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Jess Todtfeld, former FOX News producer and President of Success in Media Interviews Yours Truly, Scott Lorenz

Jess Todtfeld, former FOX News producer and President of Success in Media

By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing

Jess Todtfeld, former FOX News producer and President of Success in Media (www.SuccessInMedia.com) interviewed Scott Lorenz, President of Westwind Communications Public Relations about his thoughts on PR and the ever-changing landscape of promoting a book, product or service. The in-depth interview is one of 15 such interviews with leading experts that Todtfeld is making available in the new The Ultimate Insider’s Toolkit for PITCHING THE MEDIA. The “toolkit” offers insider’s tips and techniques for getting your story publicized and is available at his web site. successinmedia.com

Jess Todtfeld: All right. PR in the 21st century media is the topic today here on the Speaking Channel. My special guest is Scott Lorenz. He runs Westwind Communications, a PR and marketing firm in Plymouth, Michigan. Scott helps doctors and authors and lawyers, entrepreneurs to help them get all the publicity that they deserve and more.

Jess Todtfeld: Today we’re talking about the ‘and more” which is the 21st century media, meaning the old school ways are okay, but there’s so many more choices that PR professionals are not necessarily leveraging, in my opinion – which is why I invited Scott to be on here today. So, Scott, welcome. Let’s jump right in. You are not only sending the old-style press release out to radio and TV and print locations, but you are also doing more is that true?

Scott Lorenz: That’s correct. I honestly can’t remember the last time I mailed some press releases out, although we do that on occasion. When we ship a new book out, we’ll put press releases in with the book.

Jess Todtfeld: It’s funny that you say that – and I’m a former TV producer and boy, I would get stacks and stacks of mail. And I hate to say, because it’s very wasteful – most of it would get thrown out because it was confusing.

Scott Lorenz: Let’s talk about direct mail for a minute – you’ve got to be able to compel people receiving the mail to rip it open because there’s something fantastic inside. And you’ve got to convey that in the message on the outside of the envelope, for starters.
Jess Todtfeld: Right.

Scott Lorenz: The problem is that that old school is kinda going by the wayside. However, what is interesting, though, now I think, is because so many people use electronic media and they’ve gone away from faxes and direct mail, that you can actually get a little bit more attention with direct mail with the right piece because publicists are not using it as much anymore – funny as those sounds.

Jess Todtfeld: That’s interesting, and I know you said there’s a number of different directions. You don’t just see your firm as a PR firm but as a PR and marketing firm.

Scott Lorenz: Right.

Jess Todtfeld: You employ marketing methods?

Scott Lorenz: Yes. PR is really a sales job. You are actually selling something. We are selling a client to a member of the media, and we’re selling it on the phone, we’re selling it by e mail, whatever methodology we use, face to face, but it’s a sales job. So, I come from that marketing and sales side of things, and that’s probably why I’m so effective in the PR field, because of that background. I’m not a journalist, okay, and often times I find that journalists who enter this field exit it quickly because of the fact they’re really not salespeople, they are journalists, and they have a different skill set and mindset.

Jess Todtfeld: I’m glad to hear you say that, because as a media trainer when I work with clients I’ll always sit there and say, “What’s the reason why you’re doing these interviews and talking to the media?” They’ll usually say, “You know, to get my face out.” “Why?” “You know, so I should be out there.” “Why?” “You know, to build my brand.” “Why?” And I keep going until they realize, “Oh, yeah – sales; oh, yeah – because I want my business to do better.” It’s “Oh, yeah,” because they get lost along the way sometimes.

Scott Lorenz: Right, exactly. What’s really great is if somebody has a book that we’re promoting and besides the book they’re selling speaking engagements, or they have a consulting business. Now, that book becomes a calling card and a platform. You’ve got to sell a lot of books to make a few thousand dollars. But you can make several thousand with just one speaking engagement or considerably more if your book lands you a $25,000 consulting gig. Any PR we obtain helps with the overall building of credibility for the author and their brand and ultimately leads to new business.

Jess Todtfeld: So a book has really got to be part of a bigger strategy, right?

Scott Lorenz: Right. I like very much to work with people who have those other ancillary services that they could sell besides just trying to make money from book sales, there’s more upside potential for the author.

Jess Todtfeld: Let’s talk about Facebook – everybody’s all excited about Facebook, and this I’m sure has got to be one of the 21st century new media places to be for any of your clients. Is it?

Scott Lorenz: Well, I think it certainly has potential and some people have done quite well with it promoting their brand and business. One of the things that I like about it right now is from an advertiser’s perspective. I can go in and select people who’ll see the ad by several variables. For example, I can say I’d like an ad to be seen by females, between the age of 21-35 who work at IBM who like yoga and biking who live in New York.

This selection by demographics and interests electronically has not been available until now. So, it’s pretty exciting. I’ll give you an example. I have an artist in California who paints on glass using a special Persian technique. She’s one of the only artists in the US who does this. Golnaz Shobeiri is her name. I created a Facebook ad with a picture of one of her art pieces with 160 characters of ad copy. It targeted people in the USA and in certain counties in the Middle East and further targeted Americans who have Middle East interests, Persian interests, Iraq/Iranian interest, art culture interest and so forth. This allowed me to zero right in on the most likely buyers of her art.

I have another project that I’m working on that I can’t disclose but it has to do with advertising to people that are in the auto industry, So I discovered that in a certain geographic area there are 1,700 in Michigan working at General Motors that are on Facebook, and about 1,500 Ford employees. Then there’s another 1,200 Chrysler employees and a few hundred more with Penske and other auto-related companies. I can target an ad that will only show up on their Facebook home page or their Facebook when they sign on. This is important because I am not wasting money trying to reach people who would not be interested in the product being advertised.

And I can further target it to people that are college-educated, not college-educated, whatever. This is pretty good targeting as marketing goes. As a marketing guy, I’m very impressed with this. I like that kind of targeting; it has potential for authors as well. You just have to think about who it is that’s going to read your book, who is your target market, and zero in on them directly.

Jess Todtfeld: Right. And so anybody listening right now who’s still fuzzy on Facebook, it’s a place where not just young people hang out. In some ways, some circles, they’re saying it’s replacing e-mail as the place to go to communicate with other people. And Scott, you’ve taken a step further because you’re talking about now instead of just becoming a friend of somebody – that’s kind of the way that Facebook works where you go on there, you have your own page, your own area, and you try to become friends with people that’s there. You’re skipping over some of that because you’re figuring out how to use the advertisings and to target certain groups and to show up right on their page.

Jess Todtfeld: And I think for anybody that says, “Wait a second – this is not PR. Now, I’m buying advertisements.” The more what I keep thinking is what’s the end goal? If somebody says, “Wait, Scott, I just want you to get me in the newspaper article or get me on CNN tomorrow.” But what’s the goal? The goal is to be on there so people will be interested in you and buy whatever it is that you have to sell, whether it’s a service or a book or whatever. But meanwhile if you pop up in a place where they hang out and they click and they go and they buy what it is that you have to sell, you achieve the same goal. Am I right?

Scott Lorenz: Yes. People always ask me what is the most important thing we can do? Then let’s just do that. I could tell you time and time again it all works in concert just like a three-legged stool. Which leg does all the work? Well, you take away one leg you’ll find out – they all work together. If we can digress a second, I have clients, a doctor who performs a certain procedure that – and that procedure was kind of controversial. I’ll just tell you so you can get an idea what it is; it’s vagina tightening, okay?

Jess Todtfeld: Okay.

Scott Lorenz: Anyway, the point was that we published articles online about this topic. Then we placed Google ads as well. Then members of the media contacted us after discovering the ad and then the article and the doctor’s web site. One reporter in particular was researching this topic for a story. What do most people and reporters do when they research a topic? Of course, they go to Google or Yahoo or Bing and search. This reporter researched it and came across my ads and all my material out there that we were using to promote this doctor. And she ended up contacting me as a result – it was a major national publication and a very nice article resulted from that. I even had HBO call me on the same subject because they discovered our ad which led to the web site. So, I know it works.

So the point is that you can get press by having the right things online, with articles, releases that are electronically published along with a paid Google ad or Yahoo ad campaign and Facebook, for that matter, so it all works together.

Jess Todtfeld: I like that – I want to take another jump to another area that I know that you’ve been working in. You don’t have to give away any trade secrets here, but you’re doing something with Internet articles. What is that exactly?

Scott Lorenz: Articles – let’s say when people want to research something, they used to pick up an encyclopedia or they used to go to the library. If people wanted a product or service, they would pick up the Yellow Pages but not so much anymore.

Certain people, certain demographics mostly those over 60 years old will still use the Yellow Pages. But the advertising is very regional, very localized because they divide the area codes up into 20 different slices and markets. That’s a big deterrent to using the Yellow Pages as well. In order to be really successful in their market area you’d have a book that’s two feet thick.

That’s what’s good about the Internet, because you can go online, search for any product or service you want. You’re not limited to who’s in your back yard. The whole world is an open book for you, and as a result the internet and Google is where people go to find what it is that they’re looking for whether it’s a product or service or information about their special interest.

I use it to make sure we have material out there about our clients online that people can search for keywords and then get directed to those articles, and then those articles lead to a website, which leads to the client.

Jess Todtfeld: Right. I see. And you have your secret sauce, your special way of getting them out there so that Google and other big search engines find it. I know even being the former TV producer I used to go to Google, and I would type in some keywords and see where it took me.

Scott Lorenz: Of course.

Jess Todtfeld: If I’d see any important names, and before that we used to use Lexus Nexus, a very expensive service that lawyers and big universities use and pay a lot of money so that you could search old articles to get names of experts. But you don’t really need it anymore, or we would rarely use it after that because you go to Google, a bunch of things come up, and there you go, there’s some important names, so –

Scott Lorenz: It’s only going to get more important, because here’s what’s happening. Kids of all ages whether in grade school, high school or college are used to using all of this technology. It’s all second nature to them. I was contacted by a 25-year-old member of the media who was a producer for a radio show. He wanted one of my clients for an interview. I always try to track the origin of their interest in my client and ask “how did you hear about Dr. So, and So.?” He said he went online and searched it. He went inside Wikipedia. That was his starting point. Not Google. Not Yahoo! He started with Wikipedia.

Jess Todtfeld: It’s the online encyclopedia that regular people contribute to and creating a knowledge base.

Scott Lorenz: Right. So, he just typed in the search of the topic area, okay, that he was looking for combined with the word expert or consultant, whatever, and he ended up with my client. Because my client had a Wikipedia page he was there to be found. I thought that was pretty cool, and for that young producer this is what was normal for him. It’s only going to become more important that people have a presence in all of these online locations, whether it’s Wikipedia, Facebook, online article sites, and so forth.

Jess Todtfeld: That’s terrific. And then you brought up Facebook ads, you brought up Google. I have to ask you of course about Google ads. Do you use them? Have they helped you?

Scott Lorenz: Of course. Absolutely. I represent people who are experts in their field. One of the things that members of the media will do if they’re looking for an expert is to add the word expert or consultant to the end of it. Just type in “Book Marketing Expert” and you’ll find yours truly! You’ve got to be there with Google ads or with your online material ranked high enough so that people can find you. So that’s critical. So again, I used them in tandem when my clients can afford it. Not everybody can afford it, and some of these ads for some of my clients can run $3 to $20 and upper click. But for the vast majority of people the price range is $.50 to $3.00 per click.

If you’re trying to sell a book for $20, you sure as heck can’t be paying $12 a click. So, you’ve got to be very judicious and clever in how you attract people to your ads. However, there are plenty of places you can advertise. Use Yahoo too – don’t forget Yahoo because Yahoo still gets 20% of the search engine traffic. Google gets 50-60-70 percent depending upon who you believe. Just don’t forget Yahoo! and Bing. I buy ads on those sites as well and they are usually less expensive.

Jess Todtfeld: It really depends on the type of business you have to determine what the right price to bid might be. If you’re talking about top legal experts, I’m sure that’s expensive, but if it’s some of the key words included with the expertise of that doctor you mentioned, that would be much lower because it’s specialty area.

Scott Lorenz: That was very interesting, coming up with the search terms for that, and what actually produced the results versus, you know, what produced some other non-important result. But it’s a project. It’s a project and it takes somebody who can really think about it and you know go through all the possibilities and then work with the client and come up with the terms that make the most sense.

Jess Todtfeld: Right, right. Wow. Okay, that’s some good stuff.

Scott Lorenz: Now, let’s go back to that for a second because that’s an important element. Through Google ads you’ll see the search terms that drive traffic to your site and that actually produce business because you can track the conversions for people that search a term and then click on your ad then fill out a form on your web site. This is called “conversion” So you can actually see the words that are most important, but those words you need to integrate into your articles prominently and also work them into the headline for press releases etc.

That’s part of the research of the whole thing. So, it’s great to have an integrated campaign like this for PR and the pay per-click and all this stuff is working together.

Jess Todtfeld: And somebody that doesn’t really know what they’re doing with these Google ads could –

Scott Lorenz: Easily get killed by paying too much, bidding on the wrong words and not thinking like a customer thinks.

Jess Todtfeld: They could lose their behind, so to speak.

Scott Lorenz: You could get a large charge on your Visa bill, unless of course you limit your daily budget and place other parameters on the account. If you don’t watch Facebook ads you can get killed too. Frankly you can get killed on all this stuff if you’re not careful, okay.

Jess Todtfeld: How do you protect yourself?

Scott Lorenz: You set limits on the daily spend. You set limits on the clicks, the total daily spends, your monthly budget, and so forth. But hey, Google is out there trying to make as much money as possible.

Jess Todtfeld: Exactly. They want to make lots of money.

Scott Lorenz: They keep coming up with new ways to maximize you spend with them.

Jess Todtfeld: I want to ask you also about a Google-owned company but another way that PR professionals who really know how to tap into the new media, the 21st century using YouTube.

Scott Lorenz: Right.

Jess Todtfeld: Have you used YouTube ever to promote and help clients?

Scott Lorenz: Yes. There’s actually we’ve used a couple different methods. One client was a – used an item called TeacherTube. It’s just for schoolteachers and students.

Jess Todtfeld: Awesome. The other video sites – meaning they’re not the only game in town.

Scott Lorenz: Right. We – promoted my clients video using press releases which talked about how teachers could use music to help kids learn math, science, history, and so forth. The video was all set to hip hop rap music. And the actual singer is a schoolteacher. We marketed we used press releases and our phone calls and pitching to the media, and got placements and drove traffic to that site. That particular video became the most-watched video ever on TeacherTube with over 1.5 million views.

Jess Todtfeld: Really!

Scott Lorenz: Yes, and so – but just putting it up there alone it would’ve taken a lot longer to get to that kind of prominence. We pushed it along with the media exposure, and once it – then that’s actually taken off virally, which means people send it on to their friends, their neighbors, their, you know, mother, brother, sister, their schoolteacher, their superintendent, and, you know, next thing you know 50 teachers are watching it and then 500 teachers are watching it. So, you see what I’m saying? So that’s what PR helps start the whole viral campaign for that. Now, on another case for a client who is in the recruiting business, he created some terrific videos directly targeting Merrill Lynch brokers who were in the process of being absorbed by Bank of America.

And so, he targeted this very creative, very, very creative video, set to music, but it was very poignant, and it basically said to the Merrill Lynch brokers, “Hey, before you sign up for Bank of America here and be part of their, you know, machine, think about leaving, you know, leaving Merrill Lynch and going to another firm.” So, we put that out and sent it to our contacts – you know, the financial media contacts and so forth – and pitched it and, you know, it was picked up by the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and it pretty much went all over the country. That video’s gotten some thousands and thousands of views. And then that also took off virally because when one Merrill Lynch broker sees it, he’ll shoot if off to his buddy, because he’s at Merrill Lynch.

He’s deciding what he’s gonna do with his career, or she, and so that took off virally. But you gotta get the ball rolling, though, and PR is the way to do that, okay.

Jess Todtfeld: But it all sounds like you like set up a backdoor way into getting into the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Instead of just knocking on their door and they say, “Yes,” you and the last 50,000 people that knocked on their door.

Scott Lorenz: They knock on the door with the same old dried up stupid poorly crafted press release, okay, and you know – this is creative stuff. Now, it’s my clients and I working together, okay? I didn’t create the video for the Mr. Duey or for the R.J. McKay. They created it, but then I leveraged it, okay, and that’s –

Jess Todtfeld: Right. That’s not bad! I just went to TeacherTube – Mr. Duey popped up as still one of the top videos on there.

Scott Lorenz: Another very successful application for YouTube videos is through video book trailers as part of a book marketing campaign. In an effort to obtain book publicity for my author clients we’ll create a book trailer about the book. A book trailer is like a movie trailer in that it allows someone to preview a book both visually and via audio. A video book trailer brings the book to life and gives the potential reader a sneak peek at the contents. We’ll then post that book trailer on YouTube and… here’s the best part… we add it to more than 41 additional video sites online for even greater exposure.

One of the big benefits of a book trailer is how it improves search engine ranking for an author’s main web site, providing you carefully select traffic driving key words and titles. Check out examples of book trailers we’ve created at Westwind Communications YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/thebookpublicist.

Jess Todtfeld: Are other PR people – not that I’m trying to knock any other people in your profession – but are they spinning their wheels in just the old ways of doing things and saying, “You know, I’m calling CNN every day. Don’t worry, I’m trying!” instead of trying some of these new methods? It’s almost like there’s other media out there that they’re just ignoring.

Scott Lorenz: That’s true. No question about it, no question about it. You’ve really got to keep on top of what’s going on, and technology is moving so rapidly that everything is changing. The methods that work today won’t work tomorrow. A technique mentioned in a book is 6-18 months old and may not work. You need to be on top of that dynamic and that’s what we attempt to do, and it’s a challenge. Google keeps changing how they rank their searches, and you need to react accordingly. I’m a student of this stuff and it’s a project keeping up with it. Thankfully I’ve got some 20-year-old kids who are really sharp and who keep me on top of what’s happening.

Look how the Obama campaign utilized all these online methods to stay in touch with their constituency: Texting, YouTube, Twitter, Pay Pal and all these things that were not in the mix during the previous campaigns.

Texting – what politician’s ever used text on a national level – nobody. Obama was the first one to text. And imagine you’re sitting there in line or you’re at the grocery store and you get a text from Obama saying, “Hey,” you know, blah, blah, blah. How cool is that?

Jess Todtfeld: It’s very cool, and it was – they seemed to use every new type of media opportunity to reach out and get the voters.

Scott Lorenz: They did. It was terrific. That was their secret sauce and it’s also one of the reasons they connected with the younger voter. Older voters went to McCain, younger voters went to Obama because he talked to them, okay. Now, can somebody does that again next time around? You bet. Will the Republicans have their act together next time? I would think so, but I don’t know; at least electronically, they might.

Jess Todtfeld: I think they just realized it’s a whole other arm for their campaign, right?

Scott Lorenz: They got killed; they got killed. The Republicans got killed on the online stuff totally, and Obama’s people employed the new technology to near perfection. So, I can’t wait for the book that describes the Obama campaign and what they did to come out, because I’m going to be the first guy to buy it. And in the meantime, there’ll be some magazine articles – I’ve already read a fair amount of stuff about it, and I’ve seen them on CSPAN, some of their talking – guys that have been talking about what they’re doing. But they’re going divulge some secret sauce, and that’ll be great – I want to see that. And that’s what you gotta do. You gotta stay on top of what’s happening. They are the ones that executed on this beautifully. They put it together.

It was the best marketing campaign of any kind probably in U.S. history, not just politics – anything.

Jess Todtfeld: Right. And you’re trying to employ some of those methods? The book is being written as we speak and we’re gonna find out all the ins and outs. And before we go I want to ask you one last thing, which I think Obama was definitely using, was Twitter, and a lot of the folks who are listening right now keep hearing about Twitter. It’s confusing. Some people don’t know what it is. Should they even be a part of it? One, do you know what the heck it is, and have you, you know, been doing anything –

Scott Lorenz: We’ve used it. In short, it’s a way to stay in touch with your constituency with short messages, 140 characters. It has a role, okay, where exactly it’s gonna be in the marketing side of things is still yet to be determined. I don’t wanna be twittered by like Coca Cola saying, “Hey, buy a Coke.” I don’t mind staying in touch with my friends, but I don’t want to hear about everything that they’re doing either, okay. So, I’m looking for a happy medium in that department. Certain people I think it might be cool to get a Twitter from – you know, Obama, or from some of those folks like that, or maybe some, celebrities might be Twittering people and get some bang out of that.

Jess Todtfeld: Right.

Scott Lorenz: And certain family members – I’d certainly like to stay in touch with certain family members and what they’re doing and what have you.

Jess Todtfeld: But it’s on your radar, it’s developing. It’s a location that’s developing; it could turn into something; it could be part of another service. I think Facebook has a feature just like that, so who knows, Twitter might go away.

Scott Lorenz: It’ll be interesting to see what happens. It’s one of these things like, “Okay.” It’s like when cameras were put on phones. When it first came out, we said “What were we going to do with that?” But now, it’s like, gee, my wives in a dress shop buying dresses for my daughter. She takes a picture of it; she sends it to her over the phone. My daughter says, “Oh, I love it!” or “Ay, keep shopping!” or whatever. So, there’s ways that you can use these technologies that you hadn’t thought about. Go back to this – way back – the steam engine. When the first steam engine came out, they said, “This’ll be a great thing to pump water out of mines with.” Then some genius said let’s put it on wheels and created the locomotive and that changed the world.

It wasn’t until they applied it in different ways that it really blossomed and that’s where we’re at with a lot of this technology. Where is it going to? Who knows?

Jess Todtfeld: Right. Wow, that’s pretty good. But it’s way on your radar. I know of on there, but I don’t really spend a whole lot of time on there, but just so that as it really hits and becomes the next big place, and some people say it already is, at least I’m already there, and at least I already have an idea of how it works and how it functions.

Scott Lorenz: Right. And it’s important to do that because things develop, and you see opportunities. For example, I’ll give you everybody has heard of TiVo, of course. Now, there’s the cable companies, ATT and everybody and their brother has DVRs so you can record any show and so forth. But when that first came out that was kind of astonishing, frankly, and it was pretty cool that you could record anything any time anywhere and forget about the VCR. But one of the neatest things, though, from a mining standpoint is now, you can order Domino’s Pizza on TiVo right from your screen.

Jess Todtfeld: Yeah?

Scott Lorenz: Yes. And now, and this came about because Dave Brandon, former CEO of Domino’s, said he wasn’t sure what the thing was all about because he’s noticed that people – he got less reaction from commercials because people were TiVoing past them, okay. And so, he just dove into it and figured out, “Hey, this is a marketing opportunity.” Now, people can buy pizza online from – not online, but through their TiVo with Domino’s because he just stayed on it and tried to figure out how to make this thing work, he and his people, okay. And that’s how you gotta be with all this new technology – how can you use it for yourself?

Jess Todtfeld: I love that he said it’s a marketing opportunity, and I love that that’s been your approach with everything that you do where you say, “Boy, it’s not just PR, it’s a marketing opportunity, it’s an opportunity for sales.” That’s really what this is all about and you need to employ all the new methods to be able to really do the right job.

Scott Lorenz: Exactly.

Jess Todtfeld: So, Scott, great, great information, and I encourage people to find out about you. What’s your website, by the way?

Scott Lorenz: My website is WestWindCOS.com. WestWindCOS.com.

Jess Todtfeld: Very nice.

Scott Lorenz: And I’d love to talk to people about it some more. I mean I could talk about this stuff all day, but you’ve probably gotta wrap it up.

About Jess Todtfeld

President of Success In Media, is one of the leading speaking and media training authorities in the U.S. With more than 15 years of experience, Todtfeld helps CEOs, business executives, spokespeople, public relations representatives, experts, and authors to not just become better speakers, but become expert speakers. Todtfeld has trained clients from the United Nations, IBM, AIG Insurance, AARP, USA Today, The World Children’s Wellness Foundation, Land Rover, Edelman Public Relations, The American College of Emergency Room Physicians, The Fine Living Television Network, North Face apparel, and the ASPCA.

Todtfeld was a Television Producer on the National Level for networks including NBC, ABC, and FOX. During that time, he booked and produced over 4,000 segments. 10 of those years were spent at Cable TV’s #1 news channel, FOX NEWS CHANNEL. Todtfeld spent 2 years with cable’s #1 prime time show, “The O’Reilly Factor”with Bill O’Reilly, and 7 years with cable’s #1 morning show “FOX & Friends.” For more information visit www.SuccessInMedia.com or call (800) 369-3421

About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.

Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://www.WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.

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How Rachael Ray’s TV Career Started With Her Book

How Rachael Ray’s TV Career Started With Her Book

By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications

Rachael Ray heads an empire that includes hit TV shows, bestselling books, a magazine and her own product lines. Things keep getting better and better for Rachael Ray. But you might be interested to know that it was a couple of radio interviews about her book that propelled her to fame and fortune.

As a book publicist I talk to authors and clients every day and every so often one says, “Oh I really don’t want to do radio” or I’ll have a client who’ll decline a radio or TV interview and then give me reasons like “There’s only 5,000 people tuning in to that station, or such and such is a small town, or nobody listens to radio at 2AM,” or whatever. I usually respond with “If the Rotary Club in your hometown called you today and invited you to speak to their club and 450 people would be in the audience, would you go?” The answer is always a resounding “YES! I’d love to do that…” What’s the difference? Perhaps it’s perception. If you can see them, 450 people are a lot of folks. If you can’t see them, it’s too small. How about 5,000 people? But it’s not always the quantity of listeners it’s the quality of that listening audience.

Let me tell you, radio makes stars, radio interviews get people on TV, radio gets people on Oprah.

That brings me to the story of Rachael Ray and her big break in 2001. She had already sold 10,000 of her cookbooks and she had her own TV segment on WRGB, the local CBS affiliate in Albany, New York. Jennifer Pullinger, the publicist at National Book Network assigned to work on two of her books, Comfort Foods and Veggie Meals, had booked her on various radio shows for phone interviews as part of the publicity campaign. After booking Ray on a handful of small-market radio shows, Pullinger utilized one of Ray’s contacts at WAMC in Albany, New York and scheduled her for a cooking demo on Northeast Public Radio’s “Vox Pop.” The host, Joe Donahue, had had Ray on his program before and happily booked her again. Ray did her demo, and of course, listeners loved it.

And guess who was listening to that station? Someone who knew the Food Network’s VP of Programming, Bob Tuschman. That “influential” person heard Ray’s segment and told Tuschman about her. Tuschman then called Pullinger to arrange a meeting with Ray and the rest is history. Oh, and who was listening to another of Rachael Ray’s radio interviews while on his vacation? Al Roker, the weatherman from the Today Show. Al told the show’s food producer to check her out. The producer called Pullinger and booked Ray for a live cooking segment with Al on the Today Show. She was a hit. Then after a couple of years on the Food Network she got THE BIG CALL from Oprah which led to her daily nationally syndicated TV show.

Her big break(s) can be traced back to radio interviews and the groundwork laid by her publicist Jennifer Pullinger, who had previously shipped tapes of Rachael on WRGB-TV to the Food Network and all the morning shows. Think about it. A major star’s career was born from a radio interview, and one that happened at the last minute, and one she nearly turned down. PR opened the door for Rachael Ray, and it can do that for you too. Putting a value on that is hard to do but, I’d have to say it’s priceless.

I am often called by producers who want a guest at the last minute. I always deliver them a guest and since I just helped them out of a jam, they remember it.

The Bottom Line: Radio works. Small market TV works too, both are a great medium to promote your book. If you get a broadcast opportunity, take it… even if you have to drive three hours across the desert to get there!

You never know who’ll be listening.

The Book Publicist | Book publicist Scott Lorenz and his thoughts on the book marketing industry.

About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.

Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://www.WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.

Would you like help promoting your book?

If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?

Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!


Book Marketing Expert and Book Publicist Scott Lorenz Interviewed by Bookpleasures.com

Book Marketing Expert and Book Publicist Scott Lorenz Interviewed by Bookpleasures.com

By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing

Today, Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Scott Lorenz, President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and book marketing firm.

One of the services Scott provides is as a book publicist and book marketing expert.

Good day Scott and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview about book marketing.

Norm: Scott, could you tell our readers something about yourself, and a brief description of Westwind Communications.

Scott: Westwind Communications helps clients get all the publicity they deserve and more. We work with a wide variety of small to medium sized businesses, including Doctors, Lawyers, Inventors, Authors and Entrepreneurs. We have extensive media contacts that have produced volumes of clippings and hours of broadcast coverage including Fox & Friends, Good Morning America, Today Show, Early Show, HBO, CNN, ESPN, NPR, Voice of America, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily and The Wall Street Journal.

Norm: How did you get into the business book marketing?

Scott: I started my own PR firm after working for several companies handling their PR. People kept asking me to do PR for them and it grew from there. Then authors heard of my successes, and they began calling me to market their books. The rest is history.

Norm: What are the essential ingredients in effectively marketing authors and their books?

Scott: In the best possible situation, the book must be on an interesting topic appealing to a broad audience that ties into national breaking news. The author must be a good communicator and/or have a good story to tell.

Norm: What is the difference between PR, advertising and marketing when it comes to books?

Scott: Marketing is the integration of advertising, PR and sales. It’s the big umbrella under which PR and Advertising sit. Some people confuse a PR firm with a marketing firm, or marketing agency, or even an ad agency. Basically, a public relations firm handles media relations and is the interface between an author and the news media. PR is FREE. The media does not charge people to write an article about them or interview them for TV or Radio.

A public relations firm or publicist will “pitch” the media on a story idea about an author. A good pitch about a story that would interest the people who read, watch or listen to a particular media outlet gets coverage. Advertising is when the author or publisher pays for an ad in a media outlet. For the most part you can control when it’s published, what it says and who is going to see it because you are paying for it. With PR you do not have those same controls. Marketing in the book world is when an author or publisher sells to specific markets like the military or catalogue market, bookstores or retail outlets.

Norm: Today, many authors self-publish their books- do you find it difficult to market self-published books, and is there any difference between marketing the self-published book and the mainstream published books?

Scott: Westwind Communications generates publicity for authors who self-publish or use a traditional publisher. I’ve had self-published authors in every major media outlet from USA Today to FOX & Friends. Well written self-published books can enter the market faster, and they can get a lot of media attention. Enlightened authors who self-publish also realize that they need to self-promote and possibly hire a publicist. Mainstream publishers have in some cases dozens and dozens of books to promote, and they cannot focus on any one book for long.

Frankly, the only people who snub their nose at self-published work are major book reviewers at major publications who use that criteria to weed out the hundreds of books they receive each week. And in their defense, there are a lot of self-published books that are poorly written and poorly distributed. They may also conclude that a self-published book is hard to get. They may conclude ‘why write about a book that nobody can find?’ But many major media outlets simply refuse to recognize self-published works – sometimes to their detriment.

Norm: What challenges or obstacles have you encountered while promoting books? How did you overcome these challenges?

Scott: We’ve faced a lot of challenges and obstacle in the promotion of our client’s books., We’ve handled many genres, from poetry and fiction to western romance and sports, and they all offer challenges. For example, a book with regional interest hampers the PR effort because the book is only of interest to those people in the region. Or a book about a disease which is not widespread also means fewer media outlets would want to write about it since there would be only a few members of their audience interested. On the other hand, a book with national scope has much greater chance of getting more exposure since there are more media outlets in which to pitch the book.

Westwind Communications has promoted both types of books and there are pros and cons in dealing with both. When limits are placed on the market where the book would find readership and sales it also limits the likely media exposure. For example, a book about the history of a small factory town in Ohio is not likely to get on national TV or play in national magazine unless you find some national tie in. However, if a book were about “Retirement Funding,” that topic covers just about everyone in the USA.

Also, every book has a local angle, focusing on wherever the author is from or currently resides. If you can’t get local PR for an author there’s a big problem. Also, the media is usually very friendly to a local author. Good PR can begin at home, although sometimes it takes national exposure to get the attention of your hometown media.

I am currently working with an author who suffered a stroke and has difficulty speaking. While this poses a significant problem for radio and TV interviews, he still has a sharp mind. Just think about astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and how he has overcome his inability to communicate verbally, and you’ll understand the challenge we’ll have in the promotion of his books. But it also gives me an angle to use with the media in that here’s someone who has overcome a huge obstacle to become a published author.

Norm: Do you have any unique ways marketing your books that are different from how others market their books?

Scott: If I tell you I’d have to… hire you! Seriously, Norm, getting media coverage is all about creating interesting “angles.” I try to find out everything I can about the author using a questionnaire that even asks about fraternities or sorority membership, roommates in college, and other tidbits about them personally and about the book itself. We then use this information to craft a pitch that entices the media to want to interview the author. To me it’s like going fishing – you use whatever bait you can and keep changing it until you find the one that really works. And, like fishing, the bait that works today may not work tomorrow and that’s where most authors and other publicists will give up. With thousands of media outlets, this is a very time-consuming task. Unless an author has someone skilled in book publicity, their potential best-seller is just one of a million books lost on the shelves of Barnes and Noble, and in the “ether” of Amazon.com.”

My approach to BOOK MARKETING involves the following:

  • To successfully market a book, you need to determine who will read it. Once we really zero in and determine who the audience is, we can target the media they read directly.
  • We make sure galleys, and the finished books are sent to the reviewers at major publications and broadcast outlets. We write and send press releases, pitch letters in an electronic press kit and make follow up phone calls to media outlets encouraging reporters and reviewers to write about our client’s book.
  • Being reviewed by The New York Times, Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and USA TODAY are major goals. In fact, USA Today has 4.3 million readers every day. Furthermore, it gets more notice from the other media than the other four newspapers combined. That’s a major reason why we will make a concerted effort to get our authors noticed by USA TODAY.
  • We also contact national magazines and others that may be interested in the author’s “personal” story. Sometimes the media is more interested in the author than the book itself and that is just one more angle we’ll use to promote our client’s book.
  • We contact TV and radio outlets. Everyday thousands of interviews are conducted on TV and Radio stations across North America and several hundred are with authors. If an author is not trying to get interviewed by the producers of those shows, they won’t find him/her because they simply don’t have time to look. We have developed relationships with many producers over the years and those contacts combined with well-thought-out pitches produce results.
  • We go to major media events in New York City where we have face-to-face meetings with journalists, editors, writers and producers from top national magazines, newspapers and radio/TV programs. We have successfully pitched such media outlets as 20/20, Prime Time, CNN, People, Good Morning America, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Dateline NBC, The View, Oprah’s O magazine, Cosmopolitan, Fox News, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek to name a few.
  • If an author does not have a web site for their book, they need to create one. We’ll refer media to the site for more information and to download book jackets, author photos etc.

Norm: What do you think of authors’ tours and how effective are these in the promotion and marketing of a book?

Scott: As a book publicist I have a strong opinion about book tours. Authors tend to think they are a great idea because they see Bill and Hillary Clinton, Harvey McKay and other big names out on the circuit and think that’s the way to promote a book. Frankly it’s just ONE way to promote a book and is an element in the overall marketing of a book. The reality is that unless you are well known it’ll be you, the flower vase, and your book at the little table waiting for people to approach you. Now don’t get me wrong – book signings can be very useful, and even if you don’t sell books, it gives the media a reason to write about your book right now in order to promote the event. Without the signing, your book goes back in the pile with a few hundred other books the reporter can write about. And that’s where I believe book signings and book tours are most useful.

In fact, bookstores that have turned down a client will happily book them knowing a mention of their store will be in an upcoming article. Westwind Communications has obtained media coverage and then pitched a bookstore with a guaranteed mention if they book the author. This technique usually works. How can they refuse? The PR for the book signing, which is very difficult and time consuming for them is already done.

Book stores want enough lead time to put an announcement in their newsletter, get a press release out to their contacts and create flyers etc. They hate last minute plans, (who doesn’t) so it’s important to work a few months in advance if possible. But should you get a media interview, and you know it’s going to hit on a certain date then it makes sense to pitch a book signing to the area bookstores and then get back to the media outlet to add that appearance in at the end of the story.

Book stores also like to have the book available in “their system” before booking an author signing. This means that the book has to be available on their computer when they look it up so it can be ordered through regular channels, IE their own system, Ingram, Baker and Taylor etc. There are exceptions to everything and sometimes an author can bring books into the store and sell them, giving the store the profit from each book it would normally expect. But that tends to throw a monkey wrench into the mix, and the big national chains will shy away from this. You may have better luck going to independent bookstores where the owner is on site. They tend to be more interested at a chance to book an author for an in-store appearance.

Norm: How do you use the Internet in the promoting of an author’s book, and do you believe the Internet has an important place in the marketing plan? If so, why?

Scott: I know Internet promotion works since I use it myself to promote my own PR firm. We distribute press releases and articles about our clients’ book to numerous Internet outlets such as ezines and blogs. These then become searchable by keywords and most likely will drive traffic to the author’s web site. We may never see the posting or even get a notice or a news clip about it, but web site traffic can increase because of these releases and articles. Furthermore, people use news gathering services that search the Internet for stories about their areas of interest.

If a topic they have selected comes up in a blog or press release written by us they’ll get a copy of that press release in their email. This demonstrates that not all benefits from publicity need to come through traditional media channels.

Members of the media research everything online too. In one particular case I had placed a release online and then a blogger saw it, wrote about it in her blog. That blog then showed up when a writer for a major top ten city newspaper searched a particular term. That led the reporter to the blog and then my release which resulted in an interview, photo session and a very nice feature story for my client who was introducing a new medical procedure.

Then of course there’s Internet promotion on Amazon and Google. On Amazon it’s important for authors to utilize every and all opportunities from adding reviews on their own books to commenting on other books while mentioning their own book. On Google, their Book Search program opens up sections of their book so that they are searchable. This should help drive sales. The list of things to do online goes on and I could fill a book itself on the topic.

So, yes, marketing on the internet works and it’s an important part of all my client’s campaigns.

Norm: How do you use book reviews in the promotion of a book?

Scott: People will tell their friends and associates about a book review they read in a magazine or newspaper, see on television, or hear on the radio about a book because the media is a third party, disinterested source disseminating the information. That’s why getting book reviews is so important in starting the “word of mouth” every successful author desire. Furthermore, people believe what they see in the media thereby granting a third-party endorsement which is far more effective than a paid ad.

Being reviewed by The New York Times, Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and USA TODAY are major goals. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, USA Today has 4.3 million readers every day. And it gets more notice from the other media (radio and TV especially) than the other four newspapers combined. That’s a major reason why Westwind Communications will make a concerted effort to get our client’ book get noticed by USA TODAY. 9 times out of 10, an appearance in USA TODAY will lead to other media notice as well because, “PR begets PR – the more you get the more you get.”

Then there’s an entirely different set of reviewers who can help “prime the pump,” so to speak in that you can use their comments in the early press material which can help set the tone for future media coverage. These early reviews are critical in “spinning” things the way the author wants it to go. Many of these reviewers read hundreds of books per year. They’ve graduated from the finest educational institutions in the US and while talented, there’s only so many jobs reviewing books at the NY Times. These reviewers pen some of the best commentary ever composed yet are independent reviewers for Amazon or have their own book review web sites.

Norm: Is there any difference between promoting non-fiction and fiction?

Scott: Fiction is a tough genre. Some PR firms won’t even touch fiction, but Westwind Communications has had success in getting media coverage. How? In one case one of my authors had bi-polar disorder. We tied into “National Bipolar” day in November with a media campaign and raised the profile of the author just with that association. With another book, whose topic was bioterrorism, we tied into the national debate about whether or not the USA was ready for a bio-terror event. The author was able to comment on the issues in the news manifesting out of the 911 attacks.

As for nonfiction, this is clearly more promotable over fiction, as their numerous built-in media opportunities. For one, if the topic is of national interest and the author is a noted expert, then that has a lot more potential getting press than a fiction piece. Radio talk show hosts like nonfiction because there’s less risk of losing the audience while trying to explain a plot.

Norm: Is it very costly to hire a marketing expert to promote one’s book? How are you compensated?

Scott: I ask authors this: What is the cost of your book not being read? What is the cost if it’s not sold? What is the value of your book two years from now? Will it even have value two years from now? As for hiring a publicist, consider yourself lucky if you can afford a publicist because without one, you’ll be paying for it one way or another in the form of bad choices for advertising, missed national PR opportunities and “PR tuition” that costs you your time.

As for how Westwind Communications is compensated, we operate on a monthly retainer fee. in a nutshell, the retainer allows the author to have a fixed budget amount for PR and it allows my firm to rely on a steady cash flow. The work goes up and down depending upon the needs of the campaign. Authors will also appreciate the logic of this concept as the billing process is simplified for both of us. For example, a let’s say an author obtains a new book signing in Chicago that was not on the schedule. We’ll put our writers on it and deliver a release to the media and pitch the story. There is no RUSH fee or other up-charges that other PR firms add on. There are also wire service fees that my firm pays for as well as phone and fax fees. There are no way authors want to review that detail every month and frankly it would cost us hundreds of dollars per month to prepare a bill with such a breakdown. The very thought of doing it that way is rather terrifying!

There are other reasons we believe it’s in our mutual interest to use retainer fees over other billing methods, but it serves everyone well so long as the expectations and goals are clear.

Norm: Is there anything else you wish to add?

Scott: Whew! The only other thing is that nobody in the media is sitting around waiting for a new book to land on their desk. In order for an author to get to the top of the pile they absolutely need to hire a publicist to help them, or their book is destined to be lost in the ether of Amazon & Barnes and Noble. To discuss how Westwind Communications helps its clients get all the publicity they deserve and more call 734-667-2090 or email me at [email protected] or visit www.westwindcos.com/book

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future book marketing endeavors.

About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.

Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://www.WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at [email protected] or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.

Would you like help promoting your book?

If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?

Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!