The Tip Sheet

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issue of : December 2006

In this Issue

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission."

—Eleanor Roosevelt

If you've got a great quote you want to share, send it to kohand@plannedtvarts.com. Many thanks!

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Go Far With A Virtual Book Tour...Without Traveling!

PTA's newest service, the Virtual Book Tour, gets your message out to hundreds of thousands of potential book buyers. The Virtual Book Tour is a huge teleseminar, arranged by us, that positions you to be the expert on your topic, and promotes your book for sale. We have partnered with Alex Mandossian, who uses state-of-the-art online technology to promote the teleseminar, create the package, and distribute it to your future readers. These tours have sold combined tens of thousands of books.

  • It's immediate: The tour takes no more than five weeks to set up.
  • It's cost-effective: Your message is being sent to over 300,000 potential customers
  • It's lasting: You can reuse the content on your Web site or for other marketing efforts.
  • It's convenient: You don't have to travel or do anything but talk from the privacy of your own home, office, or hotel.
  • It's controlled by you: Your content is owned by you and created by you - no one will edit your message.

The Virtual Book Tour marketing concept is a fast, easy and economical way to sell more books, by utilizing the power of the telephone and Internet. By creating an online survey and strategic partnering, your message is delivered directly to your core audience.

Here are sample Virtual Book Tour Replays
T. Harv Eker, "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind," www.AskHarvEker.com/replay
Marc Allen, "Lazy Person's Way to Riches," www.BeATypeZ.com/replay
Harvey Mackay, "We Got Fired," www.JustAskHarvey.com/replay

For more information, please contact Brian Feinblum 212-583-2718 feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com

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PTA'S FREE TELESEMINARS

Upcoming TeleSeminars

December 13, 8-9pm EST with David Hancock

David Hancock, the founder of Morgan James Publishing, will be speaking about:

  • How speakers and entrepreneurs can catapult their careers by having a book
  • Traditional publishing-vs-POD publishing- vs-partner publishing
  • What should be in book proposal
  • What role does publicity and marketing play
  • How fast can a book be published
  • How does book distribution work

January 17, 8-9pm EST with Ken Atchity

Dr. Ken Atchity, manager of Atchity Entertainment International and The Writer's Lifeline, Inc., specializes in shaping stories that work both in New York publishing and Hollywood, and has developed 7 bestsellers. Ken has authored four books for writers, and has produced over 20 films for television and theatrical release. Ken will enlighten us with answers to the following:

  • What are the essential components for succeeding in Hollywood?
  • What involvement can I expect once I sell my book?
  • What's the difference between what an agent can do for me and what a literary manager can do?
  • Do I need both an agent and a manager?
  • Should I sell my book to a publisher first, or to Hollywood first?
  • What is literary management, and why do writers need it today?
  • How to make your book project film-friendly?
  • What do producers do?

Here's how to participate:
Call 580-474-3600, then press in the code: 222089#.

Past Teleseminars:
You can also check out a the teleseminar Rick Frishman did with Mike Stewart on how to put audio and video on your web sites and blogs. Here are the links: http://audiovideoforauthors.com/blog/ and also http://www.audiovideoforauthors.com.

Remember, our TeleSeminars are free (excluding your call cost). If you missed our last TeleSeminar you can dial the replay line at 507-726-3837 (Press the # sign after you dial in) to replay them or go to our website at www.plannedtvarts.com to download past TeleSeminars.

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SURFIN'

Did you know Google can find news items on any subject and send you an email alerting you to your subject of interest? Go to http://news.google.com/ Enter your search terms and then the results will come up. Then you can create an alert that will be sent to your email address anytime a story appears on the subject you are interested in. You set the parameters as far as frequency of emails; areas of search; etc. Sure beats searching every day.

Lots of great movie web sites out there - one of the better ones is Entertainment Insiders http://www.einsiders.com/ which has movie reviews, box office results DVD reviews, upcoming news and a most interesting section - obituary review written by Rusty White. This is a must read for anyone interested in entertainment, as it covers most of the passings of everyone involved in the Film, TV, Stage and music industries while providing interesting life glimpses of many people some of whom only worked behind the scenes in the entertainment industry.

The end of the year is a good time to do something that every person who is concerned about identity theft should do and that is check your credit report. You can get your credit report for free once per year from the big three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian). Do not be fooled by imitation websites, https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp is the government mandated web site the bureaus were forced to set up, and it may be somewhat cumbersome to navigate, but it is secure and you will get access to your credit report. However you have to pay for your credit score, if you want that as well.

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WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?

For Offices2Share.com (Jeff Landers) some of our bookings include:

  • Orange County Register
  • Newark Star Ledger
  • Kansas City Star
  • Indianapolis Star
  • Chicago Sun-Times
  • Boston Herald


For Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot (Avon) we booked a College Teleprint Conference with 21 college newspapers including the papers at:

  • Indiana University
  • Duke University
  • Penn State
  • University of Southern Carolina
  • Brigham Young


For Home by Senator John Edwards (Harper Collins) we booked a Teleprint Conference concentrating on specific markets that included the following papers:

  • Newsday
  • Indianapolis Star / Gannett News Service
  • New Orleans Times-Picayune (LA)
  • Des Moines Register
  • Toledo Blade (OH)
  • Express-Times (PA)
  • Press Democrat (CA)
  • Times Recorder (OH)
  • Battle Creek Enquirer (MI)


For Secrets of a Wine Diva by Christine Ansbacher (Sterling) some of our placements include:

  • Redbook
  • Forbes.com
  • Seattle Times
  • Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

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TIPS FROM THE TOP

Agent ABCs: The Basics

How agents work:

Literary agents fill two primary, and often overlapping, roles. They serve as both their clients' Sales representatives and as their literary advisors. In order to sell their clients' work, agents read it, assess it, and advise clients on its quality and market potential. They also create strategies for its sale for publication. Agents identify potential publishers and offer their clients' writing to publishers, negotiate publishing contracts and monitor publishers' contract compliance. Good agents constantly position their clients and work with publishers and the media to build their clients' careers.

Agents' Compensation:

As compensation for their services, agents receive a percentage of the gross income from the publishing agreements that the agents obtained. They essentially function as commission salespersons who act as middlemen or vendors to sell their clients' writing to publishers. What does this mean to you? At present, the standard percentage for literary agents is 15 percent of all income that authors receive from the sale of the book and its subsidiary rights. Unless otherwise stated, this amount is calculated on gross sales on the book's cover price. Agents also usually receive 20 percent on foreign sales, and some are getting more. They receive more for foreign sales because they have to coagent with colleagues abroad.

Reasonable and Unreasonable Charges:

Many literary agencies also charge for certain expenses such as photocopying, postage and long-distance telephone calls, which are reasonable. However, some may charge for marketing, travel and administrative expenses, which can be expensive. Reasonable expenses that you should expect to pay are those that your agent must lay out to represent you and submit your work to publishers. The expenses you are charged should be the same that all of your agent's other clients pay. Before you sign with an agent, get a list of all the expenses you will be charged and try to get an idea of how much they should run. Here's a good tip: When you negotiate a contract for an agent to represent you, insist on a provision that gives you the right to approve all expenditures over a stated sum, say $50. Unless unusual circumstances exist, you should not agree to pay for ordinary phone calls and other basic administrative expenses. If a provision is included in the contract that requires you to pay a percentage of the funds you receive for office, administrative or managerial expenses, think twice, because those tasks are normally part of the agent's job. If the agent insists, put a dollar cap on those expenses. And whenever your agent requests or deducts expenses, request an itemized statement of those costs.

Contracting with an Agent

At a certain point, most agents will insist that you give them the exclusive rights to sell your writing; they will ask you to sign an author/agent agreement. This point varies from agent to agent, but many won't give you much of their time until you sign. Your agreement with an agent should specify that it applies only to a particular book or project. It may contain an option for your next book. If you create spin-offs or new, revised, or updated versions of the agented book, the agent who negotiated the original deal will be entitled to share in revenues received.

An excerpt from the National Bestseller Author 101: Bestelling Secrets from Top Agents by Rick Frishman and Robyn Freedman Spizman with Mark Steisel

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LOOK WHAT'S COMING UP!!!

These are dates that just might relate to a Morning Drive or Satellite TV Tour topic:

February 2007
Black History Month
National Heart Month
1stPremier of "Late Night with David Letterman" (1982)
2ndGroundhog Day
4thSuper Bowl (Miami)
4thCharles Lindbergh Birthday (1902)
6thBabe Ruth's Birthday (1895)
14thValentine's Day
18thNBA All-Star Game
18thDaytona 500
19thPresident's Day
20thMardi Gras
21stAsh Wednesday
26thLevi Strauss Birthday (1829)

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