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Return to Whittakerville by Shirley A. Roe is now available. The final book in the Whittaker Family series is now on sale. www.realtimepublishings.com. Soon on Amazon. Fans can order direct from the author at: sroebooks@aol.com.
June 2009 Book Giveaway
Posted in Uncategorized on June 1, 2009 by allbooksreview
AllBooks Review is hosting a book giveaway of the following books:
Honor Due by Author D.H. Brown
Honor Defended by Author D.H. Brown
Of Dreams and Nightmares by Author Shirley Roe
The Whittaker Family Reunion by Author Shirley Roe
A Call to Faith and Freedom by Author Shirley Roe
Growing Up Ugly by Author Donetta Garman (An audio copy and a paperback copy)
Fairy Glade and other Enchanting Tales by Author Dawn Beaumont-Lane (2 Copies)
The Vampire Valkyrie by Author Peter Klein
The Dancing Valkyrie by Author Peter Klein
A Full House – But Empty by Author Angus Munro (This is a signed copy)
To enter this book giveaway send an e-mail to allbooksmktg@aol.com Attn: Bob
Call for Submissions:
Allbooks Review is now offering an Author’s Page, for $75 per year. You prepare your page to tell readers anything you like. Bio, book titles, where to purchase, link to website, etc. Include a photo of yourself, and a covershot for your books, one or ten+ it is up to you.
Each additional year is only $25. Get a full page ad that you can send your readers to. Just like having a website without the fuss.
Contact me at: allbookreviews@aol.com for details.
Remember to post your book signing, guest speaker events on our Bookstore page. Simply send us an email with details of your events and we will be happy to post them. Just part of the Allbooks service to our authors.
Success Stories
We love to hear of your success stories, submit them to us at: allbookreviews@aol.com
Robert Fate – Baby Shark series interviews –
www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com
http://meanderingsandmuses.blogspot.com/
FEATURE
WHY NEWS RELEASES FAIL by Paul J. Krupin
The issues listed here have all been identified as reasons for the failure of a news release. This is based on over 20 years of experience in dealing with the aftermath ¬- the actual number and quality of responses generated from the transmittal of a news release
So here are the most common reasons why news releases fail:
1. You wrote an advertisement. It’s not a news release at all. It sells product. It fails to offer solid news of real tangible interest, value-added information, education or entertainment.
2. You wrote for a minority, not for a majority of people in the audience. You simply won’t compete with other news releases that clearly are written for a larger demographic of the media audience.
3. You are the center of attention, not the media audience. You focus on your business and your marketing, instead of things the editor and his or her audience will be interested in.
4. You forgot to put the five W’s up front. (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED). You didn’t clearly and succinctly tell the media why the audience would be interested in this.
5. You are too wordy and text dense. You focused on details and minutia, instead of the most important ideas, issues, factors, facts, and news angles. You fail to address the real significant impacts your story has on people.
6. You place too much information on one page. The one page news release has a font size so small an editor needs a magnifying glass to read it.
7. You included corporate logos and other non-persuasive low value added graphics that distract the editor from your key message. You may have also used an unusual fancy font or a file format that turns to gobbledygook when it goes through a fax machine.
8. You wrote a personally biased article for the media to publish, instead of pitching the idea to the media and the objective reasons why the media audience will be interested.
9. You wrote about features and facts, and forgot to explain what it means to real people. Tell a story about real people. Add in real life human interest.
10. You wrote about how your news ties in to someone else’s fame and glory. Forget it. Never stand in the shadow of someone else. Make your own light. Tell your own story.
11. Your news release responds to something that just happened. You’re too late. You’re behind the eight ball. Forget it. Get out in front of the news.
12. You included too much hype, self-laudatory praise, pithy quotes, useless testimonials, jargon or gobbledygook. Get rid of it.
13. You may have also identified prior media coverage, which indicates it’s no longer a new issue. Get rid of it. Let each news release stand on it’s own two feet.
14. You tried to impress and be clever or innovative but you come off naïve, less than expert, biased, flippant, arrogant, or crazy. Tone it down. Get straight.
15. You made vague and unsubstantiated claims, or wild and outrageous claims, or you included a statement that simply rubs the media the wrong way. Get rid of them.
16. You are trying to be different, just for the sake of it, but you come off eccentric. Forget it. Don’t create a false or inflated image. Be yourself.
17. You wrote a rant and rave worthy of a letter to the editor, instead of a problem solving tips article, worthy of a feature story. Decide what you want, put your best effort into it.
18. You are simply not credible. It could be your ideas are simply not well thought out, or that you’ve offered old well-worn material, or that you are too extreme or controversial, or not qualified. You may not be expert enough, or sufficiently qualified, to make the statements, compared to others in your field. You need to present information that qualifies you properly and adequately.
19. You provided poor contact information. You need to identify the best single point of contact and the correct phone number so interested media can reach you and get the best possible attention and response from you to meet their needs. One key person, one phone, no fax, one email address, and one URL (with no long string addresses).
20. You did not include a clear media call for action. You didn’t tell the media what you want them to do with your news release. You need to tell them what you are asking for or suggesting or offering. Then you need to offer the media incentives value-added reasons to do so, like free review copies, free test samples, interview questions and answers, media kits with story angles and stats and data, relevant photographs, etc.
21. You did not incorporate and integrate a primary response mechanism. You need to include a value-added reason, which motivates the editor to publish or mention your contact information, which will generate calls, traffic, interviews, or requests for more information. This usually means something unique and of special value to the audience, that the editor feels good about mentioning. Use an offer for a free problem solving report.
22. You sent the release to the wrong media. Target the media that your clients read, watch and listen to when they are in the right mood, that is, receptive to hearing about your news, and willing to take action when they get your message. Work with your publicist to target the right media.
23. You rely on a single fax or an email to produce an avalanche of media calls. You conduct no follow up. Get real. Follow up properly and you can triple or quadruple your media response rate. Better still, you can ask the editors “what can I give you to support a feature story and meet your needs.”
Finally, the biggest reason for news release failure is one of attitude. How do you define success or failure? It’s called unrealistic expectations.
So when you write a news release please review it against these criteria to see if you’ve made any of these errors. Then fix each and every one of them yourself.
Listen to your publicist. Heed these warnings and reduce the risks of failure. Fail to pay attention to these issues, and proceed at your own risk.
Paul J. Krupin is the author of the book Trash Proof News Releases
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ALLBOOKS INTERVIEW
Please state your name and location. (city and State or Province, Country)
David L Carlson
1212 Willow Tree Lane
Seminole, OK 74868
Tell us the title and publisher of your book:
“I Can’t Believe I Did That!” published by Xlibris Corp
Tell us about yourself:
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in the world of science and scientific discovery. After getting established in a career in aviation, I went back to college at age 31 and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis, CA. I became a government employee and have spent most of my career as an instructor at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City where I developed and revised courses and manuals used in teaching weather and other aviation-related fields. Since retiring, my wife, Mary Jo, and I have moved to a smaller town to be near family and enjoy a slower pace of life.
When was the book released?
January, 2008
Give us an overview of your book.
The book explains the origins of what we refer to as “Human Nature.” Despite the tremendous variation in human behavior, there are several distinct traits that are common to our species and all other species as well. These include dominance and submission, aggression, territoriality, altruism, loyalty to family and group, mistrust of strangers and sex drive along with all of our automatic bodily functions such as heartbeat and respiration. We refer to all these functions together as the “Instinct of Survival” and they originate in a small and very ancient part of our brain often called the “Primitive Brain Stem.”
My purpose in the book is to show that there are normal and natural reasons for what are often illogical, unreasonable and destructive emotions that result in war, hatred, violence, bigotry and other negative behaviors. The alternatives of peace, cooperation, reason and tolerance are simply decisions we can all make.
What inspired you to write this book?
As a young man, I was quite domineering and controlling with my family even though I disliked seeing that type of behavior in others. When I finally recognized it in myself, I was determined to change, even though it was difficult to do. I also began a serious program of research and observation to explain this and other facets of “Human Nature.” It finally all made sense and, when I retired, I felt that I could sum it all up in a book.
How is your book different from other books in this genre?
Other books that I have read describe instinctive behavior in all species except humans.
Where can people buy your book?
It is available on amazon.com, borders.com, bn.com as well as xlibris.com
Are you working on another book? If so when do you expect it to be published?
I have some ideas and some notes but that’s all so far.
If you self published, what advice can you give to fellow writers?
For most unknown authors, it is probably the only way to get your book in print.
If published traditionally, tell us how you benefited:
Can you share one of your marketing successes with us?
So far, book signings at Hasting Bookstores have resulted in the most sales.
How did you find Allbooks Reviews and what are you hoping for in your relationship with us?
My stepdaughter, Lori Davis, who is also publishing a book, told me about Allbooks. I’m hoping for widespread promotion of her book and mine.
Was the low cost a surprise? What other things would you like Allbooks Reviews to offer writers?
I was pleasantly surprised at the variety and low cost of the services provided by Allbooks Reviews. I don’t know what else they could offer except possibly a personal recommendation from Oprah!
Thank you for this interview and best of luck with your book.
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