Book Promotion for Chicken Soup for the Soul and Harvard Medical School–a deliciously healthy combination!

Newman Communications is excited to once again to provide book promotion and publicity services for the global best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. To kick things off, Newman will launch a national book promotion radio tour for the four new Chicken Soup for the Soul titles.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Health, a new imprint of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, publisher of the series and a world leader in life improvement, and Harvard Medical School, one of the world’s most respected medical institutions, has announced a first-of–its-kind collaboration for a new health and wellness book series for readers who want to get serious about their physical and mental wellbeing.

The first four books in the series will focus on a popular health topic, combining the inspiration and support of new stories written especially for these books with accessible, life-changing medical information from top Harvard Medical School doctors.

“Doctors often use stories as a way to motivate and educate their patients and this series will allow us to combine our latest medical advice with real stories from real people to help readers live healthier lives,” said Harvard Health Publications’ Chief Editor of Books Dr. Julie Silver. “Chicken Soup for the Soul is the perfect partner for us on this project because their stories are a wonderful source of hope, inspiration, and great advice—and they complement the useful medical information that we are providing in these books.”

The initial four titles in the series include:

• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Boost Your Brain Power! by top neurologist Dr. Marie Pasinski, with Liz Neporent (May 2012 ; 978-1-935096-86-3)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Back Pain!, by leading physical medicine expert and Harvard Health Publications Chief Editor of Books Dr. Julie Silver (May 2012; 978-1-935096-87-0)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Stress by noted psychologist Dr. Jeff Brown, with Liz Neporent (May 2012; 978-1-935096-88-7)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Hello to a Better Body! by respected internist Dr. Suzanne Koven (May 2012; 978-1-935096-89-4)

“Since 1993 Chicken Soup for the Soul has focused on improving lives by providing inspiration, wellness and hope around the world and this series is another extension of that mission,” said William J. Rouhana, Jr., Chairman & CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. “We are excited to be working with Harvard Medical School and know that our readers will benefit from their cutting-edge health advice.”

Read the New York Times article on the benefits of storytelling on health www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/health/views/10chen.html?_r=1

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Need,Speed, and Greed

Need, Speed, and Greed

Author: Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran
Publisher: Harper Business

China Business Editor for the Economist, Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, teamed up with Newman Communications to promote his new book, Need, Speed, and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World’s Most Wicked Problems (Harper Business). This book promotion tour took the author from Radio appearances to popular blogs and news sites across the web.

With the help of Newman Communications’ book publicity services, Vaitheeswaran traveled the U.S. on his book promotion tour sharing his insights with the media, including:

• KQED’s Forum with Michael Krasny
• Freakonomics.com Blog
• NPR’s Tech Nation
• Investor’s Business Daily
• TheStreet.com
• BBC’s World News America
• CNBC.com Blog post
• The Globe and Mail
• The Motley Fool

About the Book:

Over the past few decades, globalization and Googlization have kicked off the first phase of an innovation revolution more profound and more powerful than any economic force since the arrival of Europeans on North American shores half a millennium ago. These developments have brought us such advances as the Web, social networking, 24/7 connectivity, and global markets.

But the benefits of all this progress have not been shared fairly among all. It is true that the elites of Mumbai are closer today to the elites of Manhattan than they were two decades ago, but what about Kansas? The hard-working salarymen of the developed world are not getting wealthier, but the economic elites who have mastered the new rules of global innovation are. Even as rural women in Africa and Asia have seen their lives transformed by mobile phones and the Internet, the middle classes and blue-collar workers in prosperous countries everywhere have been squeezed by the new global realities. And as the first phase of the innovation revolution gives way to a much greater transformation, America and other rich societies must find a path to inclusive growth or else risk being left behind by history.

All this leads to the central political and economic question of our age: How can the extraordinary benefits of the innovation revolution be shared more equitably among all of society? Need, Speed, and Greed answers that question, offering the essential insider’s guide to this new world of innovation. Drawing on the best of the academic and field work in this emerging area, Vaitheeswaran inspires and empowers readers to improve their lives, their work, and perhaps even the world.

About the Author:

Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran is an award-winning global correspondent for the Economist.  He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an adviser to the World Economic Forum. He is also the author of Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future (co-authored with Iain Carson), and Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, andMaybe Even Save the Planet.

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Titanic - Voices from the Disaster

Titanic – Voices from the Disaster

Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Publisher: Scholastic Press

You’ve seen the movie, and you’ve fallen in love with the characters. But what are the real stories of the people who met the same fate as the RSS Titanic, and, better yet, what can survivors teach young readers about that infamous night in April 1912?

Leading up to the hundredth anniversary of the tragedy, Newman Communications has been at the helm a book publicity campaign for  TITANIC: Voices from the Disaster (Scholastic Press, March 2012) by Deborah Hopkinson, acclaimed author of historical fiction and nonfiction for young readers. In TITANIC, Hopkinson resurfaces a hundred-year-old tragedy through the stories and voices of those who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

TITANIC renews the drama, detail, and depth that intrigued millions nearly a century ago, but with a better understanding of how the ship declared to be unsinkable sank in a matter of hours. Hopkinson’s strikingly humanistic approach to the Titanic redefines historiography, creating a truly complete picture of the wreckage that doesn’t rely on commissioner reports alone.

Letters and narrative accounts from TITANIC’s passengers prompt readers to think of those whose journey ended along with what Hopkinson calls “a masterpiece of human engineering:”

• In a letter to their parents, Harvey, Lot, and Madge wrote, “Well dears so far we are having a delightful trip the weather is beautiful and the ship magnificent…Lots of love and don’t worry about us. Ever your loving children.”
•  “You have to try to imagine it – the last moment I saw my dear sister stand there with little Thelma tightly in her arms.” Ernst Persson, third class passenger.
• “I almost thought, as I saw her sink beneath the water, that I could see Jacques, standing where I had left him and waving at me.” May Futrelle, first class passenger remembering her husband

“This book is an introduction to the disaster and to just a few of the people who survived,” says Hopkinson, “I hope their stories and voices remind you, as they do me, that our lives are fragile and precious. And I hope they make you wonder, as I do, what it would have been like to be on the Titanic that night so long ago...”

TITANIC has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and School Library Journal.

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Following Atticus

Author: Tom Ryan
Publisher: William Morrow

Following Atticus - Tom Ryan

Newman Communications’ faith in humanity was restored when we were visited by author Tom Ryan and his buddy Atticus M. Finch.  Atticus, who is the central character in Ryan’s book, Following Atticus is an adorable miniature schnauzer.  Atticus was a perfect guest and but didn’t have very much to say, so he let Tom Ryan do all the talking.  Tom and Atticus had just completed a successful  radio book  publicity campaign which found them talking of their adventures with more than 25 stations across the country, including:

• NPR in WI
• USA Radio Network
• Lifestyle Network

Now once again, with Atticus in the lead, Tom  came  back to Newman Communications  to begin a new adventure in TV, Online and Print book publicity campaign for Following Atticus.

Get a quick look at the beautiful trailer for the book

About the Author

Tom Ryan is the founder of the Newburyport, Massachusetts, newspaper the Undertoad and served as its publisher and editor for more than a decade. It wasn’t until he bonded with Atticus that he realized how stressed and unhappyhe was. Middle-aged, overweight, and acrophobic Tom and Atticus were an unlikely pair of mountaineers, but after a close friend dies of cancer, the two pay tribute to her by attempting to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. In a rare test of endurance, Tom and Atticus set out on an adventure of a lifetime that takes them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland.

As Ryan says:  “In telling the story of my friend, Atticus M. Finch, I often think of the something Antoine de Saint Exupery wrote, ‘Perhaps the act of love is my gently leading you back to yourself.’ For that’s what this little dog did. He led, I followed, and in the end I became the man I dreamed of being when I was a little boy.”

“Not your standard mountain adventure book. . . . Reading Following Atticus can feel like taking a long walk, or a series of walks, with a great storyteller. Why ‘follow Atticus?’ Because, [Ryan says], ‘Dogs, like mountains, bring you back to yourself.’” (AMC Outdoors ).

Tom Ryan, Atticus and Newman Communications would like to help you  see what it means to love an animal, find your true self and maybe create a few smiles along the way.

To learn more about Following Atticus please visit: http://tomandatticus.blogspot.com/

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

A Major League Book Promotion Tour

Out of My League - Dirk Hayhurst

When asked what comes to mind when you think about spring, book promotion usually isn’t the answer you get. Instead your likely to hear answers like, Green Grass, Flowers, and … BASEBALL! Yes, spring training is here! The grass is cut,  the teams are practicing and before you know it will be Opening Day! Get out your peanuts, cracker jacks, and your favorite baseball cap and get ready to cheer on the hometown team. While some of us are content to cheering in the stands, others have bigger dreams. Dreams of taking a major league outfield, the pitchers mound,  or running the bases after hitting a home run! That’s where Dirk Hayhurst’s story starts, when he got called up from the minors in 2008 to play for the San Diego Padres! Newman Communications had the great great opportunity to provide and coordinate Dirk’s book promotion and publicity tour packed with with a radio and print exposure!

Newman Communications was able to get interviews on such radio stations and publications as:

• WBUR in Boston, MA
• WKSU in Kent, Ohio
• MLBBLOG.com
• SportsNet Radio
• Toronto Star

About the Book

The book tells the story of how Dirk Hayhurst got his big break by playing in the major leagues.  After six years of laying it on the line in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he will break into the big leagues.  But every time Dirk looks up, the bases are loaded with new challenges, on and off the field: a wedding balancing on blind hope, a family in chaos, and paychecks that beg Dirk to ask, “How long can I afford to keep doing this?”

Then it finally happens- Dirk gets called up to the Majors, to play for the San Diego Padres.  A dream comes  true when he takes the mound against the  San Francisco Giants, kicking off forty insane days and nights in the Bigs- with a big paycheck, bigger-than life personalities, and the biggest pressure he’s ever felt.

About the Bestselling Author, Dirk Hayhurst

Dirk Hayhurst is the author of the New York Times best seller THE BULLPEN GOSPELS.  Drafted from Kent State University in 2003 as a senior sign, Hayhurst has pitched professionally for nine years on more than eight minor league teams and two major league teams, including the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2011, he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and pitched for their Triple A-Team, the Durham Bulls in Durham, NC.  Hayhurst was born in Canton, Ohio, and resides in the off-season in Hudson, Ohio, with his wife Bonnie, a music therapist.

It was great to work with Dirk Hayhurst. Check out his book,  OUT OF MY LEAGUE in stores now and good luck to your team this season!

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Book Promotion and Book Publicity Tips for Authors

Promoting Your Book on Facebook

If you use Facebook (and who doesn’t), you’re probably by now familiar with the “Timeline” layout. Some love it, others hate it. Up to now, the Business and Brand Pages remained unchanged and followed the old layout and format. If you use a Facebook Business or Brand Page for book promotion, the fact is, like it or not, as of March 30th, these pages are receiving the updated Timeline format as well. This change might throw a wrench into the plans of some who manage these pages, but if you’re an author and want to take advantage of Facebook for book promotion, it does present some benefits.

We’ve put together a few tips to help you get started with the new pages and to kick-start your book promotion and publicity. And if you’re not an author, we think you’ll find this information just as helpful.

The Cover Image
Judging a Facebook Page By It’s Cover

The Cover Image is new to Timeline and gives you a chance to really personalize or create an identity for your page. This is the first thing people will see when they visit your page. Just like the cover image of your book, you can really make or break a first impression here. Give this some thought and create an aesthetic and powerful heading for your page that really illustrates who you are and what you do.

The Cover Image is a landscape formatted image (horizontally long) that stretches across the top of your page. This is a feature you should take full advantage of on your book promotion page, but be careful not to over-promote. You have creative freedom over how you design your cover image, but there are a few “rules” to be aware of.

• The image must be at least 399 pixels wide. Facebook recommends 851×351 pixels.
• The image can not be Ad-centric. In other words, you can not use the image as an Ad or to directly promote a product or service.
• It cannot include prices or discount information
• It cannot include contact information
• It cannot use calls to action: Visit our site, Download now, Like our page, etc

You can read all about the “official” rules on Facebook’s FAQ Page

Profile Image
Giving your Book Promotion a Face

In addition to uploading the Cover Image, you may also want/need to upload a new profile image. The Profile image is pretty important and should be selected with care. This image will be used as your visual identity across all of Facebook, appearing next to all of your activity, comments and posts. Be sure to select something that reflects you or your brand. A logo or personal picture are good options. As an author, think about using the same personal photo used in the book sleeve, or a photo of the book itself.

The profile picture is displayed as a square either as 125 x 125 pixels or 150 x 150 pixels, resizing automatically according the the screen size of the viewing device. Facebook suggests that you upload your image using a minimum of 180 x 180 pixels for the best results.

Highlight The Goods

One of the new features of Timeline is the ability to Highlight posts. Activities and news generated through a book promotion or publicity campaign make great pieces to add and highlight on your page’s timeline. This is a great way to include milestones or add emphasis to and make the good stuff stand apart from the usual posts. Normally, posts are reduced to half the width of a page and arranged to either side of the Timeline which runs vertically down the middle. Highlighting a post expands it to fill the full width of the Timeline. Using this feature will draw attention to posts that you want your page visitors to see above all others. The results of a good book publicity or book promotion campaign can produce lots of great events to highlight.

Highlights:

• Posted great interview with media
• Add Links to your articles that get posted on New York Times and other popular sites and blogs.

Milestones:

• Made the Amazon Bestseller List
• Goals Reached:  Sold X copies of your book

To highlight a post, hover over it. You will see a small box appear in the corner with a Star and a Pencil inside it. Click the Star and your post will transform, taking up the full width of your timeline.

Pin the Important Stuff

Pinning posts is another new feature similar to highlighting, but with some added emphasis on the “emphasis”. This is another effective book promotion tactic that you can easily include with your strategy. Pinning a post will move it to the top of your page where it will be one of the first things your visitors see. Any post on your timeline can be pinned to the top where it will be visible without having to scroll through the timeline (or at least not have to scroll far). Once pinned, the post will remain at the top of the page for 7 days. After the 7 days has passed, the post will be moved back to it’s original place in your timeline.

This is a great way to inform visitors of upcoming book promotion events, announcements or news. If you have an upcoming book signing, or a scheduled interview appearance, pin the post to make sure your visitors are aware of it.

To Pin a post, follow the same process for highlighting. Instead of clicking the Star, click the Pencil and select “Pin-to-top”.

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Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Book Publicity for Heaven on Earth

Author: Richard Landes
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Heaven on Earth - Richard Landes

Some say “the end is near” others believe that we have been here before. Remember Y2K!  Richard Landes and Newman Communications feel it’s just the beginning!

Landes and Newman Communications have committed to a book publicity tour for Heaven on Earth introducing some of the most influential apocalyptic movements in history, from tribal and agrarian societies to the post-modern world.

Ranging from ancient Egypt to modern-day UFO cults and global Jihad, Heaven on Earth both delivers an eye-opening revisionist argument for the significance of millennialism throughout history and alerts the reader to the alarming spread of these ideologies in our world today.

Notably Landes shows that millennialism is universal and not exclusive to Christianity or Judaism through a range of examples, including:

• Akhenaten’s “monotheistic heresy” in 14^th century BCE Egypt
• The 19^th century “Cattle-Slaying” Xhosa of South Africa
• Hong Xiu Chuang’s Taiping in 19^th centuryChina
• The French Revolution
• Nazism

Starting at the beginning of our book publicity outreach, we have helped Richard Landes get his message to many on  radio stations  via:

• Frankie Boyer on the Lifetime Radio Network
• Texas NPR
• AM & FM Philadelphia WIP with Peter Solomon

Still other major online media have expressed interest in the book to learn more about these significant actions.

Through these case studies in Heaven on Earth,  Landes not only redefines the history of this largely misunderstood phenomenon, but examines its persistence today. He looks at everything from the buzz surrounding the Mayan Calendar (ending this December 2012) and warnings of Global Warming to Global Jihad—the first major apocalyptic movement of the 21^st century. Through these present-day applications Landes reveals the widespread existence of (largely unconscious) millennial thinking in secular circles and in turn, its vast influence on current thought.

About the Author

Richard Landes is Associate Professor of History and directed the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University. He is the author of several books, and editor of The Apocalyptic Year 1000 and the Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements.

So What about Karl Marx, UFO’s and Jihad?  According to Richard Landes they are all millennialist movements. Let’s re -group on 12/21/12 and see if we are still here to discuss this fascinating subject.

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Book Publicity for The Pact: Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation

Author: Steven M Gillon
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The Pact

Celebrated historian Steven M. Gillon has teamed up with Newman Communications for a national book publicity radio tour in support of his new book, The Pact: Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation. This election year book publicity tour took Gillon around the country to discuss presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his relationship with former President Bill Clinton. Newman worked with the author to secure spots on local and national radio stations including interviews with

• Dan Raviv on the CBS Radio Network
• Sirius XM broadcast with Rusty Humphries
• Louisiana Radio Network (NPR)
• America’s Radio News Network

About the Book:

Seventeen years before he would run for President, Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and a conservative revolution began. The next five years were filled with national debate and political clashes. Gingrich’s main foe was then Commander in Cheif, Bill Clinton. Steven M. Gillon’s The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation, tells the story of the unique and unexpected relationship between the two powerful men. Although the differences between Gingrich and Clinton are well known, the times that they worked together – and the similarities that they shared – are often overlooked. In The Pact, Gillon utilizes interviews with key Washington players to tell the story of how Clinton and Gingrich began to work together after the government shutdown of 1995. Gillon paints a fascinating portrait of two men who were once the center of all things politics. This book offers compelling new revelations and a unique insight into national politics. The Pact is a must read for anyone interest in politics and current events, regardless of party lines.

About the Author

Steven M Gillon is the Resident Historian of the History Channel and Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. He is the host of the History Channel’s flagship public affairs program, HistoryCenter, as well as “Our Generation”. He is an award-winning teacher and the author of a number of critically acclaimed books, including The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After and Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War.

“Newman did a great job on The Pact. Your book promotion efforts help turn a four-year-old book into a New York Times best seller. I only wish I had found you about ten years ago.”

Steve Gillon
Author: The Pact

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

Book Publicity – DON’T PUT ME IN COACH

Author: Mark Titus
Publisher: Doubleday

Mark Titus

College sports are electrifying to watch! Who can forget Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass or the 1985 Villanova vs.  Georgetown Championship game? But some players barely get off the bench like former Ohio State player Mark Titus.  Titus takes you on a journey from one end of the bench to the other end with a look behind the scenes of the NCAA-hoops  in DON’T PUT ME IN COACH; a hilarious memior.  Newman Communications provided book publicity for Titus and set up a radio book tour for the bench warmer, including hits with:

• KNBR in San Francisco,  CA
• FOX Sports

Titus gives readers an uncensored tour inside an elite NCAA basketball player through the eyes of the benchwarmer. From his relationships with teammates, the pressure, and the many hours he clocked cheering for his team on the sideline- Mark Titus does not miss a humorous beat.  His unique perspective materialized into wildly popular Club Trillion blog for which he quickly became a hero to all guys picked last.  He was even scouted by the Harlem Globtrotters. Certain to make you laugh-out-loud,  Mark  Titus is not your average basketball star; and this is the true story of the most unlikely career in college basketball told from the underdog himself.

In 2006, Mark Titus arrived on Ohio State’s campus as a basketball manager who aspired to be an orthopedic surgeon.  As a walk-on,  he was miraculously added to the elite Buckeye basketball team,  given a scholarship and trained alongside seven future NBA players- including Greg Oden, Evan Turner,  and Mike Conley.  During his 4 years with the Buckeye’s he set the record for the most indivual career wins in Ohio State basketball history- and scored a total of 9 points.

The book is full of  laughs and quotes from his former coach and teammates including:

“Of all the players  I’ve coached in my caree,  Mark Titus is one of them.” ~ Coach Thad Matta

“I  haven’t read the book and probally never will, but the cover looks pretty cool I guess.” ~ Mike Conely Jr (#4 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft; 2007 NCAA Tournament South Regional MVP.

About the Author

Mark Titus is the creator of Clubtrillion.blogspot.com,  and a contributer at grantland.com. He was feature several times in the New York Times, ESPN.com, and Bill Simon’s podcast, among others.  He  graduated in 2010, a hero to millions.

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.

The 84th annual Academy Awards, televised Sunday, February 26th to honor the years greatest achievements in the film industry. Over the years, the team at Newman Communications has had the honor of providing book publicity and creating radio, TV and print campaigns for many books that have  made the leap from their bound pages and on to the big screen. Several of these books turned feature film, have also been nominated and awarded for some of the most honored awards in the industry, including Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globes.

[Show as slideshow]

• Seabiscuit – 7 Oscar Nominations
  by Laura Hillenbrand
• The Blind Side – Won an Oscar, 2010.
  by Michael Lewis
• The Perfect Storm – Oscar Nomination, 2001
  by Sebastian Junger
• Marley and Me
  by John Grogan
• Tuesdays with Morrie
  By Mitch Albom
• The Celestine Prophecy
  by James Redfield
• Game Change
  by  John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (HBO)

Now, it’s your turn to vote: Cast your own nominations for “Best Book Turned Movie?”

Visit our site at Newman Communications for more Book Publicity information and services.