A quick trip down the aisles of your local Costco might leave you wondering how—or if—you could ever get your book onto the store’s shelves. Most of the books I saw at my local Costco in Grafton, Wisc., yesterday have “New York Times Best Seller” on the top of the cover. That makes sense. Competition for… Read More
Publicity Blog
Need TV publicity? Don’t pitch a website. Pitch a yummy hook
One way to kill your chances of getting onto local TV is to pitch your website. That’s what Tom Graber of Milwaukee wanted to do a few weeks ago. Tom’s website, Friday Fish Fry Guide, lists more than 1,000 restaurants in a six-county area in metropolitan Milwaukee. Every Friday of the year throughout the entire… Read More
Tips for getting booked on the more than 800 Mind-Body-Spirit radio shows
When you think of talk radio, you think politics, home improvement shows and public radio. Mind-Body-Spirit shows aren’t as obvious, but they have huge followings. Guests talk about familiar topics like the law of attraction, positive thinking, walking your life journey and guided meditation. Not-so-obvious topics include soulgasms, twin flames, platonic solids, and mystic visualization.… Read More
Free Getty Images come with risks, exceptions
If you’re tempted to use a free Getty image in a blog post, at your website, in a press release, in a PR campaign, or any other way, understand the risks which could include legal problems. Getty recently opened up its archives to allow 35 million of its images to be used for free. You can now… Read More
Crowdfunding Success Stories: Will Your Dream-come-true be Next?
If you think your idea for a crowdfunding project is too “out there,” and that total strangers will never fork over their hard-earned money to make your dream come true, a closer look at this social media phenomenon might convince you to just go ahead and ask. Crowdfunding is a way to get financial help,… Read More
Book publicity tip: Share testimonial photos on your Facebook page
When author Gail Mencini wrote her fiction novel To Tuscany with Love, she included a character who must deal with breast cancer. The novel follows the adventures of Bella Rossini, a vivacious college junior, who is suddenly thrust into living in Tuscany with seven strangers during one life-altering summer. Gail, a breast cancer survivor, hoped that… Read More
3 conspicuous things that are strangling your PR campaign
I’ve been running my own PR business for over 15 years, and not a week goes by that a potential client doesn’t come along and say, “PR just doesn’t work for us. Why should I invest more time and money when we’re not getting a single phone call from the media, or seeing any decent,… Read More
9 ways to use these 9 PR posters
Here’s a clever example of content creation, courtesy of the folks at Prezly.com, a communications platform that helps companies communicate with the media, influencers and their communities. It’s a series of 9 PR posters for your office walls, in a printable format. You can see the titles of the nine posters on the screenshot… Read More
Is Public Relations obsolete?
By Mickie Kennedy Public relations was born in the days when train travel was still a novel and exciting thing. Things have changed since then – businesses, consumers, and the entire public relations industry. It’s gone through many ups and downs and opinions from the general public, both good and bad. But like all business… Read More
11 things authors must know about book publicity to create a best-seller
Two days ago, I shared 11 book publishing tips I learned from book shepherd Judith Briles, book distribution expert Amy Collins and social media expert Georgia McCabe, who presented with me on the recent Publishing at Sea cruise to the western Caribbean. Today, I’m sharing 11 things I taught during my own presentations.… Read More