First Word

  Some people have been watching the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial religiously -- almost on the same scale with the OJ Simpson trial back in the 90s. This high-profile defamation case has played out in an interesting way when it comes to a public relations perspective.  Depp's team has masterfully used social media to show how he's kind and genuine with people. If you watch mainstream media versus social media, the difference in attitude is totally opposite. Mainstream media has villainized Depp and seems to lean more toward Amber Heard. Meanwhile social media and experts and fans do not see it quite the same way.  Most of social media and average people watching this trial soon realized that Heard's testimony is questionable.  Social media's portrayal of Depp has been masterful at repairing his image. I assume that Depp's team is well aware of the tactics they've taken, which are brilliant. We see Depp doing a live performance in his iconic character Captai...

1. The media won't take you seriously pitching your own products. When it comes to publishing and self-publishing, the media especially won't take your book seriously. It will just go in the pile of unprofessional "perceptions". 2. Credibility, which dovetails into what the no. #1. You want to position yourself as a creditable professional. This doesn't always apply if you ARE a publicist. I can approach my contacts on my own projects because I have a known publicist. 3. Proper contacts -- your publicist should know who in the industry to contact. It's better when your publicist knows the media people. It makes it easier to get their attention. For example, my contacts know 3L Publishing books are first-rate books. So, when I call and put a book in front of a media person's face, that person will take it more seriously since it's got the 3L logo on it. Do you need to hire a proper publicist? If so, contact 3L Publishing at 916-300-8012 or email i...

The book cover and the title are your first marketing messages to grab potential readers. A great book cover counts as much as the title. In the nonfiction area in particular, a subtitle holds equal weight. You can have a creative title, but your subtitle must spell out what your book is really about.  So here is a lesson most authors should embrace:   It's okay to have a unique title for your book as long as your subtitle says what the book is specifically about . You don't need to make the subtitle "sexy" either. If the book's main title is so eclectic that the reader won't honestly understand it right from the start, then the subtitle should spell out the rest. Our Foreign Rights Agent Nigel emphasized this tip. He said book buyers need to know in less than a second what your book is about or they'll pass it right by and move on to the next.  

The Daily Cup: Issue 5   Q: Can you market without using social media? A: No, social media is the trend in marketing and communication. Not Tweeting or using Instagram or Facebook puts you behind the curve. When doing marketing and outreach, you need a fan page or Twitter account. You need to look at demographics and reach. The younger millennials are taking over Twitter while Generation X and the Baby Boomers are generally more involved with Facebook. Many people don't even get their news from mainstream media anymore. They depend on the announcements and news feeds to deliver more specific and personalized updates. Many media contacts expect to be contacted via Facebook. I've even had people direct me to their Facebook accounts to make submissions of press releases. The real way to look at it -- think of social media as a PART of your marketing mix and not the whole. It's merely one spoke in the wheel, but it has to be a spoke for the whole thin...

The biggest failure I see entrepreneurs do is fail to promote effectively at key moments. If you have a newsletter, blog or website you should have links and information about it on every promo piece. You can't drive traffic to your website simply by having one. You have to advertise and promote it. Blog -- same thing. You have to promote your blog to increase readership. Keywords and social media are not enough. Your blog is designed to market your business and increase visibility and therefore exposure to your brand. You have to spread the word about it at every opportunity. Also, if you're doing speaking engagements, make sure you're either bringing a sign-up sheet to capture audience contact information for a newsletter or to promote an upcoming product or service. Make sure you ask permission (naturally). Again give the audience a business card or postcard to promote your other marketing material. You often have to continually touch your audience until they remember,...

Are you an author? Are you trying to sell your books. I have some unconventional, hands-on tips for you today that come directly from our success at the Tucson Festival of Books . Author Scott D. Roberts whose book Vengeance is Now was being sold from the Author Pavilion - West joined me. We worked as a team to sell his book. All of the authors, who sold virtually nothing that day, all looked at Scott in amazement as he had lines of readers buying his book. Now you want to know what we did that the others didn't do? Here you go... One-Sheet Flyers : We made up one-sheets with reviewer quotes and Pavilion-signing information. Then we did two critical things with those one-sheets: 1) Scott and I got in line for the Scott Turreau signing (author of books like Presumed Innocent , which is also a thriller and in the same genre as Vengeance). Two important points: 1. the people in that particular line like thrillers (obviously) and 2. we had a captive audience of readers who were bor...

Want to know the no. #1 question I am consistently asked? Do you think my idea will sell? I honestly have no clue. When I get asked that question, I call it the million-dollar question. We're talking about a finicky market in which many, many factors come to bear. A book release literally can be derailed by a hurricane trumping the news. I kid you not. It depends on the market's attention on that day. It depends on tastes, interests and hobbies -- and what the public's favors on any given day, month or year is hard to predict. Is the public sick of vampires and werewolves yet? You think the interest has waned and then BAM! Some unique book on the subject hits the shelves and flies. Some people are really good at figuring it out, but even these people have some bombs, too. What do they say? You're only as good as your last movie ... it's true. You can have market cache one day and be the has-been the next. So when I'm asked that question, all I can say is this, ...

Driving three hours to Fresno with author Scott D. Roberts to promote his book Vengeance is Now , he says this is a long drive just for an appearance. I said, "I will go anywhere for press. All good press is valuable." Public relations gives your company, product or service exposure. It doesn't matter is the audience is 10 or 270,000, as was the case for Central Valley Talk . You never know who is going to be watching the show. It could be potential buyers of your product or a potential client or even just someone who is going to change your life somehow. You can't sell a product or service without exposure to your audience. If people don't know your product or service or book exist, they don't know to buy it. The biggest mistake I see people commonly make is to write a book and then not invest in the public relations and marketing programs. They mistakenly believe if they post it on Amazon, "they will come." Well Amazon is nothing more than an onli...

Getting ready for a major road show is no easy feat. We are all hands on deck with the upcoming Vengeance is Now book tour scheduled to begin April 26. We will be reporting from the road for sure and blogging our daily escapades. We will share our lessons learned in the most humorous way. Those authors interested in doing everything possible to make their books a best-seller, should pay attention to what we're doing, how we're executing it, and our results. As you begin working with any publisher or marketing professional on your book promotion, here are some key considerations: What kind of collateral material will I need? Media Kit for publicity purposes, which should include: About the Book Book Specifications Press Release Frequently Asked Questions Author Bio Sample Chapter Insertion Bookmarks with URL to your book website and contact information Book posters for parties, launches and author signings Speaker's sheets (for business books) for presenta...

Social media has exploded over the last 10 years. When I'm out speaking to groups or individuals, and I hear they are not using social media to its fullest or not at all,  I am always surprised. First, it's FREE. Why you would not use a valuable marketing tool that costs you nothing but time is a shocker. The benefits are numerous and if you focus on building up your connections and/or "followers," you will have direct outreach to potentially thousands of readers or viewers. Here is why I think social media is important: You reach your connections directly through the news feeds (on Facebook) and Tweets on Twitter. You can customize or tailor your message. You can create "buzz" around your company, product or service. You also can reach into your "friends'" social media connections. It is FREE and only costs you time.  I hear common complaints that social media is a "time-suck vortex," meaning people end up spending too mu...

Now this year 3L has switched gears when it comes to public relations and marketing. We realized that our core competence is geared toward publishing. Many clients showed up with the expectation that we could turn their books into the next New York Times best-seller. So in order to amuse you, I thought I would debunk unrealistic expectations with reality and do a tongue and cheek PR myths to make you laugh at the funny, outrageous reality of public relations in the modern media. Here we go. "But Ma I want the review to be published NOW!"  All right my beloved Friend-Os, you do realize that most magazines work about three to six months in advance. Do you also realize that the competition for that prime real estate in free print is fierce. Do you have any idea how many books arrive DAILY on an editor's desk? I was an editor for 10 years, so let me tell you. I didn't have enough editorial space to cover all of the books delivered to my desk. I had to pick a...