Introducing The International Association of Writers

Launch an Organization
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

The International Association of Writers (http://www.AssociationofWriters.com) is a membership organization—and a model for how you can create an association around a book or business to extend your publicity efforts. Launching an organization such as the IAW can be a perfect way to get attention—from both the public and the media. Here’s how to do it:

Have a good answer to ‘Why?’
Be prepared with a good answer when people ask you, “Why start this organization?” (There are lots of great writing organizations—but only the IAW provides publicity assistance, such as a Speakers’ Bureau and Media Database of Experts; and it is these publicity vehicles that are a writer’s biggest asset in today’s economic climate.)

Lock in the website
Lock in the domain name for your association. When journalists do a story, usually the first thing they do is Google the topic. If you’re the director of an international association on your topic, with a website to match, you’re automatically going to be one of their first go-to sources.

Don’t be a one-person operation
It’s easy to let your personal expertise dominate a membership site, but don’t do it: Include information and input from the top experts in the field, even if they’re competitors. Partner with experts for articles, audios, and special reports—so that you’re providing a plethora of useful information to subscribers that would be hard to find elsewhere. (Check out the top names in the field that make up the International Association of Writers’ panel of contributors.)

Include perks that appeal to advertisers
Don’t forget advertisers. IAW has a calendar section where advertisers can list upcoming workshops and programs, and a jobs bank for open writing positions, among other things. Ad revenues can mean big bucks for a fledgling organization.

Become an information mecca
Provide enough information that you’re an info mecca for related industries. For example, literary agents look at the IAW because of the author query letters; journalists seek quotes via the media database of experts; editors look for freelance writers and ghostwriters for book projects; headhunters want writers to fill positions; meeting planners seek potential speakers; ezine and website editors look at the syndicated articles bank; bloggers look to see who’s making news… Find out what your clientele needs, and meet those needs.

Provide incentive for early adopters
Encourage advance membership signup by offering special incentives for anyone signing up early. For example, IAW offers three big bonuses—including participation in the Syndicated Articles Directory, the International Speakers’ Bureau, and the Database of Experts to the Media—absolutely free to writers who sign up before the November launch. Provide discounts or limited-availability extras for early adopters.

Define your audience wisely but widely
Zero in on your audience—but then define it as broadly as possible. Instead of an association of women writers, the IAW offers membership to both men and women; instead of a US-based association, the IAW is international in scope. Go after as wide a market as is appropriate—and then deliver to your promised audience.

Select an appropriate price point
Choose a membership fee that will work for a large percentage of your target audience. (IAW membership is $149, and includes a host of benefits that would cost much, much more if purchased separately.)

So consider launching an organization to help promote your book sales. And then come promote your business at the International Association of Writers!

Fern Reiss is Director of the International Association of Writers (http://www.AssociationofWriters.com) providing publicity vehicles to writers worldwide. She’s also CEO of PublishingGame.com (www.PublishingGame.com) and Expertizing.com (www.Expertizing.com) and the author of The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days, The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days. Her Expertizing® Publicity Forum enables you to pitch your book or business directly to journalists and literary agents; more information at www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm. Sign up for her free newsletter at http://www.AssociationofWriters.com

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Publicize Your Novel

Publicize Your Novel
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

“It’s so much harder to publicize a novel,” is the lament of many authors. Harder maybe, but not impossible. Try these methods of novel publicity:

Put nonfiction hooks in your novel. The reason most authors find nonfiction easier to publicize than fiction is that nonfiction, almost by definition, contains ‘hooks’ around which you can leverage publicity: How-to books on golfing, for example, can lend themselves to doing talk radio shows where you share your golfing techniques; nonfiction guides to golden retrievers can become print articles on caring for your golden retriever. But novels can enjoy the same sorts of hooks if you consciously insert them. So think carefully about your passions—hobbies, pastimes, collections, pets—and then integrate your favorites into your novel. If you’re an avid golfer, make one of your characters an avid golfer. If you love your golden retriever, put one in your novel. That way, you can get the same broadcast and print coverage for your novel that you would for a nonfiction book with that hook.

Market to your hooks. Once you’ve got a few good nonfiction hooks in your novel, plan your marketing efforts around them. If your character is an avid golfer, you can sell your novel at golf conventions and golf shows and golf pro shops and golf courses. If your novel focuses around golden retrievers, you can find and market to the (vast) dog-loving audience. Golfers like to read books about golfers, and dog-lovers like to read books about dogs, so be sure you’re working your hooks and going after your natural audience.

Include reality in your novel. The more real items you can include in your novel, the more you broaden your marketing options. So include real locations, real corporations, real associations. (Of course, be sure you use these real venues and groups just as colorful background detail; don’t say anything libelous and don’t violate trademarks, obviously.) Once your book includes real locations and groups, you can try to sell your books in those locations, make quantity sales to those corporations and associations. (And if anyone can figure out a subtle way for me to include Canyon Ranch or Bermuda in my next book, please let me know.)

Figure out a reading alternative. Sadly, not that many people attend book readings unless the author is already famous. So what can you do if you’re a good, but not-yet-famous novelist? Design an alternative to the traditional reading. Again, follow your niche: If your book features a knitter, design a knitting event; if your book showcases a chef, put together a cooking demonstration. Your target audience will be interested in a nonfiction presentation or event just as much (or maybe more) than a reading—and you’ll likely sell more books as a result.

Try some novel ideas. Finally, capitalize on all the clever creative tricks you can maneuver only as the writer of a novel. For example, invite visitors to your website to compete for the rights to have a cameo role in your next novel—a sure-fire way to increase your ability to harvest readers’ email addresses. Or print up t-shirts with cartoons or caricature based on your novel. (One writer I consulted with ended up creating a whole set of body tattoos based on her novel.) Or walk around a busy resort town dressed as a character from your novel, handing out promotional postcards. Think out of that proverbial box—and work some novel ideas that nonfiction writers really can’t touch.

By following these suggestions, you’ll be able to simply and effectively publicize your novel. Please let me know how it goes!

Fern Reiss is CEO of PublishingGame.com, offering books, workshops, and consulting on how to get a literary agent, publish, and promote a book. She is also CEO of Expertizing.com, teaching people how to get more media attention for themselves and their business; in the past six months, she’s been quoted in over 100 publications from the NY Times to Wall Street Week. Sign up at http://www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm for her complimentary monthly email newsletter on how to get more media attention for yourself, your book, and your business.

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Last Day of BEA

Sunday: Last day of BEA.

After a late night hanging out with my friend Mim from Levenger's, I start this last day of BEA early with breakfast at the Harvard Club with some folks from Amazon. Amazon is, as usual, doing some interesting things, and as always bears watching. Their latest is a strategic alliance (ok, they bought it) with MobyPocket.com, a company which can transfer ebooks onto cellphones and other devices -- "platform agnostic," as they say. This is a development to watch.

After breakfast, I head out to the show. I get a brief chance to wander the Small Press Section, catching up with friends and acquaintances, before heading over to meet my friend Rachel from PW and catch up with their latest.

Next on my list is lunch with Victoria Sutherland, the progressive editor of Foreword Magazine. (Tip: Always bring your own sandwiches to BEA; you could spend your entire weekend waiting on lines.)

After lunch I head to the Publishers Marketing Association booth to volunteer some time. I get a chance to catch up with a few friends there, as well as the opportunity to meet Anna Olswanger in person, after many years of list and email communication.

Finally, I've got one last meeting with an agent at the Rights Center, to float the idea of whether Expertizing will be a book anytime soon.

The end of the day sees me back on 44th Street, running the Harvard Authors and Publishers meeting. Tomorrow I'll do an all-day Publishing Game workshop (already full at 18 people) and then it's back to Boston.

In recent years, it's been the serendipity of BEA which I've found so appealing. I have met, usually in the coffee line, everyone from the book buyer at Walmart to the audio editor at Booklist. Today is no exception, and the day ends with my trading cards with the book buyer from Books Are Fun.

Next year, BEA will be in DC in mid-May. I hope to see you there.

Friday: First official day of BEA.

Books? Check.
Map and BEA guidebook? Check.
Agent proposals? Check.

The first year I did BEA I had no clue what I was doing. I wandered the aisles aimlessly, happily stuffed advance galleys into totebags, collected more than my fair share of magnets, canvas bags, stuffed animals, and cool baseball hats, and had a glorious time. I also accomplished almost nothing.

That was seven years ago. Since then, my BEA days have gotten more and more packed, until now I have appointments booked virtually every half hour. I come home having accomplished a lot more, though I have to admit it's not quite as much fun. (Also I come home with fewer fun toys.)

Today I've allocated an hour and a half of 'wander' time into the schedule, and that's how I start the day. I'm a more informed wanderer than I used to be, and I am so organized about which galleys I am seeking that I am the very first person into attendee shipping and my box of chosen treasures the very first box shipped. I know this because they have to practice on me; my suggestion that I get a freebie for providing guinea pig services is jovially ignored. (Tip: If you're interested in bringing galleys home from BEA, get them early and ship them early. By the end of the show the lines in attendee shipping become horrendous. Keep in mind that attendee shipping is also a great place to store your stuff during the show: Raincoats, extra books, etc, can all be stashed in your box. The only better locale in which to stash stuff is the cubby hole area in the Rights Center, and you need at least one appointment to access that.)

Although I'm intent on my list of desired galleys, and am picking up very few items not on my checklist, I do spare a moment to leaf through the oddest galley I've seen at Book Expo this year: The "Veggie Bible" by Integrity, which is a dictionary of both Biblical terms and vegetable terms. ??? I am clearly not the market for this book.

The most clever guerilla marketing tactic I've seen at this show is courtesy of the author of TEA, who I've met earlier in the week at PMA U. He's enlisted legions of helper bees to hand out numbered pins with the TEA logo; the gimmick is if you find your matching number, the two of you can collect $100 at the TEA booth.

I spend the remainder of my morning interviewing distributors. After seven years of GCing my own distribution, with inroads into Barnes and Noble, Ingram, and all the other big accounts, I've decided it's time to consider letting someone else handle the minutiae, and I interview several distributors (some of whom think they're interviewing me.)

I take a quick fly past the Simon and Schuster exhibit, because I promised Pat Holt I'd see what they were doing for Terry Ryan's "Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio," one of my favorite books from that year, and am disappointed that despite the upcoming movie, it rates only a small poster amidst a crowded wall.

Then after a quick gobble of peanut butter sandwich (BEA is not a gastronomic feast unless you bring your own food) it's on to meet the agents. I'm meeting with three literary agents this BEA, to discuss whether a mainstream publisher can pick up "Expertizing: Position Yourself as a Name Brand." The problem in the past has been that I would make more self-publishing this book; this year, my new idea is to sell it to a publisher and keep 10,000 copies for my newsletter mailing list, which will allow me the best of traditional publishing and the cash of self-publishing. Maybe. Check back in a few weeks for the update.

Then it's on to meet Linda Walker of F&W, because Writer's Digest buys my Publishing Game books for the book club; they're interested in the forthcoming title, "The Publishing Game: Syndicate a Column in 30 Days," and will put in a purchase order for 1000 books as soon as I give them a final schedule for the book. I discuss some other potential avenues of joint business with them, and we agree to touch base soon.

I have just enough time to rush over to the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards ceremony, where I'm doing a 15 minute talk on Expertizing. I collect a lot of business cards, and make plans to meet Foreword's publisher, Victoria Sutherland, for lunch on Sunday.

Then I, like everyone else at BEA, spend a frustrated 40 minutes trying to hail a cab (Tip: Never go anywhere in Manhattan between 4:30 and 5:30; the cabs go off duty and can't be had for love or money) and give up. We end up walking the 2+ miles to Greenwich Village. Did I mention that it's pouring rain?

It's worth it when I get to the California Literary Tea, a staple of BEA. I meet a lot of interesting publicists, and some media, including a Newsday connection that I haven't seen since last year. Maybe I'll get a story out of this show yet.

I'm supposed to be continuing on to the ASJA party at the Westport Rooftop and the IPPY awards at the Marriott, but it's pouring and I'm tired, and I've got another few days of excitement coming up, so I head back to the hotel.

More ahead...

Thursday: The usual whirl of trying-to-cram-it-all-in-before-BEA experience.

My day starts at 7 am with the Independent Publishers of New England meeting. I do a flying visit to the Audio Publishers Association (conveniently meeting upstairs in the same hotel as PMA U) because I'm coming out with the fifth book in the Publishing Game series later this year, "The Publishing Game: Create Audio Products in 30 Days," and I want to check out the new vendors.

I do a little on-the-spot consulting with two authors with BEA-related issues and questions, thereby amortizing the cost of all the taxis I'm about to start taking.

A few more networking and client meetings, a quick lunch, and it's off to the Javitz Center to get my badge (Tip: Always get your badge the day before, if possible, when the lines are ten minutes rather than 45), drop off books and totebags in the Small Press Center (Tip: Always find someone else to exhibit your books so you won't have to -- saves both effort and money), and drop off my contribution to the American Booksellers for Freedom of Expression auction, which this year is free admission to my all-day Publishing Game Workshop plus a set of the books, a $249 value. (Tip: Always contribute to the ABFFE auction! ABFFE is a wonderful cause, and one all authors and small publishers should be supporting.) Most exasperating moment at Javitz: When I realized that the Small Press section, usually buried so far up in the rafters that visiting requires oxygen, is actually not located in the main hall though the large banner claims it is, but is, as usual, down in the dungeon below. I discover this after I've shlepped my bags of books up and down the non-working escalators several times.

Then it's a quick pop in to the Writers' Collective reception, an even quicker appearance at the WNBA reception (where I finally get to meet Donna Paz of Bookseller School fame, after admiring her for decades and a quick catch-up with Karin from the Small Press Center) and it's off to the Pub-Forum dinner for independent publishers, which Sharon Goldinger and I organized this year. (Organizing was the easy part; singing the song was the tricky part :*)

Tomorrow it's an early morning wake-up call for Book Expo, and a day packed with appointments and meetings. Stay tuned...

Today's stats:
Cab rides (2), $16; meals consumed (2); Funniest moment: At our indy publisher dinner when PW's midwest correspondent Claire Kirsch claimed her status as secret love child of Alan 'Rantin' Canton.

Talking points for PMA U talk? Check.
Supplies for speaker bookstore? Check.
Flyers galore? Check.

Wednesday morning: PMA University is a small publishers' heaven. The newbies to independent publishing love it because the educational sessions are unparalled, at BEA or elsewhere. We oldtimers love it just as much, because it's such a great opportunity to reconnect with everyone in the ind

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Viral PR & Fortune Magazine

OK. So a lot of people have been writing in and asking me how I managed to garner a full-page feature story on my Expertizing workshops in Fortune Small Business Magazine.

I'll 'fess up all to the subscribers of my free Expertizing email newsletter on getting more media attention for your book & biz in next week's issue (Sign up now so you don't miss it!).

But here I wanted to come clean (and if you haven't seen the Come Clean ad it's worth a peek) about the value -- and necessity -- of meta publicity, or viral PR.

Getting a full-page feature in a major business magazine has been great for business. But Fortune Small Business doesn't go to everyone in the world -- their subscribers number a paltry million people. So here's what else I did to spread the word:

1. I put up a mention of the Fortune coverage at both the PublishingGame.com and Expertizing.com websites.

2. I mentioned it on all the writing, publishing, and promotion listserves I frequent.

3. I sent out a press release detailing the coverage.

4. I added the press release to the media page of the Expertizing.com site.

5. Based on the press release, I got several additional requests for articles on Expertizing (including from Steven Covey's Sales and Service Excellence newsletter) and many interviews with other publications, including Bulldog Reporter's Media Relations.

6. I'm expanding on some of the details of how to get big stories like the Fortune feature in my online syndicated column which goes to thousands of ezines and websites monthly.

7. I wrote a letter to the editor of Fortune, to see if I could also wangle my way into next month's issue.

8. And now I'm including it in this blog.

So when you think you've exhausted all the media attention you can, think again. There's almost always some more meta-marketing to be wrung out of your PR.

Write me at Fern@PublishingGame.com.

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Business Lessons from the Soup Kitchen

Going into the season of good cheer etc, etc, it seems an appropriate time to share a few excerpts from my forthcoming book (Agents: Please take note!) Business Lessons from the Soup Kitchen. Somewhere between the One Minute Manager and All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Business Lessons from the Soup Kitchen is a story about business and soup.

Most of the week I'm CEO of Expertizing.com and PublishingGame.com. But my business skills were not acquired via an MBA program; mostly they've come from the soup kitchen. On Thursday nights, I (along with my husband and three children -- ages 11, 8, and almost 4) prepare and serve food to 100 mostly homeless people in Harvard Square. When we began, I thought of it as a nice way to help out a less fortunate population. I never expected to learn what I have. Here are some of the things I've learned, and how they apply to business:

1. Don't make judgments about how much you think people can afford to pay. People on both sides of the table in our soup kitchen look -- well, the same. It's hard to know which are the guests and which the volunteers. (In fact, some of the current volunteers used to be guests -- and vice versa.) Similarly, I've found that the least likely prospects in business often become clients, and the more likely prospects often don't. (That's true for speaking gigs, too. I've spoken to groups of poor writers who ended up becoming valued clients, and groups of rich executives who never ante'd up.) Never assume. You can't necessarily judge based on clothing, website, or business.

2. They're picky eaters if they're not hungry. Even at a soup kitchen, people who aren't hungry don't want to eat. If someone isn't quite hungry enough for your products and services, they'll seem pretty picky, ask zillions of questions, and give you grief. They may buy -- maybe -- but they're equally likely to tell you they're going to think about it and come back later.

3. But when they're hungry enough, they'll eat anything. Once people are good and ready for your services, they'll buy as long as you're standing there with what they need.

4. But only if you're there the day they're hungry. If they're hungry on Tuesday, and soup kitchen isn't until Thursday, you're going to lose them. There may be another chance on Thursday -- but if you can catch them when they need you, you have a better chance of feeding them.

(More coming later this week.)

Email me at Fern@PublishingGame.com

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Barnes & Noble and the Small Press Bookfair

I was dismayed by the reception accorded Marcella Smith, Director of the Small Press Department of Barnes & Noble, at the annual Small Press Book Fair on Sunday. Speaking to a group of over 100 exhibiting small publishers (including moi, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com), Marcella gave an interesting overview of how B&N works with small presses, and then offered to answer questions.

But a series of hostile and aggressive questions from participants turned what could have been a valuable session into an embarrassment.

Certainly small publishers should continue to ask the difficult questions. Asking whether B&N will be able to continue to stock small press titles now that they are in the publishing business themselves is legitimate. (Marcella's answer: B&N Press books are expected to be limited to 10% of all store titles.)

But repeatedly cutting off and interrupting the invited speaker is inexcusable -- and certainly won't generate more sympathy for the small publishers as a group.

Moreover, wasting your valuable airtime with B&N griping about the way the book business runs is -- well, futile. If small publishers are unhappy about the preponderance of returns, about the difficulties of breaking into the bookstores with an unusual title, and about the fact that all books are sold on consignment (just some of the concerns raised) then they should mobilize to change the industry. Kvetching to one of the few people who is a strong advocate for small publishers doesn't further their cause.

Marcella Smith was astoundingly gracious in the face of antagonism, and repeatedly invited the publishers (even the rude ones) to phone her. But if I were her, I'd screen my calls.

Fiascos like this only make the small publishing community look smaller.

Write me at Fern@PublishingGame.com.

Conflicted Conferences

Last month, I keynoted the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN) Marketing Conference. Drawing close to 100 small publishers from across the country, SPAN's conference is second only to Publishers Marketing Association University in scope and size, and a great showcase for PublishingGame.com and Expertizing.com.

But although I enjoyed the conference, the organizers, and the participants immensely, I came away from it with the realization that there is an essential conflict of interest inherent to this type of conference -- or maybe to all conferences -- because of their inclusion of vendors.

On the one hand, the conference organizers want you to get as much as possible out of the conference. On the other hand, they want to keep their (high paying) vendors happy. This can sometimes mean that conference participants do not get accurate information, if industry standards are in conflict with what particular vendors are hawking. And since new publishers attend conferences such as this to be educated, they're not necessarily aware of the misinformation they're receiving.

So Amazon might be pushing their Search-Inside-The-Book program (as they were at the SPAN conference) which might result in more book sales for publishers—or it might result in a loss of their intellectual property.

Print-on-Demand publishers may be offering bundled services such as editing, design, and publicity, which sounds like an attractive package—but the pricetag may be higher than what publishers might pay to buy those services separately, or the quality of those individual components may not be great. (Not to mention the fact that many of the POD companies attending these conferences are happily obfuscating the fact that the trade journals will not review POD books -- nor will bookstores purchase them.)

Marketers may encourage authors to participate in the latest craze, a create-a-bestseller program where you urge your email list to buy a particular book on a particular day so that you rise to the top of the Amazon or B&N heap—but individuals may not be comfortable using their customer list in this way, or may not agree that it enhances their reputation to achieve this 'false' bestseller status.

Part of the allure of being your own publisher is the freedom to make decisions your way. So it's important, particularly at conferences where participating vendors may have motives other than your own, to not be swayed by what everyone else is doing. Evaluate what’s being offered or sold, and determine your comfort level with it. And then make your own decisions.

(This is what I ended up telling the SPAN attendees in my closing statement. It earned me a standing ovation. But only because the vendors had already packed up and headed home :*)

Write me at Fern@PublishingGame.com.

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Tangential Mentions Can Be Worthwhile
originally posted: September 28, 2004

You can't always get a full-page media story on your product or service, but tangential mentions can also be beneficial. And the side benefit of a peripheral mention is that there'll be very little competition from others in your niche.

For example, on Friday I was quoted in a United Press International article. (A single mention in one of the top syndication services such as UPI can result in millions of readers being exposed to your offerings.)

The article was on the bankruptcy filings of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, and how the low-carb craze may have contributed. I was the lead quote. The other experts quoted were James Greco, Chief Executive of Bruegger's Bagels, Scott Livengood, CEO of Krispy Kreme, and Fred Pescatore, a physician and former medical director of the Atkins Center.

So how did I get into this piece populated by CEO bakery experts?

"It's the 'branding' of carbs that's killing sales," I emailed the reporter. "America's donut days are dead; we're past the time when doughy fluffy breads and fat-laden donuts are appealing; regular carbs are passe. From a branding standpoint, the market is ready for the 'new carbs' -- crunchy Italian baguettes, sexy seeded breadsticks, and vegetable-infused crackers. Wonder Bread's days are over. But the marketer who is successfully able to introduce the new carbs is going to hit gold."
--Fern Reiss, CEO, Expertizing.com

I was the only marketing/branding expert quoted in the piece. Probably, I was the only one who contacted the reporter -- because most marketers, unless they are responsible for marketing pastries and donuts, wouldn't have seen this as the golden opportunity that I did.

So think outside your box, and see how you can apply your expertise to seemingly unrelated topics. If you start seeing the world as somehow 'related' to your product, you'll start getting a lot more media attention.

(Want to find out more about how to be quoted by journalists on a regular basis? You can sign up for the Expertizing newsletter directly at Expertizing.com.)

Link to Pop Culture

If you can link the topic of your book or business to popular culture or current advertising, you have a good chance of being quoted in the media over the expert who isn't trying to be hip.

A journalist from a major women's magazine was recently doing a health piece on surprising new health tidbits. This sort of article can be tricky to get into if you don't have a medical degree (and I don't.)

I do have a book called The Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage which I thought would be perfect for a mention in this piece, since my book is based on over 500 medical studies and examines hundreds of links between diet and fertility. One of those links is the milk connection: There was a study done at Harvard Medical School that showed that the more milk you consume, the less fertile you become.

I could have written to the journalist and said the following: "Scientists have discovered a sugar in milk, called galactose, which causes infertility. The more galactose present in your system, the greater your chances of infertility. I'm the author of..."

Yawn.

Instead, this is what I e-mailed the journalist:

"Got milk? Get rid of it. The more milk you drink, the less fertile you become. I'm the author of "The Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage," and according to a recent Harvard Medical School study, milk is the last thing infertile women should be drinking."

It was the 'got milk' pop connection that got me into this piece. So think pop culture, and use it to give your information a twist to make it soundbite material. (Playing off Trump's "You're Fired!" line last year, for example, would have been a 'sure fire' winner.)

(Want to find out more about how to be quoted by journalists on a regular basis? You can sign up for the Expertizing newsletter directly at Expertizing.com.)

Write me at Fern@PublishingGame.com.

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Expertizing: Media Attention for your Business
originally posted: September 23, 2004

Thought I'd try using this space as a forum for talking about one of the things I seem to do best: Getting media attention for my books and biz.

Branding, marketing, PR, positioning, advertising, visibility, publicity -- they're all buzz words for getting more attention from the press. More air time with journalists. How do you do that?

In the past six months, I've been quoted in over 100 publications -- everything from the New York Times and International Herald Tribune to Life Magazine. I call this kind of media positioning "Expertizing" -- and it's great for business, pretty much regardless of the type of business you're in.

So I'm going to periodically post tips, more like case studies, on how I get this kind of consistent media attention. If you're interested in hearing more, sign up for my free weekly email newsletter at http://www.PublishingGame.com. And enjoy!
/Fern

&&&&&

If, in talking to journalists, you can somehow tie in to the news, you’re just about guaranteed to be quoted.

My most striking example of this happened with Voice of America a few years ago. I had written a book called “Terrorism and Kids: Comforting Your Child,” which came out two days after 9/11. The book won an American Booksellers Association BookSense award, received reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and was a small press bestseller for several months. But it didn’t sell many copies overseas. When I saw a query from a Voice of America journalist, it occurred to me that though domestic sales were slowing, there was still a need for the book in the international market. And Voice of America is a radio program that broadcasts to an exclusively international audience.

The problem was, the Voice of America journalist wasn’t doing a piece on terrorism and kids.

He was doing a piece on the popularity of home theatre systems.

Now, I could have just emailed another journalist at Voice of America. (But it’s always easier to get into a piece that you know is being researched, rather than cold-calling a journalist who’s not necessarily doing a story.) Or I could have tried for another publication. (Ditto.)

Instead—since I had the contact information for the journalist doing the home theatre piece, and more importantly, since I knew he was looking for sources and quotes for his piece—I emailed him and got ten full minutes on Voice of America. Here was my overture:

-----------------------
Hi Bob,
You can actually thank Osama bin Laden for the sudden popularity of home theatre systems. In the wake of 9/11, Americans are bringing their entertainment (and their business, and their food, by the way) into their home. It’s a 9/11 nesting response.

I’m the author of the book, “Terrorism and Kids: Comforting Your Child” (more info at http://www.TerrorismandKids.com)
Best,
/Fern
--------------------------

Ten full minutes on Voice of America. In a piece on home theatre systems.

So figure out a way to hook their topic, and your business, to the news in some way. Believe me, if I could do it with home theatre systems, you can do it with anything!

(Next blog: Labradoodles and Life Magazine. Stay tuned. Or sign up for the Expertizing newsletter directly at http://www.Expertizing.com

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"Since we've become neighbors on the top ten blog list lately, I've been reading you with pleasure and interest, too, and checking out your websites. I was thinking of dropping you a note to tell you how much I liked both blog and sites. Very impressive. You're working hard, lady; I can tell. "
Robert Gray, blogger

Fern Reiss is CEO of Expertizing.com / PublishingGame.com. She is the author of "The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days," "The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days," and "The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days," all Writer's Digest Book Club bestsellers. In the past six months, she has been quoted, and her books and business mentioned, in over 100 publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, and Fortune Small Business. Her Expertizing workshops teach people to get consistent daily media attention for their books & business. Her book, "Expertizing: Position Yourself as a Name Brand" is forthcoming. Get her free weekly email newsletter on getting more media attention for your business and book at PublishingGame.com