One of the things I learned playing piano in a bar: if you want to be heard above the noise, play softer.
I have been helping Sandra Ingerman promote her books for many years. I had the pleasure of interviewing her for an AuthorViews video years ago, and since then I have done online PR campaigns for six of her projects.
It struck me while doing Sandra’s most recent campaign that there is a controversy raging online about the proper way to promote new books. The Long Tail author and Wired magazine editor, Chris Anderson, added fire to the controversy by berating PR people for unsolicited pitches. He added irony when his own publisher used the same techniques to market Anderson’s books.
While these people noisily debate the merits of online PR, Sandra Ingerman’s team has quietly gone about providing a textbook example of how to be heard by playing softer. We sent a five-paragraph pitch to several hundred journalists who cover the same subjects as this blog. More than 50 journalists asked to see Awakening to the Spirit World — a stunning response. One complained and received an apology. Easy and civil.
Tatyana Meshcheryakova at SixEstate Communications then hand-pitched 60 bloggers, asking them to announce the book and offering an excerpt. Thirty of them asked to see the book. Rosemary Herbert and Lisa Trudeau at Weiser Books and Shelly Rosen at Sounds True provided review copies, press kits, and support. Shelly Rosen at Sounds True and Karen Furr at SpiritDrum also helped with Facebook, Twitter, and Sandra’s other sites. Sounds True purchased Google Adwords to reinforce the campaign.
While all this pitching was going on, Pat Hartman, myself, and the research/editing team at SixEstate were covering the news for Sandra Ingerman on this blog. She charged us to report on what others were doing, including her co-author, Hank Wesselman, contributing authors, and even “competing” authors. She asked us to locate and highlight examples of people putting into practice the principles in her books. We have steadily grown to 500 unique readers per week. Your news editor, Pat Hartman, has been nothing short of incredible leading this blog.
We have come to the end of this experiment in right marketing. Tomorrow we will suspend this newsblog and finish out with an excerpt from Awakening to the Spirit World that we hope you will enjoy. We would like to thank all those who have taken time to review the books, announce them on their blogs, or post excerpts. Below is the list so far — still growing. Please use the comments to add any links we missed.
With Thanks for Your Support,
STEVE O’KEEFE
News Director
Sandra Ingerman’s Blog
Thank You to These Sites:
New Age Retailer (Thrive review)
The BodyZone (Thrive review and excerpt)
Lifencompass (Thrive excerpt; Awakening review)
The Messenger (Thrive review)
Spirit Weavers (Thrive excerpt)
Self-Healing Expressions (Announcements and Link, Thrive and Awakening)
Enchanting the Day (Thrive excerpt)
Mind-Body-Spirit Works (Thrive review)
Evolving Beings (Thrive review)
Poet Kitty’s Shaman/Enlightenment Blog (Awakening & Meditations reviews)
BookWeaver (Awakening announcement)
Chet Day: Health & Beyond (Awakening excerpt)
Spirituality & Practice (Awakening review)
Shamanism Canada (Awakening announcement & link)
Source: “Sorry, PR people: you’re blocked,” The Long Tail/Wired, 10/29/07
Image by warrenski, used under its Creative Commons license.
Sandra Ingerman's Blog 