What Story Should I Tell?

This is the final part of a five part series on promoting in the media.  If you have not yet read the earlier segments, you can find them here:

Part 1 --  The Media Challenge
Part 2  --Why you should promote yourself?
Part 3 -- An easy way to get press coverage 
Part 4 -- What is a press release?


The Story Is You!

         This is the last in the series about getting press coverage (it's about time some of you may be thinking).  Once I got started on the topic though I began to realize that this is a very important topic for any of us who have, or expect to one day have, something to promote.  Even if we have someone doing our promotion for us, it's still not a bad idea to know the ins and outs of how publicity works.

         The promotion challenge that I extended a few posts ago was to try to get something in the media telling about the A to Z Challenge and what your role in the Challenge is.   Blogging from A to Z can be looked at as an international story since hundreds of bloggers from over twenty countries are participating.  Every one of you represent a link in a chain of interconnecting communication that extends around the globe.  In my eyes that can be seen as a story that is news.

         A story can certainly be written from the international perspective, however I am suggesting that if you choose to try my publicity challenge that you make the story about you.  You are a part of this larger challenge that is in its second year and has grown five-fold so far.  Think big!  And in the process see yourself as someone who has a story to tell.


What is your story?

       Each of you has a unique story to tell about who you are and what you do.  Your ulterior motive should be to gain a foothold in your future, or if you already have something to promote, in the present.  Your story should have a broad appeal that speaks to many.    In other words, it's not just about your book or whatever you are promoting, but also about how you are connected to your world and to those who read your story.

         In the context of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge of 2011, let me offer some of the following ideas that you could apply to your own blogging story:

1)   Your personal journey--the story of your book, product, blog, or what have you and how you will tie it in to the A to Z Challenge.   If you did the Challenge last year, how did it affect you?  Where are you going in the future?  This is a human interest story.

2)   Your art and your life as an artist -- Yvonne from Welcome to My World of Poetry  or Vinay from I Rhyme Without Reason  both gave us a poem everyday of the challenge last year and will be doing the same this year.  Others of you may be presenting your arts or crafts.  We are all artists in some form or another.  Perhaps this can be part of your story--your creations presented on the world stage via the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

3)  Your cause or charity -- Perhaps you might be blogging in April using topics related to a charity or a health issue.  Something like this can offer great opportunities for publicity.  For example, if you were planning a series of articles about "Diabetes from A to Z" you might contact the local branch of a Diabetes Awareness group.  You could let them know what you plan to do, get their endorsement, and maybe some quotes from a spokesperson and put it all in a press release.  This approach could be taken with any group that has a cause to promote.

4)   Your knowledge or expertise -- If you are going to do your A to Z series on a particular field of knowledge such as science, social studies, literature, etc, you might arrange to give a presentation to a school class, at a library, or to some other group about your field of knowledge. Notify the paper about this and tell your blogging story as part of the news release about the presentation you have given or are scheduled to give.

5)  Your ties with the community -- Are you going to blog about the area where you live--the history, the people, the sights?  Ally yourself with a local museum, chamber of commerce, tourist bureau, or another local group and get some publicity for the A to Z Challenge tied in with the group you are with.

6)  Book, music, or other reviews --  Contact the entertainment editor of the local paper or find some of those free entertainment publications that you often see outside of restaurants, music stores, etc and try to get a story about your month of reviews.  Who knows--you might end up with a job reviewing. 

Use Your Imagination!

         Above, I have offered just a few ideas to stimulate your thinking.  In a publicity story you need to find that which is unique to you and how you integrate your uniqueness into your community.  Ask yourself what makes you special, what your unique talents are, and why people would be interested in your talents.   Then you want to tell where and when readers can find out more about you, which in this case is the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April.

        If your story is written in an intriguing manner and tells a good story, readers will be interested in you and in the Challenge.   With the publication of an article you will have expanded your presence in the public eye.  Done right, your story will leave the readers wanting more and the next time they hear your name they might remember it.

Seeing Is Believing!

        I have put forth the challenge and we have the first article.   The amazing Nicki Elson, author of the novel Three Daves, got her first article on an online news site affiliated with the Chicago Tribune and you've got to read it cause it's darn good. 
Check it out:   Nicki's news story

        As you can see Nicki did it right.  She got information about herself, her book, and the A to Z Challenge all tied together in the story.   And her topics for April sound pretty cool too!  So let's give Nicki a big hand and then drop by her blog, follow her, and let her know what you thought of her article.   She hasn't stopped there either--she said she will be submitting the press release to other papers in the Chicago area including print media.

       Nicki's story is proof that it can be done.  Now who's next--we're anxious to read your stories.

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If you've been trying to figure out what to write about in April, be sure to check out Jeffrey Beesler's World of the Scribe today (3/17).   He will be offering some ideas about picking a topic--a helpful post not only for the A to Z Challenge, but for anytime.

Tomorrow (3/18) on Jen Daiker's blog Nicki Elson will be a featured guest.  If you missed Jen's post on Monday she had some A to Z tips that might be of help to you.

Also tomorrow Alex J Cavanaugh will be delivering another interesting post with tips for the A to Z Challenge.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, last night we hit 500 participants signed up to the Challenge.  That magic entry was submitted by L..Diane Wolf at Spunk on a Stick.  Drop by and tell her hello and while you're at it check out her Monday post, Finding and Pitching to the Media--WHAT A GREAT POST!  This is the perfect accompaniment to what I've been talking about this week.  She provides some super useful links so do not miss this post.


Happy St Patrick's Day!


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Making the News: Why You Should Be Promoting Yourself

Warning! -- this is a somewhat long post with some very useful information

            On yesterday's post I extended a challenge to each of you to do something that will not only help the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge become something bigger and better, but also help you in whatever it is that you do in your own life.   If you have not read my previous post I hope you will go back to see what I have to say.

             Some may have run away from my Saturday post with an "I'm scared" or an "I can't do that" attitude.   Others may be pooh-poohing the idea as something that won't work or is nonviable.  The ones I'll be addressing in this post are those who believe in themselves and what they can do.   I'm talking to those of you who seek success and want the best for themselves.

              There are essentially three kinds of people in life.  There are those who watch other people achieve their dreams and marvel at their successes or deride those accomplishments.   Then there are those who dream dreams and wonder, "This is a great idea--somebody should do this."   And finally, there are those who latch on to an idea and run with it, despite any discouragement directed toward their efforts, and they either succeed or they try again until they do.  My new challenge to you is directed to those who are part of this last group.

              There are many ways to promote something.  Those of you who are Tweeting about the Challenge or posting on FaceBook or spreading the word via your blog or some other social media venue are doing a great job and I encourage you to keep this up.  However, today I want to address using news media to get the message to the public and what some of the repercussions are in doing this.  

Is the Blogging from A to Z Challenge news?  

Consider the following:

J.M. who has been confined to a wheelchair since childhood has made friends throughout the world via his ham radio hobby.

Mr. and Mrs. E.J.  have cared for eleven different foster children over the past twenty years.

Mr. and Mrs. H.C. celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Myrtle Beach, NC.

The S. family recently returned from a two week vacation to New York City where they visited many famous attractions and saw a Broadway show. 

A wallet lost by W.W. was found by his dog.

Eight students from M. High School will be participating in a Junior Achievement conference to be held in N. in February.

         What do the above have in common?  They are all actual stories I have seen in a local paper.  Were they important?  To the people involved, perhaps.  Were they interesting?  Debatable. 

Now what about these:

Local author joins worldwide blogging challenge.

Student bloggers at M. High School join challenge to Blog through the alphabet.

Popular poetess composes a poem per day during the month of April.

Long lost friends are reunited through blogging challenge.

          Would you be interested in these stories?   Do you think others might like reading about these as much as they would someone's vacation?   If the stories were well presented, they would certainly get someone's attention. 

What is news anyway?


          A newspaper delivers what is termed "hard news" and "soft news".   Hard news is the major stuff that reporters are busy digging up.  These are the events that effect us or other people in potentially big ways.  This is the news that appears on the front pages and oftentimes receives extensive coverage.

          Much of the rest of the paper uses filler material in the form of soft news.   A lot of this soft news comes from press releases that people send in to reporters or news desks.  Newspapers rely on these press releases to give added content to the newspaper.

           If accepted, the story will often go into the paper as it has been received or with minor revisions.  Occasionally, a reporter may find the story to be interesting enough to follow up and get more information.  It may be expanded into a feature which can oftentimes include photographs.  Newspapers welcome press releases.  They are part of what is news.

What do press releases cover?
      
Community news --- The things that people, businesses or organizations in the community are doing.


Upcoming events -- Things that are going to be happening that people will want to be watching for.


Human interest-- Personalized stories about individuals or groups that are inspiring or entertaining.

             Any of these could potentially relate to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  You can put your own personal spin on the story of the Challenge.  In the third person, tell the readers who you are and what you do.  Connect this information about you to the grander scope of this Challenge that involves participants from throughout the world.

What to include in your press release:

              Make sure you drop in a few things about what you want to make known about yourself.  If you've recently written a book or have one soon to be released, mention it.  Or if you are involved with a particular cause or charity, include something about that.  This can even be a time to discreetly give a plug to your business or a product.  Just be sure it somehow fits in with the Challenge news so that your press release doesn't sound like a blatant advertising promotion for you and your products. A newspaper would prefer that you buy advertising for that.   Include the address to your blog so readers can come to see what you've been talking about.   Feel free to leave mine as well if you want readers to be directed to the information about the challenge and the list of participants.

             Remember that when writing a press release about yourself you should make it sound like it has been written by someone other than you.  Give the vital information without going into too much detail.  Put a good spin on your own story and connect it with something larger than just you so readers can better identify and feel that they are a part of your story.

         You're a writer--make the story seem interesting and relevant.    However a press release should also be fairly short--maybe 200 to 400 words.  Leave a contact so they can reach you if they want more information.  This is how feature stories start.   A feature writer hears a story and decides if it's worth expanding upon or even adding pictures.

Why would you want to be in the news:

          As I've already said, most of you have something that you are involved with that you want people to know about.  A news story can start that ball rolling.   You will often gain added search engine presence with the story.   If you are trying to build a platform or even a resume, it doesn't hurt to have news stories about you circulating--if they're about something good of course.   And a news story looks good in a scrapbook or even framed on your wall.

        Connecting yourself to something bigger like Blogging from A to Z makes your presence a little more significant and adds interest to your story.   There is something fun and uplifting about seeing your name in print and knowing that others will be reading it.  If you are blogging, you are probably trying to have your name recognized in some way.  Being in the news is another way of being noticed.

        More awareness of the Challenge will provide incentive to do our best if we know more people may be watching us. Our writing may improve and gain more exposure.   We will expand our potential for making connections with others who don't normally see our blogs.   This will increase our networking opportunities for the future.

        In upcoming posts I will talk more about the press release and how to get it into the right hands.  You can do the research yourself as well.   Google "press releases" and you can find plenty of information on how to format and compose your release.   If you do a search of the newspaper or other media that you'd like to submit to, you can find out about what procedures they require and who to contact.  It's all out there and it doesn't take long to find the most pertinent information.

         Try it--it's a writing exercise that will help hone your skills.  And if you haven't had to send out press releases already, someday you might need to.   That is, of course, unless your press agent does that for you.
Can I see a show of hands of everyone who has a press agent?

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Addendum:  sample press release--
          This has already been a very long post, but Alex J. Cavanaugh asked me to include a sample press release which I will add here.  I may include additional samples in the future.   I am not formatting it like it should be--you can find formatting information if you look up "press release format" on Google.

              Local Author Joins Worldwide Blog Event


         Alex J. Cavanaugh, author of the novel CassaStar which is now enjoying a successful release, is going to take a break from writing his next book to participate in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge with hundreds of other bloggers from around the world.



The local author began blogging a year ago at the advice of his publisher Dancing Lemur Press. Since starting his blog, he has accumulated a legion of fans he affectionately refers to as “Alex’s Army”.


The turning point in amassing his army of blog followers was in April of 2010 when he joined in the A to Z Blogging Challenge that was started by fellow blogger Arlee Bird from Los Angeles.


“Last April, I was a new blogger,” says Cavanaugh. “It was the best thing I could've done for my blog. I got to know so many awesome people and those of us who participated became like family. We grew and stretched together. And we had a blast in the process!”


Poetess and blogger Yvonne Lewis from England is also sold on the concept. She will be returning again this April to match last year’s feat of twenty-six poems during the month with each one themed with a letter of the alphabet.


“I am so pleased that there is to be another A to Z,” said Yvonne. “Through last years challenge I gained more fans. It was fun and it brought a lot of people together via our computers. I wouldn't have missed it for the world and I will be doing it again this year.”


Due to Alex Cavanaugh’s enthusiasm for the A to Z Challenge and his rapport with so many other bloggers, he was invited this year along with six other bloggers from throughout the United States and England to co-host the event.


“Last year the Challenge was so popular that I knew that 2011 would be more than I could handle by myself,” said Arlee Bird. “I asked some of the best bloggers I knew if they would help me out this year—the response was an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’”


Cavanaugh expects that 2012 will be even bigger, but first they’ll have to make it through this April.  All bloggers are invited to join in and anyone is welcome to read through the progress of the Challenge.  You can visit Alex J. Cavanaugh’s blog and find out more about the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge at alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com.

         I am not a professional copywriter.  Some of you may have a better grasp of writing these things than I do.  I welcome any corrections or comments concerning the above sample.   I will say that from my experience, something like the above is usually adequate enough copy to be accepted by a newspaper.  Just make sure you include contact information in case they want to take it a step further and do a feature article.
Also it's not a bad idea to include a publicity photo of yourself (sorry Alex).  Just like it's suggested for blogs, newspapers often like to have a picture to go with the story.
 
          I sincerely hope that some of you will consider putting something together today and try to get it submitted somewhere this week.   I will be posting more on this topic in the next few days.  Good luck!
 
 
 
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Awards and all

            Now, let's see.... how does this work?   I cut back on blogging post days, I've been slacking on my blog visiting and commenting, NaNo is over and I've slowed down on my writing, and I'm still behind and haven't found time for reading of late.   I guess it's because it's winter and the days are shorter.  Yeah, that must be it!

            In any case I'm going to acknowledge some awards that were passed my way and, sadly, I'm not going to pass them on today.   I'll have to make up for this eventually.   So without any further discussion:


Here are some awards:

The Supernova Award is from Stephen Tremp.  Here why in his words:  For my hosts who participated in this blog tour, I give you all the SuperNova award. I thought this is appropriate because supernovas are exploding stars that become extremely luminous and can briefly outshine an entire galaxy. The can seed the nebulae with heavy elements and initiate new star and planet growth. I feel you have helped initiate new growth for me.

Thanks Stephen!  It was a great virtual book tour and you can call on me for your next one.  Pretty cool looking award, huh?

And Another "Go Away I'm Writing Award"

Rashelle at No. 2 Pencil, Stat! handed me another "Go Away I'm Writing Award".  She passed this my way in the middle of NaNo when I really needed it.    Now I need for somebody to give me "Hey, You Need to Keep Writing Award" in a mug filled up with highly caffeinated coffee.  

An Award from Poetess Yvonne:

          Everybody's favorite Lady of Verse, Yvonne from Welcome to My World of Poetry , sent me this "Super Star Blogger Award" all the way across the Atlantic.  This was a lovely Thanksgiving Day surprise and I do thank you for it, Yvonne.  Hope you're getting some warmer weather over there--we hear it's been cold...really cold.  Thank goodness you're there to warm our hearts.

And so:

          I think I got them all.  I hope so.  Have a great weekend and an highly productive week ahead.



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An Irresistible Saturday Awards Post

Irresistible Blog Award

I received this lovely award from Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry.   I had seen it on Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog and thought it looked rather nice.  Now I have one of my own.  Thank you, Yvonne, and I'm glad you got your computer problems taken care of and are back with us.

Here are a few blogs that I find irresistible (I could name a few hundred!):

The Optimal Optimist is a nice place to get a positive message and give your day a smile.

Hollywood Spy has the scoop on movies and entertainment--and Dezmond's pretty cool.

Elizabeth West at Graphomaniac always has something interesting to say.

Lynda R.Young at W.I.P. It has plenty of helpful information to offer.

Please accept these awards if you wish and feel free to pass them on to any blogs that you find irresistible.

If you readers wouldn't mind, drop by these sites and give them a big hello and tell them you saw it here on Tossing It Out.   Hopefully you'll find these blogs as irresistible as I have.

Time Change

          My NaNo novel is called Time Light.  I talked about it this past week and offered a brief synopsis.  I'm still listening to your comments and suggestions so be sure to stop by and give me your two cents.  If fifty of you leave two cents I'll have a dollar!    My NaNo train has left the station and so far the novel is on track.  I'm hoping for a couple of days with big bursts of steam that put me well ahead of schedule, but if I keep my current pace I'll be doing fine.   And speaking of time, don't forget to set clocks back in the U.S. for the end of Daylight Savings Time--it seems like it really came late this year.



Blog Train Rolling

        As my NaNo train rolls along, so does Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough blog tour.   Stephen's been offering up some great information on the other stops and will be visiting Tossing It Out on Tuesday with a truly fascinating topic that will make you think. 

        I'll be keeping up with my NaNo progress, but I don't want to bore the Non-NaNo-ers with too much.  After all, those of you who are signed up can check me out on the NaNo site.  My username is "wordleeness" and you can find out more about me, my novel, and my progress on the NaNo site.

        My Monday post will be a quirky look at some blog weirdness--or is it all something that is much more sinister that it appears to be.  Maybe some of you will know what's going on.  Then on Thursday I'll salute those who have served America as I observe Veteran's Day.






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