Have You Googled Yourself Lately?

Interesting article today in USA Today.

Although I hadn’t noticed this, Pontiac’s most recent ads are sending prospective buyers to Google rather than the local Pontiac dealer. “Google Pontiac” was their call to action rather than the traditional “Go to your local Pontiac Dealer for a test drive.”

Imagine Pontiac’s surprise when they discovered that Mazda had purchased a buncha advertising under the keyword “Pontiac.”

Yup. When a customer placed “Pontiac” in the Google box, Mazda ads appeared at the top and right hand side of the page.

Good marketing on whose part?

Read the final results here:

http://tinyurl.com/dtvxz

And while you’re at it, why not google your own name and see what transpires.

If not fun, it’ll at least be interesting.

Talk later

Beth
http://filbertpublishing.com/
http://bethannerickson.com/
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CopywriterMastermind

Bob Woodruff

Last weekend we received word that ABC news co-anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt were severely injured while covering the Iraq war. Today they’re showing signs of improvement and will hopefully be airlifted to the US later this week.

Wow. It’s one thing to hear war stats on the radio, but to attach a face to those stats… well that really brings the point home.

As a writer, a former stringer for the local newspaper, I instantly thought of all the times I drove a little too fast in icy conditions to “get the story.”

I remember racing across a busy highway to snap a pic of a split tanker car glugging copious amounts of corn syrup into a neighboring wetland. Had to hurry before the dang thing emptied and I’d lose the photo op. Semi almost hit me as I sprinted across the tar.

Writers are a curious lot. We’ll move heaven and earth to get down to the brass tacks of a story. We’ll risk life and limb ferreting out that one golden piece of information will make or break our article/book/project.

And today Woodruff and Vogt and paying the price we all must consider before we place our story above all else.

My thoughts are with these two fine men and their families. My prayers are fixed on every reporter who tempts fate.

And to every soldier who risks their life daily, I humbly salute you.

Here’s a link to read more:

http://tinyurl.com/bvbcq

Talk later,

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com
BethAnnErickson.com
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CopywriterMastermind

Oprah’s Shame, A Writer’s Responsibility

Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware of the latest publishing scandal.

But in case you don’t know what’s going on, here’s a recap to get you up to speed:

James Frey’s “A Million Little Pieces” was an Oprah Book Club selection. Because of that endorsement, it went on to sell millions.

One little problem, though. The Smoking Gun website uploaded evidence that Frey’s tales were at the best exaggerated, at worst complete lies.

Oprah originally stood by Frey, but yesterday withdrew that support in a very public way. Right on her show, she confronted Frey with (from what I hear) a vengeance.

And she had every right to do so.

But the problem goes much deeper than this.

I’m not sure what the deal is, but I know of more than one writer who blatantly inflates their bio in order to land more writing assignments.

For example, I ran across a bio yesterday that listed “author” amongst its credits. Now the term “author” implies that the person has written a book. A full-fledged, perfect bound masterpiece that will undoubtedly change the world.

You can “author” articles, but then you’re a writer. You can “author” sales letters, but then you’re a copywriter. But writing either of these little chunks of prose does not an “author” make. Author = book.

This person hasn’t written a book. Ever. But someone reading their bio would be led to believe so.

Sigh.

If a writer lies in their bio, how can they possibly be trusted with a real assignment?

And if a writer blatantly lies in their own memoirs, well, I guess their career may very well be tainted forever.

And that’s too bad. For those with the greatest imaginations contain the most potential in this biz.

Just keep that imagination reserved for fiction, not nonfiction.

Here’s a link if you want to read more about Frey.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060127/D8FD2U887.html

Talk later!

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com
BethAnnErickson.com

E-Harlequins?

Harlequin has just announced that they’re releasing a new line of e-books. Seems these e-books will transfer easily to nearly every hand held device.

Pretty cool notion, if you ask me.

I love e-books. Instant download. Instant readability. Instant gratification.

However, I still love curling up in my lazee-boy and devouring a new book. I’m not sure how I’ll like curling up with a Blackberry.

But I’ll sure give it a shot.

Here’s the link if you want to know more.

http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/index.jhtml

Talk later,

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com
BethAnnErickson.com

11 Grand to Write Articles?

According to KIROTV, freelance writer, Audry Lewis wrote (and eventually got published) a group of newspaper stories sympathetic to HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. Seems Scrushy secretly paid Lewis $11,000 to read her articles before publication.

At the time, Scrushy was on trial for alleged involvement in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme at the chain of health clinics. He was later acquitted.

Which makes me wonder: how far should newspaper reporters go to make sure their facts are “correct.”

I remember working as a stringer for the largest regional newspaper in central Minnesota. More than once, the person I interviewed asked to review an article I’d written about them before it got published. If my subject wanted to review a hard news piece, I didn’t let them review anything.

Soft human interest articles? Yup. Occasionally I allowed the interviewee to review it before publication. However, I rarely changed anything I’d written based on their requests.

But to be hired by someone under trial to present their “side” of the story? I’d say that was wrong.

Here’s the link:

http://www.kirotv.com/money/6274680/detail.html

‘Till later,

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com

Returnable Books

Awhile back I read a most persuasive article written by an owner of a prominent POD (print on demand) publishing company. The author delivered a scathing report on the state of the book publishing industry and recommended that, to repair this damaged industry, all publishers should decree their books as “non-returnable.”

Sounded great.

In fact, the particular company this person owns does indeed practice what they preach. Bookstores are unable to return any book they order from this company.

So, as part owner of Filbert Publishing, and partly because the article was so danged persuasive, I figured I’d see where their advice would lead.

I began by calling our Baker and Taylor representative to find out what would happen if we made our books non-returnable.

Well… turns out that non-returnable books would pretty much cripple book sales.

Here’s what our rep told me:

1. Wholesalers will not stock any non-returnable books. Period. First thing that would happen is that Baker and Taylor would return every Filbert Publishing book they currently have in stock.

2. Bookstores wouldn’t carry any Filbert Publishing book that was non-returnable. Period. Ever. If any of our authors wanted one of their books stocked in a bookstore… forget it. They won’t stock it. Bookstores are quite leery of ordering unproven stock.

3. Bookstores wouldn’t special-order any books from Filbert Publishing. They type in the book title and if it’s not “in stock” at the warehouse, they’ll simply say “It’s unavailable.”

This didn’t sound great to me, so I decided to test what rep said. I found a few titles from that particular publishing house and trekked to the local bookstore. I asked them if they stocked any of those titles. They didn’t.

I then asked if they’d ever consider stocking any of those titles. They wouldn’t.

I asked if I could special order them. After a l-o-n-g spate of typing, the clerk told me the book “wasn’t in stock” so they couldn’t order it.

At another bookstore, a big red flag flashed on the screen every time the clerk entered one of the titles on my list. Didn’t look good at all.

My opinion on non-returnable books?

Well, we’re in the business to sell our titles. In my opinion, any publisher that implements a non-returnable book policy creates an environment that instantly puts their authors at a disadvantage.

But we’re just a small company that carefully chooses that projects we take on. With the deep niche we’re involved in, returns really aren’t a big deal.

Rambling thought of the day,

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com

Gassy Lu

OK. Gross post here. Stop reading this instant if you're easily offended.

Little background, first.

We’re vegetarian. Vegan to be exact. Chose a low-fat vegan lifestyle after my husband’s heart attack three years ago. I joined in around a year ago.

It’s the best thing we ever did. Maury’s (my dear husband) blood numbers are fantastic. We’ve both lost weight. Feel great.

But I digress.

Vegging out means we eat a ton of beans. Lots of ‘em at every meal.

Well, yesterday I had the grand idea to throw some garbanzos into Lucy’s (my Rat Terrier Wonder Dog) food dish. Boy, she loved ‘em. Gobbled ‘em down faster than a t-bone.

All was well with the world until last night.

Peder (my dear son) sat at his computer working on home work. Suddenly his nose wrinkled. Then he snorted.

“Jeez,” he gasped, “What's that smell?”

“Don’t smell a thing,” I mumbled. Then the cloud reached me. “Holy smoke,” I exclaimed, “what the he*l!”

We scanned the room and the only suspect lay snoozing curled in a fuzzy ball in the nearby Lazee Boy, snoring softly.

As we approached little Lucy, the odor grew pungent.

“What did you feed her,” my son deadpanned.

“Why do you assume it’s me?”

He rolled his eyes as another cloud jetted into the atmosphere.

That’s the exact moment I remembered the garbanzos.

Dang.

We spent the remainder of the evening gagging, choking, and waiting for those accursed beans to “pass.”

They have. And life is back to normal today.

Poor dog. Poor “the rest of us” living anywhere near her.

Moral of the story? Don’t feed your dog beans. They love ‘em. But beans evidently don’t love dogs.

‘till tomorrow!

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com

Gotta Steal This Book

These past few days I’ve been reading Harlan Kilstein’s “Steal This Book! Million Dollar Sales Letters You Can Legally Steal to Suck in Cash Like a Vacuum on Steroids.”

Whew. That’s a mouthful, eh?

Quickie review: I’m around 100 pages into it and am deeply impressed.

This guy knows his stuff.

Along with sharing every aspect of his personal swipe file, Harlan’s included a thorough intro to each letter along with detailed instructions on how to effectively and ethically swipe ad copy for your own use.

Pretty cool stuff.

Bet you want to get your hands on it.

Well, you can’t. Not for a couple months at least.

I’ll let you know when this “gotta have” book’s finally released.

Until then, I’ll keep reading and will report back here.

Take care!

Beth
http://filbertpublishing.com

Home Sweet Home

I’m back in Minnesota!

Wow. What a ride home.

Red-eyes from San Francisco to Minnesota are a true adventure. Between watching the theater of reality at the airport and the long drive home, I’m truly exhausted.

But raring to go.

With a list as long as my arm, I’m slowly tackling every task, every idea, every plan I learned at the San Fran seminar.

Starting with my website.

If you’re a freelance writer and don’t have a website, get one today. In fact, get moving on it right away.

If you don’t know how to program HTML, I highly recommend XSite Pro. It’s simple to use. Effortless to optimize. A breeze to upload.

Here’s a link so you can read more:

http://tinyurl.com/bs5m9

To your success,

Beth
FilbertPublishing.com

Plans, Schemes, and Sore Feet

Today's my last day in San Francisco.

After writing at the bar, standing on my feet for what seemed like forever, I'm finally resting my tired body in a blessed chair rat-a-tat-tatting on my computer.

Can't complain, though.

As I stood at the bar, computer humming in front of me, Xsite Pro Guru Jim Van Wyck gave so many tips and hints on revising websites that I barely noticed my throbbing feet.

Plus his approach to book sales is truly refreshing. More on that later.

'Twas worth every bit of pain.

Now I'm sitting, hardly able to believe everything I learned this weekend.

Tons of great ideas. Tons of techniques. Every one of them doable.

But will I actually implement them?

I plan on it.

After all, plans not implemented are merely dreams. Dreams don't make a writer wealthy.

So I'm heading back to Minnesota in four hours with my plan in hand and schedule set to go.

I'll let you know how it goes.

To your success!

Beth
http://FilbertPublishing.com

Copywriting Sweatshop

Greetings from California!

Harlan Kilstein's Six Figure Copywriting Seminar continues. At this very moment I'm sitting in Harlan's room surrounded by 11 other writers, all pounding away at their computers, shouting ideas, and throwing back brewskies.

I've never met a nicer group of people.

Strangest things about this group of writers is that instead of jealously guarding their secrets, they tend to give each other a leg up... a helping hand... a sounding board for new ideas.

In fact, at this very moment Tina and Harlan are coaching a participent on how to run her Ask campaign. Boy, they're really brainstorming.

Last night Chris Jones from http://chrisjonesfreelancecopy.com gave me a ton of tips for one of my own keyword campaigns. He really went the extra mile.

Ask for that kind of help from any other community and I'm not sure you'd get that same response.

It's incredible. The talent contained in this one room is utterly explosive.

And so is the volume.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Minnesota and my quiet writing room.

I think I'll miss these folks.

Talk later!

Beth
http://filbertpublishing.com

Greetings from San Francisco!

Ok.

I'm sitting in a motel room surrounded by handome men.

Totally true. Kinda.

I'm at Harlan Kilstein's Copywriting Seminar and at least forty people are currently sitting in his hotel room, laptops humming, keyboards tapping, jokes flying left, right, and center.

We're quite the noisy bunch. Productive, too.

If you had a chance to attend this event and didn't grab the opportunity, I truly feel bad for you.

After a marathon, mind bending session today I didn't think I'd be in any shape to write tonight.

But after a quick supper, I'm raring to go.

How could I not be after everything I learned today?

Jeepers. I had no idea there were so many ways to earn a living as a writer without ever looking at a client.

I can't wait for tomorrow's revelations.

Talk later,

Beth
http://FilbertPublishing.com