It’s very exciting and a good opportunity to reply to a journalist’s query or request for expert sources. However, there are conventional rules of procedure to follow, or you risk being labeled a pest rather than a valuable resource! Here’s how to submit your expertise, book or product to a media request. (These rules apply to “blind” pitching, too.)

1. Only respond or pitch if you are an appropriate match for the topic. Don’t try to stretch the truth or present yourself to be something you’re not or promise what you can’t deliver.
2. Give the request serious thought before dashing out your information. Read the request carefully. What is the angle of the story? Who is the audience? Then present your material in a manner that is consistent with the needs of the story and the audience.
3. Open with an introduction about why you are writing (I’m writing in response to… or to suggest…). Indicate why you are an expert, but keep to a sentence. “As a licensed physical therapist with Such and Such Medical Group, ….”
4. Present your information and specify how it is relevant to the subject of the article or show. Make your presentation to the journalist very clear; don’t assume that he or she will connect the dots between what you are sending and what they need. If this is a blind pitch, then it’s even more important to establish how your information can benefit or be of interest to the audience.
5. Put your short bio at the end, with your contact information. If you have a book, include “[your name], author of…” Always end with “I’d be happy to provide additional for this or any other article (show, etc.) that you are preparing about (the subject). Please let me know how else I can help you.”
6. Keep it short. This is not the time to submit your media kit, photo or any self-serving attachments. The purpose of your response is to feed enough information to the journalist to prompt a call or email for more information. If you are contacted, remember that the goal is to serve the press, not to get free publicity. If you help the journalist, your name or product may be cited in the newspaper, magazine or media broadcast. Although that’s the ultimate payoff for you, your purpose in replying to requests or sending pitches is to help the journalist do his or her job, which is serving the needs of the audience.
7. Be mindful of deadlines.

Be realistic. You may think you’re the perfect source or match for the journalist’s needs, but you won’t get a call every time you submit. However, if you establish a pattern of consistent quality and reliability (they call you for a quote when their deadline is in 15 minutes), then you’ll develop a valuable relationship that will pay off for you many times over.

Have you been to a book signing lately or read an author interview in a magazine or heard a book talk show on the radio? Chances are you remember more about the story behind the book (what inspired the author) than the book topic. That’s because the most effective way to get people talking about you and your book is to create a memorable story.

Think about it. How many self-help books are out in the marketplace? Financial or investment advice books? How about fantasy novels? Yet, some authors are very successful at spinning their stories so that their books stand out in overcrowded genres and make the bestseller lists.

Rhonda Byrne describes how she was at a personal low in her life–her father died and her business was failing–when she was given a book that revealed the secret to turning her life around. Her desire to share her new-found knowledge with the world was the impetus that led first to the movie, “The Secret,” and then to the book, which still remains on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list after several years.

Robert Kiyosaki told the story of his life lessons learned in his how-to-get-and-stay-rich book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Originally self-published, this memoir-style account of how two powerful role models in his life shaped his approach to building successful businesses topped The New York Times bestseller lists for more than 100 weeks.

JK Rowling was a single mom on welfare writing during her children’s nap time when she began the Harry Potter series. Today she is the richest woman in Great Britain due to the books’ successes.

It’s a long road from humble beginnings to successful author. Just having a good book is not enough. So, how do you get started on the path?

Dramatize your story. What inspired you to write the book? It could be as simple as a passing comment from your partner or child or it could have been a milestone event in your life. Laura Duksta, author of The New York Times bestselling children’s book I Love You More, says the story was inspired while she was praying for her sister and nephew. Deborah Sharp, author of the newly released murder mystery, Mama Does Time, says after 9/11 she turned from reporting the news as a USA Today journalist to fiction writing so she could write about happy endings for change.

Here are some tips on how use your packaged story as a base to to build your audience while you are writing your book:

1.Position yourself as an expert. Write articles for trade publications. Teach classes, seminars or workshops. Offer yourself as a guest for local radio or television shows.
2. Connect with your target audience. Start a newsletter. Write a blog. Be a guest speaker for professional or civic groups. Join groups or associations connected to your topic and take a leadership role or volunteer for committees.
3. Publicize your work. Write press releases, post your events on community calendars and participate in social networking sites.
4. Once the book is out, arrange book signings at bookstores or businesses related to your topic. One author I know sold her mystery novel set amid the fast-paced NASCAR racing scene at racetrack events.
5. Virtual book tours via blogs are sweeping the Internet. If you don’t know what I’m talking about and you’re still in the writing process, this is the perfect time to learn about how blogging can help skyrocket book sales.

Whether your story is about how you came to write your book or the circumstances behind your unique message, it is what your audience will remember long after reading your book or hearing you speak. This is the fine art of communicating at the core level. People who learn to do this well make lasting connections that translate to bestsellers and high demand for their services, where they get to tell their story again and again and again and… .

HARO (Help a Reporter Out), the brainchild of publicist Peter Shankman, is a must-have free subscription for any author or business person who wants easy access to fabulous publicity opportunities. Delivered by email three times per day, with anywhere from 15 to 40+ queries from journalists (which include print, Internet and broadcast media), HARO provides a seemingly unending supply of editors, bloggers and broadcasters looking for sources for their stories. In other words, they are looking for YOU.

Since the first time I mentioned this service in my newsletter about 6 weeks ago, I’ve had feedback from readers on their HARO successes. I’ve had a few of my own, too.

I submitted writing tips in response to queries from blogger Laurie Kienlen and my material, my book title plus links to my site were included in 3 blog posts: Best Writing Advice, Best Leads and Tips for Staying Motivated.

Feng Shui expert Pat Heydlauff responded to several queries and has scored a radio interview. Just this week she received an immediate positive response to a submission she sent to a New York-based magazine looking for Feng Shui experts to interview regarding “how harmonizing your bedroom/house will help relationship dynamics” for an article that will appear on its website, which gets over 400,000 unique hits monthly.

And the Queen of HARO award goes to survivor coach Paula Holland De Long, who has been quoted in Aventura Magazine, featured in a story on Capessa.com and interviewed by a national magazine and is awaiting confirmation that her segment will be used.

Have you had HARO success? Email me with your success and I’ll extend your coverage by mentioning it in this newsletter and on my blog. I’ve even posted tips on how to pitch or respond to a journalist’s query for those of you who need some help with your pitches. It doesn’t get much better than that. What are you waiting for? Let me know HARO you doing!

Back in the days when I toiled in advertising, those people who were locked in their offices, hunched over desks either writing copy or designing the layouts for the ads were called “creatives.” The “beautiful people” were the account execs who got to wine and dine the clients as part of their job to sign and keep the accounts.

And that is how “creative” can be perceived: The starving artist, reclusive writer and temperamental actor.

I don’t like clichés or stereotypes, so today’s myth-busting message is that authors can be both creative and entertaining. Here are three examples of writers who extended their imaginations past the page to the public’s eye.

The first two were clever enough to tie their work to the event foremost in most Americans’ minds right now–the presidential election.

Mark LaFlamme, author of the novel, Dirt: An American Campaign, put his protagonist, Frank Cotton, in the race with a website and blog for the fictitious character. Those who want to help promote Frank Cotton and the book can download a banner to post on their own websites or blogs and get the good deed reciprocated with their links listed on the “candidate’s” site as a Friend of Frank Cotton.

My client, Feng Shui expert Pat Heydlauff, wrote and posted a press release/article analyzing the colors worn by First Lady Laura Bush, Senator Hillary Clinton, Cindy McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during their presentations at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. This was not a fashion article, but a commentary on how color helped deliver the speakers’ messages with respect to both the outfit and the contrast against the background. The article was picked up by newspapers around the country, with Pat’s short bio, website link and mention of her upcoming book, Feng Shui: So Easy a Child Can Do It.

Author Deb Sharp overcame her resistance to what she calls “shameless promotion” by poking fun of herself both in her personal blog and in Ask Mama, the blog she created for her title character in Mama Does Time and Mama Rides Shotgun. Deb has even created some radio essays for Tampa’s National Public Radio station WUSF-FM that detail the “horrors” she has faced getting ready to be a published author.

I could write a book (and maybe I will) about clever ways to promote yourself. But, you’re a writer, too, so you don’t need me to tell you how to be creative. Just get in the shower, take a walk, drive your car or whatever gets your muse working and think of ways to get your work in front of readers. And then send me your story so I can tell everyone here.