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Being Heard in an Era of Noise
We live in an era of noise where news and information is abundant, coming to us 24/7 in an unceasing stream. At the same time, our attention span is shrinking. A study conducted last year by Microsoft shows that our ability to focus dropped from 12 seconds in 2000, to a new record low of eight seconds in 2015. Together, the din and our diminishing ability to pay attention make it more difficult to be heard. How can you stand out? What does it take to become a world class communicator? And perhaps the biggest question of all – how do you not only get someone’s attention, but keep it? Before you begin crafting material and take to the public stage, consider cultivating at least some of the skills that seasoned reporters rely on.
What Literary Agents Love
The changing publishing world has left many confused about literary agents. Do you need one? How do you get one? What do they do? We sat down with Literary Agent Jud Laghi to learn more about why you need an agent in the DIY era of publishing and a better idea of what they really do.
Jump Start Your PR Plan
The New Year provides a great chance to restart your PR plans. Some good ways to get started include refreshing your social media profiles, write a new blog post or column, find ten journalists to follow on Twitter, schedule a networking event and identify one stretch goals.
Who’s Covering Business Books and How?
As publicists who work predominantly on business books, a great deal of our time is spent researching who covers these books and how. And one big trend we’ve noticed in recent years is a decline in reviews and an increase in requests for original content. It’s not hard to see why, as often as we […]
Make Our Year, Give a Book
‘Tis the season of giving, and to us, there is no greater gift than a book. Whether you’re choosing a volume for someone special or looking for a page-turner to personally savor, there are plenty of places to turn for inspiration. NPR’s Book Concierge is an easy to use tool that sorts by category and […]
Getting Noticed with Book Awards
As the end of the year approaches, book lovers everywhere will undoubtedly scour and revisit high-profile award-winner lists in order to choose the perfect holiday gift for fellow readers (and maybe ourselves). With close to a million new books published each year in the U.S. alone, the potency of these lists in showcasing quality books […]
Tears of Joy Mark the Year in Publishing
Oxford Dictionaries declared last week that the 2015 “word” of the year is the tears of joy emoji. When well-schooled lexicographers decide that an emoticon is more fitting for the honor than an actual word, it’s easy to become cynical about the future of books. But rather than succumb to that urge, we decided to focus on the happenings and developments in the publishing industry that benefit authors, books, and the written word. In this piece, we look at more publishing options for authors, business books awards and best of lists, and the update of an industry classic.
Is Amazon Killing Author Joy?
Years of fighting between Amazon and the publishing world has almost everyone taking sides. In the wake of this summer’s controversy over mistreating workers, it would be easy to blame the company for taking away even the noncommercial, celebratory parts of writing a book. But is the online retailer really to blame? Or is this just […]
Book Publicity FAQs for First-Time Authors
According to a report done by Bowker – the world’s leading provider of bibliographic information – over 1.5 million books were published in the year 2013 alone. And while that figure may seem outdated (we don’t have current statistics for the years 2014 and 2015 yet), I think it’s safe to assume that this number […]
Is a Podcast Right for You?
What did you listen to on your drive to work yesterday? How about the last thing you downloaded to your smartphone? Increasingly, the answer to that question is a podcast. Research conducted earlier this year indicates that one third of Americans have listened to a podcast—a three-fold increase over the past decade. Aided by technology […]
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