Special Invitation!

You are invited to attend a Special Event conducted by Joel Roberts and Associates.  This is our third, and final showcase for the publishing industry, where we will be demonstrating Joel's revolutionary approach to preparing authors to take the media -- ALL the media -- by storm.  TV, radio, print, internet, blogs, podcasts, videos, tweets, speaking engagements, book signings... come find out how we transform authors into impact-generating, book-selling, proactive Partners in Promotion.

Joel Roberts is a former prime time KABC Radio, Los Angeles talk show host.  Since leaving talk radio, he has media-coached dozens of New York Times best-selling authors, including:

• Chicken Soup for the Soul
• Stephen Covey, of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• Jack Canfield, of The Success Principles
• Harv Eker, of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
• Marci Shimoff, of Happy For No Reason (currently a PBS Special)
• Byron Katie, of Loving What Is
• Lisa Lillien, of Hungry Girl
• Robert Allen, of No Money Down
• Jay Abraham, of Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got

Joel’s clients have been on Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The O’Reilly Factor, the cover of Time Magazine, the front pages of the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, and literally thousands of talk radio shows.

At our showcase event, Joel and his team will take authors and their publishers, publicists and editors through his signature seminar, tailored to the publishing industry, and you will be able to experience first hand what all the buzz is about!

To give you a "taste" of our work with authors and a preview of this event, please enjoy the following...

INTERVIEW WITH JOEL ROBERTS

What’s the mission of your company?

To provide clients with the most effective media strategies they can have – strategies for both getting on the air and for delivering “killer” interviews.

Do you work only in the publishing field?

No, but it’s our first love! Actually, our clients are remarkably diverse.  They range from start-up entrepreneurs raising venture capital to Fortune 100 companies, such as Wal-Mart and Pfizer; from advocates testifying on Capitol Hill to trial lawyers delivering closing statements to juries; from doctors bringing new medical treatments to the market to environmental engineers designing “green” buildings.

So our clients are varied, and their venues are, too. But in all these settings there’s a common challenge: the stakes are high and the moment is brief.^TM

What’s your overall take on the current relationship between the book world and the media?

I’ve got some bad news, some good news, and some great news.  The bad news is that the days of the ivory tower writer are over.  If you can’t promote yourself, your prospects are slim.

A further issue is that, in many arenas, authors aren’t booked as often as they once were or kept on the air as long as they once were.

On the other hand, there’s good news: first of all, relative to even five years ago, there’s now an astonishing profusion of promotional opportunities for authors with media savvy and skill.  In addition to the “traditional venues” – radio, network TV, print – there are now cable networks galore (our system in Los Angeles has 500 channels) and, of course, the internet is literally limitless in its possibilities.

All that is definitely good news. And, even better, there’s great news.

And what is that?

Us.

You?

Yes, us.  My company.  We’re great news.  We’re some of the best friends the publishing industry ever had.

Isn’t that a bit self-serving?

Yes, it’s totally, completely and unabashedly self-serving.   On the Self-Serving Scale it’s a “10 out of 10”.

Well, at least you’re honest!  Now, please make your case.  What exactly do you do?

We create literary self-promotion machines.  We teach authors to effectively pitch themselves and to deliver compelling interviews, the kind that will cause an audience to stop in their tracks and salivate.

If I have a publicist, why do I need to pitch myself?

For three reasons:

First, you won’t always have your publicist.  Generally, their tenure lasts only 90 days. Yet wouldn’t you like your book’s shelf life to continue?

Second, even while the PR staff is on the case, you’ll be called upon to do “pre-interviews” with producers.  These off-the-air conversations are a hybrid event: they are part audition, part pitch.   During these calls your publicist will NOT be on the line, yet the hook of the show may change on the spot.  YOUR ability to do the media dance will determine whether you get booked at all, and, if so, how long the segment is likely to be.

And third, your publicist is human.  There are only so many venues they can cover in the time they have.  It’s your job to reach out to as much as of the rest as you can.

The bottom line is this: during ALL phases of a book’s life, you need to be able to pitch yourself.

You use the term “hook.”  Please explain.

Here’s the best way to understand hooks: Your message is what you want to share with humanity. Your hooks – notice the plural – are the strategies that get you on shows so that you can share your message.  Your hooks will vary from venue to venue.  Pitching Oprah is not like pitching Howard Stern.  Pitching Daily Kos is not like pitching The O’Reilly Factor.

To illustrate, let’s say your message is “how to raise a moral child.”  Your hooks might be:

• A fifteen-year-old boy killed a thirteen-year-old for his iPod.  The demographics of murder are getting younger and younger.   What can we do to keep our kids safe?
• It’s been reported that teachers are inflating students’ test scores so school districts can earn much-needed funds.  That’s right: the teachers are cheating!  What can parents do to help their kids grow up right?
• Where do parents draw the line in spying on their kids?  Is it right to install cameras in kids’ bedrooms?  To monitor their email and internet activity?  To bring in drug-sniffing dogs to go through their closets?  Some parents are doing all of the above.   Don’t kids need some autonomy if they’re going to grow into responsible adults?   What should you do?

And now, with your permission, I’d like to derive three crucial principles from the above.

Please do.

First, any message is infinitely “hookable,” which is great news.  But here’s a serious caveat: your message, however important, is NOT a hook in itself, and the confounding of the two is a frequent – and frequently fatal – mistake.

Secondly, notice that we’ve skewed the above toward parents.  Why?  DEMOGRAPHICS.  Your must be able to tailor your hooks to the listening, viewing or reading audience at hand.  For many venues, i.e. talk radio, parents are in the bull’s-eye of the target population.  (Please note: this is only one example.  Every show has its own demographics, ranging from young to old and male to female, with every possible mix in between.)

Finally, notice the “current events” aspect of all of the hooks.  The murder happened in Manhattan a year ago.  The cheating teachers were written about in Freakonomics, still happily on the best-seller lists.  And the drug-sniffing dogs were reported on last week on ABC’s World News Tonight with Charles Gibson.

So our third principle is this: The best topics are topical.  They tie into the news.  That’s how you maintain an evergreen media life.

Wow! I’m learning a lot about how to position myself!  What about the actual interview?

In our seminars, in our group tele-classes, and in our private coaching, we train you to nail the interview.

• You’ll learn the critical balance to your communications power
• You’ll learn how to “frontload” your key selling points, no matter what questions the interviewer asks
• You’ll develop a singular signature in the marketplace, using a vocabulary (literally!) that’s all your own
• You’ll handle adversity and skepticism so well, you will welcome it as the host’s investment of energy in the segment!

And more.

Isn’t most media training one-on-one?  Why do you emphasize seminars and group teleclasses?

We totally believe in one-on-one, and we do it every day of the week.  Yet, at the heart of our company is a core conviction: since media inevitably involves an audience, shouldn’t media training involve an audience, too?

To us, the answer is self-evident.  Plus, the synergy at our seminars is amazing.  Clients learn so much from watching each other get trained.

Who are your other instructors?

Heidi Wall Roberts, our COO, is a former producer of movies and mini-series for the “Big Three” networks and cable.

Judy Rybak is a former producer of Dr. Phil and Prime Time Live.

Michelle Anton is a former producer of Oprah!, Dr. Laura, Montel, and A and E Biography.

Between all of us, we’ve programmed thousands of hours for millions of viewers and listeners.

Sounds great!  How do I register?  What’s the cost?

All you need to do is give us a call at 310-441-2560 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know that you’d like to attend.  Include your phone number and we’ll call you back to discuss the cost, answer any questions and take care of your registration.

The logistics of the event are as follows:

DATES:       January 8,9,10, 2010 (Fri/Sat/Sun)
HOURS:      9AM to 7PM all three days (usually we end a bit earlier on Sunday)
LOCATION: The Marriott Hotel at the Brooklyn Bridge

We often have a discounted sleeping room rate at this hotel.  We’ll send you additional details if you’d like to stay there.

Please feel free to call or email with any further questions you might have.  We’d be delighted to talk with you.  Our contact info is below.

We look forward to meeting you!

Joel Roberts

For further detais about the seminar click here.