Issue #895 Feb. 24, 2015
Publisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
\nThis Week in the Hound House:<\/strong><\/p>\n
It took me four annoying days to get through to Frontier Airlines to change a reservation. After 59 minutes on hold last night, I finally did it! while on hold, I discovered that their “customer care” Twitter account at @FrontierCare includes dozens of angry complaints from unhappy customers. Maybe that explains why the airlines hasn’t tweeted on that account since November. Sigh.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
1. Help for Authors Who Blog<\/h3>\n
Why do many authors, who love writing books, hate writing for their blogs?<\/p>\n
Four reasons:<\/p>\n
–“I’m too busy writing for my book.”<\/p>\n
–“I don’t know what to write about.”<\/p>\n
–“It takes too much time.”<\/p>\n
–“The writing must be perfect.”<\/p>\n
I’ve heard those reasons for almost two decades. Book publishing expert Joel Friedlander has too. We’re both authors and prolific bloggers, and we finally decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n
We’re hosting a free webinar from 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time this Thursday, Feb. 26, on “7 Fast, Easy Ways to Pull Readers to Your Author Blog.” Register here.<\/a><\/p>\n
This webinar is perfect for beginning or veteran bloggers, regardless of whether you write fiction or nonfiction.<\/p>\n
Joel and I have written several thousand posts collectively, and we know exactly which ones keep our readers coming back for more. You’ll learn our favorite tips, tricks and tools–and shortcuts galore–for building and maintaining a blog that’s fun for you and for your readers, and one that helps you sell books.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss this one. They’re going to be beating down doors to the dog house.<\/p>\n
Register here.<\/a><\/p>\n
2. How to Rock at Start-up PR<\/h3>\n
Startup businesses, particularly those in the techie area, struggle when trying to create story ideas that will generate publicity.<\/p>\n
“We haven’t done anything yet,” the owners lament.<\/p>\n
That’s OK, says Bill Lessard, who runs his own boutique PR firm.<\/p>\n
If you can figure out how to reverse engineer your own success and think like Apple, Uber, AirBnB and other companies that have hit grand-slam homeruns in the PR ball park, publicity isn’t as difficult. Here are his six tips for startups:<\/p>\n
–Pitch a good back-story (founders met in an ashram).<\/p>\n
–Let the media know about your Ivy League education.<\/p>\n
–If you’re working with someone who already has a successful track record working for a big company like PayPal or Google, make this part of your story.<\/p>\n
–Pitch your charismatic leader.<\/p>\n
–Talk about the serious money you got from serious people connected to serious banks.<\/p>\n
–Create a product that’s amazing.<\/p>\n
If you lack one or all those ingredients, not to worry. Bill offers more advice on what startups can do in the article he wrote for VentureBeat.<\/a><\/p>\n
3. Pitch Late-Summer Stories Now<\/h3>\n
Do you have a story idea that ties into Labor Day, back to school, the harvest or end-of-summer vacations?<\/p>\n
If so, and you want get into national magazines, start pitching now. Many of them work six months ahead.<\/p>\n
You can never pitch too early. You can always pitch too late.<\/p>\n
My webinar replay on\u00a0“How to Find Your Way into Glossy Magazines”<\/a> walks you through the entire process of how to identify ideal stories and pitch.<\/p>\n
You’ll learn the single most important thing you must do if you want publicity in a glossy magazine, large or small. I’ll also tell you the first place to look in a magazine to know if your story is a good fit.<\/p>\n
Order the webinar replay.<\/a><\/p>\n
4. Hound Video of the Week<\/h3>\n
Thanks to Publicity Hound Tracey Bennett of Honolulu, HI, for sharing this video of the world’s gentlest dog befriending a little boy who has Down Syndrome. At around the 3:17 mark, watch what the boy does to the dog.<\/a> Grab the Kleenex!<\/p>\n[Tweet “The Publicity Hound\u2019s Tips of the Week\u2013Help for Authors Who Blog”]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week<\/h2>\n
– Issue #895 Feb. 24, 2015<\/h3>\n
\n
- Help for Authors Who Blog<\/li>\n
- How to Rock at Start-up PR<\/li>\n
- Pitch Late-Summer Stories Now<\/li>\n
- Hound Video of the Week<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n