Posts Tagged ‘advice’
How to get local media coverage
April 8th, 2010 by Susan BrillThe BelieversPress blog features Q & A sessions with the experts we work with, answering questions that you’ve asked. Have a question? Click the link in the sidebar to submit it!
You asked:
“I really feel like my book could benefit from some local media coverage — what can I do to get on my local paper’s editor’s good side?”
Susan Brill, writing and marketing expert, replied:
Great question! Editors are always in a crunch, on a deadline, and looking for something fresh. They’re often also short on funds to pay freelancers to cover local news. Instead of asking for their help – offer yours! Avail yourself as a resource, and be easy to work with. This will put your name and the name of your book in the public eye, and establish relationship and credibility with the editors. Here are a few ways to avail yourself:
- Offer to write an article. Let the editor know the topic of your book and your area of expertise. Be sure to include the title of your book in your byline or in a short biographical sentence at the end of the article.
- Offer to run an excerpt from your book in the paper – for free. (Don’t worry about giving your book away. If people have a taste and like what they read, they’ll want to buy the book for themselves!) Send the editor a copy of your book with an inscription from you on the inside front page, thanking the editor by name for his or her contribution to the community or for his or her work at the paper. Flag a few areas of the book you would offer as an excerpt for the paper.
- Send in a press release that highlights you as a local author. A book launch press release focuses on the content and relevance of your book. But in your own community – you’re bigger news than the book is! Again, the size of your community makes a difference, but, even in a big city, if you can find an angle that makes your authoring a book newsworthy, many papers would be happy to print it for the local color and human interest value. It’s easier for someone else to write this kind of release for you rather than trying to paint yourself as a local celebrity. (Believer’s Press can help you with that.)
Other ideas to use your local paper for publicity: Send in community event notices when you have speaking engagements in the area; set up a book discussion at the local library and issue a short press release in advance; or write an editorial for the Op/Ed section of the paper on a current issue in the news that ties in to the topic of your book.
Finally, be easy to work with by sending in clean, proofread copy. Be easy to reach by including your name and contact information on every correspondence or submission, and be quick to pick up your phone or respond to messages from the editor. (An hour can make or break whether your story runs!) Be informed – read the paper! Make sure you know the tone, news style, and content of the paper so your offers or requests to the editor are in proper context.
3 Things to Leave Out of Your Author Bio
March 23rd, 2010 by Kimberly BrockThe BelieversPress blog features Q & A sessions with the experts we work with, answering questions that you’ve asked. Have a question? Send it to info@believerspress.com and we’ll get you an answer!
You asked:
What three things shouldn’t I include in my cover bio?
- Incorporate “Anointed by God to teach/write/speak…” In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, the Word says, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.” If you are in Christ, you are anointed along with every other believer in the world. While some authors may feel it significant to state, I believe it is more important to choose your words carefully in establishing yourself as the expert of your own work. If you want to mention your faith, do so in a way that sets you apart: “David has helped to lead Bible studies for 12 years…” You only have 3-5 seconds to grab your buyer’s attention. Select your words wisely.
- Announce this is your first book. As an author, you have to remember that you are your product. In order to put your best foot forward, you want to lead your bio with a strong statement about yourself including some of your qualifications to write your book. In other words, it would be better to lead with, “Sally is a part-time editor and freelance writer” rather than “Sally is a housewife who between hauling her kids to activities finds time to write.” Both statements could be true, but the first example better places you as a professional.
- Include too much information. Although your bio is a the place to list your many accomplishments, I encourage authors to carefully edit and select information that helps support the sale of the book. A good bio does not have to be complicated. I just read an article on bios. In this article it said that on a bookcover, readers want you to answer:
1) who you are…
2) your expertise and how it addresses…
3) their problem or goal, and how they can…
4) contact you
I agree with this theory and suggest that you may add a little more about your personal life (married, with children, etc.). But for the most part if you have those components satisfied, the reader will be happy. Also, do be sure to include a website that is current and active as well as a professional email address for which your readers can contact you.
For more information, please read an article I wrote titled Crafting Your Bio.
Some copyright fees may change August 1
June 5th, 2009 by Sara Rosenberg
From Sally Stuart’s blog:
Effective August 1, 2009, some fees charged by the Copyright Office will change. Fees requiring Congressional approval will go into effect August 1, 2009, if Congress does not take action to disapprove them. Other fees that are set by regulation to be issued by the Copyright Office will change on the same day. Among the fees affected are those having to do with registration and Licensing Division services For detailed information, including the complete new fee schedule, go to the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov.
Sally’s blog is a great place to keep up-to-date on all the latest in Christian writing, and her Christian Writers’ Market Guide is a highly-recommended resources for all Christian writers.
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Self-Editing and Using an Editor
April 9th, 2009 by Paul Hawley“Why do I need an editor? I’m the only one who knows what I’m really trying to say, and only I can revise my writing with that purpose in mind.”
There is truth in that statement. As Arthur Glasser used to say, “There’s no such thing as good writing — only good rewriting.” But there’s a catch: Those of us able to put our “inner editors” to sleep long enough to actually write are often those whose inner editors need the most training and motivation.
So how can you become a better editor? That’s a lifelong pursuit, I’m convinced. No project should see the light without a thorough review and revision at your hands. But some are more skilled and practiced at editing than others, and we’ve gained much of our expertise (no false modesty here) by working accountably on a wide variety of projects. Some of our skills involve communicating sensitively and clearly with writers. All that experience we can bring to bear on your project as well.
Google Books has countless out-of-print resources on editing, production, publicity, etc., available free on the Internet or for little more than shipping charges. You can search online for leads to the books in libraries near you or even to PDF files viewable on your computer or other screen. Here I’m thinking of classics for writers and editors like The Art of Readable Writing by Rudolf Flesch. Also, quite a few up-to-date resources on self-editing are directed or recommended to Christian writers — for example, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, recommended by ChristianWritersGuild.com — and they can often be found for a song via the Internet or for free at your library. Even our BelieversPress colleague Jeff Gerke has compiled a library of tips, advice, and principles at his website.
If you really want to edit your own material, my response is, More power to you. It’s possible to save all kinds of labor and grief and false starts, however, if you rely on a professional, even at the least expensive level, because you can get some answers to your own specific questions in the process. A professional editor will look at your project both through the wide-angle lens and through the microscope. As a bonus, you will learn principles of good writing and editing, gain guidance for your own searches for further resources, and improve your skills.
The question is simply how much the trade-off is worth to you. You may grow to rely on one or more editors of your choice or decide that you’ll procure such services for a limited time specifically to learn how to edit your own material. The beauty of this community is that it’s all up to you.
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