But, wait a second.  Don’t forget the rest of the story.  PR THERAPY has some critical messages that writers need to integrate into their writing consciousness this year:  Writers also write to make a living, promote a cause, or sell a product.  Your work entertains, informs, and is provocative. Whether you write novels or nonfiction, blogs or poetry, you express what others think, touch hearts, and help expand minds. 

That is your work.  So, why do writers find it so difficult to promote themselves?  How can writers reach a balance between artistic integrity and business acumen?  Who can writers turn to for encouragement, answers, and insight when the sheer act of writing is actually done alone in front of a computer? 

You can start here!   

 

Rebecca Forster

PR THERAPY welcomes Rebecca Forster and her new column Write Now.  She will help members of the writing community forge ahead in a wildly changing landscape during an exciting era of publishing transformation.  

Agents, editors, published and unpublished writers, bloggers, bookstore professionals and Rebecca Forster - a working author whose passion for both craft and promotion has not waned in over 20 years (and 22 published books) -  will offer insights about the changing life of today’s writer. 

So, keep an open mind. Figure out what strategies fit your personal style, what words lift your spirits, what thoughts inspire you. 

 Above all, relax….and enjoy the debut of Rebecca Forster’s column here on PRTherapy.com!

ARE YOU A WRITER?

“What do you do?”

“I’m a writer.”

“Are you published?”

There it is; the rock and the hard place.

All too often, people assume you are only a writer if you are published.  By a publisher they recognize, of course.  In book form, with pages and a cover.  Distributed in their local bookstores. Heck, even my own mother didn’t acknowledge I was a writer until she could physically buy a copy of my first book (never fear, I paid her back).

Even published writers can lose in this game of professional chutes and ladders. I’ve published over twenty books and, yet, when people find out my backlist is now only available for E-readers like Kindle, my previous success is somehow suspect. Instead of ‘show me the money’ the only way to prove you’re for real is  to ‘show them a book’.

So the question becomes, when do any of us become a legitimate writer? I believe it depends on the writer’s own vision of success and level of confidence. I have met people who have kept journals for years but have no desire to publish.  I have met some who have written for publication, never achieved their goals but continue to revise and refine their work. There are others who aspire to selling a screenplay or novel yet find success in magazine work, newsletter writing and advertising.

All of these are genuine writers. They share the critical professional virtues: dedication to  the craft, love of the written word and the determination to make their voices heard. Pretenders are those who do not work at writing. These are the people who sit with you at a dinner party and say:

“I have a wonderful story to tell.”

To which I respond:

“How exciting.  How far along is your work?”

And they assure me:

“Oh, I don’t want to write it. I thought I could tell you and you’d write it.”

And I laugh and refill my wine glass. I have my own stories. I work hard to write them, revise them, submit them. Sometimes they are published and sometimes they aren’t but I work every day. Like you, I am a real writer.

By Jamie Novak

 
We all know that following your passion is a messy business.  Talent and skill means creating clutter. But having clutter and showing it to the world are two very different things.  Having it happens…showing it shouldn’t.

It’s about time to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Trouble is with just about two weeks left, it is really getting too late to do everything you wanted.

Sure, it would be nice to clean and organize before guests arrive— file the bills, clear the dining room table, clean the fridge; unbury the desktop, and, yeah, sort that mountain of magazines and newspapers that you were going to use as research for something.

The astounding truth is 82% of us have at least one room we close the door to before guests arrive.

When there is absolutely no time left to clear the clutter, put on your best PR smile and disguise the mess.

Here are the best hints to hide it in plain sight (no kidding)!

1.       Put a bow on it!
If you have a stack of clutter, such as say this pile of to-read item and some papers, mail and bills…

Take a box and push the flaps inward

Then wrap the box

Slip the box over the clutter

Just about anything looks better with a bow on it, even your clutter. Note to self: DO NOT add a to/from tag, no one wants to be gifted your water bill.

 2.  Dim the lights!

Swap out your bright white front walkway light with holiday colored bulbs like blue, red, or even green. No one will even notice that you forgot to clean the messy walkway or the glass on the storm door.

 3.  Cover it! 
Do you have miscellaneous clutter like this on your kitchen island?

If so grab a holiday themed bowl.

Place all the stuff in the bowl.

And promptly cover with festive ornaments. No one will be the wiser!

 4.  Wrap it!

Fridge shelves get messy, that’s life. Don’t let guests see the mess.

Simply line shelves with decorative paper to disguise the mess.

 5.  Stack it!

Scoop and dump the mess into a few boxes. Then promptly drape a floorlength tablecloth over the whole stack. Add a vase, photo frame or tray with holiday decorations ontop and no one will catch onto your clever trick!   

What NOT to do:  

1. Do not hide clutter in the oven. In a spare second shower? Sure. Just not the oven, or the dryer for that matter.
2. Do not stash the mess in the trunk of your car right before going to pick up out of town guests (and their lugggage.)
3. Do not push more stuff into the already over crowded front hall closet, chances are guests will arrive with coats that need to be hung up.

Try these five clever clutter-concealing tricks. Then sit back and relax, it’s about time you had time to enjoy the holiday with friends and family (after all you’re the only one that will know you have clutter wrapped under the tree.)

Jamie Novak writes the It’s About Time column for www.PRTherapy.com

One thing you can count on from a good PR journey is growth.  Sometimes, as you grow and change, your own environment will no longer be appropriate for who you are and who you are becoming.

At first, you may not grasp exactly what’s transpiring.  So, know this…If you are in the wrong environment, it is common to feel crazy, stupid, or worthless–maybe all three! You may waste a lot of energy and time exploring whether the crazy, stupid, and worthless labels are accurate or not. Don’t bother; the solution to the problem does not lie there.

Stop questioning how you feel. Accept your feelings, and change your focus to the wrong environment part of that scenario.  When you are in the wrong environment, you feel wrong when you don’t fit in. Not because you’re wrong…because the environment is wrong…for you. 

Sometimes your environment does not fit who you are.It can feel as if you unwittingly contributed a box full of rocks to the neighborhood rummage sale.  If you put those rocks out on the sidewalk right where you are, chances are the neighbors will talk. Rocks in a box just aren’t garage sale material. Carry that same bunch of rocks over to the Rock Show and it’s a whole different scenario–rock hounds will wildly appreciate what you’ve got.So, if you’re outgrowing your environment, remember this: Rock On.  You can move on, and sometimes you must move on. 

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!

AUTHOR SIGNING
1 PM on Saturday, Sept 19^th 

1664 NW Chipman Rd.
Lees Summit, MO 64081

AUTHOR: Robin Blakely

BOOK: PR THERAPY: Ignite Your Passion For Promoting Your Products, Services, And Even Yourself! 

If doing your own Public Relations is driving you crazy, you need PR Therapy. Robin Blakely – the PR “idea girl” to multimillionaire CEOs, small business owners, nonprofit leaders, bestselling authors, and creative people across the country —shares field-tested entrepreneurial know-how on building a PR platform that really works…for you.

From starting out to starting over, PR THERAPY helps you feel comfortable and strategic about promoting who you are and what you do.

READ AN EXCERPT….Visit www.prtherapy.com 

Yeah, money is a tough subject for nearly everybody.

You either have it, or you don’t. You either want it, or you don’t know what to do with it. You either think it holds great advantages or you suspect it’s the root of all evil. It helps to know that your personal worth and your bank account’s value are two very different legacies. Don’t confuse the two. Money is simply great, but Great is not simply money.

Money is one of three key resources in which good management is important. If you have money, you can make it work for you. If you don’t have money, you can leverage other resources that you do have to compensate for the lack of money you think you need.

What are two other resources you have to consider?

Time.  If you don’t have enough money to get what you need, you can usually find a way to trade time for what you want and must have. 

People.  It’s commonly said that it’s not what you know; it’s who you know. So start shaking some hands. Get to know who you need to know. Remember, people are the most important part of life. Everyone has a lesson to share with you. Everyone has a gift to offer. And don’t be a stingy gut…it’s not all about what you can get; it’s about what you can give, too.

Money. Time.  People.  All of your valuable resources require careful cultivation, development, and management. That means you need to make money and allocate money wisely. Spend time and invest time intelligently. Cultivate relationships sensibly.

The Good News? Things change when you recognize that money, time, and people are your assets…and do something about it. You can become more successful promotionally and on every other level when you fully understand the nature of your wealth.  It is often a startling relief to discover that by simply doing the basic fundamentals of good resource management, success not only grows…it flourishes.

Okay…you’ve finally built the proverbial better mousetrap.
And, lately, you’ve been telling yourself: “I’m ready and waiting for the world to beat a path to my door. That’s what I want: the world.”

That means everyone. Right?
No, not quite.  

Let’s take a closer look at that build-a-better-mousetrap scenario. It’s exactly what we’re talking about. The rarely considered part of that timeless wisdom is that it’s not everyone who shows up at your door. All those people showing up to buy the better mousetrap actually have something terribly important in common. They all have rodent problems. People without mice aren’t standing in line for a better mousetrap. These folks aren’t buying last year’s mousetrap, either. They aren’t even thinking of mousetraps. It’s not an appropriate buying season for them until they have a need to rid themselves of mice.

Why does any of that matter to you?

It’s critical to understand that everyone in the world is not part of your target market. In fact, it’s not about wanting everyone…it’s really about not wanting everyone. So, before you lump clients and customers into one faceless group called “everybody,” consider this: The “everybody” mindset will undermine your promotional efforts and block opportunities for your success.

Why?

The ‘everyone’ mindset puts you in passive mode. You’re waiting for them to choose you, instead of doing your part to connect with exactly who you want. The truth is you have to define who you want. You simply do not have the luxury of treating everyone as if they are exactly the same. They aren’t the same. Some are ready to buy; some are not ready. Of course, it’s great that you have a better solution to a universal problem. It’s wonderful that virtually everyone may eventually need what you do, but it’s strategic to recognize that everyone’s needs are on different timing cycles.

You can’t control their circumstances, but you can take ownership of yours. You must find ways to manage your time and efforts carefully or you’ll wear yourself out spouting the merits of mousetraps to people who have not yet encountered a mouse or to folks who will never understand the real need for what you’ve got.

Realistically, it’s time to focus on people who can help cultivate your success. The sooner you understand that ‘everyone’ is not your customer, the sooner your success can grow and stabilize.

 
Authors have complained forever about how they’re treated.

Humorist James Thurber had a problem with the publisher of one of his books that is as relevant today as it was fifty some odd years ago.  As described in the classic The Thurber Carnival, it seems that Thurber was a little irked when he noticed that Salvador Dali’s biography was selling for $6 when his own published history had been priced at $1.75.  A difference of $4.25.  But that was not THE problem. 

Like most authors, when it comes to creative work, you can throw the math and the money out the window. THE problem was Thurber’s book was priced only fifty cents higher than the asking price of a different book—a silly one called: “The Adventures of Horace the Hedgehog.” 

So, like any offended writer of seriously good work, forget the $4.25; the real problem was the 50 cents.   

Thurber claims that when he approached his publishers about the price of his book that the publishers adopted a guarded kind of double talk.  In fact, he was given an explanation in low muffled tones that many writers still hear today when they ask how their financials are figured.  Thurber was told that “the price was a closely approximated vertical, prefigured on the basis of profitable ceiling, which in turn was arrived at by taking into consideration the effect on diminishing returns of the horizontal factor.” 

In other words, like most authors today, he would never logically understand why any decision was made by his publisher…and he eventually seemed to come to the inescapable conclusion that most writers reach:  When it comes to publishing, you never know what’s going to happen or what already has.

Forty years ago today a man walked on the moon.  I know because I watched it happen on TV.  Sure, I was young enough to confuse some key points.  Mainly, I thought Walter Cronkite did the news at night and starred as Captain Kangaroo by day.  Of course, that was an easy enough mistake for a little kid—both men radiated that same something special that made them stand out in my mind as one…and they did look a little alike around the eyes on a small black and white TV screen.  

But today’s anniversary isn’t about Walter Cronkite or Captain Kangaroo; it’s about the moon. And, even a confused little kid like me did not miss the Big Idea about what it meant when it came to landing there. 

 What did it mean?

To me, it meant growing up absolutely knowing one thing for sure:  You better know where you want to go because when you set your sites on a destination, you absolutely can get there.  Even if you choose the moon. 

I learned that 40 years ago today.  And, the cool part is I still know it’s true.

So, thanks Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and all the rocket men (and women) from NASA. We toast you with a glass of Tang this morning…and in the spirit of celebrating your can-do attitude, we launch PRTherapy.com today for dreamers and doers around the globe.