BOOK: Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Quality of Living… and Giving!
AUTHOR: Kelly Hancock
GENRE: Food
PUBLISHER: Worthy
PUB DATE: September 2011
CAMPAIGN TYPE: National campaign
LENGTH OF CAMPAIGN: 5 months

Opportunity

In June 2011, Worthy Publishers contracted PR By the Book for a five-month publicity campaign for one of their debut books, Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Quality of Living … and Giving! (September 2011). The book was written by media personality and first-time author, Kelly Hancock.

Strategy + Implementation

Realizing that this book had a singular, catchy message at its core – saving money on your household spending – we also realized we could increase this book’s media reach four-fold with some clever positioning. So, in addition to budget + money saving media, we focused our outreach efforts on four types of media – all with audiences eager to save money.

• PARENTING
• FOODIE
• WOMEN’S INTEREST
• CHRISTIAN

We also worked with the author to create website copy for her “Tell a Friend” page, writing sample Tweets and Facebook updates that fans could instantly copy and post to their own social media networks.

Finally, we focused on the fact that this author was an accomplished blogger, with ready-to-go content that could be used for stories. When pitching foodie media, for example, we linked them to her blog’s Ingredient-Based Recipe Index, for frugal tips on cooking within the season. We focused on the story behind the blog too, noting Kelly’s family was one of the many Americans hit hard by the economy, and that she taught herself how to cut her family’s grocery budget by 80%. Her knowledge turned into a blog, which eventually became a book.

Positioning: Everybody wants to learn how to save money at home. But between coupon-cutting, following sales and specials, and keeping up with promotions – sometimes, it’s a little overwhelming.

That’s why Kelly Hancock, founder of the wildly popular blog FaithfulProvisions.com, started employing easy money-saving strategies of her own. After slashing her family’s grocery and eat-out budget by 80%, she started blogging her secrets. Soon, legions were following her simple steps and daily deals, and her wisdom is now collected in Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending In Half and Raise Your Standard of Living…and Giving! (Worthy Publishing, September 2011, $16.99, 978-1936034-536).

Results

We landed interviews and feature stories in top women’s interest, parenting, and Christian magazines:

• Women’s Day (feature interview on couponing)
• Cosmopolitan (feature interview on couponing)
• Family Circle (feature interview on saving money for holiday parties)
• CBA Retailers + Resources (noted as “Book to Watch” in Fall 2011 issue)
• HomeLife (our most significant piece of magazine coverage: a 6-month agreement between Kelly and the magazine, providing a 3-page food spread in their Jan. – July 2012 issues)
• Associated Press story, which ran in various newspapers across the country

We also landed hits on over 40 blogs, as well as several high-trafficked websites:

• iVillage.com (12-part slideshow on “Eating Organic on a Budget”)
• People.com (feature on their Celebrity Mom & Baby Blog)
• Crosswalk.com (2-page book excerpt)

And several high-profile broadcast appearances, including:

• Better TV (national morning television)
• “In the Market with Janet Parshall” (nationally syndicated on Moody Radio)
• “This is the Day!” (two interviews on the Moody Chicago network)

We also gave this book a special Amazon push, rallying Kelly’s friends and family, helping the book to debut on Amazon’s Top 30 Personal Finance List.

This campaign was a joy for everyone to work on, and an example of what can happen with a truly collaborative author/publicist team. Kelly had a strong sense of branding going in, with a beautiful book website and an impressive social media network. Together, with our pitch efforts, we made this campaign a truly off-the-charts success story for a first-time author.

BOOK: Jolt: Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing
AUTHOR: Phil Cooke
GENRE: Food
PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson
PUB DATE: April 2011
CAMPAIGN TYPE: Social Media Publicity Campaign
LENGTH OF CAMPAIGN: 8 months

Opportunity

In March 2011, Thomas Nelson contracted with PR by the Book on a special short-term campaign for media expert Phil Cooke and his upcoming book Jolt! Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing (April 2011).

Strategy + Implementation

Having little time to ramp up for the launch of Jolt, the campaign called for something out-of-the-box, much like its author who is a creative trail blazer in his field. So in addition to traditional outreach – including coverage from AOL.com, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Monster.com, FoxNews.com Live, and others – we developed an idea for a social media campaign designed to spark a nationwide movement.

The social media campaign had two purposes: 1) To create enough ground level buzz to stir a crusade, and 2) To position the national movement as leverage to garner top tier media exposure.

How did it all play out? We started by recruiting the author, Phil Cooke, to write a Father’s Day op-ed on the importance of undivided attention in the digital age. We then took his message to the blogosphere, inviting bloggers to be on the ground floor of a national campaign. We called it the “Disconnect to Reconnect” challenge, a 24-hour digital fast on Father’s Day.

Positioning: What if you were asked to put away your phone for 24 hours? Could you do it? On Father’s Day, we’re asking you to prove it. We are reaching out to you about an online movement called “Disconnect to reconnect,” a 24-hour challenge that’s asking dads to unplug this Father’s Day.

From school plays and after-school sports to the family dinner table, we can’t go five minutes without checking our phones. Its no wonder “undivided attention” has been called the most valuable commodity of the 21st Century.

Author and longtime media consultant Phil Cooke is asking dads everywhere to disconnect from technology – phones, Facebook, Twitter, email, TV – and spend quality time with their kids for 24 hours this Father’s Day. This challenge is inspired by Cooke’s new book Jolt! Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing, which lays out 25 “jolts” to help us set the “reset” button on our priorities and boundaries.

Results

All viral campaigns require time (and masses!) to gain momentum, but given our timeframe – we launched June 3, closing on June 18, Father’s Day – the campaign definitely sparked the national movement we had hoped. Dozens of bloggers came on board and posted about “Disconnect to Reconnect.” They ignited word-of-mouth from boardrooms to church congregations across America.

Bloggers announced their participation with a special JPG badge created by Thomas Nelson. They hosted giveaways, made the challenge their own, and wrote about what it meant to them personally. The enthusiasm carried over to Facebook and Twitter, where people showed their support (hash tag: #disconnect2reconnect).

Examples of Media Coverage:
The Dadabase, a Parents.com blog
GeekDad, a Wired.com blog
HuffingtonPost.com
FoxNews.com

The campaign was a collaboration between PR by the Book, Phil Cooke and Thomas Nelson’s publicity and marketing team. Cooke posted about the challenge on his highly trafficked blog and reached out to his extensive list of personal contacts to help spread the message far and wide. “Disconnect to Reconnect” was a testament to what can be accomplished when the client, publisher and PR agency are in sync and pitch in on a defined goal.

BOOK: Business Innovation for Dummies
AUTHOR: Alex Haim
GENRE: Business
PUBLISHER: Wiley
PUB DATE: April 2010
CAMPAIGN TYPE: National Campaign
LENGTH OF CAMPAIGN: 8 months

Opportunity

In May 2010, author Alex Hiam hired PR by the Book for a publicity campaign for his upcoming book Business Innovation for Dummies (Wiley).

Strategy + Implementation

To capture Alex Hiam’s audience – enterprising businesses, entrepreneurs and other inventive types – we narrowed the parameters of our media channels to print and online outlets. This allowed us to saturate the market with contributed articles and book excerpts. But, we couldn’t stop at the obvious target audience for Hiam, who is the author of more than 20 popular business books, including Marketing For Dummies® and Marketing Kit For Dummies®. The campaign called for a broader approach.

Hiam is a consultant to Fortune 500 firms to U.S. government agencies and the principles in Business Innovation for Dummies arrived right on time – an important year for innovation, thanks to Apple and Steve Jobs. Every new Apple announcement had many of us tuning into the world of invention more than ever, and looking inward at our own creativity, too. So it became clear that we needed to take the book to the obvious target audience, but also stretch the reach to new audiences.

We landed coverage in traditional channels (i.e. Bloomberg BusinessWeek and Inc.) as well as unlikely places (i.e. The Wall Street Journal blog “The Juggle” and parenting writers at major dailies), with the goal of helping him spark a creative movement in readers of all backgrounds. “Eat ideas for lunch, cross-train in art, craft with your kids” were some of Hiam’s messages that we used to show people from all walks of life ways to unleash their creative genius.

We offered book excerpts (Jump Start your Innovation Engine, How to Get Unstuck, Asking others for Ideas, Improving Your Creative Combinations, Why Edison Failed) to appropriate media outlets, but also partnered with Hiam to produce original headline-driven content for media consumption. We tied into many breaking news stories throughout the course of the campaign – from the death of Steve Jobs to the BP oil spill and the misbehaving Jet Blue flight attendant – each time adapting his message for the situation and audience. Whether the media event called for delicate reflection or innovative problem-solving, Hiam took great care in producing ready-to-print contributed pieces and timely quotes that anticipated the needs of the media. And consequently, were able to garner an eclectic, but effective pool of media outlets.

Results

The campaign netted more than 50 media placements, including many bylined articles. The timeline of the campaign was extended several times to keep up the momentum, and in total, we represented Hiam for 8 months. It was initially a 3- month campaign. Campaign highlights included:

• The Wall Street Journal
• Bloomberg BusinessWeek
• The Globe & Mail
• Forbes
• Inc.com
• Fox Business Network
• MSN
• AOL Jobs
• Investor’s Business Daily
• SmartBrief on Workforce/Leadership
• Reuters
• Business News Daily
• Vault.com
• Industry Week
• Marketing Daily
• Entrepreneur.com
• eSchool News
• NICHE Magazine

Book series: The Berenstain Bears^® Living Lights™ series including the following titles:

The Berenstain Bears^® and the Golden Rule (October 2008)
The Berenstain Bears^® Go to Sunday School (October 2008)
The Berenstain Bears^® God Loves You! (October 2008)
The Berenstain Bears^® Say Their Prayers (October 2008)
The Berenstain Bears^® Faithful Friends (August 2009)
The Berenstain Bears^® Give Thanks (August 2009)
The Berenstain Bears^® Love Their Neighbors (May 2009)
The Berenstain Bears^® Play a Good Game (May 2009)
The Berenstain Bears^® Christmas Tree (October 2009)

AUTHOR: Michael Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
GENRE: Children’s
CAMPAIGN TYPE: Book tour
LENGTH OF TOUR CAMPAIGN: 6 months (June-November 2009)

Opportunity

Zonderkidz, the children’s imprint of Zondervan, contracted with PR by the Book, LLC to coordinate and promote a 5-city tour to occur in November 2009 for Michael Berenstain. The tour was focused on the new Living Lights™ series of the classic Berenstain Bears^® books.

Strategy + Implementation

The goal of the campaign was to have a book signing event at each of the Joseph-Beth Booksellers stores. In addition to the bookstore events, PR by the Book scheduled events at local schools, children’s hospitals, churches, and military bases. Once an event was scheduled in a tour city, we created press materials and pitched to the media in that DMA (designated market area). Media pitching started in early September, allowing time to work with the cities’ parenting magazines, and continued throughout the tour.

Michael Berenstain’s tour took place from November 5-14, 2009 and spanned these cities: Lexington, KY; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; and Charlotte, SC. Events included costumed Berenstain Bears^® characters, a drawing demonstration, a reading, and a book signing. We also used the costumes to add visual interest to television interviews.

Because of the complexity of this project, a team was put in place to handle specific aspects, such as logistics, event location research, and television pitching. A member of the PR by the Book team also escorted Michael Berenstain on the tour. This enabled us to effectively handle last-minute logistical issues. Furthermore, we were able to add opportunities while on the road.

Results

PR by the Book focused on the vast audience opportunities for the Berenstain Bears^® Living Lights™ series books and took the tour beyond the bookstore, securing 18 events total. These included 5 bookstore, 7 school, 3 church, 2 military base, and 1 children’s hospital events.

To promote the events, we secured 112 media bookings, including coverage in daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, television, radio, websites, and blogs. Zonderkidz provided posters and fliers that were distributed to the event locations in advance. Effective promotion brought crowds to the events. When books were sold out at an early event, we worked with the other locations to ensure their supply was adjusted appropriately.

Examples of Media Coverage:
The Plain Dealer daily newspaper (DMA: Cleveland, OH, circ: 346,697)
WKYC-TV “Good Company” syndicated television (DMA: Cleveland, OH)
Cincy Chic magazine (DMA: Cincinnati, OH, circ: 11,000)
Southern Ohio News Media news service/syndicate (DMA: Cincinnati, OH)
WLW-AM “Jim Scott Show” (DMA: Cincinnati, OH)
Insight Communications of Florence’s (Cable) “Northern Kentucky Magazine” (DMA: Cincinnati, OH/Lexington, KY)
WDKY-TV “Fox 56 Morning Edition” (DMA: Lexington, KY)
Charlotte Parent magazine (DMA: Charlotte, SC, circ: 57,000)

AUTHOR: Michael Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
GENRE: Children’s
CAMPAIGN TYPE: Book tour

Opportunity

Zonderkidz contracted with PR by the Book to work on the beloved Berenstain Bears series again in 2011. Just in time for summer, we coordinated a three-city Midwestern book tour with author and illustrator Michael Berenstain in honor of new titles rolling out in the Living Lights™ series.

Strategy + Implementation

In addition to in-store events, PR by the Book generated regional press in each market to drive attendance. With just a little more than six weeks to launch the tour, we worked quickly to secure events at the area’s most reputable bookstores and galvanize press hits that would help spread word-of-mouth. Pitching began in early May and Berenstain hit the road June 6. The tour took him to Milwaukee, Chicago and Indianapolis, and included an escort from PR by the Book to handle on-the-road logistics. Each appearance featured a live reading by Berenstain, costumed characters, and a one-hour signing. PR by the Book focused on the vast audience opportunities for the Berenstain Bears^® Living Lights™ series books and took the tour beyond the bookstore, securing 18 events total. These included 5 bookstore, 7 school, 3 church, 2 military base, and 1 children’s hospital events. To promote the events, we secured 112 media bookings, including coverage in daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, television, radio, websites, and blogs. Zonderkidz provided posters and fliers that were distributed to the event locations in advance. Effective promotion brought crowds to the events. When books were sold out at an early event, we worked with the other locations to ensure their supply was adjusted appropriately.

Results

We saw packed houses at each bookstore where significant media exposure helped draw in large crowds. The appearances were supported by 20 media bookings and 20 additional calendar listings. Coverage included daily newspapers, TV morning shows, radio programs, websites, and blogs.

We gathered that the TV appearances were the most effective publicity tool in reaching Berenstain Bears fans, young and old. The visual nature of the interviews made for great morning TV and we had plenty of ideas to offer producers that would warrant more than the usual 3-5 minute in-studio interview.

In Chicago, Berenstain did live on-air character sketches into the program breaks, giving him added airtime. He was even given a unique chance to connect with the hosts of ABC’s “Good Morning America” during one of their “talk back” segments. In Milwaukee, we made arrangements to have two of the costumed characters in-studio with him. Mama and Papa Bear waved at the cameras in and out of the show’s breaks.

Even though Berenstain Bears is a household name in many homes, summertime means stiff competition with children’s events. This tour might not have been as well received had we not supported it with effective media coverage.

Examples of Media Coverage:
The Chicago Tribune
WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago
“Good Morning Indiana” News 6 Indianapolis
WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis
WISH-TV “Indy Style”
WGN-TV “Midday News”– Nationally syndicated, originating in Chicago
“In the Market with Janet Parshall” – Nationally syndicated
Moody Radio Chicago, “The Morning Ride”
NPR affiliates in Milwaukee & Chicago

BOOK: Sustainability: A Personal Journey to a Built Sustainable Community … And An Amazing Picture of What Life Will Soon Be Like.
AUTHOR: Dr. Stuart Rose
GENRE: Environment
PUBLISHER: BookSurge Publishing
PUB DATE: January 2010
CAMPAIGN TYPE: National campaign
LENGTH OF CAMPAIGN: 6 months

Opportunity

In early 2010, Dr. Stuart Rose contracted with PR by the Book, LLC to coordinate and promote a 3-month publicity campaign to occur during Spring 2010 (Feb-April) to promote his first book, Sustainability: A Personal Journey to a Built Sustainable Community…And An Amazing Picture of What Life Will Soon Be Like.

Strategy + Implementation

The campaign commenced on February 1, 2010, allowing us three months to create maximum exposure for both the book and author. Going in, we were aware of two challenges: The book’s pub date (one month before, in January 2010), and its self-published status. So, rather than targeting book reviewers, we targeted “green” media – primarily online – with feature story and blog post ideas.

At the outset, we also had many distinct advantages. For one, this author had previously appeared on PBS, and wisely embedded the video on his site. We leveraged that link frequently in our pitches. And secondly, we had Dr. Rose’s impressive credentials: He is a sustainability architect, lecturer, and now author, who had designed an entire “net zero” community in Virginia. We frequently used pictures of this community, where he and his wife live, in our media outreach.

With the pub date passed, we focused on online media, to create buzz quickly. Green bloggers and websites were eager to cover the book, as were home/architecture websites.

At PR by the Book’s encouragement, the author also started a blog, and provided excellent content. We used its links in our pitches.

Results

By the end of the campaign, we had secured nearly 40 solid media placements, and connected Dr. Rose with Construction Today, a trade magazine for home and building professionals, to discuss a regular sustainability column.

While Dr. Rose had media placements in print, online, and on broadcast media throughout the campaign, it was clearly internet media that were the “early adopters” of this book, and continue to be loyal supporters. We knew that, in accordance with their low waste practices, we would find the highest concentration of green media online, and used news hooks such as the BP oil spill and fluctuations in the housing market to contact them early and often.

Due to PR by the Book’s success with the campaign, Dr. Rose extended the media campaign under our Constant Connections maintenance program for 3 additional months. Therefore, we had a total of 6 months for media pitching.

Examples of Media Coverage

BobVila.com (770,514 unique visitors/mo)
InteriorDesign.com (41,348 unique visitors/mo)
Construction Today Magazine (30,000 readers – all home and building professionals)

BOOK: Secrets Girls Keep; What Girls Hide (& Why) and How to Break the Stress of Silence
AUTHOR: Carrie Silver-Stock
GENRE: Teens/Self-Help
PUBLISHER: HCI Books
PUB DATE: Nov 2009
CAMPAIGN TYPE: National campaign
LENGTH OF TOUR CAMPAIGN: 5 months (May & September–December, 2009)

Opportunity

In May 2009, HCI Books contracted with PR by the Book, LLC to promote an upcoming self-help guide for teens, Secrets Girls Keep; What Girls Hide (& Why) and How to Break the Stress of Silence, by Carrie Silver-Stock, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.

Strategy + Implementation

The campaign began May 1, 2009 (for this November book) so that we could send advanced review copies out to long lead magazines and book industry publications. We went dark June-August and then began the promotion in September to schedule reviews and interviews to coincide with the book’s release.

We leveraged Carrie’s credentials throughout the campaign. At one point she had a private therapy practice and by the time she was our client, she had launched an online community called Girls With Dreams to create a global movement where girls discover their power, passion and dreams. She also had success with her previous book, The Powder Box Secrets.

During the campaign, we were able to promote the World’s Largest Slumber Party hosted by the Girls With Dreams organization to coincide with the book’s release. This was a national story that united teens virtually all over the world. It streamed live from Slumber Party headquarters (Carrie’s hometown of St. Louis, MO) and had teen slumber party captains in several states. The party included DIY spas, a dance party and movie marathon. Participants donated pajamas to The Pajama Program, an organization that provides new, warm PJ’s to children worldwide.

Results

By the end of 2009, we had secured nearly 100 media bookings. Carrie was a favorite of parenting-themed magazines, websites and blogs. This campaign is an example of planting seeds in the media that continue to grow over a long period of time. Ever since the campaign ended, PR by the Book has consistently gotten new requests for a copy of the book and/or an interview with Carrie (including one just 2 weeks ago – Dec 2010!).

Examples of Media Coverage

School Library Journal (Nov 2009 issue)
Justine Magazine – Jun/Jul 2010 issue, national magazine (Circ: 250,000)
KTVI-TV (FOX) (DMA: St. Louis)
KSDK-TV (NBC) (DMA: St. Louis)
WSFU-FM (NPR), “411 Teen” (DMA: Tallahassee, FL)
“The Harvest Show” – syndicated television