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Publicity Planner for 2011

Publicity Planner for 2011

Every year I create a forward-looking publicity calendar to help identify opportunities for people which is available in a free pdf file download.

It contains a lot of unusual holidays so that you can really get creative and think up ways to tie-in to calendar events well in advance of the day they occur.

Here’s the link:

Publicity Planner for 2011
http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/Publicitycalendar2011.pdf


Enjoy!

Timing the transmittal of a news release

One of the members of the POD Publishing discussion group asked the following question:

When do you recommend going out with the press release (i.e. on the release date, a month before, etc.).

——-

Timing news releases depends what you are trying to accomplish and where you are at in your publishing or product release schedule. You must first recognize the key event date and then take media lead times into account. If this is associated with the publication of a book or a new product, this is usually associated with the official publication date or release date.

I do not generally advise sending out a news release till you can satisfy media requests for review copies or product test samples and interviews with the right person or people. If you can’t satisfy the media then you hurt yourself since you get a request which opens the door of opportunity but then you can’t satisfy the media’s request immediately. So you reduce the chances of getting the coverage you seek. So it depends when your books are available to you and that usually is a month or so before an official publication date, but this varies and is often a flexible date.

Second, the public has to be able to buy the product when the media publishes the news. So that means it has to be available at Amazon and/or BN.com plus any number of other web sites, and possibly be available in bookstores and or through bookstores so you can financially benefit (that is sell product) from the national or targeted demand your publicity seeks to create. This means you should not launch a news release or publicity campaign until the business system is totally operational. If you need to book to be in the bookstores or retail shops first, then you have to wait until your distributor tells you it is time to hit the switch. You have to be prepared to do what’s necessary to publicize and promote so that the window of opportunity doesn’t slip by and the lack of demand results in returns. Timing so that publicity hits when the product is in the stores is pretty crucial. If you are selling totally online, then this is not as crucial a factor.

You have to factor media lead time into account. This means you look two to three publications cycles ahead of the media you seek to get coverage in or on and then also take into account things like media response time to your pitch, mailing and delivery time, assignment time, the time it takes to read, write, review and then actually publish an approved article. For daily newspapers, this means a week to two weeks minimum and many times usually requires a month; for weekly newspapers, this is four to six weeks or more; for magazines this is four to six months. For radio and TV, it’s seven to ten days minimum, and preferably two to four weeks. Online media can of course react very quickly but many of the response and review times do factor into how soon these media can respond effectively. That’s all assuming you want media to do something with your book.

This means that you really have to stagger your news releases and target your media carefully if you are to take advantage of the medias needs. magazines require four to six months, so you hit them first. You do the short term media two to four weeks before your official public availability date. If you wait till the one month before launch date, then magazine publicity will come last and in some cases you lose the opportunity to time the coverage that you need at the time of product release. Still magazine publicirty at the back end can be a very helpful thing to have indeed since it will sustain your sales once the impacts of the short term efforts and coverage start to diminish.

Let’s say though that you are publicizing an event like a book signing, or a conference, or a work shop or a speaking event. If it is deemed to be newsworthy event or a hard news happening or something you propose media to witness of go to that involves people and photographers and interviews, then the minimum media times apply. We’ve seen newspaper, radio and TV camera crews get sent out and show up within 30 minutes of transmittal holding their Blackberries and iPods in their hand reading the news release and say “where do we set up?”

Finally there’s the day to day timing question. Which day of the week is it best to send out a news release to the media? The prime media tends to work on a five day work week schedule and that means they work Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday they have off and fewer people really are working in the office. Monday is a bad news day because the media show up to work and have staff meetings and have to recover from the weekend. Friday is also a bad day since they are wrapping things up and are trying to leave for the weekend. So unless it is really hard news, transmitting a news release on or near weekends is not going to get the best media response. But it really depends again what you are asking media to do. If all you want them to do is say yes to you sending in a book for review, Friday morning may be OK.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays give you the best opportunity to catch media when they have the least amount of competition for their attention and the maximum opportunity to devote resources to your project. So that is when I prefer to news releases to be delivered.

Finally, after the book is published, the publicity you seek may be far more issue and content focused and related to current events or some other angle. Regardless, you seek to get coverage for the best ideas, education or entertainment you can offer. This you can do whenever you want to do, but it really helps to get out in front to media and look four to six months out. So for example, today is March 25 so Mother’s Day is six weeks away, Father’s Day is two and a half months away, Earth Day is a month away, Independence day is three months away, Labor Day is four months away and so on.

I’ve created a free publicity calendar to help identify opportunities for people which is a free pdf file download. It contains a lot of unusual holidays so that you can really get creative and think up ways to tie-in to calendar events well in advance of the day they occur. Here’s the link:

Publicity Planning Calendar for 2010
http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/Publicityplan2010.pdf

The lesson learned is to be prepared, plan things out carefully, andthink through what you are asking media to do when you send out a news release.

If you’ve done your homework and you know you are offering something that interests a lot of people, has real value to the audience, and you also offer the media what they need to do their job easily and quickly, then when you send out a news release and get it to the right media people for action, then you will often times get what you wish for (which is media coverage).

Publicity Planner for 2010

Publicity Planner for 2010

Publicity Planner for 2010

Each year I create an annual publicity plan to help people look ahead and map out their ideas for acquiring publicity throughout the year.

This unique publicity planner provides a month-at-a-glance roadmap to holidays throughout the year and identifies the lead time for each holiday.

The special design makes it easy to develop a detailed personalized framework of key dates and events so that you map out your strategy and ideas to promote your book or your writing in 2010.

You can get it along with lots of other free downloads here

Publicity Planner for 2010 – http://www.directcontactpr.com/free-downloads/

Or just click here to download the pdf file stratight away.

http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/Publicityplan2010.pdf

Getting Publicity & Making the Most of Book Expo America (BEA)

Tactics for getting publicity and making the most of the Book Expo America (BEA)

Getting Publicity & Making the Most of Book Expo America (BEA)

I won’t be at BEA this year, opting to stay home, work with clients (oh yeah, and go fishing for walleye on the Columbia River).

Many of you may want to hear my personal observations about working with the press at BEA.

If you haven’t already sent out news releases (20 to 30 days in advance), honestly, don’t bother.

Now, if you get an award — either a Ben Franklin or IPPY — you call me immediately but don’t worry, you can relax and enjoy yourself, get home and work on your press release announcement next week after the BEA.

You can read all about getting more publicity with awards here.

Personally, and with all due respect to others might disagree with my opinion here, I’d forget the BEA press room.

One look and you’ll see. It is sort of like a cavern filled with media kits. Files and files of them, alphabetically presented. Filled for journalists to come by and take. It’s only open to journalists, but if you do happen to get in, it will be a shocker and an education to see how the kits are created. Most of them are pretty poorly designed and constructed, and make the same errors and omissions that journalists see all the time.

Oh, once in a while you’ll see a journalist come in and peruse the files, maybe even grab a media kit or two, but not many. The press file room is one of the loneliest places to be at BEA.

In all my years of doing this show, I have never seen or heard a media success story that was based on materials placed in the BEA press room.

If you look at what happens at the end of the show, 99 percent of the stuff is thrown away. Total waste.

Now what is cool is the press meeting room, assuming they have one. Over the years this spot has turned into a haven for the media to escape and be amongst their brethren. There’s free food for journalists. It’s a nice place to be if you can get in, and you can meet lots of cool people there. But you have to have a press badge to get in. There are armed guards at the entrance (no just kidding). But really, normal people (floor walkers and exhibitors) are not usually allowed or invited and doing business (god forbid) within these hallowed halls is not really condoned, except by invitation of a media person. But if you do get in, relax and meet a few good people.

And again, I’ve yet to see anything happen there that was really book publicity related. Journalists hang out, but good luck getting them to give you the time of day and getting a story. Better idea would be to make friends, listen, learn, commiserate, ask questions and think about what you hear.

My advice on the other hand is to look for media by their badges, stop and politely introduce yourself, talk to them, get a business card, give them a business card, and then write to them later, follow up individually. Ask questions and be friendly, but don’t expect anything. They can’t take your book since it’s too heavy to carry. Send them the book and materials later.

This is also wise even if you are an exhibitor.

Now understand, that these folks usually have their own agenda, their own goals, and objectives, their own job to do while they are there. They usually simply don’t and won’t respond at all to publicity seekers or people who see their badge and make a publicity pitch on the floor. In fact, if you pay attention to them you will see that they are tired, they are harried and feel accosted by people.

So be nice, offer them candy and a coffee, or a place to sit and relax. Be friendly and nice and be a human being.

There is one golden opportunity you can keep your eyes open for.

If you do catch a media person at a book doing an interview and taking notes, you can jump in and ask a controversial question or throw out a controversial comment. This is how to garner some quick attention and a quote. But that sound bite had better be good, timely and relevant. You’ve got to be fast on your feet to pull this one off. You can take lessons from Expertising Expert Fern Reiss on this one and turn this opportunity into gold.

But this is rare. Generally speaking, publicity opportunities are few and far between at the BEA.

BEA is all about learning and making contacts. Meet people, study the industry, find out about new technologies and other people’s publications and the companies, study the successful. Get business cards.

My advice is to forget collecting the free books or at least keep it to a tolerable minimum. Stick to books you’ll really want to read or study, or take home and give away to friends or loved ones for fun or to help someone.

Get in line a few times and get some nice celebrity autographed books. It’s fun shaking hands with some of these people.

Don’t break your back — you can always collect a box or two day by day and ship home from the floor, day by day, or from your hotel room.

Instead, collect catalogs, exchange cards, make requests and have people mail them to you. These are worth a lot later as well if you do business with people and want to learn about their companies by studying what they publish later at home

Even if you are an exhibitor, chances are slim that you’ll sell a lot of books or close major deals. It can happen, but mostly you are there to meet people and learn everything you can.

Before you go, if you can, get a hold of Dan Poynter’s tip sheet on how to get the most out of the BEA.

Here are my own suggestions. Make a list of every booth you want to go to.

On day one even before the doors open, and before you walk in, sit down and take at least half an hour to study the show guide, especially the map and learn where everything is located. Identify your “must see” locations with a color high lighter.

Then lay out your trip plans for the time you will be there.

Wear comfortable walking shoes.

Bring two very strong carry bags to collect stuff.

Be the student. Be open minded. Pay attention and think about what you see. Meet people. Learn everything you can. Take notes on cards or in a notebook. Ideas will come to you about what you will like to do with people. Record these ideas. Capture them and specifically identify the action you want to take — what specifically you will want to do (these actions will definitely occur to you as you walk around).

The contact and this action plan is perhaps the most valuable thing you can walk away from your time at BEA.

Follow up when you get home.

That’s how to mine the incredible resources and people that you’ll meet and see at BEA.

Have fun everybody! I’ll miss you. See you next year.

Event Publicity – Targeted PR Tactics that Work

Event Publicity – Targeted PR Tactics that Work

Getting publicity for a local event is a pretty straight forward project. It’s just that the devil is in the details.

A custom targeted publicity campaign to your local media can get you coverage in the newspapers, and on radio and TV before, during and after your event if you recognize the opportunities and provide the media with just what they need at the right time.

You can conduct the campaign so that you drive people to your event and also get feature stories which talk about your event while the event is going on. Both will improve sales of tickets to your event. You can also get feature stories which describe what happened at your event and which identify to the public where they can get more information even after the event is over. This will improve sales of product or services after the event is over.

A special event news release needs to be written that describes:

• WHAT the event is all about
• WHO is doing the talking
• WHAT the key person is going to talk about or do (book signing or talk or speech or seminar…)
• WHEN (exact times)
• WHERE your events are going to be located including the address (even specific directions) of the venues
• HOW to attend with cost (if any) and the local contact information (who to call and a phone)
• WHY is it going to be interesting and important
• AND WHO is going to be most interested.

The most crucial information is:

• the exact location (street address and room)
• the exact date and time
• and the local person for the public to contact to get more information or tickets for the event.

You can create one well written news release which identifies multiple events AND offers some feature story content, substantive information or tips. This way you hit two birds with one stone. You address the needs of print media editor interests by providing descriptive and educational content. You also describe what your key person can talk about and why people will be interested in the subject so it addresses the needs of radio show, radio stations, and tv show producers and guest hosts in the selected target areas.

Now this next point is of critical importance. The real key to being successful in doing this city by city is to think hard and create a “local news angle” or a community involvement element of some sort event, and let the media know what this is in the news release.

Many authors have a book subject with broad national interest or appeal. This will get some editors thinking about an invitation or an article, but it will not get as many is when there is a distinct local news angle and a strong community involvement element highlighted in the news release.

A local news angle is one which features a local citizen, event, activity, problem, or concern, or benefit. Thus, if you send a news release to New York City the release should contain something of specific interest to people in New York City.

The secret to being successful here is to identify key local people, people, people for the media to interview and write about.

You add in the community involvement element by think up ways to interest or help a larger number of people in a specific group, organization, or needy sector of society. You can enhance the public interest this way, get more people to come because of the networking that can occur within a group of people who are interested in a topic.

This can be one of the most difficult ideas to implement effectively. It often takes some real creativity if you don’t know anyone who can act as a local focal point or subject of interest for a community involvement activity.

So brainstorm and do some research. Use the Internet, and phone book to identify a local participant who would like to share some publicity with you. Then call someone, or a company or organization to ask if they would participate somehow meaningfully. Often times it’s a simple as a club, a church group, a school, a teacher’s class, a PTA group, a women’s shelter, or a non-profit group of some type.

You can call ahead and make the arrangements, get the quote, the local case study, or problem analysis. Get a local to review the book, say how they used it in solving a problem, or helping someone, or just how they enjoyed it. Send it to the mayor, or to a Principal, or president of a volunteer organization, or charity or self help group. Do what you need to but come up with a hard local news angle. Add this element in to the formula and tie it in to the bookstore event.

You use the local news angle in each “local” news release. Once you come up with a formula, you duplicate it city by city.

Newspaper editors in particular really love when you do this for them because it fits in with what they prefer to publish more than anything else they do.

The media response rate for news releases with a local community involvement news angle is the highest of any type of news release. You get more interviews and more publications.

Once you have your news release written you need to acquire access to a custom targeted media list.

This is a current listing of people with street mail, phone numbers and email addresses that identifies and contains just the right media for you and your event. This should include a carefully developed list of the right calendar editors, news, lifestyle and feature editors, and subject matter editors at:

• daily newspapers
• weekly newspapers,
• magazines and appropriate trade publications
• radio stations
• radio shows
• television stations
• television shows
• news services & news syndicates
• and Internet media.

Depending on your event, this listing can be a small list of media within a downtown area, or it can cover your zip code, or a geographic area within ten miles or a half hour or more driving time. The circumference of the area you target and specifics of the list of media you create will be based on who you need to reach with your message to connect meaningfully with the people you need to ultimately reach.

You can also conduct Internet search, email and phone campaigns to identify places locally so you can then send your news release and personal invitations to:

• Associations
• Clubs
• Support Groups
• Non-profits
• Schools
• Churches

And other potentially relevant groups of local people.

You can also use social networks about your event and ask them to tell all their friends.

Finally, you need to remain acutely aware of media lead time. Your publicity campaign for an event needs to be initiated two to three weeks before your event. You need to transmit by street mail, and email and make phone calls to media so that you confirm that the right media receive and acknowledge that they have the information.

You should have media kits prepared in advance so that media you can respond quickly and effectively to media who make a request for information. Your goal is to give them the additional information they need to do a feature story quickly and easily. So your media kit should have everything they need including things like photographs, questions and answers, bios on key people, and specifications of products.

Steps to conducting an Event Publicity Campaign

1. Lay out your event schedule get prepared to send out news releases three to six weeks before your event.

2. Prepare your news releases.

3. Create and acquire your custom targeted media list.

4. Send out your first news release three to even as many as six weeks before the event.

5. Follow up by phone with the most important media on your list at each event location. Invite the media to come to the event, or interview the key people before, during, or even after the event. Invite feature editors to come to the event. Offer tailored articles, interviews, and site visits if your schedule allows.

6. Send out a second news release seven to ten days before the event, and follow up once again, to get and confirm media attendance or interviews.

7. Conduct the event and do the interviews. Treat the media in attendance very special. If they came in response to your release, thank them and make it worth their while. Give them review copies and media kits if you haven’t already done so. Be quick to take advantage of an opportunity to get more publicity, or better media coverage.

8. Send out a final news release on or immediately after the event to leverage the event . The event itself is news. This release should be a short article which summarizes the high points of the event and provides book, ordering and contact information. Make it easy for the media to do a feature story about the event just as if they were there reporting the event.

9. Call to say thank you to media contacts for the coverage and to request tear sheets. Offer additional information, articles, or interviews by phone as appropriate.

You need to try as hard as you can to create a socially relevant event – a cultural experience that generates word of mouth. Make sure that you seek a balance where you position your author as an expert or a helpful champion of the locals, a facilitator of change. Educate, entertain, inform, and motivate the people in the audience at the event. Give the media photo opportunities to visually capture local people experiencing real emotion. One great picture of a child or a person exhibiting a dramatic and personal feeling will galvanize the reading public to action and result in more sales.

How to help improve how kids treat each other in high school

How to help improve how kids treat each other in high school

Here is a great story. It is also a beautiful illustration of how to get event publicity.

Can you imagine how much better it would be for kids at high schools if people agreed to zero put-downs, zero rumors and zero gossip.

That’s what Chicken Soup for the Soul story author Bill Saunders challenged students to achieve. And the kids agreed to do it, too. And the results were immediate and substantial.

The article titled: ‘Chicken Soup’ author urges teens to action is in the Nov 8 edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_597494.html

Share this with your friends.

Why did the newspaper jump on this one?

DPAA + H

This tells a human interest story which talks about local credible people in the throes of real social challenges. It is dramatic, personal, achievement in the face of adversity, and it even has some ironic humor.

It also contains a simple and unique solution to a common problem that faces lots of people.

These are the crucial elements of media coverage success.

Is there are reason to doubt why Chicken Soup for the Soul is worthwhile? Here the contributing authors show in no uncertain terms that they know how to walk the talk. This is true leadership excellence in action.

Now if only adults could learn the same lesson.

21 Ways to Localize Your News Releases – a Checklist for Getting More Local Publicity & Local Media Coverage

a Checklist for Getting More Local Publicity & Local Media Coverage

The easiest publicity to get is local publicity.

Local media typically demand local news, locally relevant education and local entertainment information.  That’s what they publish. 

To get these media to publish your information, you must give them what they need and are accustomed to publishing.   If it is a local news paper, then local means that you must identify what it is that affects local people or the local area.  If it is a topical media, like a trade magazine or publication, to localize requires you explain your proposal in terms of how it affects people who subscribe to that media.   

Prove it to yourself. Open up your local newspaper and with a blank piece of paper, writre down what you see the editors writing.

How do you localize? 

What is really comes down to is this: “people, people, people”.    Identify the local news pegs and use as many of them as you can.

Here is a check list of potential key elements that can be used to localize and flesh out local story angles: 

1. Local event that people have access to.
2. Local impacts or consequences identified.
3. Local people, families, or residents involved.
4. Quote from the local person or interest.
5. Local person offered for interview.
6. Story about a local person or people.
7. Direct media access to the local people involved.
8. Local innovation, breakthrough, or accomplishment.
9. Local problem, challenge, issue, or concerns.
10. Local prediction good or bad.
11. Local interests (groups, clubs, cultures, private or public interests) affected.
12. Local area affected (geographic locations).
13. Local facts, data and statistics.
14. Local photo offered with permissions of people in the photo.
15. Local photo opportunity offered.
16. Local celebrity or person of interest or government authority comment or perspective.
17. Local business or government or institution involved.
18. Local secrets, knowledge, special opportunities, hot spots, cool or fun things to do or go.
19. Invitation to local media to attend or get involved.
20. Creating or offering additional local opportunities for events, interviews, and photos in the future.
21. Create new local surveys, events, scholarships, programs, or contests, with local winners.

The more of these elements you can offer the better your chances of success with the media will be. 

Bigfoot publicity bonanza

Analysis of the publicity surrounding the bigfoot discovery

Cudo’s to the folks who are bringing you the news about the latest bigfoot discovery.

I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but who cares! They garnered worldwide publicity by just saying that they have brought in the hairy legs of a bigfoot whatever it is.

And people all over the world are lovin’ every minute of it.

Look at this CNET article, The Bigfoot press conference and the art of selling a website.

This is just a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of articles that have been written.

The best part of this publicity coup, is that they put their business system and the official Search for Bigfoot website in perfect working order before telling the media a whopper of a bigfoot yarn.

They managed to pull it all off in grand style with fun and flair.

Of course, it’s got all the right elements I’ve written about in many of my articles and books:

D = Dramatic

P = Personal

A + A = achievement in the face of adversity

H = Humor.

According to the CNET article, when asked the key question, they replied honestly. “We’re in it for the money”.

Bravo!

Real Honest to Goodness Integrity.

Now if only our elected officials and candidates can show us that they’ve got the same character.

Publicity and the Law of Attraction

Publicity and the Law of Attraction

Back from the PMA University and the Book Expo America in Los Angeles – what an incredible week.

Just before I left for LA, I donated my copywriting and news release distribution services to a fundraising effort in NYC to help the Chinese recovery from the devastating earthquake two weeks ago.

I wrote a news release and transmitted it to the NYC media highlighting the efforts of a small but exquisite restaurant who was going to donate the entire day’s receipts to the relief effort. This email news release was transmitted May 23 for the one day May 28 event.

Marc Preven, owner of the Neurotic New York City Tours company wrote me an email to tell me what happened. Here is his email:

>> Paul

Thank You, once again for your help.

it’s nice to know there are a few mensches left in this world.

the PR went out a week ago from this past Friday.

I walk into the restaurant and the joint was packed.

Helen tells me the NY Times called but didn’t show up.

I finally get a seat at a table, my neighbor is a round eyed dude

we are distinctly in the minority amongst the patrons.

“hey man, have you eaten here before?” I say to my neighbor at the table next to me.

he replies in the negative.

i start telling him about how much I enjoy the food and helped them issue a press release.

I then tell the gentleman that the owner told me about a reporter from the NY Times called but he didn’t show up.

the dude next to me looks at me kind of funny

he says, “I’m the reporter from the NY Times.”

It was my turn to express surprise, “No shit, man!”

He then goes on to explain how his colleague in China saw what you sent and forwarded it back to the US of A.

Because he is working on the story about relief efforts here.

Below is the the quote from Sundays NY Times Story

see link below for the whole piece.

as I was writing you this email the handyman from the building has asked me to write him a pair of simple letters for one of his neighbors.

Time to pay it forward . . .

Cuz-N Marc E Marc

Excerpt from the article:

Helen Thong, the owner of Taste Good, a popular Malaysian restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens, held a benefit on Wednesday, allocating the day’s proceeds — more than $9,000 — to earthquake relief. At dinnertime, the line of patrons, representing a broad swath of the Chinese diaspora, snaked out the door of the small restaurant and onto the sidewalk.

“You see those pictures on TV, right?” she said. “The children and the people who are helpless under the rubble? It breaks your heart. Basically we are all human. We have compassion. That’s what motivates us.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Marc Preven
Date: June 1, 2008 11:32:45 AM EDT
To: Marc Preven
Subject: helen taste good China Earthquake – NYTimes.com

Setting Politics Aside to Help Victims of China Earthquake
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/nyregion/01aid.html

Cuz-N Marc E Marc

aka

Marc Preven

Why JUST have an Ordinary New York Tour . . .
When you COULD have a NEWrotic New York City Experience?”
T: (718) 575-8451

Book publicity, event publicity, and product publicity success stories this week

Book publicity, event publicity, and product publicity success stories this week

I love it when clients are happy, especially when we produce publicity sucess for them. This week was incredibly busy, sending out news releases, responding to media requests for review copies, product samples and interviews.

Andy Andrews, author of the NY Times Best Seller The Traveler’s Gift, was in Salt Lake City doing an event on his new book The Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success, at Kingsbury Hall, at the University of Utah. The event was free, open to the public, 7 to 10 PM, Tuesday night. Our news release and phone campaign for this one time community event netted Andy a few radio talk show interviews, an invite to interview with utah Public radio, a daytime and evening interview on KSL TV and a feature in the Salt Lake City Herald on Monday before the event.

Mastering the Seven Decisions cover

On Tuesday we sent out a news release for Cynthia Frank at Cypress House for author Todd Walton and his new book Buddha in a Teacup. The news releases triggered over 44 media requests for books to review and interviews with Mr. Walton, from newspapers, magazines and radio and tv shows from all over the country. Media requests included Family Circle, Gannett news Services, the Chicago Tribune, Scripps Howard, and dozens of other top media.

Also on Tuesday we sent out a news release and did a phone campaign for Jennifer Bahney at Longhair Lovers for her remarkable new hair product, a emu butter. We saw over three dozen media ask to have product review samples sent to them. We saw media requests from many of the top womens and beauty magazines in the country including: Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, In Style, Shape, Woman’s World, Self, Vanity Fair, More, and more and more.

Long Hair Lovers Deluxe Emu Butter

On Wednesday we did a news release project for a new product. The news release headline says: Dazzling cool colors in bouncing reusable shopping bags. These amazing shopping bags are manufactured totally by Katrina survivors in New Orleans, Louisiana. We received over 20 media requests for product samples from major media within 24 hours.

What’s Ur-Bag Reusable Shopping Bags

Also on Wednesday, we sent out a news release for Carol and Phil White, authors of the book, Live Your Road trip Dream. Carol had written a problem solving tips article titled, Five Reasons Why Gas Prices Shouldn’t Cancel Your Summer Fun and i sent it out to outdoor recreation, travel and rv editors and media in the US and Canada. Late in the day, Carol wrote me an email describing what happened. She said: “We sent out the news release this morning… So far, it is already up on 4 websites, 2 major market booked radio interviews, 1 regional market (Indianapolis) using it in a story, and 5 review copy requests including Travel + Leisure.” Pretty cool.

The news release also generated a heated response from one not to be named media editor of a national rock climbing magazine who wrote, ” I cannot believe that you have sent this to me. These republican baby boomer ideas are repulsive and destructive. This is nothing more than dumb propaganda designed to put us at ease about our environmentally destructive bad habits, and rotten ideas such as these should not be spread around with such a straight face. Please consider sending a retraction to this e-mail and an apology to everyone on your list. I hope that the author spends good quality time explaining to her family telling them why grandma didn’t mind killing all of the polar bears and penguins.”

Living the RV Dream cover

Whew! I guess he must ride his bicycle to work and doesn’t use cars or airplanes to get to his world class destination rock climbing locations and vacations.