Q: Okay, so what is the #1 secret for getting PR

A: Be Timely, and have a great Hook! Here are two examples of how I got booked by being timely: I was able to successfully use the #1 secret to getting PR by being timely– and got 2 immediate bookings.

First I was quoted in MomLogic.com (which is an offshoot of AOL Living) with this pitch during the primaries:

Joe Biden’s Mother-in-Law Dies
How to Make Peace with Your Mother-in-Law, Before it’s Too Late!

… and got booked on the nationally syndicated, The Daily Buzz with this one:
October 26th is Mother-in-Law Day- ?How To Turn Your Mother-in-Law From Your Biggest Critic into Your #1 Fan in 3 Simple Steps!

I was able to get booked on Fox & Friends with this tweaked pitch:

Barack Obama’s Mother-in-Law to Move into White House  – How to Create a Lifetime of Peace With Your In-Laws!

So, try to have fun with it! You can set up a google alert with your keywords at www.google.com/alerts. For example, I have an alert with the keyword, “Mother in Law.” That way, I’ll be alerted to any breaking news story and can try to creatively tailor my pitch so that I can be timely and present myself as a great source to the media!

Q: You say that there are 2 ways to submit a media release. What are they, and to whom do you submit them?

A: They are…

a) The Mass Media Approach in which you write one document and send it out to dozens, hundreds, even thousands of media at one time. Consists of a one page release and can be sent out through a free service such as Wireless Flash at (619) 220-8590 or http://prfree.com or http://prnewswire.com

b) The Custom Tailored Approach – in which you choose a publication or show that you want to give you publicity. You study the kinds of things they like to cover and you send them a personalized letter/email suggesting a particular story or show they could do around you as the expert.

For example of the “Custom Tailored Approach,” check out the next question and answer!!!

Q: You say that there is a certain way to approach the media. How did you get in Star Magazine, for example?

A: Approach them in a fun, friendly way. Here’s an example of what I sent to a Star Magazine editor:

Dear Christina,
Hi there! I absolutely LOVE your column and read the Hotsheet religiously. In fact, it is the first page I turn to when my mag arrives on Wednesday afternoon! BTW, those Gracienne boots are to DIE for! You always pick out the BEST stuff––I am your biggest fan! (Of course, Fergie, Rachel and Kate would look good in army boots!) I wanted to suggest a cool new item for you – it’s called, The Daughter-in-Law Rules! My vision is to inspire more harmony among mothers and daughters–in-law by teaching brides and wives the art of making friends with their husband’s mother. This book is important for two reasons; one, it helps raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and two, it saves marriages. I thought that this book might be a great fit for your guide around Mother’s Day, as 55% of women surveyed have expressed a measure of tension with their future in-laws, especially during pregnancy, and after the baby arrives. I believe The Daughter-in-Law Rules will make a helpful book for moms of all ages! Please note rule #22: Let Your Husband Be the One to Pick Out Gifts For Your MIL (Star Magazine is prominently featured) and Rules #13, 43, and 97 mention celebrities Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, Sheryl Crow and Brad Pitt respectively. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and consideration in taking a look at my book, and I very much look forward to our continuing correspondence.

With gratitude and appreciation,?Sally

And as a special guerrilla-marketing tactic, I attached a collage that I made, of me dreaming about my book on the Hot Sheet page of Star Magazine.

The results?…

As well, the number one thing that producers want to know, is that you’ve watched their show or read their publication. Nothing bothers them more than an off-target pitch.

So, make sure to spend some time watching their show. Make reference to something they’ve covered, and how much you love their work. And make sure that if you’re pitching a book on dogs that do tricks, that you’re not contacting Downhill Ski Magazine! You get the idea!!!

Please visit Sally Shields, speaker, radio personality, free publicity specialist and author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules on the web at: http://www.thedilrules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, Sally’s newsletter, free music, … and more!

1. Get a Business Card with Your Book Cover on It

You can get these made up very inexpensively, such as through Vistaprint. Use them as book marks. Give them out to friends, colleagues, potential contacts. Leave them at the bagel store, and post them on the bulletin board at your local library. Be sure to have your website/contact info on the back as well. You never know who’s going to check it out!

2. Get a website with your book’s URL

Hopefully most of you will have done this. But here’s the difference between successful authors and those that just sell a few books: get a contact form and offer your visitors an ethical bribe such as, “Sign up for Sally’s weekly newsletter, and instantly have access to download the first chapter of her book, for FREE!”
Or offer them a top 10 list, or eReport. You get the idea. The main thing is to start capturing the email addresses of your adoring fans whom you can then keep in touch with and market to as you grow as an author.

3. Work on an “Elevator Pitch”

The media is busy, and they will know within 10-15 seconds weather they want to hear more or not. Having an elevator pitch that is short, succinct and to the point is an invaluable tool for pitching the media. Here are the three steps in a nutshell:

a) Your name, the name of your book, and if you can, make up a cute little name for yourself like so:

Hi, I’m Sally Shields, “The In-Law Expert” and I’ve written a book called, “The Daughter-in-Law Rules!”

b) then, tell them what your vision is, like so:

My vision is to create more harmony among mothers and daughters in law by teaching brides and wives the art of making friends with their husband’s mother.

c) Finally, tell them what problem you can solve for them, or what information you can reveal, like this:

I will reveal the top 3 things that every wife can do to create a lifetime of peace with their husband, and the OTHER woman in his life-his MOM!

4. Make sure to be signed up for HARO and look for opportunities to provide your expertise

There is nothing more powerful out there today for us authors and experts than joining HARO. National media outlets such as Fox News and Woman’s Day are all searching for that perfect expert to quote in their next segment or bi-line. Go there and get a free account today!

5. Prepare short 300-500 word articles, and submit them to EzineArticles.

This is a fantastic way to get your name out there on the web. An account is free. Using keywords is invaluable, but most important is the title of the article itself. Media outlets all over the web will be sending out spiders looking for content and you never know where your article might be re-posted. Make sure to sign all your articles with your name, website and contact info.

6. Go to Google and sign up for a Google Alert

Make sure to put in all the keywords that pertain to your book and expertise. You will get daily alerts on stories that are being written and talked about. Then, you can be prepared to pitch the media and let them know you are the go-to person and perhaps they will use you as a source. Begin to develop a media contact database.

7. Get a BLOG for FREE!

It doesn’t have to be pretty, but o to blogger.com and set up an account, for free. Folks, if I can do it you can too! But if it seems complicated, grab your 10 year old kid and they can help you
The great thing about blogs is that the keywords that you use at the bottom of each post act like an internet magnet. Anyone that googles a certain word or idea or concept that you indicate in your keyword search bar, has a very good chance of having your blog come up in the search engine. Blog alot. Blog often.

8. Set up a Facebook FanPage and make sure to have a Twitter Account

Many of you are already doing this. If you haven’t, it’s a good time to start. Twitter is great because you can share information that you think is cool. It’s not about tooting your own horn, but rather about sharing information and being a valuable source. The more you give and share, the more followers and the more traffic you’ll attract to your website. Make sure you have a good catchy profile and pic and if you can get an application for twitter on your cell phone, you’ll have a lot of fun.

9. Prepare letters/emails and shoot to get at least 5-10 testimonials

… from either celebrities, or other authors that you respect and admire. If you do want to go for a celebrity endorsement, you can get a 7 day trial for $1 at whorepresents.com where you will find contact info for almost any celebrity you can think of. The secrets is to prepare 3-5 quotes in advance, and send them either the book or a chapter. Make it very easy for them to put their name to something you’ve already written. One trick is, if you are supporting a charity for example, try to find a celeb who also endorses the same non-profit by aligning yourself with their cause.

10. Create a media-ready release with a goal of getting on 5 radio shows in the next 60 days

You’ll need a great hook (a timely topic is the quickest way to get publicity), some statistics, and 3-5 message points that you can talk about on the air that will help the listeners solve a problem, and keep the audience entertained. This would also be a great time to consider getting media trained, which is an invaluable investment in yourself and well-worth the money.

Please visit Sally Shields, speaker, radio personality, free publicity specialist and author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules on the web at: http://www.thedilrules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, Sally’s newsletter, free music, … and more!

The book after the editing process may not even resemble your work. But you do get an advance, although it might not be too much for a first time author, and if you don’t “sell through,” that is, make back your advance in sales, you will have a really hard time convincing the publisher to put out another book of yours. And you may never see a dime after your small advance. As well, if your book does make it to the book store, if it doesn’t sell in 30 days, the books will be returned and you will most likely be blacklisted by the publishing house.

You generally have to sign your rights away unless you hire a good attorney who has stipulated that you will get the rights to your book back if it does get shelved. Traditional publishing houses used to pay royalties of 10% retail (i.e. if your book is $20, you get $2) but now they mostly only pay 10% of wholesale, so you only get $1 for that same book.

Self-Publishing is hard, because you have to do everything yourself, but the returns are great, because you can retain 70-90% of your investment. If you print them up yourself and then sell them, you really can make some great money. However, the biggest stumbling block is distribution. Very few distributors will deal with a self-published author. Even getting online distribution with Ingram or Baker & Taylor is going to be very tough. Plus, you have to print up at least 2,000 books to bring the price down, and they will most likely be sitting in your office or basement until you can figure out how to sell them.

POD – Print on Demand – is a great technology that combines the two types of publishing. It’s great because there is no inventory to return, or sit in your basement, and if you pick the right pay to publish company, they will give you a pretty good return on your investment – that is, if you choose the lowest distribution discount (20%) to maximize your online royalties. For example, the POD that I am with, they give me $6.28 out of every $14.95 book that I sell. And they provide online distribution, so the book is on Amazon.com, B&N.com, etc. The drawback is that you have to pay an upfront fee, like $1000 to publish with them. And if you are trying to be NYTimes bestseller this won’t happen because they don’t review POD’s. As well, you will not be in bookstores because POD’s carry a non-returnable status.

But, more good news: you own your rights 100%. What I do, is I use my POD for online distribution and cover art (but you can also submit your own cover design, interior files and retain complete
control). Then, I purchase the cover back from them, and take the files to a printer so that I can get my book printed up for substantially less, so as to have copies to send out to the media, sell at various events, etc. My POD charges me $5.65/unit, whereas if I go to a small printer, I can get my books for approximately $3.50/unit.

This is just a quick overview. But choosing the type of publishing for your book is an important one, so it is worth taking the time and energy to figure out which one is right for you.

Please visit Sally Shields, speaker, radio personality, free publicity specialist and author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules on the web at: http://www.thedilrules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, Sally’s newsletter, 101 Surefire Ways to Market Your Book, Product or Service, free music, … and more!

When you are doing something that takes you into what Deepak Chopra calls “Timeless Awareness” you will get supercharged and not think about time or money. It will bring you internal satisfaction that transcends the fleeting negative feelings that come with thinking about money or the lack-thereof.

2. Partner with a Non-Profit

Giving back has actually led to quantum leap in my success, because when you partner with a charitable cause, you now have an entire database and media presence behind you. It is like aligning yourself with the waves of the ocean, rather than just being a small trickling of water that comes out of your bathroom faucet.

3. Recession Proof marketing

My business is to teach authors how to bring their book to life through self-publishing and how to reach Amazon.com bestseller status through a no-low cost strategy, which seems to be a recession-proof marketing strategy. You can acquire wealth on the internet via Joint Venture partnerships no matter how bleak the economy may seem!

4. Concentrate on The Missing Link to The Secret

One of the missing secrets is: what you are is what you eat. In other words, transform your body into it’s most glorious self through natural foods and you will be radiating energy and beauty that will attract a multitude of abundance that will flow your way like a magnetic ocean. It will also keep your mid focused and you will feel encouraged as you make progress towards your body image goals.

5. Practice the 7th Spiritual Law of Success

The quickest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. Be an open, loving, kindhearted person and the world will reflect that back to you, tenfold! You will learn to concentrate on things other than the material but you might be surprised when things turn around for you on that front as well.

Please visit Sally Shields, speaker, radio personality, free publicity specialist and author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules on the web at: http://www.thedilrules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, Sally’s newsletter, free music, … and more!

As my plan was to launch around Mother’s Day, I persistently contacted the editor, with news of pub date, my marketing plans, etc – basically chit chatty little emails – always, always mentioning how much I loved her column and how I had actually bought a certain item she had mentioned in the previous week’s issue.

Finally, the date was getting close. I decided that some guerrilla tactics were going to be needed if I was going to have any results. So, I printed out a cartoon image of a dreaming girl, with a cartoon bubble coming out of her head. I then, pasted in a collage-like manner, HOT Sheet in the bubble, with an image of my book where the HOT BOOK of the Week was going, with some copy, as if it really was in the magazine. The caption below the montage was “Just Dreamin’!” I filled a box with 4 of my music CD’s along with the collage, and sent it off.

On May 10th, I got an email from the editor, telling me that although she could not fit me into the actual magazine, she was able to fit my book into the Online version of the magazine – and that it would be listed as HOT BOOK of the MONTH – for a full month! This was one of the most exciting days of my life, and I think I jumped up and down doing the happy dance for about an hour! Now, I always include “As Seen in … ” in my signature block, and I have a nice screen shot print out of my book: Hot Book of the Week – just like I had dreamed.

The results? Since the celebrity mag mention, I was recommended by Dr. Laura, was a guest on Martha Stewart Whole Living Radio, hit #1 in “Wedding Showers” on Amazon.com, the Learning Annex asked me to submit a video workshop on how I became an Amazon bestseller, and I was asked to join a panel of writers at the writer’s convention in New York City this spring. I’ve been a guest on over 65 radio shows and listed in several print magazines and have been featured in several online sites. I’ve been a repeat guest on the a nationally syndicated TV show as a mother-in-law expert, and am on the brink of a corporate sponsorship. As well, I auditioned for and got the position of co-host for an exciting new online radio show.

So, stepping out on a limb and being creative can often lead to great things. Never underestimate the power of visualization, determination, and a little creativity.

Please visit Sally “The MIL Manager” Shields on the web at
http://www.thedilrules.com/ for contest giveaways, free bonus
gifts, The DIL Rules newsletter and more!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Shields
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-I-Got-My-Book-in-a-Celebrity-Magazines-Hot-Sheet!&id=1780155

Then, I slowly realized that even if I was lucky enough to get an agent and a publishing deal, it would require signing over my rights (and creative input to an editor) allowing the agency and the publisher to decide on my book cover, interior layout, formatting, pricing, release dates, all which could take between 1-2 years, maybe more.  I was jumping through hoops, when I met  an author in my genre that was lucky enough to be signed to a rather well -known traditional publishing house, and asked her about her experience.  She shared with me that she had to sign over her rights, got a $3000 advance (that she split with a co-author) and that was the last she ever heard of it.

I started to listen to book marketing teleseminars, most notably with Steve Harrison, and how there were several advantages to self-publishing. Then, I walked into a Barnes and Noble, and just for fun asked if they ever carried self-published books. The person directed me to their website, where I found an offer for a free self-publishing guide from Outskirts Press.

Upon further investigation, it seemed that I could not only be in charge of my own pricing, interior, be involved in book design, set my own distribution discount, order authors copies at a deep discount, get a free website, but also be published within 12-16 weeks, all for under $1000. And that is precisely what I did!  My book looks exactly the way I want it.  The cover designer took my ideas and created something that was to my specifications, and even exceeded my expectations.  I did my own interior formatting – something I never thought was possible.   I also received free marketing advice on a weekly basis.  I have a real product that is mine, I own it 100%,   It is available online, with national online distribution through Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

And what a thrill to hold my book in my hands for the first time!  But now what?

I found out about the Amazon.com best-seller campaign, a course given by Peggy McColl and Randy Gilbert. So, I went about creating an on-line campaign, and took my book to the #5 spot on Amazon.com, where it’s held court in the top 100 in it’s category ever since.  I made so many online friends, and got into a pool of authors who now ask me to promote their books by contributing mine as a “bonus gift” which creates even more online exposure on a regular basis.

I also took a course called Sell Your Book by the Truckload which answers the question: would you rather sell 10,000 copies of your book to 10,000 people, or the same amount of that book to one person? I was excited about going that route, but the cost per unit through POD was too high.  Therefore, I purchased the cover art from Outskirts Press, found an off-set printer, and did a short run of 250 copies, to test the waters.  By this time I was getting more and more interested in book marketing, so I attended Steve Harrison’s publicity summit.  I used these 250 copies as “calling cards” to give to the media, with a finished product that cost me only about $2.50/unit.

Because I self-published, I have gained media coverage from over 65 sources, ranging from TV and internet, to print and radio.

And now that I have some sales numbers and some real media momentum behind me, I have decided that the next step is to either get national distribution (bookstores)  or go back to an agent, and see what transpires.

But I continue to educate myself. There is a wonderful site called PlannedTVArts.com where there are free teleseminars that you can download to your computer or iPod that features interviews with many people ranging from authors, to publishers, to media trainers, agents, radio hosts, producers, distributers and more.  I get ideas from every single class, and try to put at least one of the ideas into practice from each speaker that I listen to.

If I hadn’t gone the self-publishing route, I never would have learned so much about publishing, book marketing, the media, creating on online presence or special sales.  It’s a wonderful way to get started learning about the business, and to make some contacts so that you can transition into traditional publishing with confidence.  I have made enough contacts so that I now know several agents and publishers, book marketing mentors, printers, copyright lawyers and editors.  Perhaps in the future I might be lucky enough to choose otherwise (have my books published by a trad. publisher) but it certainly is and fun rewarding way for an author just starting out to completely own their book to do whatever it is that they want with it.  Because as Steve Harrison points out, very few people get rich from their book.  It is the back-end products and services that are created from the book that can make the difference between a struggling writer to million dollar author.

Sally Shields is an author, speaker, award-winning pianist and composer. Her latest book is THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW RULES: 101 Surefire Ways to Manage (and Make Friends with) Your Mother-in-Law! and is currently being followed up with, The Collaborator Rules: 101 Surefire Ways to Manage (and Stay Friends with) Your Co-Author!  Please visit Sally “The Mother-in-Law Manager” Shields, on the web at TheDILRules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, The DIL Rules newsletter, 44 Top Tips Cheat Sheet, Sally’s blog, free music  … and more!