Wine Condoms

Issue #798 March 8, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

Wine Condoms
Author U Extravaganza
Radio Publicity Tip
Hound Video of the Week

This Weekend in the Hound House:

It’s off to the Apple store for a workshop on the iCloud. I love their free workshops, except for all the noise and commotion from customers during the afternoon classes. In my neck of the woods, the apple store is the hip place to be on weekends. (Is hip an old-fart word? I refuse to use the word awesome.)

1. Wine Condoms

Your idea for a crowdfunding project can be as charitable as helping a Third World country or as wacky as inventing a wine condom.

Yes, a wine condom.

Publicity Hound Laura Bartlett, one of my readers, emailed me this week to let me know she and her son used crowdfunding to raise $9,285 to develop the wine condom, a piece of rubber that you slip onto the top of a wine bottle to prevent it from spilling when stored in the fridge or when in transit.

The wine condom project on Kickstarter has gotten publicity from FOX News Magazine, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, the LA Times, New York Daily News, Foodbeast, iFood.tv and in blogs around the world.

If they can raise money for a wine condom, imagine what you can do! It’s hard work, and you have to understand how to get started and how to avoid the booby traps.

Judith Briles explained it all during the webinar “Crowdfunding: How to Use Other People’s Money for Your Book or Project” on Thursday. If you missed it, I’m sending out the link to the video replay and the bonuses this weekend. You can still register so you don’t miss anything.

2. Author U Extravaganza

If you’ve written a book or you’re thinking of writing one, the three-day Author U Extravaganza May 1-3 in Denver will give you ideas galore for every aspect of your book, connect you with publishing leaders, and show you one helluva good time.

It will be hosted by book shepherd Judith Briles who has written 32 of her own books while helping hundreds of authors produce top quality fiction and non-fiction books, many of them best-sellers.

I’ll be doing two presentations: one on blogging and the other on how to do research before you pitch. I’ll also join other presenters onstage for the always-illuminating Shark Tank segment with a few lucky authors, and I’ll be doing 15-minute “pick my brain” sessions on all day on Friday.

If you don’t belong to Author U, you can attend for $100 off the non-member fee. Register and use code AUEX100 to get the discount.

Registration includes two dinners and lunches so you don’t have to worry about sneaking out for a bite to eat.

3. Radio Publicity Tip

If you’re doing an in-studio or telephone radio interview, and you want callers to call a phone number to order a book or product, register for an event or buy tickets, follow this tip from Joe Sabah.

Work it out ahead of time with the host that just before a commercial break, the host says: “When we come back, Joan Stewart is going to give you a publicity tip you won’t want to miss and it’s so good you’ll want to write it down. So grab a paper and pencil.”

After the break, you give the killer tip. Then right after that, the host pitches your product and gives listeners the phone number you want them to call. If they followed orders, they’ll already have their paper and pencil handy.

4. Hound Video of the Week

Watch how differently these dogs react to the question, “Want a bath?” I like the one at the 2:40 mark.