Just Wonderin': About Those Expensive Writers' Organizations

When I was starting out in journalism at The Salt Lake Tribune, I often helped with the layout of some of the news pages. Part of that job was editing some of the column we got from news services like AP down to fit in the editorial space left after the advertising department had laid out their advertising for the day. That meant I was shortening some of the biggest and best known columnist of the time--and writing headlines for them. One of them was Ann Landers. Reading her advice was my favorite part of this duty. So now I include a similar column in my free #SharingwithWriters newsletter like the one below. You can get your full dose of writing advice by sending me an e-mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to HoJoNews@AOL.com. Yes, I'll do it for you! I like to meet my subscribers "personally" when I can. 

 

 

Q&A a la Ann Landers

So, Just Why Should I Bother With Writing Organizations Again?

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QUESTION

Hi Carolyn,

I recently paid $100 to sign up to IBPA (Independent Book Publishers of America) and I am regretting it thus far. Am I missing something, or are all of the benefits they offer at an additional fee. It seems the only thing I get from them is their magazine. Hardly worth the price of admission. What do you use on their site, Net Galley? PR service. Do you pay to have them put your books at the book fairs?

I am curious because I have looked closely at the site and all of the member benefits are more money.

Thanks
Name Withheld

ANSWER

Each book and each author or publisher will benefit in different ways from IBPA and other organizations, but the Net Galley is wildly popular because it helps authors send out lots of review copies on a limited budget  The media release service discount helps anyone who uses them and, on occasion, news an author wants to disseminate is so newsworthy that they should try it (and discounts are always help!)

Also, you are good at writing content and I think you should keep submitting articles to them based on what you see (or don’t see!) in the magazine. They also like success stories from their members. Contact one of their regular contributors Linda Carlson and ask her what she needs. When I can contribute something positive and useful, I answer the questions Linda and others send me for the articles they are writing.  I have also written letters to the editor which have been published and sent releases of interest to writers for their online newsletter. And that is all at no additional cost. In general, to make any organization work for us, we authors need to get in there and make them know us.  

You’ll also want to check out their forum. Answer others questions and pose questions of your own. These are all important no matter what organization you join; it's not only a place to learn and help others, it's a place to gain name exposure. 

My husband Lance had good success with their library mailing for his What Foreigners Need To Know About America From A To Z (http://amzn.to/ForeignersAmericaUS) but he carefully chose from among the many catalogs they offer just because they are expensive. I think librarians were interested because immigrants are in the news right now and his book is perfect for that audience.

In general, don’t let your membership go idle. Use this first year to dig in and see how much you can benefit from it. I haven’t been to their conferences, but I’ve never been to any conference that I didn’t learn something new or meet someone I need to know.

CHJ

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Getting Smart About Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

Getting You, Your Book, Your Expertise  Mentioned

Help a Reporter Out Can Be a Boon for Your Career

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By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

When I speak at writers’ groups, I am always amazed at how many writers don’t seem to know about Help a Reporter Out, also called HARO. Or they don’t know how to make it work very well for them. I know because the pencils come out and hands go up.

Here’s what it is. It’s a listing of reporters, bloggers, and other media folks who need your help or the help of someone else out there. It’s a little like a list of classified ads from media folk. Often they want opinion. They may want expertise. They may even want to cast you in a reality show. All you have to do to get these targeted (and carefully categorized) calls for help in your e-mail box is sign up at http://helpareporter.com. But then, of course, like anything else, you have to “work it.”

Some consider it a bit of a problem that these HARO notices come to them several times a day. I did. I signed up and eventually thought I didn’t have time to fool with the extensive lists. I was discouraged because I didn’t get the immediate results I thought I should. So I unsubscribed. But here’s the thing. I wasn’t getting results I wanted because I wasn’t using it right and—of course—because I wasn’t willing to be persistent. Then I tried it again. I changed my tactics. I didn’t frame myself as an author, but as an expert.  And I cut down on the time I spent with it by keeping my answers (really query letters) that matched topics I know something about on file.

I call it “recycling” in my The Frugal Book Promoter, and it can be used to cut time needed in lots of ways. There is also information in that book on how to determine the angles that are related to you, your writing career and your book or books.  Once I learned how to approach the people I contacted, I got better, more frequent results—in less time.

I had to learn the hard way. You don’t because I'm sharing some of my hard-won tips:

1.    Sign up.

2.    Try to look at every e-mail HARO sends out and quickly pick out the calls that might directly apply to you or the ones you can skew toward you. Example: I answered one that wanted people who had suffered some kind of stroke so I shared my little story about a TIA I had while I was in Tibet. I was there for inspiration for a novel and my poetry. I was careful to include that reference to my creative work (along with links to some buy pages for those books) in the answer I sent. But I was also careful not to make that the major thrust of my query.

Note: For this kind of query I adapt parts of several first-person essays I have on file, too. The healing aspect of writing can often be shown to relate to health issues you have overcome—and that is just one example of unlikely connections between HARO calls for help and your writing career. If you would like a copy of one of my first-person essays—perhaps one connecting my fiction to triumph over cancer—send me an e-mail at HoJoNews@aol.com.

3.     At first I thought these were all real reporters who would actually call me for an interview or at least to check facts. Some are. Some aren’t. The world is a different place since I was a reporter. Writers are in a bigger hurry. That means you need to be complete with your answer. Use anecdotes. Use soundbites. This is great training, by the way, for learning what intrigues media people and what doesn’t. Give them contact information and permission to call you if they wish right in the pitch you send them. Note: Though I have received lots of publicity using HARO, only once has someone called me. E-mails are a big time-saver.

4.    Always include a little bio. You can copy and paste it but it should include the kind of information about your background that applies to the kind of question your contact wanted answered. Include links to your Web site, blog, or online bookstores buy page. Sometimes the writers use that bio exactly as you gave it to them. At the risk of being redundant, media folks are busy. If your note to them requires tons of work to corral details you didn’t include, they’ll just use someone else who did a better job of giving them what they need.

5.    Keep at it. As with all marketing, persistence pays.

6.    Don’t get discouraged. Expect that you may hit gold on about one of every ten or twenty calls you answer. But one of those can reach a ton of new readers.

7.    When you learn that your answer has been used, go online, comment, and send a thank you to the writer. If you don’t know how you could possibly know if your helpful piece gets used, you need to refer again to your Frugal Book Promoter (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromo) and find “alerts” in the index. Note: Sometimes the blogger or reporter (the smartest ones!) will let you know you were mentioned and even give you a permalink to use in your own marketing.

8.    If you are featured on a relatively big site, add the coup to your media kit, your Web site, and blog about it.

Remember, you’re not just selling books here. You’re building a writing career. You’re building name recognition. You’re networking, too!

~To reprint this article in your own blog, Web site, or elsewhere, send me a quickie query to HoJoNews@AOL.com. I almost never say no! (-: In other words, I’m happy to Help a Reporter Out! And if you share your permalink with me, I help you network the post! 

~Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning author of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Her HowToDoItFrugally series of books has helped writers and retailers worldwide. She is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, the Book Publicists of Southern California’s Irwin Award and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of 14 women of “San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen.” She was an instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program for nearly a decade. She recently updated the second edition of her Frugal Book Promoter and added a new book to her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically was launched as an e-book giveaway by Bookbaby.com and to highest acclaim by Midwest Book Review.

Learn more at www.howtodoitfrgually.com

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER


Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )

The Big Lie You Believe Could Hurt Your Book Marketing

By Joan Stewart, AKA The Publicity Hound

To convince journalists to cover you, you need a huge audience to prove you're credible.

You hear that all the time. But don't believe it for a second.

It's a lie.

You don't even need a big audience or a big email list for a successful online business [or marketing campaign].

If your newsletter has fewer than 1,000 subscribers, you can have far more success than someone who has a list of more than 10,000 names.

How? By building an audience that's incredibly loyal and engaged, even if it's small, says Danny Iny.

Last August, when I hosted a webinar with Danny, he demonstrated how to write a guest blog post in under an hour and get it published on a high-traffic blog. The response from Publicity Hounds was overwhelming. Those who attended gushed about him.

They also loved the fact that when they emailed him with questions afterward, he took time to answer every one. And I loved the fact that he CC'd me on them all.

That's why I said "yes" immediately when Danny asked if he could present another free webinar on how to build a loyal audience. It will be at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Jan. 10, and you don't want to miss this one.

He'll be giving the step-by-step blueprint that he used to grow his company, Firepole Marketing, from a "nothing" to a multiple-six-figure business.

Danny is somewhat of a media darling, too, especially with bloggers who welcome his guest posts because their readers love him. You will too.

Join us next week by registering for the free call at http://audiencebiz.com/go/joan-stewart/

~Joan Stewart publishes one of the best online newsletters I know of. Between my Frugal Book Promoter and her newsletter you'll stay up-to-date on marketing your book and being inspired to do so.  Subscribe to "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week. " You'll get tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."  You'll also want to get my SharingwithWriters newsletter for even more tips and articles to keep you motivated. http://howtodoitfrugally.com. You'll get another freebie that includes humiliating editing mistakes.
  

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Writers' Resources: Finding Influencers Who Need Your Expertise

My SharingwithWriters newsletter includes how-to articles, regular features like "Opportunities," "Thank Yous" (which usually link to blog posts or other sites that will help your writing career), and "Accessible Contests to Help Build Your Platform."  But it's the short tips that most people say they love most. If you'd like to receive that letter in your mailbox, send an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com and I'll do it for you.

Here is a sample of a longer tip or how-to article that I sometimes include in the letter, too.

 

Getting Leads for Great Promo Ops: You can get lots of publicity from supplying reporters with quotes or information to support or refute their premises. But how can you reach the ones writing on a topic related to your book or expertise?  A service called HARO at http://helpareporterout.com is very popular. They send you e-mails with requests from reporters, radio and TV hosts, and even other authors researching books. In each of their e-mails is a list of these needs, and each has a live link to the person who has a need. Each is a little like a classified ad.  

When you see a link with a subject line that's related to any of the topics in your book, you send them a note. Quickly outline your expertise and then add whatever you think might entice them to call you for an interview or other need they may have. I try to give them enough that they may not have to call or e-mail me. That fits with my theory that the easier you make it for an editor to use your material, the more likely it is they'll use you over someone else. It may take you a while to perfect your technique.

If they end up quoting you, they should include a mention of your book and preferably a link. Even if the reporter, producer, or host doesn't contact you or use the information or anecdote that you provide,  you get your name, book title, link, and expertise out there to people who are influencers every time you answer one of these requests.The downside is that you will get quite a few e-mails from your subscription. The upside is that  you could land anything from an appearance on a TV show to a quote from you (the expert!) in Newsweek.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Query Letters: A Writing Skill You'll Use Forever

As I was working with my husband on the promotion for his book What Foreigners Need to Know About America From A To Z (http://amzn.to/ForeignersAmericaUS) I realized how much I’d forgotten about my American history, but it also made me aware I should be reminding you all of the format to use for your query letters.

 

I noticed that many authors believe query letters are only necessary when they're trying to interest an agent or publisher, but learning to write and edit an effective one is a skill that you will continue to use all during the marketing campaign or your book--and the one after that.

 

Query letters are the introductory letters you use for every kind of request you make. When you request a review of your book. When you ask to partner with a retailer for and event, workshop, or book signing.  When you pitch a feature story to an editor of your local newspaper. Or guest spot on a radio station. The list is endless.  

 

Yep, it may be time to review the section on writing and editing query letters (page 27 in your paperback edition) in The Frugal Editor (http://budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor ). It starts on page 27 of your paperback edition. 

 

It includes query letter pet peeves direct from the mouths of famous agents and sample letters in the Appendix like avoiding making judgements of your own work. For agents "awesome" is a four-letter word!

 

 If you have The Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo), jump back to the Index and look up “query letters” to learn everything you’ll need to know about them. 

 

Here's tip number one to get you started. A query letter asks something of the person it's addressed to. Don't avoid that question. Nike says "just do it." The query letter rule is "just ask." Your contact needs to know what you want from them. They may wear more than one hat, but in any case, you'll want to be clear just because that's what professionals aim for.

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog: