of Opportunity in the U.S.
Greenwich, CT, November 23, 2011 - In Targets of Deception, which suspense master Robert K. Tanenbaum called “a fast-paced thriller,” we were introduced to CIA agent Jordan Sandor in a story praised by bestselling author Steve Alten as “terrific.” Now Sandor is back in Jeffrey S. Stephens’s riveting Targets of Opportunity (Gallery Books; August 30, 2011; $24.00), playing for bigger stakes and facing deadlier challenges.
Whisked from his Manhattan townhouse to a gabled CIA safe house in Virginia, Sandor faces off with a top terrorist agent from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. In exchange for protection from his own side, Ahmad Jaber is offering the CIA explosive information: word of a secret, unholy alliance forged among operatives in the Middle East, a ruthless South American, and Kim Jong-II’s North Korea. Jaber claims not to know specific details, only that the strike will target the heart of America.
the dog is having a snooze fest… no doubt dreaming of eating turkey…
Contrast the above turkey to this one from another PR… I would shorten the title but the rest tells me all I need to know. The book also is NOT something that I’d read nor write about though.
18 stories by top romance authors celebrating
the heroic men of the Navy SEALs
Honor, courage, loyalty and passion combine in these suspenseful, romantic and sentimental tales about the SEALs and the women who love them.
Honor, duty, courage, passion . . . the men of the Navy SEALs are a special breed of hero, and in these stories by eighteen top romance authors these heroes are celebrated not only as symbols of devoted service to their country but as the kind of man every woman wants to love. They’ll rescue a damsel in distress and her lap dog, too. They’ll battle hometown dramas and international bad guys. When it comes to giving away their hearts, they’ll risk everything.
All proceeds from sales of SEAL of My Dreamsgoes to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans’ medical research.
Purchase a copy for yourself or your friend here!
authors just wanna have fun
List of New York Times reporters/editors on twitter you can follow…
http://twitter.com/#!/nytimes/nyt-journalists/members
Follow John Kremer’s Book marketing tweets and you can get a lot of worthwhile info including editors and publications who do book reviews on various topics such as these:
Bon Appetit Magazine – editors and columnists – http://magagenie.com/bon-appetit-magazine
ESPN the Magazine – sports editors and columnists – http://magagenie.com/espn-the-magazine
Executive Travel Magazine – editors and contributing editors – http://magagenie.com/executive-travel-magazine
Forbes Magazine – editors and columnists – http://magagenie.com/forbes-magazine
IDEA Fitness Journal – health, fitness, and wellness editors – http://magagenie.com/idea-fitness-journal
Internet Retailer Magazine – Internet marketing magazine – http://magagenie.com/internet-retailer-magazine
Organic Gardening Magazine – editors and contributing editors – http://magagenie.com/organic-gardening-magazine
Outside Magazine – editors and book reviewers – http://magagenie.com/outside-magazine
Vogue Magazine – editors and columnists updated – http://magagenie.com/vogue-magazine
Wild West Magazine – history editors and history book reviewers – http://magagenie.com/wild-west-magazine
Wired Magazine – editors and online writers – http://magagenie.com/wired-magazine
The above are just some of the tweets John sent out during the past month.
Follow his tweets at http://twitter.com/johnkremer
if you have a book, here are four tips Kremer suggests you follow to promote your book:
Here are the top four book promotion activities you can engage in to sell more books in today’s world . . .
1. Speak. Speaking builds a word-of-mouth army better than anything else. Speak locally – at garden clubs, libraries, bookstores, Rotary clubs, JCs, poetry nights, story swaps, book club meetings, etc. Then expand out to a wider area, to nearby cities, to nearby states. Eventually, expand out to an even wider audience.
When someone hears you speak, they become a bigger fan than if they had just read your book. If they like you when they hear you speak, they will tell ten times more people than by just reading your book.
2. Book yourself on national TV. TV is still the largest mass market media. It still reaches more people than any other media – and with more impact. It’s worth spending the time contacting the ten or twenty news and talk shows that reach your audience. For most national TV shows, you can get the contact information in one of two ways: 1. from their websites, and 2. via your network of friends and fellow authors.
Your appearance on one major TV show will not only expose you to millions of viewers, but it also opens the door to dozens and sometimes hundreds of other media: newspapers, magazines, radio, more TV shows, etc.
3. Create relationships with high-traffic websites. How many major high-traffic websites that attract your target reader have you created relationships with? Are these real relationships where you contribute content to them on a regular basis? In today’s world, Internet relationships are the key to marketing success.
Uncover five to ten top websites that already reach the audience you want to reach. Look over their sites until you find a way to contact someone behind the site – a webmaster, an editor, the founder. Then email them with an offer of free content for their readers: an interview with you, a review copy of your book, a free article (that is really good), some tips for their readers, a Q&A column on your specialty, etc. Their obligation, in return, is to link to your website or sales page.
4. Do a Superstar Blog Tour. Or a Mega Blog Tour. Or a Blogpalooza. I’m not talking about the old-style humdrum virtual book tour of 15 or 20 blogs. I’m talking about an event blog tour that creates Internet buzz on a major scale. Event blog tours can build brands, create incredible website traffic, and sell tons of books.
In addition, Outskirts Press offers these five ways to promote your books for the holiday season…
Media shy or Media magnet?
You don’t have to be a Big Star, famous celebrity, politician, singer or movie actor/actress to garner interviews in local or national newspapers, magazines, or blogs and other online publications. If you are an author or business owner who simply would like the media to give you a bit of attention, do a book or product review, quote you in a story or article they’re working on or perhaps have an editor publish your opinion or article in their publication, then read on about how to accomplish this daunting feat.
Some people approach obtaining media attention as if there is something magical, mysterious and/or weird about it (and therefore, there is NOTHING for them to do or learn or educate themselves about). Others shy away from all mention of their name in public. And some folks are hams who are greedy hogs who eat up all the media attention they can get. Most people fall somewhere in between these extremes.
If your business or book could use a boost from some exposure, then here are some tips on how to get the job done without too much muss and fuss.
Fundamentals
Do you have a website? Is your website media friendly? Does your website have your contact info easily portrayed on every page (email, cell and other phone numbers)? Is there a media coverage/press page where you feature press releases, articles, and/or clippings of coverage that you’ve already received?
Are you able to write a press release that gets published?
A press release requires a certain format. A catchy headline. The first paragraph should offer the Who, What, Where, How and Why of the story… a few good quotes, startling statistics, and/or a counterintuitive question to start the conversation.
Imagine that you are at a party and want to talk to a reporter/editor. How do you begin? What might you say to capture their attention? Are you bragging, begging or boring? Is your elevator speech a whodunit, leaves a lasting impression and/or funny but succinct? Can you start with a funny quote or startling statistic? Do you think anyone would want to know more or are you so full of your own jargon that you can hardly talk to regular humans? Is your subject matter appropriate for the person you are speaking with or is it old, out of date and who cares?
More about writing press releases
http://ezinearticles.com/?Youve-Got-the-Power-to-Write-Press-Releases-that-Get-Published&id=977808
Do you know how and who to pitch your story to the media?
Is your pitch perfect or fatally flawed? Pitching the media your story is not a slam dunk. It requires research, a newsworthy relevant story, and excellent communication skills. Have you got what it takes?
https://sites.google.com/site/celiasueink/do-you-have-perfect-pitch
Do you know the process?
1. Write a WOW of a press release/pitch
2. Research who to send it to (compile a list) and when
3. Individualize/customize the press release/pitch
4. Send out your press release/pitch
5. Follow up follow up follow up
6. Results… publish on your website and send to other clients, friends, family, associates
If not, revise, edit and review and start the process again…
7. Create a regular, ongoing, scheduled time of the day, week or month for pitching the media. Media Coverage accrues over time…
And once you get the Media Coverage, what you DO WITH IT, COUNTS… here’s Brian Tracy on this very important subject:
Getting to know you… Getting to know all about you… Getting to like you… Getting to hope you like me… you are precisely my cup of tea !
when should you answer a reporter’s call?
http://www.mrmediatraining.com/index.php/2010/08/25/whats-your-deadline/
editor or proofreader?
The lines can seem blurry… what is the difference between proofreading and editing, you wonder, scratching your head.
Should you hire an editor or a proofreader for your manuscript (book)? Often writers with limited funds make decisions upon the fee quoted rather than on what they require for the project. These days agents and publishers expect a professionally edited and proofread manuscript. They also expect writers to promote their own books. It can seem confusing and daunting where to go and what to do next. You’ve written a draft or you’ve written and revised and edited and need a second pair of eyes to look at your material. Now what?
In this competitive world, it is important to know the difference between editing and proofreading and act accordingly.
The difference between the tasks of an Editor and a Proofreader can be compared to the services of a professional dog trainer such as Victoria Stilwell and a dog walker. The former has many years of practical experience, a multitude of resources, tools and techniques at her fingertips and invaluable connections in the book publishing industry, media and other related fields. Editing involves more time, energy and work and a broader range of skills, and can take longer to edit a piece of written material than it does to proofread. The latter is a task that involves checking for typos, grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and punctuation. It takes a certain amount of practice, experience and training to proofread effectively. Proofreaders point out the errors according to a style guide usually.
An editor also proofreads plus rewrites material, makes suggestions for revisions, moving Chapter 23 to Chapter 1 or vice versa (move material around) and goes beyond checking for mechanical errors. An editor checks for readability, fact checks, and suggests additions and deletions to the material. An editor seeks to make sure that the artistic integrity of your written material is maintained. In other words, an editor has a grasp for the entire bigger picture while a proofreader focuses more narrowly upon words and sentences and paragraphs rather than the entire manuscript and its intended purpose.
An editor also is a creative partner, working closely with the writer. The editor seeks to fulfill the writers expectations of creating the best book possible while a proofreader has more of a piecemeal focus and approach.
Depending upon the goals, intention and expectations of the writer, ie, to produce a more polished piece of work in order to get it published, or to hone the material to take it to the next level, will determine whether an editor or a proofreader is the right person for the job at hand. So it is important for the writer to know the difference between the jobs to know what they require.
The ultimate responsibility to accept or reject each correction or edit is in the hands of the writer. Don’t skimp on your project by hiring a proofreader when you require the skill and expertise of an editor. And if you seek only proofreading services not editing, make that clear to the person that you hire.
If you have any questions or comments or experiences to share, please do tell. Thanks.
