When it comes to book publicity, KNOW YOUR NICHE, MAKE YOUR PITCH!

In the book publicity world in which we book publicists “play”, trying to generate media exposure for clients is often a difficult challenge.  There is no shortage of experts and authors who are competing for the same space, be it in print, television, radio or online.  We have no doubt, if given the opportunity, that most our authors can do a tremendous job of impressing the media with their insight and knowledge, but in order to get them there, we need to be on point with our pitches.  In acting as their mouthpiece, and trying to open the media gates, it is essential for our authors to help us help them.

Find your Focus

When discussing this with our authors, especially those who are looking to use their book and the media coverage it might yield as a means to broaden their brand and platform, we try to get them as focused as possible.  To do this, we ask a few questions:

1. Who do you want to be known as?
2. Why should be people consider you as the right expert source?
3. What is your value proposition?
4. What are your “bold statements”?

For many, the answers seems simple, yet as the conversation develops and we start peeling away the layers, they (and we) often realize that they are entering crowded waters because the answer is too broad.  These questions should be answered in a few sentences at most, not paragraphs.

Know your niche

It is incredibly important that authors have a deep understanding  of their niche expertise and where it adds value (the niche within the niche).  It’s great to have a broad understanding of a given topic (i.e. personal finance, health, human behavior) but there are a lot of experts who have that same scope of understanding, and in many cases, with bigger platforms.  Instead, the focus should be taking an area (or a few) within the niche and honing in on that angle to create opportunities.  Rather than being all things to all people, find something that you can really dig your heels into as an expert and establish that first.

Sizzle is good, substance is better

While how you say it does make an impact, it’s what you say that is most important.  Make sure your message and outreach ties in with your initiatives (selling books, creating new business opportunities, laying the foundation for more speaking, populating your brand) and then run with it.  It is also important to know your audience.  While everyone wants to be in The NY Times or USA Today, it is often the more niche-related outlets that will have an impact on your goals. !

Once you have done the good work  in your “tightened-up” niche and developed a level media credibility, it will open doors to cast that wider net most experts are hoping for.  So, the next time you engage in a book publicity or promotional effort, “know your niche, then make your pitch!

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

Fun Without Dick and Jane: Your Guide to a Delightfully Empty Nest

Author: Christie Mellor
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Is $200 an hour too much to spend for exam tutoring? Is moving to an apartment near my daughter’s campus a valid option? If I don’t send a care package, does it mean I don’t care? How can I get my son to stay in touch without resorting to begging?!

These questions are on every parent’s mind as they face the moment they’ve been preparing for since pre-school enrollment: sending their little darling off to college. Luckily for them, Christie Mellor—bestselling author of The Three-Martini Playdate—has bestowed her trademark wit and wisdom with her new book, FUN WITHOUT DICK AND JANE: Your Guide to a Delightfully Empty Nest.

Christie Mellor came to us for a full book publicity campaign which  includes radio, TV, online and print. Our radio team was able to secure interviews for Christie on numerous networks and stations including:

• Lifestyle Radio Network
• Radio America
• WZLX-FM/Boston MA
• WMJI-FM/Cleveland OH
• Northeast Public Radio

and many more.

Newman’s National Team was able to secure many blogs for our author as well as The Huffington Post and an appearance on The Today Show.

Mellor understands that letting go is not an easy thing to do, however she believes that an empty nest can equal a newly fulfilled life. In FUN WITH DICK AND JANE, she provides wise council on how to:

• Deal with the house being too clean and too quiet
• Admit the things you may not miss about your little angel
• Rediscover your lost interests and find new goals
• Rekindle the romantic flame with your partner
• Step back out into social circles
• Say sayonara to “Mrs. Minivan”
• Run away from home
• Figure out what to do when the children come home to roost. Because they will, for holidays, breaks, and possibly for years after graduation.

Even if parents spent some quality time considering what life will be like once the darlings have left, they should still expect a bit of an adjustment period when the child actually does fly the coop. But when that time comes, FUN WITHOUT DICK AND JANE encourages readers to be so thrilled about what they are doing with their own lives that the thought of their children moving on to a next chapter will only be a source of joy, pride, and excitement about the great adventure that awaits.

Celebrate the jubilation. Be ready to honor the grief. And then move on—happily—to the next part of life.

About the Author:

While pursuing a happy life that includes an interesting husband and two almost-always pleasant children, Christie became a vociferous cheerleader for the “other kind of parenthood,” the anti-perfection, you-deserve-a-life kind. Her first book, The Three-Martini Playdate was a harbinger of a new trend for today’s beleaguered parents, helping them to withstand the unceasing and overbearing good advice and pressure to raise perfect, highly enriched offspring, She continued the thread with The Three-Martini Family Vacation, also with Chronicle Books. Raised by Wolves: Clues to the Mysteries of Adulthood, (Harper/Collins) was a book designed for the adult child whose parents did not read The Three Martini Playdate. Next came You Look Fine, Really, a book celebrating women over a “certain age.” Fun Without Dick and Jane – Your Guide to a Delightfully Empty Nest, is her latest helpful guide for parents, a bookend to the “Three-Martini” books.

Christie’s rants have been published in Great Britain in The Guardian, Junior Magazine, and the Sunday Express; in Australia’s Sunday Life Magazine, and on the Huffington Post. She’s been heard on Britain’s BBC radio and American Public Radio’s Marketplace, in addition to being reviewed, interviewed, and quoted in Newsweek, Playboy, Us Magazine, The New York Times, People, and other publications. She also can be heard singing her bitter little heart out each week at the historic Culver Hotel in Los Angeles, where she and her band Doozy play Depression-era music and vintage originals. Please visit her colorful website, at christiemellor.com.

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

Colbert’s America: Satire and Democracy

Author: Sophia McClennen
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Colbert’s America
Sophia McClennen

Newman Communications client, Sophia McClennen and her new book, Colbert’s America: Satire and Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan) have been causing quite the media buzz.

Professor at Penn State, McClennen examines how the comedy of Stephen Colbert packs enough political punch to change the way a nation thinks.

COLBERT’S AMERICA covers the various themes and features of his satire and gives readers insight into the powerful ways that Colbert’s comedy challenges the cult of ignorance that has been threatening meaningful public debate since 9/11.

McClennen suggests that Colbert does more than mock pundits and politicians: he actually has helped influence a new generation of actively involved citizens. Satire offers the public a medium through which to express resistance to reigning political policies and social attitudes.  But Colbert’s satire goes even further, offering viewers myriad ways to engage with society.

Paul Farhi’s Washington Post article sparked the debate of whether or not Colbert should a worthy topic for academia.  His article has received more than 500 comments and been picked up across the country.

The Atlantic Wire and Newsbusters have both chimed into the debate as well.  McClennen has taken to The Huffington Post to share her thoughts on the debate and spoke with TVNewser.com.

McClennen argues that Colbert is a “new kind of public intellectual-satirist,” much like Mark Twain, Ben Franklin and Jonathan Swift and therefore worthy of our attention.

Newman Communications asks:   Should Colbert be studied in college?

Discuss.

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

The Trust

Author:  Norb Vonnegut
Publisher:  Minotaur Books

The Trust
Norb Vonnegut

Norb Vonnegut returns to Newman Communications for his third novel, THE TRUST (Minotaur Books, July 2012). Having worked with Vonnegut for book publicity and promotion on THE GODS OF GREENWICH , Newman Communications is pleased to have him back with his much anticipated newest release.

Every one of Vonnegut’s novels has a big idea grounded in reality.  THE TRUST shows how some financial criminals hide behind the First Amendment–specifically freedom of religion. The idea for the story traces back to an incident when Pablo Escobar’s first cousin tried to open an account with Vonnegut’s PWM team at Morgan Stanley.

Having worked on Wall Street for twenty years, Vonnegut (cousin of the late Kurt) is more than qualified to tell the tale. He combines his wealth management expertise and intuitive, darkly humorous writing into a fast-talking, suspense thriller that burrows inside the world of big-money philanthropy.

The book publicity and reviews are piling in and the consensus is unanimous;  Vonnegut has a winner in THE TRUST:

• The New York Times says THE TRUST is “money-porn beach reading.”

“Norb Vonnegut is the seriously underappreciated author of three glittery thrillers about fiscal malfeasance. This may not sound like a red-hot franchise, but he has made it one. With “Top Producer” (2009), “The Gods of Greenwich” (2011) and now “The Trust,” he is three for three in his own improbably sexy genre.

“Mr. Vonnegut dreams up diabolically elegant business crimes, then sends smart-talking characters to follow the money. He draws upon his own Wall Street experience (with Morgan Stanley, among other employers) to provide the sound of insider acumen. “I’ve had 14 managers over the last 10 years,” Grove O’Rourke says at the start of the new book. Grove was the stockbroker hero of “Top Producer,” and now he’s back for an encore.”

• Associated Press writes: “Vonnegut turns out crisp prose and delightful conversations that move the reader from one exciting event to another.”   (July 16, 2012)
• Publisher’s Weekly:  “Drawing on his own years on Wall Street, Vonnegut (Kurt’s fourth cousin) bolsters this efficient thriller with credible financial and legal detail while offering in Biscuit a colorful foil to his rather stolid hero”
• Forbes.com shares Vonnegut’s journey from Wall Street to writer.
• Kirkus Reviews:  “Mommas, don’t let your sons grow up to be Manhattan brokers or board members of charitable foundations. They’d never survive the combination    of criminal plots and personal threats…    A fast and furious novel from Vonnegut and a guaranteed good time.”

Vonnegut will hold book signings and events in New York City, Rhode Island (his current home town), Connecticut, and in North Carolina where part of The Trust takes place  and in Charleston, South Carolina, Vonnegut’s childhood home and the  setting for much of The Trust.

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

S.E.T. Culture: What Every Organization Needs to Know Before Crises Occur

Author: Dr. Ken J. Brumfield

S.E.T Culture
Dr. Ken J. Brumfield

Here at Newman Communications, we constantly have one ear tuned to the latest breaking news. While a book is the primary focus of any book promotion campaign, we also pride ourselves in thinking outside the box (or the book page!) and angling our authors as the topical experts they already are. Therefore, we are often hearing about the various and persistent crises and thinking: how did they let it get this far?

Dr. Ken J. Brumfield’s new book, “S.E.T. Culture: What Every Organization Needs to Know Before Crises Occur” seeks to solve that problem before it even arises, by is suggesting something different than most crisis analysts: lets look at the Senior Executive Team’s (S.E.T.’s) Culture and how it effects middle managers’ decision making during crises. Dr. Brumfield’s research and tactics are both timely and evergreen, and can be applied to breaking news such as the Penn State Trial or your local up-and-coming small business. The unique take is starting to make an impact with the media.

About the Book:

S.E.T. Culture is useful for all business types, including businesses operating in corporate America, governmental agencies, religious organizations, colleges and universities, and other nonprofit organizations. It will assist individuals with making critical decisions and acting decisively in a crisis, especially when there is the potential for loss of life or property. For any business or organization looking to successfully rebound from a current or imminent crisis, S.E.T. Culture is an insightful resource that provides all stakeholders with the tools to implement change successfully.

 About the Author:

Dr. Brumfield has a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts in Counseling degree from Xavier University and an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Orleans. He completed a Doctor of Management degree at the University of Maryland. Dr. Brumfield is a senior management consultant and management professor having worked with such organizations as MDRC, Columbia University’s National Center for Postsecondary Research, Bizlink and other organizations

His expertise helps executives, mid-level managers, and front-line workers identify organizational behaviors, threats, and opportunities that will help their companies and organizations successfully endure and rebound from a crisis.

“LIKE” S.E.T. Culture on Facebook for the latest updates.

Additional information about S.E.T Culture can also be found by visiting the Amazon page.

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

Autopsy of War: A personal History

Author: John A. Parrish,M.D.
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press

Autopsy of War
John A Parish

As a book publicity firm, we see lots of books cross our desks here at Newman Communications and some make a strong statement to those of us working them.  This book is no exception, and in fact, it prompted me to make a donation to the USO and tell my friends and colleagues about it. How does a man or woman return from war and resume a “normal” life. How do you deal with the horrors that you have seen during war and transform back to everyday life?  John Parrish’s book, Autopsy of War, shows that it is not an easy task for our returning warriors.  Even with a very successful medical career, Parrish couldn’t shake the PTSD that haunted his every move.  John Parrish came to us for a full book publicity campaign in the hopes that his experience  will reach those most in need of his message, the many soldiers that think they are alone with their anguish. Whether they have lost limbs or the damage is unseen to the eye, the struggle that our returning heroes face is gigantic.

Navy physician John Parrish served in Vietnam, an experience that seared him to the bone.  In the ensuing four decades, Parrish became recognized as one of the most innovative physicians in his field, yet he was tortured by PTSD.  Now, in AUTOPSY OF WAR: A Personal History, Parrish presents a profound and unflinching memoir of a physician’s wartime work in Vietnam and his forty-year struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

John’s struggle was highlighted in The Boston Globe interview for their G Section and our radio publicity campaign has garnered many hits including:

• Clearchannel Network & SiriusXM
• Premiere Radio Network – national
• Lifestyle Radio Network – national
  and local radio stations nationwide

When he first arrived in Vietnam, Parrish was a triage doctor, treating as many as thirty patients a day with wounds more destructive and life-altering than anything he had ever encountered.  He did his best but never felt like it was enough.  Dismembered limbs and other body parts flowed through his hands for hours on end, and these tragic triage scenes were not something his mind would ever  forget.  When not working on wounded servicemen, Parrish also tended to patients at a tuberculosis hospital in Hue, which was run by Vietnamese Catholic nuns.  He felt he was doing some good there, until the Tet Offensive brought the Viet Cong to Hue, where they executed the patients because they had been treated by an American doctor, and also killed the nuns for working with Parrish. Parrish would also spend time in the field, which was a particularly difficult time for him, since it was then, says Parrish, that “I felt a duty to find meaning in the war so I could convince myself the dead had not died in vain.”

Although happy to return home to the States, Parrish left Vietnam feeling guilty about leaving behind so much suffering.  He also returned home a different person. He found himself physically and emotionally unavailable to his wife and children, developed an obsession with war books and movies, and over the ensuing years, would suffer harrowing flashbacks.  Fighting the mental devastation of war, Parrish lived virtually homeless at times, visited veterans’ shelters and fled his family while reliving his Vietnam experience over and over again.  Despite the fact that he managed to establish a prominent medical career, few knew how his inner demons took over the rest of his life.  “I found myself increasingly restless, tortured, and lonely,” says Parrish, “never more so than at social events or professional meetings where my peers assumed I was in control.”  The present continued to mingle with the past as haunting images of Vietnam lingered in his mind, until the door to recovery finally opened after years of pain and struggle.

AUTOPSY OF WAR is a soul-searching and intensely personal journey through the world of war and recovery. An honest, moving, and intimate view of one man’s courageous battle to overcome PTSD, it is a highly relevant story today as soldiers return to the U.S. from abroad with challenges to face.  “I accept that there will always be war,” says Parrish, “but I need to believe more can be done to help its victims, specifically the warriors who have left the battlefield but not their personal war.  This book is witness to the power of time, acceptance, self-discovery, hard work, and love in belatedly diminishing one man’s psychic war.”

About the Author:

JOHN A PARRISH, M.D., is the CEO of the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT); the CEO of the Red Sox Foundation-Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program (an outreach program to help veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with PTSD and traumatic brain injury); and Distinguished Professor of Dermatology and former department head at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.  He is the author of 12, 20 & 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam.

To learn more about Autopsy of War please visit:  http://autopsyofwar.com/

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

Book Promotion for DREAM BIG:

Dream Big
Deloris Jordan

Author:  Deloris Jordan
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster

Newman Communications is proud to announce that we have just completed a successful book promotion radio (RMT) tour with Deloris Jordan,  mother of NBA legend Michael Jordan.  We previously did the book promotion of her last book MICHAEL’S GOLDEN RULES and it was an absolute pleasure to work with her again.  Her new book, DREAM BIG: MICHAEL JORDAN AND THE PURSUIT OF OLYMPIC GOLD tells the story of Michael Jordan achieving his dream of playing in the Olympics! This new book will have you cheering for Michael again and will get you pumped for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London!

About The Book:

Deloris Jordan,  mother of basketball great Michael Jordan, tells a true story of inspiration, hard work, determination and what it takes to be a champion.  As a child, l0ng before he became a professional All- Star basketball player, Michael Jordan had a big dream of winning an Olympic gold medal while following the 1972 U.S. basketball team- and with dedication and perseverance, that’s exactly what he did. This heartwarming book gives a rare glimpse into a sports hero’s childhood while emphasizing the role that hard work plays in success.

Just in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, DREAM BIG is an inspiration to all. Mrs. Jordan’s family story will inspire children to be champions- both on and off the field.  Barry Roots warm illustrations illuminate this story about what it truly means to be a winner.

Newman Communications was able to secure interviews on such stations as:

• SiriusXM Book Radio
• WLS-AM in Chicago,  IL
• AARP Radio
• WGVU-AM/ FM in Grand Rapids, MI
• WBAL-AM in Baltimore,  MD
• AP Radio Network

About the Author and Illustrator:

Deloris Jordan is Michael Jordan’s mother. Widely regarded as an advocate for children and families,  she does much of her work through the James R. Jordan Foundation.  She is author of Salt in His Shoes and Michael’s Golden Rules, both illustrated by Kadir Nelson. The mother of five children and the grandmother of eleven,  she resides in Chicago, IL.

Barry Root is the illustrator of many books for children, including By My Brother’s Slide, Game Day, and Teammates, all written by Tiki and Ronde Barber with Robert Burleigh. He lives in Quarryville, Pennsylvania with his family.

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

Man Made – A Stupid Quest for Masculinity

Man Made – Joel Stein

Author: Joel Stein
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Newman Communications and Joel Stein recently completed a successful radio book promotion campaign for the Time columnist’s new release, Man Made; A Stupid Quest for Masculinity. Newman’s radio book publicity team booked him on several top-market radio stations, inlcuding:

• KABC-AM/Los Angeles CA
• KOA-AM/Denver CO – Listen now
• WLW-AM/Cincinnati OH
• Dial Global Network/nationally syndicated
• WRIF-FM/Detroit MI
• Sirius/XM/nationally syndicated
• KRLD-AM/Dallas TX

In Man Made, Stein’s first book, he writes a hilarious and poignant adventure about the absurdities of modern masculinity as he attempts to acquire the manly skills he wants to pass on to his newborn son.

From the Book

The smudge looked suspicious. The doctor confirmed: “That’s the baby’s penis!” Joel’s reaction? Pure panic. “I pictured having to go camping and fix a car and use a hammer and throw a football and watch professionals throw footballs and figure out whether to be sad or happy about the results of said football throwing.” And so begins Joel’s quest to confront his effete nature whether he likes it or not (he doesn’t), by doing a 24-hour shift with LA firefighters, going hunting for wild turkeys, rebuilding a house, driving a Lamborghini, enduring three days of boot camp with the U.S. Army, day-trading with $100,000 and going into the ring with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. Seeking help from a panel of experts, including his manly father-in-law, Boy Scouts, former NFL star Warren Sapp and some celebrities, he expects to learn that masculinity is not defined by the size of his muscles but by the size of his heart. This is not at all what he learns.

Visit Joel’s website at www.thejoelstein.com

Hear Joel on WFLA at http://www.970wfla.com/player/?mid=22093230

Hear Joel on KOA here www.850koa.com/player/?station=KOA-AM&program_name=podcast&program_id=cmn.xml&mid=22093868

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

The Misleading Mind

The Misleading Mind

Author: Karuna Cayton
Publisher: New World Library

For over 20 years Karuna Cayton has worked to coach and help people achieve a more balanced life.

In Misleading Mind: How We Create Our Own Problems and How Buddhist Psychology Can Help Us Solve Them (New World Library), author and psychotherapist Karuna Cayton presents the essence of Buddhist teachings about the nature of mind so that anyone can use them.

“Much of Buddhist thought encourages us to embrace our problems like old friends. It even encourages us to seek out our problems as a way to train our minds and to break free from the control of our disturbing (but sometimes unseen) emotions,” writes Karuna. “Great practitioners like the Dalai Lama even claim to enjoy problems because, like our best friends, problems honestly and accurately reflect ourselves back to us. There is no clearer measure of our interior health than the nature of our problems.”

With a book publicity campaign outreaching to media in various beats and outlets, Karuna’s message hit home with inc.com.   “Empathy is greatly increased through mindfulness practice. As we know from the studies in emotional intelligence, empathy is one of the key leadership competencies in positive leadership. Research has demonstrated that the mood of the leader has an overwhelming effect on the mood of  the organization” states Cayton.

Newman’s  national radio book publicity has spread Karuna’s message around the country via:

• The Progressive Radio Network,
• Business Talk Radio, and more.

Business entrepreneurs and people in general are starting  to look at their problems in a new light.  Once we recognize the habitual ways our minds perceive and react, we see the way they mislead.  Cayton’s book contains exercises and real world examples that help the reader put into practice the way to a better life.

About the Author:

Karuna Cayton, psychotherapist and author of The Misleading Mind, spent twelve years working with Tibetan refugees in Nepal and studying with Buddhist masters. His Karuna Group practice applies Buddhist psychology to individual and organizational clients. He lives in Northern California.  Visit him online at www.thekarunagroup.com.

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

Radio Promotion for NHL Legends Leading up to Stanley Cup Finals:

Interviewees: Greg Adams, Daryl Evans, Chico Resch, and Ron Greschner
Client: The National Hockey League (NHL)

Summer may just be around the corner but hockey is still hot topic with sports fans! With the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals underway, hockey couldn’t be more exciting! Newman Communications earned a hat trick with our third year working with the NHL to promote the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs leading into the Stanley Cup finals. We had the privilege of coordinating a radio promotion tour for NHL Legends Greg Adams (Phoenix Coyotes),  Daryl Evans (Los Angeles Kings), Chico Resch (New Jersey Devils), and Ron Greschner (New York Rangers).

As part of the publicity tour, Newman was able to secure radio interviews with stations across the country, including:

Greg Adams:

• KMOX
• WMKT
• KTMM

 Daryl Evans:

• FOX Sports Radio
• KXNT
• ESPN 710
• KVEN

Chico Resch:

• KMOX
• WDAE
• WVOX

 Ron Greschner:

• WHUD
• WOR
• CBS Radio’s Overnight America
• WBGO

We had a blast listening to the stories and doing the promotion for all of these players and the NHL.

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