Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show - Softcover

Linda F. Radke

4.14 out of 5 stars

7 ratings by Goodreads

9781877749360: Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1877749362 ISBN 13: 9781877749360

Publisher: 5 Star Publications, 2000

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Getting a book published is no easy task, but promoting it may be even harder. Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show helps self-publishers (and other entrepreneurs with projects to promote) reach the audiences that want their books. Promotion and marketing are the keys, but many self-publishers don't have the finances to hire professionals to make the pitch, and that's where Promote Like a Pro steps in. "Promoting and marketing an unknown author is about as challenging as it gets," says publisher and book producer Linda F. Radke, and Promote Like a Pro sets out to help self-publishers to meet that challenge. "Self-publishers definitely need this kind of help because the competition is so intense." More than 50,000 books are published and more than 7,000 new presses come into existence each year. "With this kind of competition, you just can't expect your book to make it by word of mouth," she says. Radke, president of Five Star Publications, Inc., has spent 15 years advising authors on how to produce and market books. In Promote Like a Pro she shares what she's learned, providing a roadmap to successful marketing with clear, step-by-step advice. In addition, Radke has assembled experts-including Mary Westheimer, president of BookZone.com; Alf Nucifora, who syndicates his Shoestring Marketing column to 40 business papers nationwide; Jeff Todtfeld, an associate producer at Fox News Channel 24-hour cable network; and Charlene Costanzo, who has sold more than 250,000 copies of her own self-published book-to give readers an inside look at how to get publicity in print and broadcast media and how to create an effective marketing campaign. Promote Like a Pro lets self-publishers "join the club" and learn the secrets of successful promotion. Although aimed primarily at self-publishers, Promote Like a Pro contains valuable advice for anyone who's new to mounting publicity and marketing campaigns.

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About the Author

Publishing books was the farthest thing from Linda Radkes mind when she was contemplating a career. The degree in special education and elementary education she received from Arizona State University in 1976 is proof enough of that. However, book publishing has become her career a very successful career as the head of Five Star Publications and Publishers Support Services! She also has written a number of books, including Linda F. Radkes Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show, and The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing: How to Produce and Market Your Book on a Budget.

Radkes eye for opportunity led her on a circuitous route to her lifes work. After several years as a teacher, she recognized a crying need for a household employment agency in her area and founded one. When she realized that many people who needed her services could not afford them, she decided to tap that market by offering her expertise in a self-published book, The Domestic Screening Kit. Its success led her to write and publish Options: A Directory of Child and Senior Services while she still owned her agency.

Thats when she discovered she had printers ink in her blood. So, she sold her agency and founded Five Star Publications, Incorporated. As if to prove her publishing savvy, Five Stars first titles Shakespeare for Children, The Story of Romeo and Juliet, The Sixty-Minute Shakespeare, and Shakespeare: To Teach or Not to Teach, all by Cass Foster continue to enjoy perennial sales success.

Five Star spawned Publishers Support Services, through which Radke helps self-published authors prepare, promote and market their books. The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing was an outgrowth of this aspect of her business. As she had realized in the domestic-help field, many people who needed her services couldnt afford them. So after ten years of advising publishers and authors, she distilled her money-saving tips into the book. An instant success, the book became a 1996 Writer's Digest Book Club Selection. It won a number of awards including first place in the 1996 Arizona Press Women's Communications Contest

Radkes other books include That Hungarians in my Kitchen (a cookbook), Nannies, Maids & More: The Complete Guide for Hiring Household Help, and Household Careers: Nannies, Butlers, Maids & More. This last book received the 1994 Citation for Career Education Initiatives from the American Association for Career Education. It also took first place in the 1994 Arizona Press Women's Communications Contest and received an honorable mention in the 1994 National Federation of Press Women's Communications Contest.

Five Star also has published the award-winning Profits of Death: An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industries by Darryl J. Roberts and The Kosher Kettle: International Adventures in Jewish Cooking by Sybil Ruth Kaplan, a Jewish Book Club selection.

Through Publishers Support Services, Radke has helped to produce and promote such books as Twisted Scriptures: A Path to Freedom from Abusive Churches; The Proper Pig's Guide to Mealtime Manners; Tying the Knot: The Sharp Dresser's Guide to Ties and Handkerchiefs; and SHOAH: Journey from the Ashes.

Review

"If you need to promote a book or other small project and don't have a lot of money to hire experts, Promote Like A Pro is a very useful resource. Each topic is written by a different expert which makes for a nice blend of different voices, styles, and perspectives. Most of the Radke's experts have written their own books, run expensive consultancies, have extensive publication credits, and are entertaining and informative writers. Their expert advice might be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful book." --Magdalena Ball, CompulsiveReader.com

"In a perfect world, an unknown writer's first book would become an immediate bestseller, granting the writer universal recognition. In the real world, however, beginning and self-published writers need to put in extra legwork to make their book a success. However, if the unknown writer follows the advice found in Linda F. Radke's Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show, their chances of success would rise dramatically... Promote Like a Pro stays true to its promise to "teach you the basics of publicity." Designed for easy access to the topics covered, and offering detailed advice and sample plans without industry jargon or distracting graphics, this book should be in the hands of anyone with something to sell." --Dawn Colclasure, Crescent Blues Book Reviews

"Successful publisher and book marketer Linda Radke provides self-publishers with a detailed guide on how to get the word out about their book. Her new self-published book is titled Linda F. Radke's Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show. The book is divided into two parts. Ms. Radke has written the first part. Various writing and marketing professionals have contributed to the second part. Ms. Radke cautions that it is not enough for an author just to promote the book. You must also get it distributed. She recommends that an author contact national wholesale distributors such as Ingram and Baker & Taylor. These distributors act as wholesalers that warehouse your book and do not have sales representatives who sell to the bookstores. Radke suggests the following avenues for getting the word out on your book. They are book signings (although she is not personally a fan of them), using the World Wide Web (it is cheaper is you can design your own web page), and developing mailing lists. The other contributors examine the more traditional methods of getting out the word on your book. They are newspapers, book reviews, television and radio. Ms. Radke is well qualified to write this book. She is president of Five Star Publications, Incorporated. Launched in 1985, she has helped many authors publish and market their books. She has also authored several books herself. If you have a book that needs marketing, Linda F. Radke's Promote Like a Pro should be on your bookshelf!" --Ruth Wucherer, Independant Publisher

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