VJs Power Blog

“Your coaching helped me both on the radio and in my first presentation—

I got a standing ovation, and sold lots of books and CDs!”

My client launched his book tour last week and is already seeing RESULTS.

To kick off the Fall Book Tour Season, I’m offering a

BOOK TOUR BASICS SPECIAL:

2-hour ONLINE Training for $97

DATE: Wed., Sept. 30^th, 10am -12noon Pacific Time

Whether you’re self-published or with a small or large publisher—this program will work for you.

In this customized media training session you will learn how to

Find your story hook to attract the media

Nail the “what’s your book about?” opening question

Relieve the stress & panic of performance

Adapt to all types of interviews – Radio, TV, Phone, Internet

AND…SELL LOTS OF BOOKS.

ONLINE SESSION IS LIMITED TO 10 PARTICIPANTS, SO

SIGN UP NOW BY CLICKING HERE.

What do you need to be a successful communicator?

Whether you want to wow the team at work with your Power Point– Win your spouse over to take that special vacation– or Get people to buy your product or service– you’ve got to know how to deliver your message with confidence.

I was interviewed this week by author Caroline Leavitt about how and why Media Training fills those needs, and she begins the blog article with her own story to prove the point.

Visit her site, enjoy the Q&A, and check out her wonderful array of books!

This week I worked via phone with a client who’s about to start his book tour, and the focus was on clarifying and strengthening his media messages.

When you’ve written a 400-600 page book, it seems daunting to boil it down to 2 sentences when the show host asks “so, what’s your book about?”  But that is the essence of good media interviews.  When you’re able to describe your material in a succinct, entertaining, and informative way, that is Part 1.  The SECOND PART of the ability, when you ace it, puts you into the “she-was-so-great-let’s-have-her-back-again” category.

What is PART TWO?

Making your message POWERFUL.  That means it is simple, yet profound.

Now, not every subject demands such lofty goals.  If you’re main character’s a chaotic, coffee-swilling, hang glider who stumbles upon a murder and has to solve it, you might think “it’s just a mystery novel.”  And you may be too close to the material to discover the simple, powerful description.

That’s why you hire a communication specialist to help you dig through the story to find the essence of that connection to the audience.

We found it in our media training session this week.  And once YOU find it, you will know the Power of Simplicity.

If book sales are down and readers are not browsing bookstores as often, how do authors connect with them? Online, of course.  Keep your website design simple but give them a reason to keep coming back, with things such as daily blog posts and links to fan sites.

Always let your readers know your book tour schedule and other upcoming events.

Link any other social networking you do, such as Twitter or Facebook, to your website as well.  Remember that your audience is online, and even though it takes time, short comments work just fine.  Even though the Internet is a virtual world, people are more attached to it than ever, and making that personal connection does wonders.

I drum this into my clients every time I media train them for the book tour, and I’d like to show you a case in point—where novelist Steven M. Thomas grabbed kudos and ran with them.

I am sending out a couple of e-mail blasts. The one that included your address has gotten me a writing conference gig and a lot of very nice responses, so far, and I am building another one now, culling through my e-mail system to create an additional list of friends, colleagues, writing professionals and others who may be interested in news about my novels.

His email signature includes testimonials, some of which he solicited:

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love shares a wonderful nugget of advice for each of us as we create—whether that creation be a speech, a wooden bowl, or a new career: BE NOT AFRAID.

Guy Kawasaki is such a slouch. A successful entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, speaker, and consultant, I’ve found him typing away online at all hours of the day and night. A few weeks back I reviewed his latest website, the “online magazine rack” at alltop.com where he’s attempting to help us organize the gazillion info sites we all love to visit.

This week on his blog, Guy has a great personal story about what he learned in dealing with a prickly PR issue involving the Wall Street Journal and coverage (or lack thereof) of Alltop. It’s a great example of how the new media morphifications of old media ain’t followin’ the rules. Which, in this case, was a good thing.

I’ll let Guy tell the rest.

I just got an email from author Doreen Orion about her book QUEEN OF THE ROAD: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus With a Will of Its Own (Broadway Books).

She ran a contest and gave away copies of the book which chronicles how she and her husband, both psychiatrists, took a mid-life break to spend one year driving across America…through fires, floods, an armed robbery, the nudist RV park, and more. Here is an author who totally gets book marketing, as is reflected in her email:

“I do hope you’ll consider reading my book about our life-changing trip (published in trade paperback, so perfect for summer!). Please feel free to check out my website for the great reviews it’s getting, pictures of our trip, videos, podcasts, my blog, book tour appearances (San Fran, Oakland, Portland, Phoenix, Denver and Boulder are coming up), and tons of other fun stuff. In addition, if you’re in a book club, I’m happy to ‘appear’ by speakerphone and there’s a way to contact me via the website for that, as well.”

Later she told me, “Writing is 20%, marketing is 80%. And if you can’t have fun with the 80% of what it takes to do a book, what’s the point?”

EXACTLY. It takes a lot to grab the attention of readers who have so many choices these days. But you gotta have fun doing it. Of course, anyone who packs up a husband, a dog, cats, and hits the road for a year already understands the meaning of “wild ride.”