The Sound of Death by David Mannes - THE BIG THRILL
Sonic attacks hit American and Russian consulates around the world. Two compromised government people are killed with no outward […]

3 Key Elements That Can Get You Spotlighted In National Media

Anytime a PR effort results successfully in coverage by a major media outlet, you are entitled to a little celebration.

But, of course, it's even better when those successes multiply - and then multiply some more.

That's what happened recently with one of our clients, a financial professional who was able to build her authority by being quoted in such top-tier media outlets as Reader's Digest, Yahoo Finance, CNBC.com, Business News Daily, American Express OPEN Forum and many others.

I wanted to share this PR success story with you not to brag (well, maybe just a tad), but because I think there are lessons to be learned from the things this client did right on her way to accomplishing her publicity goals. Those lessons apply whether you have enlisted the aid of a public relations firm to help with your publicity (as she did), have someone in-house handling it for you, or are reaching out to the media completely on your own.

And every single thing she did is something you can emulate - if you're willing to put in the time and effort as she was. So, let's take a look at what helped separate her from others whose credentials and message are just as good, but who don't fare as well in the publicity game:

Responsiveness. If a journalist needed a quote, she was at the ready, carving out the time even though she was already plenty busy working with clients and running her business. She simply refused to let a hectic day interfere with taking advantage of those media opportunities. Everyone says they are busy - and in truth, most of us are. We have meetings to attend, phone calls to take and reports to write, not to mention family obligations. She had all those things, too, yet made responding to the media a priority because she wanted her investment in a PR campaign to be a success - and it paid off.

Thoughtful answers. Members of the media are often on tight deadlines, so they want answers to their questions as quickly as possible. But that doesn't mean just anything will do. One-sentence responses, or comments that provide no real insight, aren't that helpful. The media need quotes that are thoughtful and provide value to their audiences. If you can't give them that, they will find someone else who can. Our client's thorough takes on the topics presented to her helped ensure that her comments were published, rather than ending up cut from the journalist's article.

Willingness to engage all media. Our client responded to questions regardless of what publication they were coming from, and that's more important to a successful publicity campaign than people realize. Sometimes there's a tendency to disregard smaller publications as unimportant. Everyone wants the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or other top-tier media, which is understandable. But lesser-known publications can be valuable for a few reasons. For one thing, they help build your online media presence, so if reporters at larger publications search your name, they will find you've already been a trusted source for someone. Beyond that, it's not unusual for a journalist who writes for a small weekly or daily newspaper to also do freelance work for larger publications. In addition, many newspapers are owned by chains and they share articles with their sister newspapers. So, that small-town newspaper article that quotes you might ultimately reach a larger audience than you anticipated.

This client understood that for her publicity campaign to be a success, she needed to play a significant role - and she definitely was up to the challenge.

To achieve favorable results, you can't ignore those great media opportunities when they arise. The willingness to set aside time to take a reporter's phone call or respond to emailed questions can be the difference maker in whether your campaign fizzles or flourishes.

Thoughtfully yours,

Marsha

P.S. If you'd like professional help getting coverage in the press, or being interviewed on radio and TV, give us a call. We've been providing this service to clients for 29 years. We also offer a comprehensive social media marketing program for select clients, where we do it all for you. If you're interested in our help, please call us at 727-443-7115 Ext. 0, or simply reply to this email. We'd love to hear from you!

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From the News & Experts Articles

The True ROI of Public Relations: What Do You REALLY Get From a PR Campaign

Public relations is the hot potato of the marketing budget.

Chief Financial Officers hate it, while salespeople and business development executives love it.

Every year, when the budget is drawn, this is typically how the conversation goes:

CFO: What's the return on the PR budget?

Marketing Director: I don't know.

CFO: Well, how much revenue does it bring in? Read More

Playwright James Trivers' Provocative "Drinks with Mother Teresa" Selected for New Play Lab at 35th Inge Festival

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts..."
-- As You Like It, William Shakespeare

With Shakespeare's birthday fast approaching on April 23, it's gotten me thinking about us writers, we happy few, or indeed we cursed few -- among them, screenwriters Ben Ripley (Source Code) and Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight), music author Steffan Chirazi (Metallica's chronicle "So What!"), and my neighbor and playwright/author James Trivers.

Writing, oh, writing. For many, there are more close misses than homeruns. Writing drives us crazy, but we can't live without it.

Look at my neighbor Trivers' several decades long story -- for example, he's had two books ("I Can Stop Anytime I Want" and "Hamburger Heaven") published by Prentice Hall; had the screenplay Norma Jean, Jack and Me produced; and, has eleven e-books available through Club Lighthouse Publishing.

Writer James Trivers: All the world's a stage "I'm going through"

Trivers has been at this writing thing for awhile. And he still gets excited by what may happen with a good piece of writing like "Drinks with Mother Teresa," a clever, funny and provocative one-act play which has been selected for presentation in the New Play Lab of the prestigious 35th William Inge Theater Festival -- running from April 20-23 and finishing on playwright Shakespeare's own birthday. Trivers' play is one of only 35 scripts chosen, and the New Lab's goal is to help authors further their work through a public reading and discussion of the work.

The William Inge Theater Festival takes place in Independence, Kansas, in the hometown of William Inge, on the same streets in the town that inspired the young playwright. Writer Inge brought small-town life in America's Midwest to Broadway with several outstanding plays -- "Come Back Little Sheba" (1950), "Picnic" (1953, Pulitzer Prize-winning), "Bus Stop" (1955) and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (1957). He also earned an Academy Award-winning screenplay award for Splendor in the Grass in 1962 directed by Elia Kazan.

Historical fiction "Young Hitler" Trivers with Claus Hant--Quartet Books

Trivers, who has often mixed non-fiction characters with fictional situations in his writing, explains his inspiration for "Drinks with Mother Teresa":

When I read online that for the last thirty years of her life, Mother Teresa was racked with a crisis of faith, I was fascinated. I believe saints are bilious zealots anyway, single-minded and impossible in their way. Their worldview is simplistic and adamant. I researched her more. I read her bio on my Kindle, and also a telling collection of her letters. In that tome, I saw her word choice and her worldview. When I read that she'd lectured in Las Vegas in 1960, I loved the juxtaposition of a saint in a city where gambling and prostitution is legal. I thought actor/celebrated personality Peter Lawford, a Brat Pack member, would be a perfect foil. I figured they could meet in the Green Room of the Flamingo, and when I cast him as the emcee for her presentation, the story began writing itself.

The interactions between Mother Teresa and Lawford, who was JFK's brother-in-law, are poignant, thought-provoking and often hilarious, and these scenes drive the play.

Besides Norma Jean, Jack and Me, The Phil Spector Incident, and "Drinks With Mother Teresa," author Trivers has blended non-fiction characters with fictional situations several other times, including using Helen Keller, O.J. Simpson and even TE Lawrence (or Arabia). He suggests:

Marrying fictional situations with non-fiction people intrigues me, because it allows me to invent and interpret the stories we read about. For example, my O.J. story is a twentieth century spin on Othello, making him Ojello. When you write about historical or pop culture figures, the audience knows who these people are, you get to put these people under a microscope of your perceptions and dramatize what these people are like. I love reading biographies, as it's a way of witnessing great success and also great failure.

Trivers is also excited about having his play selected for the New Play Lab, expressing:

I'm hoping when 'Drinks With Mother Teresa' is presented as a play-reading at the Inge Festival, it will give me an opportunity to see how it sounds and plays in front of an audience. I also look forward to meeting other writers, producers and seeing that part of the Midwest. Perhaps someone may like it enough to take a step further and place it in an evening of one-act plays somewhere. Who knows, as it's always the roll of the dice. All I know is that the function of art is to entertain, entertain, and entertain. And I hope I've done that with my play.

As the Bard's birthday approaches, the playwright might himself say, "Such stuff as dreams are made on..."

Follow James Trivers and his work at Club Lighthouse Publishing, and check out the Inge Festival.

Amazon Removes Reviews

"I've been buried in a book deadline for all of October, and haven't been paying much attention to anything else. When I finally took some time to catch up reading email, I noticed I had many authors (more than twenty) contacting me because their Amazon reviews were disappearing. Some were the ones they wrote. Some were for their books. One author told me that reviews her fans had written--fans that were completely unknown to her--had been deleted."

Read the complete story at the following link.

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Stealth Media Group will co-produce the thriller "The Devil's Banker," the London-based company said at the Cannes Film Festival.

Stealth will also structure financing, as well as package and sell the $30 million film to international buyers.

"The Devil's Banker" depicts a political scandal that involves both the Mafia and the Catholic Church. These powerful institutions cause headaches for a British police Inspector investigating a murder in Rome.

Stealth describes it as an unlikely - some might even say unholy - hybrid of such past films as "The Name of the Rose" and "Wall Street".

The original novel and screenplay is by Gary Van Haas, with Patrick Q. Roberts as associate script writer.

Ross Boyask, who heads up Stealth's production and development team, will serve as executive producer along with Stealth's Chief Officer Michael Cowan. Stealth will be co-producing the film in cooperation with Cinema Arts Group.

Stealth says it hopes to start production in 2013.

See full story here.

August 26, 2010 - Author Steve Kendall was interviewed on Blog Talk radio..about his book "Follow The Falcon"

RADIO SHOW:

Confirmation that you will be a guest on “A Book and a Chat with Steven Kendall”

August 26th – 6:30pm EST

Number you need to call is: 347- 237-5398

Location: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
* Beware the time is EST, please make changes to fit in your own time zone

Information about the show and the guest through the month can be found on

http://abookandachat.blogspot.com

With now over 200 shows under my belt, I really enjoy doing “A Book and a Chat” and while other shows are charging sometimes over $100 I still keep mine free of charge. Any books I receive are used for book charity events.

Barry Eva (Storyheart)
Author of "Across the Pond"

Check out my new radio show blog:
Radio Blog: http://abookandachat.blogspot.com
Humor Blog: http://laughithoughtmytrouserswouldneverdry.blogspot.com
Across the Pond Blog: http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com
Blog Talk Radio Show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Book Site: http://across-t-pond.com
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokp
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2hn1q0DZ34

August 2, 2010...The Shard Fence by Keith Madsen has been featured at the following sites http://www.christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/buzz.html

Click here to see a book trailer video of this thrilling Inspirational novel that will keep you turning the pages to the exclusion of all else until you have finished reading it.

http://www.internationalministries.org/read/24181 The International Ministry is responsible for promoting mission work in the author's denomination. He is also donating 20% of all proceeds from this book to the missionary school in Belo Horizonte mentioned in the book.

In early April 2010 our CEO/Editor-in-Chief Terrie L. Balmer was interviewed about Club Lighthouse Publishing, it's inception and future direction by Raven and The Writing Desk Blogspot.

Click on the following link to read it;

http://aubcherlis.blogspot.com/2010/05/interview-with-club-lighthouse.html

November 21, 2009 - Maryanne Paige, author of Cemetery Gates and Hidden Shadows will be on a virtual Blog Tour in December to promote her latest novel, Cemetery Gate, published by Club Lighthouse Publishing in July 2009. Click here to visit one of her stops on the leg of this virtual journey...

Congratulations Maryann, knock the sock off 'em!!!! We're immensely proud of you!!!

Ahhh MinX, that titillating erotic rock and roll fantasy novel we released in August of 2009. It has certainly been getting it's share of attention and coverage by other media sources, all in thanks to the effort of one of it authors, Cary Stone.

The following link is an interview conducted with him by Jude Mason at her blog page:

http://jude-mason.blogspot.com/2009/08/jude-mason-interviews-cary-stone.html

Also, click here to read another interview with Glass House, a Newspaper in his Australian hometown..

Folks it pays to promote your books as much as possible wherever you can!!!

Also this month, another one of our best selling Sci-Fi and erotica Authors R. Richard, released his first print novel, one which he co-authored with Sunset Thomas. It is titled "Anatomy of An Adult Film" by Sunset Thomas and R. Richard, ISBN: 978-1-935444-20-6.

In July 2008, Club Lighthouse Publishing was featured in online entrepreneurial Magazine DARE Read the full article at the following link

http://www.dare.co.in/opportunities/services/new-age-publishing/Page-3.htm