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The Tip Sheet
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issue of : September 2001
Surfin'
When pitching a story idea, it helps to think like a journalist. According to John E. MacIntyre, Assistant Managing Editor of the copy desk for the Baltimore Sun, journalists expect PR pros to be familiar with the guidelines they use everyday. He recommends the following four sites:
www.newsthinking.com:
Useful tips from The L.A. Times' Bob Baker.
www.buzzkiller.net/buzzsaw.html:
A "Rogues Gallery" where PR pros are slammed by journalists for faulty grammar, misspellings, and long-winded, pointless pitches.
;www.copydesk.org/guidelines.html:
The ACES website. Check out the copy editors' chatroom.
www.theslot.com:
Catch up on the latest advice from Washington Post copy editor Bill Walsh. Walsh is the author of Lapsing Into a Comma: A Curmudgeon's Guide To the Many Things That Can Go Wrong In Print - and How to Avoid Them.
PTA TACKLES THE AIRWAVES AGAIN WITH A NEW RADIO SERVICE!
Coming this fall, PTA will be proud to offer a new radio service-The Public Radio Tour (PRT). Over a 3-day period, PTA will line up longer format interviews on a mix of 15 local Public Radio and talk radio shows that will promote your book to a key book-buying market.
Since 1990, PTA has been renowned for the Morning Drive Radio Tour® which has proven to be an extremely popular and effective media vehicle. The MDRT features 18 back-to-back, 10-minute interviews with radio shows all across the country-in one morning. The PRT will complement PTA's MDRT, so for certain books you might want to consider both.
Did you know that PTA also offers "phoners" or longer phone interviews with top radio stations? "Phoners" are 20 minutes to an hour and include listener call-ins allowing for a more in-depth discussion of a topic. They can take place at any time of day or evening and often generate tremendous sales and/or public awareness of a new book/product/issue.
Please call David Hahn at 212-593-5847 or e-mail hahnd@ruderfinn.com for more information.
BOOKINGS OF NOTE
Here's a sampling of our latest bookings:
TIME MAGAZINE
AMERICAN WAY MAGAZINE
CONTINENTAL MAGAZINE
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
INC. MAGAZINE
Sum of our Discontent (TEXERE) by David Boyle
BUSINESSWEEK
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES' SPIRIT MAGAZINE
Brand Warfare (McGraw-Hill) by David D' Alessandro
CNNfn's "BUSINESS UNUSUAL"
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
CNNfn-TV BUSINESS UNUSUAL
BLOOMBERG RADIO
The Fourth Frontier (Word Publishing) Tom Addington & Stephen Graves
FOX NEWS CHANNEL DAYTIME EDITION
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Bruce and Stan Search for the Meaning of Life (Word Publishing) by Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz
CNBC "POWERLUNCH"
BLOOMBERG TV
USA NETWORK "US AM SHOW"
Investors' Attorney John Lawrence Allen
ENTER THE NEW PTA QUIZ AND WIN!
E-mail the answers to the following quiz to: kohand@ruderfinn.com and you could win the grand prize of two free radio interviews and an audiocassette of our very own Rick Frishman's Magnificent Marketing Symposium !
- Who were the first three people to participate in MDRTs with PTA?
a) Jimmy Carter, Linda McCartney, and Malachi Martin
b) Jackie Collins, Jack Barth and Kurt Loder
c) Erica Jong, LaToya Jackson and Daniel Yergin - Which author holds the PTA record for having done the most Morning Drive Radio Tour's (10)?
a) Richard Preston
b) Tom Brokaw
c) Richard Carlson
prose from the pros
PTA spoke with Rik Anthony, producer for All Star Radio, a network syndicated to 275 stations nationwide. Here's what he had to say:
How do you keep your show material fresh and interesting?
- I try to balance my guests and what they are promoting to fit the needs of my demographic. I have the informative guests to help our listeners deal with health and wealth issues. Then I'll have musicians to fill their wild side. I get sports topics for the men (18 -54) and then fill the rest of the bill with movie and TV stars.
- What is your demographic? Who is your average listener?
Men and women, 25 - 54. Our average listener is a 39-year-old with 2 kids and a home mortgage of $120,000. - How can we make an unknown author appealing to your audience
The subject matter has to strike a chord with the target audience. An unknown author I interviewed recently has a book that focused on the top toys of the last 50 years. That hits the target because the toys are ones that nearly all of my audience either played with, or remembers growing up with. - When did you begin working in radio, and how has the medium changed since then?
I started in 1978, working for Armed Forces Radio and Television. The one thing that has changed (that hurts) is the listener who believes in music before message. Morning shows are to entertain and help you cope through your stressful life. Morning shows showcase talent, and when corporations force the music issue, the talent that exists is wasted. It's like the home run hitter who has to lay down a bunt. True, it helps the team, but you paid the money to see him swing.
Look What's Coming Up
Some annual dates that just might relate to a Morning Drive topic.
October
| Oct 1st - | Sukkot (Sundown) |
| Oct 1st - | Int'l Day for the Elderly (UN) |
| Oct 2nd - | Simchat Torah (Sundown) |
| Oct 8th - | Columbus Day |
| Oct 8th - | Simchat Torah |
| Oct 12th - | Nat'l Children's Day |
| Oct 16th - | Nat'l Boss' Day |
| Oct 24th - | UN Day |
| Oct 28th - | Daylight Savings Time Ends |
| Oct 31st - | Halloween |
November
| Nat'l American Indian Heritage Month | |
| Nov 1st - | All Saint's Day |
| Nov 1st - | Dia De Los Muertos |
| Nov 6th - | Election Day |
| Nov 11th - | Veterans Day |
| Nov 17th - | Ramadan |
| Nov 22th - | Thanksgiving Day |
December
| Dec 1st - | AIDS Awareness Day |
| Dec 9th - | First Day of Ramadan |
| Dec 10th - | Human Rights Day (UN) |
| Dec 21st - | First Day of Winter |
| Dec 25th - | Christmas Day |
| Dec 31st - | New Year's Eve |
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.
PLEASE NOTE. . .
_that there has been a date change for the Mastering the Book Market Seminar presented by Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketing Association (PMA) and Book Marketing Works. It will be on November 17th and 18th at the Philadelphia Airport Hilton. This practical, information packed seminar on how to better publish, market and profit from a book in the 21st century. features such nationally known experts as Dan Poynter, John Kremer, Jan Nathan, Mary Westheimer, Rick Frishman and Brian Jud. For more information, please contact Brian Jud at Book Marketing Works, at (866) 788 - 5334, via e-mail at info@publishingseminars.com, or visit www.publishingseminars.com.
PTA Specialties
Here is a sampling of the 50-60 specialty media campaigns PTA conducts each month:
Boutique Accounts & Road Tours
- Glenn English, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association – (NRECA) - National print and television, Satellite TV Tour, MDRT and radio phoners
- Dr. James Dobson, Bringing Up Boys (Tyndale House), National print campaign
- Diane Coyle, Paradoxes of Prosperity (TEXERE) - National business print and television, MDRT, 2 city road tour, and internet publicity
- Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins, Desecration (Left Behind Series) (Tyndale House) - Teleprint Conference, Satellite Television Tour and MDRT
- Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D., Faust's Gold: Inside the East German Doping Machine (St. Martin's Press) - National print and television, MDRT, Australian road tour, Austin media
Morning Drive Radio Tours®
- People Magazine –Best Dressed, Worst Dressed Issue
- John T. Murphy – author of Success Without a College Degree (Achievement Dynamics, Inc.)
- Charles Gould – No Limits to Caring (Volunteers of America)
- Mary LoVerde – Better Sleep Council (Ogilvy PR)
Satellite TV Tours
- Dr. Sam Andrews – - Sugar Busters For Kids (Ballantine)
- Bon Appetit Magazine – editor Tanya Steel, Ethnic Restaurants Issue (Conde Nast)
- Mark Burnett Dare To Succeed (Hyperion)
- Charles Gould – No Limits to Caring (Volunteers of America)