Book tours—which can be expensive and time-consuming—are falling out of favor, and being replaced by podcasts, film tours, blog tours, book videos, and book trailers. This article in the Christian Science Monitor speculates as to whether the cumulative effect of a huge online presence will one day make the face-to-face bookstore meeting between writer and reader obsolete. I… Read More
Laurel, Montana photo studio needs publicity ideas
Kammy Thurman of Laurel, Montana writes: “I hope your Hounds can help our photography studio, Anchor Photography. We’ve been in business several months and we want to become the most recognized studio in our area. “That will be tough because we’re up against studios that have been in business for 30 to 50 years, and more. I… Read More
I-team story on dirty hotel glasses: How would you respond?
OK, Hounds. Let’s see you match wits with the crisis counselors. Watch this four-and-a-half-minute video, an I-team investigation by a TV station in Atlanta, Georgia, that shows the unsanitary way that three local hotels clean dirty drinking glasses and coffee cups. The team took hidden cameras into guest rooms at three major hotels—Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn and Sheraton… Read More
Overweight sugar addicts wanted for TV show
Connie Bennett, author of the book “Sugar Shock,” alerted her readers in this blog post that the casting company that producted “The Biggest Loser” is looking for overweight sugar addicts to be part of the show. You must be available for shooting on Saturdays in February. They must hear from you today.
Compassionate Friends/USA wants PR ideas
This week’s “Help This Hound” question is from Wayne Loder of Milford, Michigan: “I’m the Public Awareness Coordinator for The Compassionate Friends/USA, a national self-help bereavement organization with a mission to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others… Read More
Celebrity sports gala wants items for gift bags, auctions
Larry King, Mary Hart and Tommy Lasorda are hosting the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation’s “In the Spirit of the Game” 5th annual event on January 19 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The event will draw many high-profile baseball players and coaches as well as celebrities like Alyssa Milano, Don Johnson,… Read More
Press release faux pas of the day–and my blogging boo-boo
In the old days, when we screwed up a press release with an embarrassing typo, it was bad enough that we had to humiliate ourselves in front of journalists. Today, it’s a lot worse. Journalists are blogging. And they’re exposing our boo-boos to the whole world in blog posts like this one from a Baltimore Sun reporter.… Read More
Left-leaning PR flacks, spin doctors host media training
PR people hate being called flacks. And they despise the word “spin.” But not the left-leaning PR pros hosting the True Spin Conference Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Denver, Colorado. It’s a media relations training session with panels, workshops and networking. “This conference brings together flacks from progressive advocacy groups around the country to exchange ideas and… Read More
Follow-up calls to journalists can brand you as a pest
The next time you send a press release to a journalist, and you’re tempted to make a follow-up call to see if he’s using it, read this article by Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten. It’s a perfect example of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of those annoying follow-up calls from PR people. I took… Read More
Why magazines are losing readers: No page numbers
When I got my December issue of Wired magazine, it came with a bonus “Movies Rock” supplement. I spotted the headline “Martin Scorsese Unleashes His New Rolling Stones Concert Film” on the front cover and ripped open the plastic as quickly as I could. One of my pet peeves is the absence of page numbers on the covers of magazines… Read More