Anna David's Blog, page 6

Why There's Nothing Wrong with Paying for Media Attention

You can pay for any media attention you want today.

You can pay to go on a podcast.

You can pay this guy to come on your podcast.

You can pay to be in every publication from Rolling Stone to USA Today to the Village Voice to Paper magazine. You can pay to be on the cover of magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and GQ (but it will be in some other country).

I know people who can make all of those happen.

But should you do it?

That depends. It depends on your goal and how you do it.

A lot of entrepreneurs I know have the same contact at LA Weekly that I do. They know how to pay to get an article in there. So they write a totally self-serving article and then use Canva to create an image that makes them look like they were on the cover of LA Weekly, which they then post on their Instagram.

Why is this not a good idea?

1) A self-serving article is going to sound self-promotional. Good promotion doesn’t sound self-promotional. If you’re going to write an article about yourself, showcase your knowledge, not your awesomeness. I don’t know this person but here’s an example of the kind of thing I’m talking about; no one has ever read an article like this and believed it was legit.

And that brings us to…

2) No one actually believes that an entrepreneur that’s not well-known is on the cover of a magazine. Even if they do, what if they go to look for the publication and realize that you doctored it? You kind of seem like a kid at the fair who got their photo taken to be put on a fake cover of a magazine. (Did they only do that at fairs in California? I have a distinct memory of doing this.)

Also, many of these publications mark these articles, LOUDLY, as “Sponsored Content”—AKA “This person paid to be here.” Obvious point but you don’t want that. You need to know which publications make it obvious and which don’t.

Now any journalism professors would be horrified by all of this. Thankfully they would never subscribe to this. But legit journalists would also be horrified.

Thankfully, during my years as a journalist, I was never all that legit. Or you could put it another way and say that I always saw it as a money play. When I worked at People, Us Weekly and Premiere, it became clear to me that the people who weren’t incredibly famous but were still getting featured were the ones who had the best (that is, most expensive) publicists.

When I became an author, that got even clearer. If you could afford to shell out $15k a month for a publicist, you could get in top tier publications. This doesn’t seem all that different—just more honest and efficient.

In the end, my advice is this: if you have the budget, go ahead and do this. Just please don’t be cheesy about it. Have it professionally written. Don’t do it if it screams I PAID FOR THIS. Don’t make the article into a fake cover. Don’t do it if it’s a site that will bury the post so no one can find it.

But also know that the media attention is not the thing; it’s what you do with it that’s the thing. You need to share it, draw attention to it, tell people that it’s there. Apparently, 402.74 million terabytes of data are created every day and while I have no idea what that means, I understand that there’s a lot of noise to break through and you can’t just pay someone, write a self-aggrandizing press release and wait for everyone to ask for your autograph.

Here’s what you can do today:

Ask yourself if you feel weird paying for media attention. If you do, forget this. If you don’t, move onto…

Research which publications (or podcasts) you can pay to be in or on. Check your budget and…

Time it right. If you’re working on a book, peg it to your book launch or at least until after your book is done.

Figure out what you’ll do with that attention when you have it. Yes, you’ll post it on whatever social media platform you use but can you have friends with bigger followings post it? Can you send it out to your newsletter list? Can you use it in an ad or to draw more people to your offer? Don’t let something you paid a lot for (because these opportunities do tend to be ) just sit there languishing.

Oh and don’t run this by a journalism professor because they’ll be horrified. Run it by a realist instead.

 

 

Remaining Behind-the-Scenes with 16-Time NYT Bestselling Author Hilary Lifton

 

Hilary Lifton is not one to boast, and I write that with more understatement than you can imagine.

I was introduced to her recently at a party by someone who said she was a big ghostwriter. When I asked her about her career, she mentioned working on a self-help book.

It was only when I Googled her later that I learned she has written 16 New York Times bestsellers and is one of the most sought-after ghostwriters alive. (While she chooses not to name her bold-faced clients, you can find out who some of them are by going to her site.)

I've never had such an interesting conversation about ghostwriting and I challenge you that you've probably not heard one. I know that's setting expectations quite high but I'm ready to meet them!

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

How a Book is the Gift That Keeps on Giving with Dr. Doug Brackmann

 

Dr. Douglas Brackmann isn't like anyone else you meet. He's far more intense and brilliant—the kind of person you find yourself telling your deepest and darkest secrets to when you had just planned to ask him about the weather.

The author of Driven: Understanding and Harnessing the Genetic Gifts Shared by Entrepreneurs, Navy SEALs, Pro Athletes, and Maybe YOU, Brackmann is revered among top entrepreneurs. And while he admits that he already had "disciples" before publishing Driven, the book still radically transformed his practice, career and life.

Although the tips he provides about building authority with a book are priceless, I was even more intrigued. by how much credibility he says the book has given him (even though he already has two PhDs!) Listen and get inspired. And if you relate to what he says about being a driven person...A) I feel your pain and B) there are many ways to work with Brackmann on that. Find out what they are by going here.

(BTW: I was on his podcast a few months ago. You can hear that here.)

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

Why the Ex-CEO of a $550 Million Company Did a Book Now with Erika Badan Ayers

Erika Ayers Badan calls herself a “token CEO”, the rare female employee in the highest rank of a bro-roar sports and new media culture—specifically, at Barstool Sports, which she took from a rough-and-tumble sports and betting brand and turned it into a $550 million juggernaut with more than 5 billion monthly video views and 225 million followers. 

In her book, Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure Is Good, The Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths, she talks about all that and more. And in this podcast episode, she discusses why she decided to do a book at this point in her career, how it serves as a “receipt” for what she’s done and how she truly doesn’t give an f what other people think.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

Why People Lose Steam on Their Books with Jill Ishkanian

 

It’s truly a crime that there’s no TV series about Jill Ishkanian.

The lone female tabloid reporter in a sea of men, Ishkanian has been raided by the FBI, exonerated Meghan Markle and been late to a lunch date with me because she thought she saw Kevin Costner driving. And those are just three of dozens of fascinating facts! Yet, despite the fact that she’s been technically employed as a writer for decades and knows she has a hell of a story to tell, she’s been stalled on writing her book.

Why is that? And how can we—yes, the collective we—help her? It’s all in this episode.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

How Book Publishing Is Evolving with Agent Mark Gottlieb

 

While Mark Gottlieb has agenting in his blood—he’s a second generation lit agent—he’s not your typical agent. He doesn’t specialize in any particular genre but bounces between fiction and nonfiction, with some children's books and graphic novels in between. And though he works with the Big Five publishers, he’s open-minded when it comes to self-publishing and the new wave of publishing.

In this episode we talked about how being a writer requires audacity, how tough it is to make a living as an author without a side profession and how most people don’t even know what a lit agent is, among many other topics.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

Boost Your Business by Sharing Your Story (Solo Episode)

Here's a special release for you: the keynote I recently gave at a mastermind that encompasses so much of what I know to be true about coming up with your book idea. It's short but sweet. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

How to Use Instagram Reels to Blow Up Your Book with Erin Lee

 

You know that kindergarten teacher we all wish we'd had?

That's Erin Lee. But part of what makes us all wish she'd been our teacher is the fact that in addition to being a teacher, she's an award-winning children's book author.

Still, as we discuss quite a bit around here, being an amazing author doesn't always guarantee book sales.

But Erin HAS sold thousands of books. So how has she done it? Well, she started dressing up as her five-year-old students to create engaging Instagram reels. These relatable and humorous videos have since fostered a thriving online community where Erin shares educational content, entertainment and promotes her books.

I was actually interviewing Erin for my other podcast when I realized the information she was sharing was such book publishing GOLD that I had to switch gears and release it on this long-neglected feed.

In this episode, she breaks her IG strategy down piece by piece. So good, so tactical. She actually makes Instagram sound fun AND useful. When have you last heard it described that way?

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

The State of Publishing Today with Kevin Anderson

 

Kevin Anderson never meant to get into the publishing business after growing up in a small town in Canada before getting his PhD and graduating summa cum laude from Harvard and starting a tutoring company.

Nevertheless, that tutoring company transitioned into what is now a massive publishing company that employs 30 writers and editors that have collectively worked on over 200 New York Times bestselling books and sold over 100 million copies of books by people like Brene Brown, Simon Sinek and Jen Sincero.

How juicy was our conversation about the state of publishing today? Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I stopped releasing new episodes of this podcast! But when I stumbled into this chat with Kevin, I realized it was too good to keep to myself. So please enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST ON ANY PLATFORM HERE
APPLY FOR OUR EMERGING AUTHOR PROGRAM HERE

Treat Amazon Like It's the Third Largest Search Engine in the World!

Amazon is the third largest search engine in the world and yet so many authors don’t treat it that way.

How can YOU treat it that way?

Your first move should be to add relevant keywords to your Author page.

What’s the easiest way to do it?

Log into Author Central, click on one of your books, Edit Book Details and, under Editorial Reviews, add every single endorsement you’ve gotten (make sure you bold the name and titles of the endorsers; readers look at WHO recommended you before they look at WHAT they said).

You can add 20,000 characters that will now appear on your book page! Do you know how many keywords that can be? Do you know how many more people will find your book now when searching? Do you know how much more credible it makes your book? Did you know you can even copy/paste some of the reviews that your readers have left? Did you know someone could ask four rhetorical questions in a row???