Hearing Critics...But Staying Focused

My friend Scott Jeffrey has a great post on his blog today titled "Ignore the Critics" where he lays out eleven highly successful books next to a dissenting opinion from a critic.

For example:

Manuscript: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Literary Opinion: “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.”

Oops.

Beyond the novelty of reading through dissenting literary opinions on some of the greatest literary works of our time, Scott's blog post makes a very important point about how focused we have to be in today's "everyone is a critic" atmosphere.

Reviews aren't just for authors anymore. Sites likes Yelp.com, blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and other social media platforms make it possible for readers, customers, competitors, even friends, to post an opinion on anything from coffee shops to books to passers-by.

The anonymous nature of many internet reviews can lead people to be much more scornful with comments than they would dream to be in person. Such reviews often have a domino effect when the reviewed read them and let themselves react emotionally. The often out-of-line response then becomes the story rather than the product or service that the review was about.

The power-to-the-people aspect of social media is what we love about it, but it also presents some challenges to our psyche.

When you hear criticism of your book, your speaking, your publicity work, your job, etc...what is your first instinct?

Do you take it personally and get defensive or do you hear the opinion and remain confident in yourself?

Let me give you an example of someone who was pointedly criticized, responded gracefully but remained confident in the face of that criticism.

Kick Butt Coffee is a new coffee shop in Austin, TX. As many of you know, our city is known for it's "Keep Austin Weird" vibe and this coffee shop--complete with live music, mocha martinis, martial arts decor and offer on its website to "get a black eye next time you visit"--is everything but run of the mill.

The owner, Thomas R. Gohring, decided that if he was going to stand out from the crowd in a city full of stand-out acts, he had to be different.

Gohring's Kick Butt Coffee has generated mostly positive reviews on Yelp.com, with many customers calling it their favorite coffee house in Austin. However, like anything that is out of the ordinary, the coffee shop has also had a couple sub-par reviews.

A recent review, from Ellyn E. called it "her worst coffee house experience ever," before saying the "insanely loud horrible grunge band" drove her and other customers away. She also cracks on the Americano.

Put yourself in Gohring's shoes for a minute...you've invested in a new coffee shop--in the midst of a recession--and someone has written a biting review, where they seem to go out of their way to be a bit dramatic about the (bad) experience. It would be easy to respond with a "you don't know what you're talking about" tone or even question your own logic in including live music at your coffee shop.

But Gohring does neither. Here's his response:

"Ellyn...sorry to hear you had a bad experience at our new shop. The bands myspace music samples are nice and not too loud. I will address this with them. We are known as a huge supporter of local musicians, live music venue at night. But it is not a good thing for customers to leave because of the music. I appreciate you bringing that to my attention. I am surprised about the americano. Sorry yours wasn't to your satisfaction. (Update, even though it is brand new the decaf grinder's burrs were bad.) The flat screens are my idea, sorry you didn't like it."

He acknowledges the issues that can be improved and lets the customer know he appreciates her feedback, but remains confident in the vision he has for his coffee shop.

We need to do the same thing with online chatter. You have to hear it and, at times, respond to it, but you certainly don't have to let it get you off track and you never have to respond emotionally.

Stay focused and above the fray and let your idea...your book...your service...whatever it may be...make the impact you meant it to make.

Ad hero, Emu & You: Stretching Creativity

You can’t blame an advertising major for wanting to quote an ad giant.

At some point in my educational career, I was told the quote, “To be interesting, you must first be interested.” I’ve always attributed the spark of brilliance to James Webb Young, an ad hero and author of the essential guide, A Technique for Producing Ideas. True or not, it sounds like something he’d say.

In his book, Young talks about great creative people being intrigued by the world around them. How great visionaries seek out random info about a variety of topics. Are you curious about hairless emus? Then read about them. Do you want to be able to name significant Roman generals? Study ancient battles. (Or sleep with the history channel blaring in the background) Young encourages people to delve deeply into areas that may not seem relevant to what they do. Why? Because a wide knowledge enables engaged, inquisitive people to see relationships that others might not. For example, the creative team who wrote this ad took two completely separate objects—a vacuum and a plane—recognized a connection, and perfectly communicated the message.




What does this have to do with PR?

PR is the work of relationships. Publicists to media contacts, authors to audiences, authors to media, the combinations are endless. What if instead of seeing possibilities through objects, we saw possibilities through people? Authors should stretch their bounds in terms of who they are having conversations with.

Fellow Twitter-ers, have you ever had that moment where you are on the page of a new follower and you’re scanning their Tweets, evaluating as you read? I do. I’ll admit it. I go through and think, is this relevant to me? What if instead of asking ourselves if it’s relevant, we open ourselves to the new knowledge we might gain? Even if it’s out of our normal realm of Tweets.

To be interesting, you must first be interested.

In our media training, we talk about social media in terms of involvement. Participation. Being interested not in who is following you, but interested in those you follow.

Let’s step outside of social media. Authors should stretch themselves in how they position their books. See the unexpected relationships. Who can you talk to? Who can you get to listen to your book outside of your initially chosen audience? Where can you read? What cause/group can you connect with that will greater push the distribution of your message?

Example: If you wrote a children’s story about a lost mitten, go read while organizing a clothes drive.

I recently attended an Austin Association for Women in Communication’s luncheon. In a discussion on leadership, the speaker used a word I wasn’t expecting. Service. Authors, consider these questions. How can you demonstrate that your book cares about someone else & is cognizant of someone else’s issues? How does your book engage in your community? Is it based on your hometown? Is it about a group of people you met in your community? How do you and your book serve?

Don’t just entertain. Listen. Respond. Help. This is advice we should all heed, myself included. After all, as JWY may or may not have said, “To be interesting, you first must be interested."

Join P&P's web design team

It's time.

Actually, the time passed a year or two ago. Time for a new website for Phenix & Phenix.

Why?

We talk to clients until we are blue in the face about the fabulous benefits of building their sites on a social media-friendly platform and it's time for us to make the jump as well.

Luckily, we're almost finished building a new one.

That's where you come in. We're looking to our friends, clients, media contacts and other colleagues to let us know what you would like to see from a P&P website. Here's a taste of what's coming:

A blog hosted on our actual website? Check.

A "why you should visit us in Austin" page? Check.

Significantly upgraded online press rooms for each client? Check.

Video content from great potential guests? Check.

The ability to easily share content? Check.

Moderately cheesy head shots from our staff? Check.

Case studies, praise and other background on P&P's 15 year history? Check.

The ability to opt-in to a monthly email regarding potential guests/sources for your newspaper, radio show, blog, TV program, etc.? Check.

We're interested in hearing from you as we put the finishing touches on our new site--what would you like to see from P&P?

How can we provide the resources, information and tools through our website to make it as effective as possible for you?

Let us know by posting a comment or emailing me at rshelton@phenixpublicity.com. If it is a cool idea, we'll publicly credit you as a member of the P&P web design team on Twitter.

Spanning the world … well, the literary world

A few things popped out at me this week, and I thought I might share with all you aspiring literati types. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these tidbits of literary news and musings:

Eat, Pray, Love … for best results, rinse and repeat
Earlier this week, PW discussed the Hyperion deal with Michael Cooper, ex-husband of Eat, Pray, Love’s Elizabeth Gilbert. His new memoir, Displaced, will offer the flip-side to Eat, Pray, Love. Is it just me or does this at all sound like: “The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All”? For best results, rinse and repeat. I wonder what Ms. Gilbert thinks of this.

All aboard!
In case you haven’t noticed, the social media train is here. Check out this PW article on the changing literary landscape and how social media is fueling the changes. This is a must-read.

Move over Kindle, there’s a new kid on the block
Plastic Logic, Barnes & Noble and AT&T have partnered up to create what could be the Amazon Kindle’s biggest competitor yet. With access to B&N’s massive book library and AT&T’s 3G system, the Plastic Logic e-reader will certainly give Kindle a run for its money. Some differences between the two:
- The Plastic Logic e-reader has built-in Wi-fi, unlike the current crop of Kindles
- AT&T's Wi-fi hotspot network also seems to be part of the deal
- U.S. owners will be able to get online for new books in many more locations
- For business-related documents on the web, the e-reader supports PDF and Microsoft Office format documents

The INTERN speaks out
Ok, I’ve saved the best for last. If you’ve ever been an intern you completely understand the grunt work that comes with the territory: hours of filing, licking envelopes, getting coffee. I could go on. We stumbled on this blog of wonderful hilarity and just had to share. This intern and blogger, known as THE INTERN, works for a publishing house and gives the inside dish on the publishing house floor. Special thanks and a shout out to THE INTERN who brought a smile to our day. Enjoy!

Vive le Twitter

For a few lessons on Twitter this afternoon, let's look to the Tour de France, where we're just a few days away from that famous ride down the Champs-Elysees.

Austin is Lance Armstrong country. From his bike shop, Mellow Johnny's and the coffee shop, Juan Pelota, to SIX, his bar/nightclub and the new Lance Armstrong Bikeway, icons of Lance's success are a part of our city's landscape. Look down, you're even likely to see one of the many faded "Go Lance" street paintings reminding us of his 1st, 2nd, 3rd...7th win. When he won the last TDF, he threw a free concert at Auditorium Shores featuring his then-girlfriend Sheryl Crow (and played drums). So you got the picture - cancer advocacy, community investment and athletic talent aside, Lance is steeped in Austin's culture.

But Lance's celebrity status reaches far beyond Austin City Limits, thanks in part to social media. On Twitter, @lancearmstrong has more than a million and a half followers. The seven-time TDF champion is clearly passionate about social media and it's easy to see why it's working for him. Just take a look at his loyal fan base and his booming nonprofit organization, LIVESTRONG, with which Lance uses the 140 character updates to connect with us in such a way that just by following him, we feel an exclusive part of his inner circle.

Lance is a great example of the power and possibilities of Twitter. He uses it frequently (at least a dozen updates a day) to break stories related to racing, the bike industry, and cancer research. He tweets video and snapshots from his "office" (usually something along the lines of a mountain road out of Aspen - jealous!) and allows all of us to peer into his world. From news of his new son Max [6 week old @maxarmstrong1 has almost 7,000 Twitter followers - WHAT??!] - to his favorite training routes to post TDF-stage thoughts, his Tweets make us that much more endeared to him.

Following yesterday's tour stage, Lance mentioned an upcoming 'announcement' about next year's Tour de France lineup, so you can imagine the buzz that brewed until today's big reveal. We all scoured the web to investigate. And by last night, the crafty Twitterati had it nailed - Lance would announce a 2010 team sponsor - RadioShack Corporation. It wasn't until 11am today that Capitol Sports & Entertainment with RadioShack made the official announcement with a release on the wire. Acting on their game, CSE rolled out the Team RadioShack website and Twitter account right on cue. Four hours later, the team already had almost 5,000 Twitter followers. If Lance's 2010 teammates are as fast as his behind-the-scenes entourage, we'll be looking at another Maillot Jaune.

Allez Lance!

So there are two things that we in publishing and publicity can take away from Twitter, Lance and the Tour de France. Today, twitter is a legitimate source (and the fastest news-spreading tool) for breaking headlines, and more than ever, it is an invaluable when it comes to building and maintaining a personal brand.

Study: Who is online, and what are they doing?

The Austin-Based New Media Lab gave us some food for thought yesterday. As book publicists, we are always trying to figure out who is online and who isn't, and we were surprised at some of the findings. For example: less than 20% of my fellow Gen Xers are blogging? What? Maybe it was it all that Nirvana and directionless youth stuff we grew up with?

More from the report:

Myth #1: The Internet is for Teeny Boppers

False! Extrapolating from the data:

- 5% of people over age 62 create web content (blogs, podcasts, etc). That means that in a room of 20 people aged 62 or over, at least ONE posts content to the internet.

- In a room of 17 senior citizens, at least one has joined a social network.

- One of every nine seniors you know actually comment on blogs and post critiques and ratings. Which actually makes sense, if you think about it: Who's more opinionated than Grandpa? You try adjusting the thermostat.

Myth #2: Tech savvy behavior is totally mainstream

False again!

- Only 30% of GenY and 19% of GenX create content.

- No age group uses RSS readers at a rate over 18%. (Odds are YOU reading this don't quite understand RSS readers either.)

- 19% more GenYers than Young Teens join social networks. This implies that the highest rate of social networkers is in the college category. This one will be a demo to watch closely, it WILL change over the next three years, according to NML.

So what can we learn from this, book publicists?

-Don't assume senior citizens are anti-internet. "Interwebs, is that The Google or something? You kids and your crazy machines!!" Dismiss that stereotype, and accept your grandmother's Facebook invite.

-Do pay attention to Millenials (i.e. Gen Y). Only 30% of them are creating web content, but that number will probably grow. Pitch accordingly.

-Do learn how to use an RSS reader (like your humble blogger did a few years weeks ago).

To read the rest of NML's interesting report, click here.

WLOT Wrap-Up and Tweet-Up!

We had a great time at the Writers’ League of Texas Conference this past weekend--it’s always nice to meet writers and authors face-to-face. Hopefully those who attended learned a lot from networking with agents and fellow writers and listening to some excellent seminars.

This year Phenix & Phenix sponsored the event and participated in a couple of panels. Senior publicist Tolly Moseley moderated a panel called "Media Madness: How to Land Ink, Airtime, and Buzz" and had this to say about it:

The two most common questions I get as a publicist are: A) How can I get on Oprah? and B) How can I get my book reviewed by the New York Times? So at Sunday's panel, Allen Chen (editor-in-chief of Austinist), Jennifer Stayton (host of "Morning Edition" on KUT-FM, Austin's NPR affiliate), and Kimberley Jones (books editor of Austin Chronicle) joined me to discuss the ways authors and their publicists can grab media's attention. Knowing how to pitch your own book is a very valuable skill, so we wanted to give attending writers and authors some insights on the things media members look for. We lobbed questions on our panelists on topics ranging from "what email subject line makes you actually open a pitch?" to "how do you decide who gets a book review?" to "man, why doesn't Oprah just say no and stop booking every little guest opportunity that comes her way?" (just kidding on that last part).

We got very nuanced answers from our panelists. While Kimberley Jones is really focused on a book's content when deciding who gets coverage, Allen Chen is a little more interested in an author's backstory and their involvement with the local community. Jennifer Stayton comes at book coverage from a news angle, so what she really needs is a tie to a local, current event before she books an interview. The one consistent answer we got from our panelists is the frequency they're being pitched: they receive, at minimum, 100 pitch emails a month about books or authors. Of those, less than 10% will get coverage. So if you don't get the booking you wanted this time, authors, remember that it really is competitive out there! Research the outlet, find a unique way to link your book in to the show's/website's/paper's audience, and eventually, you WILL land something.

Saturday's "Perils of Publicity" panel discussion went very well. I was excited to be there with Phil West, Susan Blount, and Nashville's Julie Gerke. We talked about the changing face of literary publicity, social media strategies, and fielded questions from the audience.

What surprised me most about the audience were the horrified and overwhelmed looks we received as we encouraged authors to plug in online via blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other avenues to build their platforms. While some authors consider this to be more work--and it certainly is--I encouraged the audience to think about the opportunity it provides for them to take their writing futures into their own hands.

Five or ten years ago, authors had no hope but to catch the attention of a literary agent or editor with their proposal. If that agent or editor didn't like what they saw, there was no way to prove there was a market for the work. Now, a highly-trafficked blog or a large Twitter following allows an author to do just that. Obviously you can still catch an agent's attention without this type of platform, but I hope the audience left excited about the opportunities that such a platform gives an author.

To that end, we also sponsored a “Tweet-Up” at the conference to encourage everyone to be a part of the Twitter phenomenon. There were quite a few authors who already had Twitter accounts, although some were at a bit of a loss as to how to use it. As we explained to them, Twitter is an ongoing, online conversation, and you’ll get out of it what you put into it. There are some great posts about Twitter and how writers can use it here and here. Not surprisingly, many in the book world have joined Twitter and are offering a wealth of insight and information about the industry. For a huge list of book industry "tweeters," click here.

At the Tweet-Up, we asked people to write down their Twitter handles, as well as their websites and book titles (if they had them) and tweet from the conference using the hashtag #wltcon. We’re posting the full list of participants so that these authors can find each other online and start networking with their peers:

Kendra Crispin; @Dancing Writer; Title: Emerging from the Shadows
Tena Laing; @TwinTexTwo; Title: Tokyo Mingled
Matt Schulz; @MatthewSchulz; Title: Cooperstown Band
Sara; @chikitlinski
Eric Gibson; @ecgibsonphd; Title: Nine Lords of the Night
Jay Ehret; @TheMarketingGuy; Title: Straddling the Fence
Beth Sample; @Beth_Sample
Linda Pennell; @LindaPennell; Title: The Calling
Bob Doerr; @rddoerr
Brad Whittington; @SitOnTwit; Title: Welcome to Fred
Alan J. Porter; @ealanjporter; Title: James Bond: The Illustrated 007
Holly Wonder; @hollywon
Sandy Lawrence; @sandylawrence
Matt Patterson; @mepatterson
Toby Heidel; @redplanetaudio
Belinda Acosta; @BelindaGene; Title: Dames, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz
Senay Ozdemir; @femalealchemist; Title: The Wax Club
Writers' League of Texas; @WritersLeague
Shennandoah Diaz; @shennandoahdiaz; Title: A Coyote Among Us
Jason Myers; @jaypers
Lindsay Powell; @Lindsay_Powell; Title: Eagles Over Germania
Stacy S. Jensen; @StacyWrites
Shannon Morgan; @nomadshan; Title: Briar-Bound
Lydia Ondrusek; @littlefluffycat

These authors came by our table but didn’t have Twitter accounts yet, so maybe we can encourage them to start:

Darrell Berry; Title: Early This Morning
David Nowlin; Title: Maggie Mulligan and the Priceless Gem of Fare-Rune
Rhonda Leverett

If you were at the conference but didn’t get a chance to “Tweet-Up” with us, just leave your name and Twitter handle in the comments.

Thanks again to the Writers' League for hosting such a great event. We look forward to next year's!