So this week I ran another Twitter game. (You may remember that last week I did #killaqueryin5words.) This one was #sourcefromhellin5words, and the idea was that we writers would give five-word phrases that would make us want to never interview a source. Like:
- How much will you pay?
- Who else are you interviewing?
- Can I see the article?
- Is the article out yet?
- Sorry, I forgot the interview.
- I’m the foremost expert!
- We’re creating a new paradigm!
- You should mention my book.
- I could talk all day!
What was really cool was that ProfNet and HelpAReporter, the two biggest source-finding services for journalists, got in on the action, so we had a ton of submissions…and also, expert sources who use those services got a lesson in what NOT to do when working with a writer. Not only that, but ProfNet did a post about the contest where they featured their favorite contributions!
As with last week’s game, some tweets were just so AWESOME that I decided to offer prizes to my favorites. And they are:
@anngol: “Oh you’re not from Redbook?” #sourcefromhellin5words [This was hands-down my favorite! The snobby source…ugh.]
@write4income: (In response to everything you ask): “That question is too personal.” #sourcefromhellin5words @LFormichelli [Persnickety sources don’t get called back!]
@lilbusgirl: How’s 10pm your time sound? #sourcefromhellin5words [Yeah, because we writers don’t have a life!]
@CaroleeNoury: Answers are in my book. #sourcefromhellin5words @LFormichelli [Hint: We journalists need to get quotes straight from the source; we can’t just pull quotes from books.]
@RobinDarling: “I read it on Wikipedia” #sourcefromhellin5words @LFormichelli [And you call yourself an expert?]
@danielcasciato: “Get a quote from PR” @LFormichelli #sourcefromhellin5words [Yes, we writers LOVE sanitized PR-speak!]
@RAHolloway: “I will need final approval. @LFormichelli #sourcefromhellin5words [Now THAT’S good journalism!]
?@rebekah_olsen: It all started in 1965…(when you only need one quick quote about their work) @LFormichelli #sourcefromhellin5words [I hope you took a bathroom break before this interview!]
Winning tweeters, I’d love to offer you a free book, course, or checklist from the Renegade Writer Store. Please choose your favorite and email me at [email protected] with your selection! (FYI, I’m out of town because my grandma passed away. 
So please be patient and I’ll send you your book next week for sure. Thanks!)
Thanks so much to everyone who played #sourcefromhellin5words. It was a blast!
On Monday morning I’ll be launching a new Twitter game called #editororgasmin5words. I think you can tell what we’re looking for here! Some examples I’ll have on my Twitter feed include:
- Yes, I’ll write for free! (Yes, we can get snarky in this game!
- I created an extra sidebar.
- I fact-checked all stats.
- Pynchon agreed to an interview.
- Can I file this early?
The game will start Monday at around 8 am ET (New York time) and run all day. (Please wait until then to start posting, and I’ll retweet your contributions!) Just add the hashtag #editororgasmin5words to your post, and feel free to tag me at @lformichelli!
If you want to get announcements when I hold a new Twitter games like these, please join the Renegade Writer email list! You’ll also get a free e-book and checklist for writers, plus my Monday Motivations for Writers emails!
By Dennis Meredith
Since Oxford published my book Explaining Research in February, I’ve learned a great deal about book marketing. And since the success of a book depends so critically on adept marketing, I’d like to share those lessons.
First of all, authors should always consider themselves critically important marketers of their own books. After all, it’s your book, so who else would know the most about it and care most about its success? Begin by assiduously filling out your publisher’s author questionnaire, supplying comprehensive information on the book description, unique features, newsworthy topics, audience, promotional targets, and sources for advance comment. Many departments, from marketing to sales, will use this information as a guide to their marketing efforts.
While your publisher will manage such marketing efforts as sales and distribution, sending review copies, and advertising, there are many marketing efforts you can make as well. The good news is that most of these are free or very inexpensive. Here are some marketing tips that I found most effective:
- Work with your publisher to notify your institution’s news office and professional associations about your book. The news office will likely do a news release and promote you to the media, while your associations may review on its website and in its publications. Also, notify internal publications such as the alumni magazine. They’ll likely review it.
- Offer to be a “media expert” on your topic. Volunteer to be listed on your institution’s list of people willing to talk to media, as well as in national experts directories such as Profnet, Help a Reporter Out, PitchRate and the AAAS Science Talk Experts Director & Speakers Service.
- Promote your book and drive sales at your publisher’s website by including your book’s information in your email signature, in talks and articles, and on your institutional web page.
- Blog about your subject by creating your own blog and by “guest blogging” on others’ blogs about your topic. For example, I’ve created the blog Research Explainer, in which I offer tips on communicating research. I’ve also found the blog useful in updating and expanding on the information in my book.
- Write articles and op eds about your book topic for professional and popular publications and Web sites. Make sure the author identification mentions your book.
Market on Amazon. Ask readers who like your book to write a positive review. Create an author page. See Amazon’s Author Central for information. Have your blog posts automatically feed to your author page. Ask Amazon top reviewers to review your book. See this guide to getting your books reviewed on Amazon.
- Give public and professional talks about your book’s subject, in which you mention the book. Work with your publisher to organize book sales at public talks.
- Distribute your talk on the Web as a narrated “slidecast” via such services as SlideShare o
Think your peach defuzzer is the greatest product in the known universe, or rep a doctor who’s on the road to curing a formerly incurable disease? Then you’re probably signed up as an expert source on services like Help a Reporter (HARO) and ProfNet.
I use these services as just one of many tools in my arsenal to find expert and “real life” sources, but often I end up frustrated — and without usable sources. To be fair, sometimes my requests are kind of crazy — like I’m looking for a Hispanic woman in her 40s who lives in the Midwest and drives a Suburban. But many times, it’s the people who respond to queries that make a writer want to drive flaming daggers into her eyes.
Don’t get me wrong — I love and appreciate these services. They’re free to journalists, and I often find good sources through them, like the beautiful bridal entrepreneur-slash-cage fighter I ended up profiling for Fortune Small Business and later for Inc. But the successes are tempered by avalanches of off-point e-mails from PR reps and expert sources.
If you use these services as a PR rep or a source, here are some tips for boosting your chances of a reply when you respond to a writer’s query. (Yes, writers, these requests confusingly are called queries.) I’ll use some examples from recent queries I sent in.
1. Read the Freakin’ Query!
Lat week I sent out the following query:
Are We Detoxing Too Much?
I’m looking for experts such as MDs who can discuss whether the detoxing trend is going too far, in terms of detoxing our homes, our bodies, and our food. Magazines and books are telling us to purge everything from house dust to bleach to non-organic foods, and more and more people are going on fasts and detox diets. How do you know if you’re going too far? And how much do we REALLY need to detox? I do not need to hear from vendors about detoxing products.
You get it, right? I’m looking for information on the negative side of detoxing — how much is too much and how to know if you’ve gone too far. And yet, almost 100% of the responses I received were from medical professionals who offered to talk about why we need to go on detox diets and how to do it. It’s like they scanned the query, saw the word “detox,” and blasted off an e-mail about the wonders of detoxing. If you can’t (or won’t) read, how can we trust you as an expert?
So please…READ the query!
2. Sell Yourself
Every once in a while I get a response that says something like, “I can help you with your article. Call me.” Yeah, I’ll get right on that. Please, tell me who you are and what makes you an expert in the topic I queried.
3. Remember That Our Job Is Not to Sell Your Product
Of course, people who respond to writer queries have something to sell, whether it’s a product, a viewpoint, or something else. But you need to use some smarts to determine when it’s right to make a blatant product pitch. For example, here’s a query I sent out yesterday:
For a national health magazine, I’m looking for beauty news that’s NOT product-specific and that is backed by studies. For example, I don’t care that Jane’s Sun Kissed Skin Lotion was proven to prevent wrinkles, but I do care that a recent study published in the Journal of Dermatology concluded that the antioxidants in pistachios were proven to whiten teeth. Please, no product pitches.
I’m guessing you noticed that I did not want product-specific pitches. I mean, I made it pretty clear, right? So why do I get replies from people telling me, for example, that the FatBlaster Brand Laser Machine has been proven to reduce the look of cellulite? I guess the reps think, “Well, it can’t hurt to sen
So this week I ran another Twitter game. (You may remember that last week I did #killaqueryin5words.) This one was #sourcefromhellin5words, and the idea was that we writers would give five-word phrases that would make us want to never interview a source. Like: