Congrats to Penny Pinching Diva!

Our very own Blogalicious Media Correspondent, and thifty blogger extraordinaire, Shynea Hunter aka Penny Pinching Diva is featured as The Coupon Queen in this month's Essence magazine (you know - the one with a smoldering Idris Elba on the cover!) Shynea offers tips and tricks of the trade on how to get the most for your hard-earned money.
Congratulations Shynea!!
Catch the Penny Pinching Diva in person, live on the purple carpet in Atlanta this October at Blogalicious 2009. I'll be there. Hope you come, too.

Why?

If you're an author hoping to reaching progressive women bloggers of color, then you need to be there. Subscribe to this blog to stay informed or meet me live in Atlanta next month for our first Atlanta Blogalicous Meetup at StoneCrest Mall.

M & M: What an Author Press Release Should Cover

For the time being I will be merging content from my DeeGospel PR Blog into Christian Fiction, as I do an overhaul of both blogs and the site. So today I hope to add a new Monday feature called M & M: Mondays & Marketing.

Todays M & M tips is regarding press releases and fiction writers. Here are three dos and don'ts for your next PR(press release.)

Dont's:

1. do not send a boilerplate press release to media contacts and bookgroup gatekeepers. I can't tell you how many Facebook, Twitter and email messages I receive about promoting their book on my sites or on Media Candy, and how many of those messages I never read. Take the time to research the media (including blogging) outlets that fit your book's audience. Learn the correct contact's name, when to contact them and the type of content they prefer to receive from you. Then provide that. Generally, here at the blog I work with about five publishing houses, four writer's event planners, and a handful or literary publicists for content requests for the blog. Everyone one of them came to me personally about their clients or themselves. As a blogger, how effective are boilerplate releases for you?




2. don't submit a boring, non buzz worthy event. Newsflash to you and unfortunately to some of my present and former clients submitting a news release about your upcoming bookclub event isn't good enough anymore. To ensure that your media contacts take you seriously, listen to what they want from you, submit them press releases that are relevant and helpful. Otherwise use the online events calendar to submit your book club meetings and signings.




3. don't include your book's synopsis in your press release. A press release should be formatted correctly and contain info that suggests to media that my book has a public takeaway value. Use your press release to do that. Here is an example:

• Dwan Abram's Wear Red & Read Dessert Fundraiser




• Sherri Lewis finals for ACFW Writer of the Year

We will talk about the DO's tomorrow. In the meantime send me your current press release and let me fix it here on the blog. Email me at deegospel pr at gmail dot com.

And if you haven't registered yet for my summer book marketing mastermind session you still have a chance. For $75 you receive six weeks of book marketing coaching. session begins tomorrow. our first lesson is on basic marketing and this funny thing called a press release, where to distribute it, how to make it, and how to track results free. email me or direct message me on Twitter to register.