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The Tip Sheet
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issue of : August 2007
- QUOTE OF THE MONTH
- LET US HELP YOU CLIMB THE LADDER: CAREER BOOKS ARE A SPECIALTY AT PTA! - Career Books
- PTA'S FREE TELESEMINARS - Networking and Literary Agents
- SURFIN' - A Source for Websites
- WHAT HAVE WE DONE FOR YOU LATELY? - Dates for planning your publicity
- LOOK WHAT'S COMING UP!!! - PTA's Top Recent Bookings - Forbes.com, Bloomberg Television, and All Things Considered (NPR)
- TIPS FROM THE TOP - Our Monthly Advice Column
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it."
—Elizabeth Drew
If you have a great quote to share, please send it to tipsheet@plannedtvarts.com.
Thanks!
LET US HELP YOU CLIMB THE LADDER: CAREER BOOKS ARE A SPECIALTY AT PTA!
PTA has a long rich history of promoting career authors ranging from Harvey Mackay to Joyce Lain Kennedy to Barbara Moses. Recent campaigns include:
- Sink or Swim: New Job, New Boss: 12 Weeks to Get It Right
- Succeed on Your Own Terms: Lessons from Top Achievers Around the World on Developing Your Unique Potential
- I Didn't See it Coming: The Only Book You'll Ever Need to Avoid Being Blindsided in Business
- One Phone Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker
- Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success
Major outlets and syndicated columnists have covered these campaigns including:
| The New York Times Fortune Business Week Newsweek Bottom Line Personal | ExecuNet Job Week CBS Early Show The Boston Globe Jungle Magazine Tribune Media | Syndicated Columnists: Joyce Lain Kennedy Anita Bruzzese Cecil Johnson |
These authors have also spoken to a mix of SHRM chapters, Chambers of Commerce, ASTD, and other business groups as part of their PTA campaign.
"We love promoting career books" says David Hahn, Executive Director of PTA Business Books, "because they allow you to approach both the business and consumer print media as well as many broadcast outlets. The key to a successful campaign is focusing on the core market the book is intended for and coming up with appropriate story angles and sidebar material."
Please contact David Hahn @ 212-583-5845 or hahnd@plannedtvarts.com.
PTA'S FREE TELESEMINARS
Upcoming TeleSeminars
Free Teleseminar August 14th, 8-9pm EST
Larry Benet, who is known as the Connector, is the past Chairman of the Tsunami Disaster Relief Project where he brought top business leaders together to raise money for the victims of the Tsunami. He is considered a master relationship builder, one of the countries most "Outside the Box" business strategists, and has been referred to as America's Connection Expert. He has shared the platform or interviewed people like Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul series), Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager), Ken Kragen (We Are The World), motivational speaker Les Brown, and Harvey Mackay (Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive). He will tell us:
- Secrets for doubling your business in less than 12 months.
- How to build relationships with successful people and turn those contacts into profitable long-term relationships that can boost your profits virtually overnight.
- A system that in only 15 minute a day will allow you to double your revenues in 2007.
- Find out what skill master relationship builders use to turn what could have been an ordinary 2- minute conversation into the foundation for lucrative money making deals.
- How to avoid the biggest mistakes people make when meeting someone for the first time.
- Learn how to leverage technology and accelerate the relationship building process to dramatically increase your profits.
Free Teleseminar September 5th, 8-9pm EST
Katharine Sands is a New York based literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. Katharine has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books. Highlights include XTC: Song Stories; Make Up, Don't Break Up with Oprah guest Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil; Ford Model Helen Lee's The Tao of Beauty; and Elvis and You, to name a few. She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent's Eye, a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents. Actively building her client list, she likes books that have a clear benefit for readers' lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks at issues, life challenges or popular culture.
To participate: Please call 712-338-8100. Then press in the code: 222089#.
Past Teleseminars:
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) or go to our website at www.plannedtvarts.com. We have about 55 hours of great information for you!
SURFIN'
Where does the term "Green Room" originate? What about "Rear It's Ugly Head"? How did all the "phobias" get named? Michael Quinion, who provides citations for the Oxford English Dictionary and writes the newsletter World Wide Words answers all of these questions on his website, http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm. This site can keep you reading for hours and make you seem very erudite to your friends.
Are you storing all those books and media (CD's DVD's) that you collected at BEA in a put-it-together-yourself bookcase from a chain store like us? Looking for something more unique? Try CustomMade at http://custommade.com/index.html, which offers one of a kind art quality woodworking and custom furniture. The independent woodworkers/contractors are broken down by geography and specialty. You can see images from each craftsman and contact them directly for pricing with no middleman involved.
Nearly forgotten today, Allan Sherman was as famous in the 1960's as any entertainer in America. Today, Sherman is best known for his song parody of Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" which he transformed into "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, Here I am at Camp Granada." Sherman was actually a successful producer and the developer of the CBS TV show "I've Got A Secret" and was also the Steve Allen Show's producer. He authored several books and his autobiography "A Gift of Laughter" (1965 Atheneum) though out of print, is worth finding - it is a great read. His string of album parody hits in the 60's, are funny and deejay Dr. Demento concurs, "He was, quite simply, the greatest musical parodist who ever wrote in English." http://mywebpages.comcast.net/allansherman/ & http://dmdb.org/sherman/ are both dedicated to Allan. Also check out NPR's "All Things Considered" profile on http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5279983.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE FOR YOU LATELY?
Here's a sampling of our latest bookings.
Larry King Live
For A League of Dangerous Women by Mary Frances Bowley (Multnomah Publishers), our PTA Faith division secured:
- American Family Radio, AFR News
- USA Radio Network, Point of View
- Moody Radio Network, Midday Connection
- Moody Radio Network, Open Line
- Moody Radio Network, PrimeTime America
- Sirius Satellite Radio & FamilyNet, Radio Network Mornings with Lorri & Friends
- Drew Marshall Show, - Toronto, Canada
- XM Satellite Radio, For Heaven's Sake
- United News & Information,Outlook
For George Halvorson, author of Health Care Reform Now! (Jossey Bass) and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, PTA DC and PTA NYC combined forces to book:
- Forbes.com
- NPR, All Things Considered
- CBS Radio Network - News Roundup
- Bloomberg TV, Night Talk (also airs on Bloomberg radio)
For The Taboos of Leadership by Anthony Smith (Jossey Bass), PTA Business has secured:
- Harvard Business Review
- Midwest Book Review
- PW.com
- Booklist
For Russell Cleveland, author of Finding Midas (Greenleaf), we booked:
- NYTimes.com
- Investor's Business Daily
LOOK WHAT'S COMING UP!!!
These are dates that just might relate to a Morning Drive or Satellite TV Tour topic:
| September 2007 | |
| National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month | |
| National Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15-10/15) | |
| 9/29-10/6 | Banned Books Week (American Library Association) |
| 8/29 - 9/9 | US Open (Tennis) |
| 3rd | Labor Day |
| 3rd | First Secret Service Agent to Die in the Line of Duty (1902) |
| 5th | Babe Ruth's First Pro Homer (1914) |
| 5th | United Nations: International Literacy Day |
| 7th | Google Founded (1998) |
| 8th | Miss America First Crowned (1921) |
| 8th | Oprah Winfrey Show Premiered (1986) |
| 9th | Grandparents Day |
| 13th | Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year |
| 16th | United Nations: International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer |
| 18th | US Air Force Established (1947) |
| 18th | The New York Times first published (1851) |
| 19th | Constitution Day/Citizen Day |
TIPS FROM THE TOP
The Agenting Process Explained - Part 4 - When Editors Are Interested
When an editor expresses interest in a proposal, agents inform the other editors to whom they submitted the proposal. This provides an incentive for them to get to the project. Interested editors present the proposal to their editorial boards or those who have the authority to buy the book. Editorial boards usually meet weekly. Houses have differing schedules, which good agents should know in order to set deadlines and figure when they should expect responses.
When several houses are interested in a property, auctions can be held. However, auctions are not common. In an auction, agents give editors the date when bids must be submitted. After the first round of bids, they inform all of the participants of the amount of the highest bids and continue requesting bids until one house wins. Another auction technique is to request a single, best bid. In these auctions, all bidders must submit their best and only offer by a set date and time.
When they try to sell books, agents usually approach larger publishing houses first because they pay more. If they can't sell a book to a big house, agents focus their attention on selling it to smaller firms. For some authors, it can be better to have a big book at a smaller house than to have a small book at a big house where it can get lost.
Whenever possible, authors should try to arrange a face-to-face meeting with editors who are thinking about buying their books. These meetings can give editors an incentive to read the writer's proposal, especially if the writer is making a special trip to town. Tête-à-têtes with authors can also show editors that an author is personable, well spoken and promotable. These visits can be valuable to iron out problems; to reshape the book's organization, direction, or format; and to help cement a solid working rapport.
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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