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The Tip Sheet
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issue of : August 2000
NEW PTA INTERNET SERVICE
"The Authors Network" at www.sbtv.com features streaming video and audio interviews of business authors by noted business journalist, Jane Applegate. Each title will offer the following to those who log onto the site:
- Press Release
- Testimonials
- Author's Tour Schedule or Calendar Appearances
- Five minute streaming video and audio interview
- Complete transcript of the interview
- Author Biography
- Author Photograph
- Cover shot of book
- Link to amazon.com, author's web site; publisher's web site
Interviews will have a yearlong presence on the web site with an option for renewal.
For more information about "The Author's Network" please contact David Hahn @ 212-593-5847 or hahnd@ruderfinn.com or 212-593-5847.
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF WAKING UP EARLY!
We're celebrating! It was ten years ago this August that PTA launched an innovative, new media service, the Morning Drive Radio Tour® (MDRT).
In August 1990, PTA booked its first MDRT for Jackie Collins and her book, Lucky (Simon & Schuster). In a fitting bit of irony, PTA just completed our fifth MDRT for Jackie Collins - ten years later - for her newest title, Lethal Seduction.
Consisting of 18-20 back-to-back interviews, all conducted in one morning (from 7:30 - 11:30 a.m. eastern), the MDRT allows a spokesperson to reach an audience of approximately five to six million people, and sometimes as high as ten million. As a comparison, The Today Show reaches six million people daily.
In 1994, PTA further refined the MDRT by partnering with Conference America - a leading teleconferencing service - which enables authors and spokespeople to be interviewed from anywhere in the world; and they have! MDRTs have been conducted from London, Paris, and Sydney, as well as from trains and automobiles. At present none have been done from a plane (though it has been explored).
During the last ten years MDRTs have been conducted for a tremendous variety of best-selling authors, entertainers and public figures including John Grisham, Tom Clancy, P.J. O'Rourke, Former President Jimmy Carter, James B. Stewart, Michael Lewis, Bobbi Brown, Richard Carlson, Michael Eisner, Richard Branson, John Cleese, Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, Maya Angelou, Harvey Mackay, Bill Parcells, Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey, among many others.
PTA books roughly 300 MDRTs annually.
MDRT FUN FACT: The bestselling author of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston, holds the record for doing eleven MDRTs in a five month period to help push his book up The New York Times best-seller list and keep it there.
BOOKINGS OF NOTE
Here's a sampling of our latest bookings:
TODAY SHOW (NBC)
HOMEPAGE (MSNBC)
Featured an interview with Barbara Moses, author of Good News About Careers (Jossey-Bass)
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Interviewed Harvey Mackay, author of Pushing the Envelope (Ballentine)
CNNfn-TV
USA TODAY
THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER
WOMAN'S DAY
Featured The New Messies Manual (Baker/Revel), by Sandra Felton
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Featured Dennis & Michelle Reina, authors of Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace (Berrett Koehler)
NEW YORK TIMES
TODAY IN NY (WNBC)
FOX 10 O'CLOCK NEWS
WABC-TV
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Interviewed Stu Mittleman, author of Slow Burn (Harper Collins)
LATER TODAY (NBC)
HOMEPAGE (MSNBC)
Both featured appearances by the author of The New York Times Book of Women's Health (Lebhar-Friedman Books), Jane Brody
prose from the pros
PTA recently spoke with Natalie Batos, producer for WOR-AM's "Rambling with Gambling," to find out what type of guests she likes to book for this top N.Y.C. radio station. Here's what she had to say:
- How do you select guests for the show?
Having to fill 4 hours every morning means we need variety. We are live 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year & we never tape! As a result our guests fall into many categories: newsmakers, experts, celebrities, authors & "everyday" people who have great stories. - How would you define a good guest?
Our guests must have qualities that will keep a listener interested, even if the topic is something they are normally not interested in. A good guest must have broad appeal, & a good personality - be friendly, engaging, & passionate. - What can a guest do to increase their chances of getting asked back?
Being a well-spoken expert is a good reason for keeping a guest in our rolodex and asking them back. - As one of the highest rated morning talk shows, in a tough market, how many pitches are you bombarded with each day?
A typical day consists of 20-30 phone pitches, 30-40 faxes, 10-20 emails (but I see that growing everyday) and a mailbag that could double as a boxing bag! - What would you do if an intelligent author had written about a timely subject, yet was not an engaging speaker?
Engaging conversation is the key to keeping our listeners tuned in. We can't afford to give them a reason to change stations. If a guest lacked passion and spark, he would probably not make it to air, despite being an expert.
PREFER TO RECEIVE "THE TIP SHEET" VIA E-MAIL?
To receive this newsletter via e-mail, please send your e-mail address (and affiliation) to kohand@ruderfinn.com. Thanks.
Look What's Coming Up
Some annual dates that just might relate to a Morning Drive topic.
August
| National Investors' Month | |
| Aug. 1st - | Anniversary of MTV Premiere (1981) |
| Aug. 1st - | World Wide Web 10th Anniversary (1990) |
| Aug. 2nd - | Declaration of Independence Official Signing Anniversary (1776) |
| Aug. 3rd - | TV Premiere of "Primetime Live" with Sam Donaldson & Diane Sawyer (1989) |
| Aug. 5th - | National Mustard Day |
| Aug. 1st-7th - | Simplify Your Life Week |
| Aug. 7th-13th - | National Smile Week |
| Aug. 9th - | Richard M. Nixon resigns (1974) |
| Aug. 10th-16th - | Elvis Week |
| Aug. 13th - | Berlin Wall Erected (1961) |
September
| Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month | |
| Library Card Sign-Up Month | |
| Pleasure Your Mate Month | |
| Self Improvement Month | |
| Shameless Promotion Month | |
| Sept. 4th - | Labor Day |
| Sept. 5th - | The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour TV Premiere (1983) |
| Sept. 6th - | Do It! Day (aka Fight Procrastination Day) |
| Sept. 8th-10th - | Bald is Beautiful Convention |
October
| National Breast Cancer Awareness Month | |
| Computer Learning Month | |
| National AIDS Awareness Month | |
| National Sarcastics Awareness Month | |
| Oct. 3rd - | National Techies Day |
| Oct. 1st - | Disney World Opened (1971) |
| Oct. 7th - | Dow-Jones Industrial Average Anniversary (1896) |
| Oct. 8th-14th - | Fire Prevention Week |
| Oct. 18th-23rd - | Germany: Frankfurt Book Fair |
| Oct. 31st - | Halloween |
PTA Specialties
Here is a sampling of the 50-60 specialty media campaigns PTA conducts each month:
Morning Drive Radio Tours®
- Dennis Milller – comedian, talk-show host, and author of Still Ranting (Doubleday)
- Tom Brokaw – respected news journalist and author of The Greatest Generation Speaks (Simon & Schuster)
- Denise Austin – fitness expert and author of Lose Those Last Ten Pounds (Broadway)
- Mary J. Blige – R&B artist who is launching her new tour, The Mary Show, sponsored by Seagrams' Gin (Ruder Finn/ A&CC)
- Gerry Spence – well-known celebrity lawyer and author of A Boy's Summer (St. Martin's Press)
Satellite TV Tours
- Rick Pitino – - head coach of the Boston Celtics and author of Lead to Succeed (Broadway)
- Cynthia Rowley – fashion designer and trendsetter talks about summer entertaining for TGIF Frozen Cocktails (Cairns & Associates)
- Dr. Dean Edell – nationally recognized health expert and author of Eat, Drink and Be Merry (HarperCollins)
Power Promotions™
Harvey Mackay - CEO of the multi-million dollar Mackay Envelope Company and author of the best-selling book Swim With the Sharks. Harvey's current book is titled Pushing the Envelope: All the Way to the Top (Ballantine)