June 2023
Bringing your book to the Christian Product Expo There’s some good news in the world of Christian retail. In a news update to the Christian Retail Association community this week, executive Christy Dollins reported that exhibition booth reservations for the association’s August Christian Product Expo (CPE) are at a higher level. Then later in response to my question, she reported that...
June 2023
Today’s topic is a few more notes on interviewing and being around the media, another installment of what I call tales from the front, this time drawn from post-NRB musings. Being at NRB with journalists is something I really enjoy and the clients I was privileged to assist enjoyed the time, too, but they did ask some questions that might be...
May 2023
NRB was vital, busy and above all -- BIGGER Bigger. My overwhelming reaction to all of the excitement and energy that was NRB, is that it was so much bigger. By the time you are reading this, NRB 2023 will be over. However, those of us who attended will still be processing the images and excitement, and glorifying God for what He...
May 2023
Heading off to NRB and looking ahead to CPE. Recently the World Health Organization made the announcement that the Covid 19 pandemic was officially over. It was a fairly ho-hum announcement in a world with flashier and more horrific crises du jour, but it confirmed what I’ve been feeling in recent weeks in the slice of life where I live. The world...
May 2023
Some How-Tos on Writing Interview Questions. Last week we spoke about interview questions and their role in a press kit to promote a book or a product. We mentioned the questions should address the key points in your book, and serve your goals.This week we are going to dive into more of the how-tos, and I’ll be sharing a few...
May 2023
So why is it my job to write the interview questions? If you’ve been reading here once in a while, you may have heard me talk before about press or media kits, material that is prepared for the media about your book or cause. The centerpiece of the press kit is a news article called a news release, but the second...
April 2023
Does it matter when you release your book? If you are an author, you are working hard to finish your book, get it through all the steps to produce it, and rush it out there to the waiting world. Right? Or not? Because here’s another thought for you that might be something new to consider. As you work on your book, and factor in...
April 2023
When to release your book? Keep Christmas in mind. Will your book make a great Christmas gift? Do you dream of shoppers finding it in a bookstore while shopping? Then you need to consider when retailers make their ordering decisions for that crucial sales season, and no, this isn’t an Almost-April Fools Day joke. Retailers make these buying decisions early, possibly much earlier...
March 2023
Remember those days when we all had to go virtual and suddenly we were learning about Zoom? The jokes and reality of a dress shirt over PJs, learning to keep the kids and dogs out of the room, and muting and unmuting ourselves? Someday maybe it’ll be nostalgic, but for me, it’s a little too soon. I was incredibly grateful to Zoom...
March 2023
My favorite project is finally here. If you read these notes from time to time, you may remember other times when I refer to NRB, the National Religious Broadcasters convention, which has kept the NRB letters but now describes itself as the “world’s largest gathering of Christian communicators.” This year, several thousand media and communication professionals from all over the world...
