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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /srv/users/sandra/apps/sandra/public/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Our guest blogger this week is one of my favorite Book Marketing\u00a0101 students<\/a>, Avril O’Reilly of Ireland. A children’s book author and pictures editor, Avril has had great success publicizing and promoting her new book, <\/em>Kathleen and the Communion Copter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>I loved what she was doing with her press kits, and asked her to share with us how she uses surprise treats for journalists to get attention and a positive response. Here’s her story.<\/em><\/p>\n By Avril O\u2019Reilly<\/strong><\/p>\n I am kind of old-fashioned when it comes to press packs. I like when a product or book lands on the desk accompanied by a goodie bag. I\u2019m not greedy. When I worked on newspapers a nice biro or a bag of sweets was more than enough to earn my good will.<\/p>\n When I was sending out copies of my book, Kathleen and the Communion Copter<\/a>,\u00a0I wanted the book to have that “feel good” factor. My original idea was to bake cookies in the shape of little girls making their communions. I would decorate the cookies and place each in a pretty paper box that I would buy from Etsy. These would be delivered by, I dunno, courier\/winged messenger\/mum, to the relevant newspapers and magazines. Journalists on a sugar high would write warmly about my book.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll stop there and explain why that didn\u2019t happen. The idea was time-consuming, expensive, and possibly a threat to the journalists\u2019 health. It might have been a magnet for desk mice. And this approach was insensitive to the different lead-in times of mags, papers, and radio stations.<\/p>\n The idea I ran with in the end was to make necklaces. My book is about Holy Communions and helicopters so I felt it might lend itself to jewelry. I decided on a silver chain with a cross and a helicopter. Crosses on chains are a well-known aspect of communions and are quite ageless. I was lucky to find a little helicopter that looked not unlike the drawing on my front cover.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s my advice for doing something similar for your book:<\/p>\n A few extras to consider include:<\/p>\n <\/a>Very few people ignored my press packs. One website used my book and necklace as a competition prize. I have been getting a lot of press coverage and even one TV appearance. The Holy Communion season peaks at the end of May so I have yet to see all the returns from my efforts.<\/p>\n And because little girls like the necklaces, I have a few mini-ambassadors for the book going around.<\/p>\n I am told that people wait until the last minute to buy Holy Communion gifts so I will let you know if all my efforts lead to sales.<\/p>\n What appealing goodies could you send to the media to entice them to open and read your book’s press kit?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/a>Our guest blogger this week is one of my favorite Book Publicity 101 students<\/a>, Avril O’Reilly of Ireland. A children’s book author and pictures editor, Avril has had great success publicizing and promoting her new book, <\/em>Kathleen and the Communion Copter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>I loved what she was doing with her press kits, and asked her to share with us how she uses surprise treats for journalists to get attention and a positive response. Here’s her story.<\/em><\/p>\n By Avril O\u2019Reilly<\/strong><\/p>\n I am kind of old-fashioned when it comes to press packs. I like when a product or book lands on the desk accompanied by a goodie bag. I\u2019m not greedy. When I worked on newspapers a nice biro or a bag of sweets was more than enough to earn my good will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,49],"tags":[430,431,432,433,434,435],"class_list":["post-5680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-publicity","category-guest-columns","tag-avril-oreilly","tag-kathleen-and-the-communion-copter","tag-media","tag-press-kits","tag-press-packets","tag-press-packs"],"yoast_head":"\nUsing surprises to get media attention<\/h3>\n
The BIG idea<\/h3>\n
Bad idea<\/h3>\n
Better idea<\/h3>\n
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The end result<\/h3>\n
Using surprises to get media attention<\/h3>\n