Issue #819 May 20, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
\nThis Week in the Hound House:<\/strong><\/p>\n
They warned me in puppy school that I shouldn\u2019t let Bogie lay on my bed. But she\u2019s spoiled, OK? Every time she jumps on the bed, she takes one of my shoes with her. Not two. Just one. Do you have any idea how much time I spend in a week looking for the other shoe?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
1. Media Kit Webinar Sold Out<\/h3>\n
More than 1,500 people have signed up for tomorrow\u2019s free webinar on \u201cThe Indie Author\u2019s Guide to a Killer Media Kit.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re one of them, get on the call extra early because we only have room for 1,000 people. The call starts at 4 p.m. Eastern Time and lasts one hour.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t registered yet, you can still do so. But only the first 1,000 people will be able to get onto the call. Usually, only one-third of the registrants attend live. The others would rather watch the video replay at a time most convenient for them.<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t get onto the line, you\u2019ll be able to register to watch the replay at a wide variety of times morning, noon and night during the next several days. Publicity Hounds all over the world will find convenient times from which to choose.<\/p>\n
Why so much interest in media kits?<\/p>\n
Because by the time authors are finished writing their books, they\u2019re exhausted. So they slap together a kit. Or sometimes they don\u2019t bother one at all.<\/p>\n
The other reason is because ebooks have made it easy for anyone to publish a book.<\/p>\n
Many authors who registered emailed me to say their books have been out for months. But they never created a media kit because they weren\u2019t sure how to.<\/p>\n
Book publishing expert Joel Friedlander will join me, and we\u2019ll walk you step-by-step through the entire process of how to create a media kit that will satisfy seven important audiences. Find out who they are at my blog.<\/a><\/p>\n
2. Fun Facts About You<\/h3>\n
One of the things I\u2019ll recommend during tomorrow\u2019s media kit webinar is that everyone, not just authors, include a section in their author bios called \u201c5 Fun Facts You Didn\u2019t Know About Me.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
For example, I still know all the words to the song that opened the \u201cTalent Roundup Day\u201d each Friday on the Mickey Mouse Club during the 1950s. You Boomer Mouseketeers can watch the video and sing along at my blog at . I even sang the song for the audience at the Author U Extravaganza when I presented a program on blogging earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another fun fact I found in a story about the retirement of Carl Kasell, the official judge and scorekeeper of the NPR quiz show \u201cWait Wait\u2026Don\u2019t Tell Me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kasell dreamed of being on the radio since he was a kid. \u201cI sometimes would hide behind the radio \u2014 which would be sitting on a table \u2014 and pretend that I was on the air and try to fool people who came by to listen,\u201d Kasell said during an NPR interview with Renee Montagne in 2009.<\/p>\n
Doesn\u2019t that paint a great picture?<\/p>\n
What fun facts can you share about your childhood, high school years, a first date, an unusual hobby, a guilty pleasure, an embarrassing moment, or even a quirk?<\/p>\n
Include it in your bio. And then hop on over to my blog and share it in the Comments.<\/p>\n
3. Is Social Media a Must?<\/h3>\n
I received an interesting question from a Publicity Hound who\u2019s registered for tomorrow\u2019s call. How would you answer this?<\/p>\n
She wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not a fan of social media. Having teenage kids, I have attended multiple presentations by law enforcement experts about the unsavory aspects of social media. Since those lectures, I\u2019ve become silent on Facebook and really never began a presence on other social media sources.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realize that in being self-published, social media is an important vehicle to spread my message and sell my books. I am conflicted and don\u2019t want to \u2018use\u2019 social media just for my benefit. I would feel in-authentic. Am I being too naive? Can the \u2018old school\u2019 ways of marketing still work?<\/p>\n
And in reality, my priorities are my family and home life and my coaching practice. I am not up for \u2018old school\u2019 book tours and \u2018pounding the pavement!\u2019 I know my book has real value and I am excited to share it\u2013but you see how I am reluctant as well. If that\u2019s a question\u2026then please go for an answer!<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s my reply:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are hundreds of things you can do to market your books. Social media takes a huge amount of time and a gigantic commitment. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have to do social media? No. Will you sell fewer books if you don\u2019t do social media? Probably. Will your family be happier to have you around more often if you spend more time with them instead of Facebook? Yes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s your answer. See you on the call.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Hound Video of the Week<\/h3>\n
Stand-up comedians have nothing on these hilarious four-legged hounds! Watch funny dog videos sent in by Animal Planet viewers.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Issue #819 May 20, 2014 Publisher: Joan Stewart “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity” In This Issue Media Kit Webinar Sold Out Fun Facts About You Is Social Media a Must? Hound Video of the Week This Week in the Hound House: They warned me in puppy school that I shouldn\u2019t let Bogie lay\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":1,"wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[206,280,281,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-4136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tips-of-the-week","7":"tag-author-marketing","8":"tag-media-kits","9":"tag-press-kits","10":"tag-social-media","11":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}