Hey all!

Just a quick note about the classes I am teaching…Also..I posted about chats and the real value or lack of value on the tips site….
http://promotingbooks.blogspot.com/

I was very caffeine deprived when I typed it so I hope it makes sense!

Two NEW classes I am teaching:

Agent 101

2 intense hours on Saturday April 8th (there is a May class as well)

Submit to the right agents
Submit to impress - what should you send and how should it be presented
Once you get an offer - why you should interview the agent and how to do it….The risks of not hiring the right agent including some true horror stories of contracts gone wrong with publishers and lost time that can never be gotten back!
And lots more!
$50

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FOUR RED HOT NIGHTS of promo
MAKE YOUR NAME and YOUR BOOKS Red Hot

-Cheap and free ways to get exposure
-Contest, newsletters, chats, interview, and TONS more!
-Bookstores, media, signings, and more!
-Blogs, forums, websites, and more!

This is TONS of material you will value!
YEARS of me going to conferences, working with authors from newbie level to NYC, and learning what helps and what doesn’t

Email lrenj@aol.com if you are interested

I am sitting here with my Border’s coffee, (not to be mistaken with Starbucks, which is much better) thinking through the many subjects I could talk about this morning.
If I make any tying errors I am caffiene deprived so be kind lol…

I used to sign on with authors to do their promo on a monthly fee basis and coordinated all fo their needs. One subject that came up with all of these clients was CHATS…So I decided this was a good topic. It is also one I am opinionated about and if you take any of my classes or even read this blog you will discover that I am often that! I don’t deny it. So…

To chat or not to chat, that is the question….

First - What is a chat?

Review sites have chatrooms and they schedule authors to come to that on line chatroom and talk to readers.

For the review site a chat is a dream come true. They simply set up a schedule and have a chat moderator there during chat times. The author goes out and tells the world to come chat at that REVIEW site. The review site gets LOTS of free advertising.

Readers - the same ones come to almost all chats….its is rare to get a group over 15 and 5-8 is more likely. I don’t care WHAT review site it is. This is just the way it is. AND…write down the names. I bet after a few chats you will find that the SAME people are there…

For the author…Is there a benefit.. YES and NO…I’ll explain:

If you are a new author trying to break into the scene OR a print author who hasn’t grabbed the pool you can get to on the internet, then promoting the chats on all of the yahoo loops gives you EXCUSES to send you name and books out in a promo. The chat itself is not the WIN. The promos that repeat your name is what is the win.

EXAMPLE: I worked with a Harlequin category author. When I said her name to a bunch of readers on a loop, they said WHO? These are readers who buy 20-30 books a month. They would LOVE to add another favorite to the list but they often don’t know the authors so they simply don’t buy them. If you are a category or midlist author who needs more readers, loop promos to the internet resource of readers can jumpstart your new pool of readers. Chats give you an excuse to do this.

Another time is right before a big release. Let’s say you are a category or new NYC author or even a midlist author and you really need a buzz. An excuse to put that book in people’s face over and over and to do it free is delivered with CHATS… Again its not the people AT THE CHAT but all the ones who see the promotion of the chat that makes this work…now remember to do this you MUST send out promos to a good 15 or 20 yahoo lists of readers otherwise the value factor of getting the book in front of thousands of readers is LOST!

Now, once you do a rush of chats, continuing to do them is a waste of valuable time. You could be writing books. Still, its a good way to JUMPSTART and that is the ONLY time I suggest it.

Convincing authors of this is often hard. See, authors, especially those who start small press, see other authors chatting and they feel they must do it too. Usually after finding themeselves exhausted and talking to the same people night after night, they decide they don’t want to live every night doing chats…

So, yes there is a VALUE to chats.

Remember to put a dollar figure on your time!
Time…..Your biggest assett….How much is it worth..

Math Problem Illustrates the Issue:

• First, give yourself a salary - $10/hour
• Then calculate the amount of time an activity will take – A reader’s loop takes an hour of your time per day/5 days per week, 4 weeks per month
• How much will you get “paid” during this time? $200/month
• At $2/book royalties, calculate how many books you must sell to make the activity worth it. In this case, are you getting an increased lift of 100 books per month?

FEEL free to ask questions about chats! Shoot them at me!

Lisa

I went to the bookstore today. Sometimes when I need to write the bookstores really helps. I sit with my computer, drink coffee, surrounded by inspiration and motivation. Other times the books distract me and so do people who have gotten to know me. Today was one of those days. Mostly, because I am destracted over a lot to do. I am also thinking too much about the Blaze proposal I sent off, my newest paranormal on Berkley and other editor’s desk, and stuff like that..It’s a thing that happens to writers. Waiting destroys concentration at certain stages of our career.

But I DID did figure out where I was going with the rest of my Avon book and did set up. One good day of solid writing will knock it out I think. Maybe two. I want to get it done by the weekend so I can get back on THE BEAST WITHIN.

Wednesday is also the night I take my son to dinner and we talk. I enjoy that night. I love hearing about his world, his thoughts, his dreams. He is working towards college football and entering his senior year so this is an exciting time for him.

Some of you know Diego is getting ready to take the MCAT and we are moving to NYC for his med school next year. So we have my writing career, his MCAT, and my son’s football dream all pumping us into a new year!

Off to bed! I swore I would stop working until 2 in the morning and get back on a human schedule but so far I have failed!

Oh wait AMERICAN IDOL..lol Diego stood up and actually cheered when Kevin got booted… He is so funny.

Lisa

Message Points–what they are, how they work and how to find yours
by Theresa Meyers
President, Blue Moon Communications

Many authors think about promotion of their book and reach a panic state about having a pr plan and selling the book. But before you do any promotion for your book, you need to take a step back and work on message points. Why? Because without this, you are going to be wasting your time and money creating and executing your promotion plan.

Why do you need a message?

Part of the reason you hardly ever see authors interviewed in the media is because they don’t have a message outside of the obvious, Buy My Book. That isn’t going to cut it with the media. They are in the business of delivering stories. Let me explain how this happened.

Ever since the introduction of CNN in 1980, news has fragmented and metamorphosized into neo-journalism. The goal of every good reporter use to be objectivity. That’s changed. Journalists, television producers and radio hosts are expected to be story-tellers. They’re supposed to give a story a face, show it with details instead of telling about it, give it context and meaning for their viewers, listeners and readers. That’s why the first thing you’ll see about a ship coming home from war isn’t the ship, it’s three weeks in advance of that and it’ll be the mom at home with the kids who’ve painted their house red, white and blue with a huge yellow sash across the door, or better yet, the brand new dad with twins whose wife was called off to war and how Mr. Mom has been coping. What they are doing is giving characters for us to identify with.

As story tellers you’re one-leg up on the rest of the business world when it comes to promoting your product. You understand the basics of story telling are good characters, conflict and stories with heart that produce an emotional, visceral reaction in your audience. That’s exactly what the media want from you.

But let me give you this word of caution. The same story telling abilities can also be a weak spot for writers. Instead of 80 or 100 thousand words, you have to reduce your message down to fit the instantaneous nature of today’s media. The single biggest mistake people make is not knowing their message. In general authors as authors don’t interest media at all. You don’t make the phone’s ring off the hook at the radio show. No one cares you’ve written a book. Most shows aren’t about books, so producers and editors naturally assume (until you show them different) that you won’t appeal to their audience. You have to have a hook and be the solution to a problem.

Finding Your Message Point

Finding your message points isn’t easy, but can be done with guidance. It’s kind of like looking for something that’s lost. Until you know what you are looking for, it’s going to be a long search.

Let’s start here to give you an idea of what you are looking for.
Three strategies will interest media the most:
1. Identify a problem - Americans often confuse sex with romance.
2. Point to an opportunity - Businesses that sell products to women can have
an inside edge if they read romance because the target demographics are identical.
3. Explode a myth - Romances are only sex in a dust jacket.

Of these, exploding a myth gets the best response. Romance is perfect for this. Think of the following myths: romance readers (and writers) don’t have a life and are frustrated housewives; romances are just sex books; romances are only read by women; romances aren’t serious books in the publishing industry; romances are all formula writing; romances encourage loose morals and fantasy existence; romances degrade women. OK, now let’s add some of them you’ve thrown at me later that have to do with the public’s perceptions of self-published, POD-published or other situations. Myths: these aren’t real books because they don’t come from New York; authors who self-publish can’t write; POD is shoddy printing done in some one’s basement; author’s only self-publish when they can’t get published by big houses.

By exploding any one of these myths, you can drawn in the media, who will gladly debate it with you. Remember it isn’t the truth you are asserting, but the juice the media can get out of it that counts. Perception is the reality here. When pitching a producer or editor, in thirty seconds or less you need to hold up the myth and then shoot it down.

Research has shown an audience will remember no more than three key message points. Everything you say, everything you speak about, needs to connect back to those points.

You need to stop thinking of yourself as a writer, and start thinking of yourself as a social commentator, waiting in the wings. Ben Aflec and J Lo get married, why do celebs marry other celebs instead of ordinary people? How does celebrity status change relationships? How do busy people find time to fit romance into their lives?

In developing your key message points, which will be different for each of you, I want you to consider answers to these questions:

What themes appear in my work over and over again no matter what the
subgenre?
Are there certain characters that appeal to me? Why or why not? What does
that say about how I view life and relationships?
What is important to me?
What one thing do I want to leave behind for them to remember?
What causes do I want to advance?
How do these blend with my career as a novelist?
What can I offer as social commentary (on relationships, blending work with
family, how creative people contribute to the fabric of our society, etc.?
You are a mother, daughter, friend, sister, member of the community, reader of books. Think outside your role as a writer to what else you have to offer as opinion.)
What can I offer as small business commentary? (You are a small business owner. What makes that especially difficult in today’s economy? Is your industry doing better than others? Why or why not? How have the downfall of technology and the war affected your business? etc.)
What is a problem I see?
What is an opportunity I think everyone should know about?
What are the biggest myths about what I do, my readership, or what I write?
What are the truths that explode those myths?
Now take your answers to the above and come up with three statements that you want to repeat over and over again as part of your brand. (Example: My client Jeannie Brosius, a humor columnist with a book, found that all her work revolved around the very reason she writes: Laughter is the best medicine. This may be old hat for others, but because she is a humor columnist who writes about motherhood and everyday life, the connection between what she writes, who she is as a person and the fact that many of her stories revolve around Dr. Mom fixing things works well.)

Now it’s your turn:
My Three Message Points are:

1.
2.
3.

The Reductive Phrase or Sound Bite

We’re also going to go one step further here. We’re going to work on your sound bite. I want you to think for a moment of a large megaphone, like you used to see cheerleaders use in Happy Days. You’re going to shove all your message points into the big end of that megaphone and what comes out the small end will be your sound bite.

By definition a sound bite is a reductive phrase that encapsulates more than the words contained in the phrase. For example, when Johnny Cochran said to the jury in the OJ Simpson case, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” he wasn’t just talking about the glove. He was talking about the circumstances of the case, the sense that somehow this was tied into racial issues and much more. It all just got boiled down into that one phrase which was repeated on every news broadcast across the country.

We need to boil down your message points to an even finer level. A one liner that will be used in every interview, every speech, every talk you give. How does this work for fiction? One of my clients found her books, both category and single title, came back toone strong point. The very reason she chose to write romance: “It’s all about the happy ending.” Why do you write romance? “It’s all about the happy ending.” Why do people read this trash? “It’s all about the happy ending.” What makes romance sell to the tune of over one billion dollars a year? “It’s all about the happy ending.” Why do people seem to be leaning toward lighter fiction during a time of war. “It’s all about the happy ending…they need it, they crave it. There has to be an escape from harsh reality to keep us sane and in touch with our human side.”

From Message Points to Media Plan

Once you have your message points and a sound bite to work with you can start work on a media plan. Before you budget, you need to think big. You can always scale back, but the best and most innovative ideas come when you aren’t placing restrictions on yourself. Just go with it for now and you can get down to financial reality in a moment.

The first place to start on a media plan is your book’s publication date. Ideally, you’ll want to have about six to eight months in advance of a book’s publication to begin your work. Once you have a date then you can start on the publicity plan checklist. Some of it will apply to you, some of it might not. Work with what does and improvise the rest as your budget will allow.

PROMOTION SCHEDULE CHECKLIST

Title:
Release Date:

TWELVE TO SEVEN MONTHS AHEAD:

Get a “business” address (a P.O. Box or something similar for privacy)
Send manuscript to Romantic Times, Affaire De Coeur, Publisher’s Weekly, etc. forearly review.
Ask publisher for list of reviewers and send a personal note. (Publisher may send letters out for you.)
Send manuscript to long-lead publications such as women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan.

SIX MONTHS AHEAD:

Send announcements to “up-coming publications” columns in newspapers, trade magazines,etc.
Request extra covers from publisher (for displays in stores that carry your book and for publicity use)
Reserve ad space in publications advertising your book/ ask if they can use a regular photo or will need a slide/transparency.

FIVE MONTHS AHEAD:

Get bookmarks and flyers designed and printed. (This must be done as early as possible because flyers have to reach distributors, wholesalers and bookstores four to five months before your publication date. Look into using Romantic Times’ Bookstores That Care mailing list.)
Have stationary and business cards printed.
Have photo taken professionally (will need both black and white and color head shot).
Update personal mailing list.
Contact local sales distributors/sales reps and arrange for as many copies of your book as possible to be sent to wholesaler. Tell them you want them for promotion and autograph sessions.

FOUR MONTHS AHEAD:

Write to wholesalers, distributors, booksellers and sales reps. (This can be a postcard, personal letter or flyer.) Become personally acquainted with as many as possible. If traveling, contact the reps serving that area (leave bookmarks, flyers, business cards etc.)
Send flyers to distributors and bookmarks to bookstores.
Make sure your or your publisher has mailed galleys to Romantic Times, Affaire De Coeur, etc., national magazines and online review sites.
Send announcements to regional and local newsletters.
Notify high school and college alumni newsletters.
Write an author profile for magazines advertising your book.
Gather TV/audio clips or any press clippings for book tour pitches to media.
Write 10-15 sample questions/tips for interviews and press kits.
Write press releases.
Update media database.
Update your website.
Start planning book tour (if planning to do one).

THREE MONTHS AHEAD

Assemble press kits. Place it on your website too.
Double check media database and write pitch letters.
Send bio, photo and book cover to publications advertising your book.
Prepare questions for hosts to ask during interviews (for publicity and book
Check with retailers in book tour cities regarding stocking your books.

TWO MONTHS AHEAD

Send press materials to all national media-TV talk shows, national radio, national TV and print media.
Send press materials to local newspapers, radio and television.
Send autographed copies of your book and a pitch letter to local newspapers, radio and television talk shows (or news/morning programs) to secure interviews.
Schedule autograph sessions at local bookstores.
Send letters and information packets to Community Relations Coordinators (CRCs) at Barnes and Noble bookstores to arrange speaking/autographing sessions.
Send books and press kits and make follow-up calls to all national television/radio shows and print media.
Start follow-up calls to media and bookstores in each city on book tour. Be sure to follow-up EVERY package you sent out.
Update schedule for book tour and book travel, hotel and author escorts for each city.

Update information on your website for appearances and contests related to your book.

Update your information and upload reviews and book information on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other sites.

ONE MONTH AHEAD

Mail bookmarks to bookstores.
Mail postcards and/or newsletter announcements to fans.
Send thank you notes to local wholesalers, route drivers, stockers, anyone you talked with or contacted about your book.
Set up time to arrange displays in local Barnes and Nobles for your speaking session.
Write a small blurb regarding your talk and book for the CRC to include in the B & N newsletter.
Get extra B & N newsletters from the CRC to send out to your personal mailing list or give him/her labels to mail newsletters out.
Prepare and practice presentation for B & N speaking session.
Send any special requests for the booksigning/speaking session to the CRC two weeks in advance.

ONE WEEK BEFORE AN EVENT

Confirm signings one week before.
Try to speak with store manager to generate excitement over speaking session and
booksigning.
Write a memo to the booksellers (very brief) explaining who you are, what your book is about and ask the store manager to mention your event at the daily meeting. Offer a book to be raffled off to booksellers the day of the event.

DAY OF THE EVENT

Check PA system 15 minutes before speaking.
Check to see if refreshments are available. (Water is a must for a speaker, also ask about coffee or tea and where to put cookies for audience if at a booksigning.)
Check chair placement to be sure the audience can see and hear you clearly.
Arrange staging area (where you’ll speak) with your books.
Bring pens and autograph stickers.
Ask CRC to make an in store announcement 15 minutes and 5 minutes before you are scheduled to begin speaking.
Check to see that the music in the store is turned off before you being speaking.
Personally thank as many of the store employees as you can when you have finished speaking and autographing.
Assist in cleaning up the event, if time permits.
Check schedule for the next day (if on book tour) and make necessary calls and preparation.
WHEN YOU GET HOME SEND THANK YOU NOTES TO EVERYONE.
Send pictures and updates to your web master to update your website.
Sit down and start working on the next book.

How to get a media interview
By Theresa Meyers
President, Blue Moon Communications

There are two things that take up the bulk of a publicist’s time. One is writing pitch letters and the other is getting on the phone and cold pitching. I loathe it. OK, perhaps not as much as calling 500 media people after I send stuff to follow up on it, but still it is hard work.

As we’ve discussed in the last lecture, pitch letters are a lot like query letters. The big difference is that you are selling yourself for an interview instead of your book to an editor. Very similar in purpose to a query, the pitch letter is meant to gain a media person’s attention and make them ask for more. Unfortunately, there are plenty of books on how to write a killer query and virtually none on how to write a perfect pitch letter.
Most PR people learn how to craft a pitch letter from trial and error (and advice when they can find it).

First things first - format: A pitch letter, like a query, should be limited to a single page. Limit your prose to three paragraphs and keep them clean, concise and direct. Use one inch margins and print it on letterhead or nice quality stationary. Make sure you have called ahead of time and gotten the correct spelling of the person’s name and his or her title. If you aren’t sure whether the person is a Mr. or a Ms., ask. If you don’t know who you’re looking for, ask. It is perfectly acceptable to say, “Could you tell me who books talent for the Leeza show? Do you know how far in advance they book a show?” It is better to play dumb and ask lots of questions than send your material to the wrong person. If you think the slush pile at a publishing house is ominous, it is nothing compared to a producer or editor’s collection of daily pitches and press packets. A pitch letter can be sent alone or as a cover letter to your press release/press packet.

Content: The first paragraph should introduce yourself and the subject. This is where you need a hook, but one that explains exactly what you have to offer, who you are, when the event is happening and where it will be. These are known as the five W’s of journalism and should be included in every pitch letter and press release you write.

The second paragraph should explain why the producer or editor/reporter should have you on the show or include you in an article in their publication. For city and regional media, give them a local angle. It can showcase you as a local person, give a local example of a national incident or trend, or be related to the community. An example would be if you saw an article in the Wall Street Journal touting how writing a book can be a quick road to success. Copy the article and attach it to a pitch letter that offers to give the reporter an inside look at what really happens to authors from a local source.

For national television, radio and print media, tie yourself to a national trend or incident. Remember that reporters are always looking for material that can be tied to a holiday, is timely or gives a new slant to a current trend or issue.

The third paragraph explains how you can be reached. Give them phone numbers and voice mail even if it is already printed on your letterhead. If you plan to contact them, tell them when.

Above all, make sure that what you are pitching is what the media person needs. Don’t pitch your book signing to the gardening editor or the financial editor, you’ll only make enemies. Research is important. Look at back issues of a publication or watch/listen to a show before you pitch. Get to know what types of people they interview, what topics seem to repeated often and which journalist is the one reporting. If this seems like a lot of work, it is. But thorough investigation will pay off in better responses from the media. Their number one complaint is that they receive material which is not suited to their publication or show.

Media people need and want fresh ideas for their publications and shows. If you give them what they need, and make it easy for them, the more likely they will be to use your material and possibly interview you. Remember to think like a journalist on a deadline when you’re writing a pitch letter. Keep it clear, concise and direct and your pitch might give you a home run.

So how do you do this? How much information is too much? What is the best way to hook them? How can you make sure they’ll read through to the end?To answer these questions, one of the students in the class has kindly given me permission to go through her class assignment and analyze it for you so you can see the process I go through when writing a pitch letter.

SAMPLE PITCH LETTER VERSION #1

Dear XXX:

What about choice?

I’ve often wondered why the minority rule. Why is it two or three outspoken people can control a situation? Because they instill fear? Because they’re obnoxious? Or is it just easier to give into laziness rather than argue with them?

As the author of the children’s book series, Fortune Tellers Club (Llewellyn Publications), I have dealt firsthand with situations of exclusion because of this blunt minority. I’ve been denied book signings by store managers, both chain and independent. I’ve been shut out of school presentations. I’ve been told no too many times, based on the objections (or possible objections) of a select few. Why? Because my twelve-year-old book characters solve mysteries using divination.

As a parent, I believe we should review what our children are reading and help them to make the right choices. However, I feel parents have a right only to choose for their own children - not mine - not the neighbor’s - not everyone’s. It is wrong for an author to be denied the opportunity to sell her books based on one or two parents, who feel the content is inappropriate for all. This is clearly a form of censorship, and denial of my first
amendment rights.

I’ll be contacting you next week about a possible interview for your program.
At your request I’d be happy to send you a packet containing my bio, FAQ, and
censorship statistics. You may reach me at 555-321-1234 or author address@email me

Censorship comes in all forms. Awareness is the key to freedom. It’s all about choice.

Best,

ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE PITCH VERSION # 1

In the general, this pitch letter is more editorial opinion that pitch. (Which would be great if we were pitching an op ed piece for the newspaper, which you can do, by the way.) There are lot of “I” statements (I’ve often wondered, I have dealt, I’ve been denied, I believe). These tend to turn journalists off because their automatic response is “Why do I care? I don’t know you.” We can turn this around by showing how it impacts their audience, making them care more about the subject matter.

Second thing that grabbed my attention was that the real meat of this story that makes it different from anything else, is buried at the end of the second paragraph. The fact that people are scared because the children use divination in the book is fascinating. What about it scares people so much they’d have this reaction? What does that say about our society? Personally, I’d push that to the front for my hook. It’s different, fresh and can get a lot of people talking about something that they are passionate about–freedom of religion, freedom of speech. In fact, if you wanted to, you could even put a post war spin on this thing and get some stunning results!

Third item is the tone. Much of the word choice in the letter pointed to anger, frustration and a feeling of injustice. These aren’t real high on ringing the sympathy bell with journalists. It comes across as whining, even if you don’t intend it that way. They figure if you are whining in the letter, they don’t want to hand you a mic and have a half hour of it on the air.

Fourth is turning the driving home point away from yourself and toward the journalist. Rather than wrapping it up with your thoughts, get them thinking. Show them what you can do to bring heat and juice to their show.

The contact paragraph was fine. I also liked that she included her message points toward the end. The end is what people tend to remember most, if they get that far in the letter.

Here’s how I’d solve the issues above and rewrite the letter:

PITCH LETTER VERSION # 2

Dear XXX:

Flame’s licked at the edge of the Harry Potter book, curling it quickly into charred black remains. Book burning is alive and well in our country. On March 26, 2001, 45 members of the Harvest Assembly of God Church in Penn Township threw books, CD’s and other items they found offensive to God into the flames. They were only oneof hundreds of groups across the country. Unfortunately fires aren’t the only agents of censorship. During Banned Book Week, September 20-27, 2003, show your readers just how far people are willing to go to censor their reading materials.

Today censorship is as close as your child’s classroom. Stories with any fantasy element like Harry Potter or those found in the Fortune Tellers Club, a group of young sleuths who solve mysteries using divination, are considered too risky to be read and therefore banned or blocked by bookstores, school programs, libraries and more. Are you aware of who’s deciding your child’s choices? What are we so afraid of? What can we do?

As a multiple-published author of children’s fiction I can give first hand accounts of what’s being done currently to ban books that don’t fit the conventions of a few, and share with your audience what they can do to protect their children from censorship. Awareness is the key to keeping the freedom of choice we enjoy in this country.

I’ll be contacting you next week about a possible interview. A full press kit is available upon request or available online at my website www.unconventionalfictionauthor.com. You can reach me at 555-321-1234 or writemehere@unconventionalfictionauthor.com. In advance, thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Regards,

I hope you can see the difference it tone, story hook and push here. I’ve tied it to a reporting window of opportunity, Banned Book Week, because I know they are going to be reporting something on it. I’ve positioned myself as an authority on the subject matter and pointed out a problem, censorship in schools - who decides.

Now I’m going to move into phone pitches.

PHONE PITCHES

The phone is one of public relations most important tools. But there is a right way and a wrong way to approach calling editors, producers and reporters.

Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes public relations professionals make is not followingup on every item they mail out. Too many pitch letters, press releases and press kits go unnoticed because there is no follow up call made, and that, is money wasted.

As an author working on your own public relations you will need to make “the call” to a reporter, editor or producer at some point in time. When you make your follow-up calls, the following techniques will make you sound like a PR pro:

• Know what your key message points are ahead of time and write everything down on a paper you keep near the phone. Many times you’ll have to leave a voice mail and will have the reporter/producer/editor call you back. Having the information at your fingertips will prevent you from getting flustered when they call back.
• Practice in advance what you are going to say and how you say it. Use a tape recorder to help you if you’re not confident about how you sound.
• When you talk on the phone, SMILE. You can hear a smile! Standing up also changes your demeanor on the phone.
• Immediately state your name.
• Always check to see if you are calling at a good time. Some media are on deadline and will not be receptive no matter how perfect your material is for them. If they say no, ask them when would be better to call them back, then do it.
• If it is a good time, get to the point by telling the producer or editor who, what, when and where of your pitch.
• Be enthusiastic, energetic, chatty, upbeat and personable. You can talk passionately and freely, but keep it brief and sincere.
• If you’ve got their attention with your hook, but haven’t locked in an interview, tell them a story related to your hook. If they seem interested, but not hooked, offer a no-strings-attached interview for five minutes.
• Remember that no doesn’t mean no. It may really mean not right now, or it isn’t right for my section or show. Be persistent without becoming obnoxious. Don’t give up until they say DON’T CALL ME. And even then don’t take it personally.
• If you get voice mail make sure you have a script written. Give your name. You then have 20-30 seconds to pitch yourself and tell them why their talk show or magazine needs you and what you can offer. Tell them what you’ve already sent and then restate your phone number. Here’s an example:
Hi Michael.
This is Theresa Meyers and I’m calling to discuss an interview exclusive for the Leeza Show. Do you know one of the biggest problem Americans have in their relationships is confusing sex with romance? Author Amy Gerret, can shed some light on why society is failing to keep relationships meaningful. She’ll be in Los Angeles on August 25th on a book tour. Would you like to have her give your viewers her top ten ways to get romance back in a relationship? I sent you her latest book, In The Storm, and a packet of materials last week. You can reach me weekdays from 9-5pm pacific time. My name again is Theresa Meyers and my number is 360-895-0879. That’s 360-895-0879. Thank you.

Along with these “do’s” there are some definite “don’ts” when it comes to making follow-up calls.

Talking with these folks isn’t as daunting as it may seem. The practice of making follow-up calls on each and every piece you send out also teach some discipline. After all, if you have a choice of sending out 500 or 200 press kits and are trying to decide if it is worth the extra money, you can balance that choice with the time and effort it will require to make the phone calls for each of those kits.

Do public relations professionals actually make that many calls? You bet! Even if you dread doing it, it is well worth it. Once you start making the calls, you’ll get a flow going and it will become easier. With practice, patience and persistence you should see more interviews being booked or publicity increasing as a result of making “the call”.

I hope this more in-depth discussion of pitching has been helpful and given you new insights.