Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with press

Why wouldn't this book be published in the US first?

Locative — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:17:36 -0800

Why isn't the sequel to The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters out in America yet when it's already published in the UK? The UK published the first book after America did, so why would the UK publish the sequel first now? Is it even going to be published in the US? Help me, booksellers and those knowledgeable in publishing! I read Gordon Dahlquist's book The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters when it came out in the USA in 2006. I knew he was working on a sequel, so I was eagerly awaiting its publication.

However, my recent Googlings show that a sequel, apparently called The Dark Volume, came out in the UK at the beginning of this month. What gives, since it isn't out in the US yet?

Since the first book came out in the UK after it came out in the US, why would the sequel not come out in the US first too? Did it not do well enough in the US to merit publication of the sequel? Is this possibly the reason that the first book hasn't come out in paperback yet, nearly two years since it came out?

Excuse me, did you just kick sand on me?

chugg — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:19:46 -0800

How do I increase my bench press, possibly working out alone? I want to bench 300 lbs. I currently max out at about 175 lbs. Please share routines, techniques, schedules, etc. needed to do this.

The gym I use is in my apartment complex and there is never anyone there that I could ask to spot. Is this possible (or safe) to do alone?

Press release etiquette?

bubukaba — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:31:40 -0800

What is proper etiquette for writing and distributing press releases? General advice, book/website suggestions appreciated; more specific questions inside. I've been publicity chair of a film society in Chicago for about two months. We have a 500-seat cinema, we screen films every night of the week on 35mm whenever possible (often rare or archival prints), and we have some of the most interesting, eclectic programming in the city. So, in some senses we're very professional.

But the reality is that we're actually an all-volunteer organization staffed by unpaid undergraduates (I'm one, too) and occasional cinephiles from the City. The University is completely uninvolved in most of our work.

So, two months ago I found myself in charge of all of our publicity - with pretty much no experience. I think I've done a pretty good job so far, but I'm concerned that my lack of experience is leading me to make a lot of assumptions about what is and isn't okay to do when dealing with the press.

1: I've mostly been emailing our press releases (we send out one announcing our quarterly calendar and about one a month about special events). Is this a terrible idea?

2: Is it bad form to BCC it to everyone with a generic greeting and "this is the press release for ____. Thanks a lot, etc etc" kind of opening letter? Should I be emailing each reporter individually instead?

3: What should the subject line to an emailed press release read?

4: Should I still put -30- at the end of an emailed press release? (What about a paper one?)

5: Is sending an attached .pdf always bad?

6: Under what circumstances should I mail a paper copy?

7: Should I write to ask if people would like to be added to our press list, or if they want to remain on it? How do I build these sorts of relationships? (This is the kind of thing that seems particularly hard in a four-year institution).

8: How do I inform the press of corrections to my initial press releases?

9: Are there differences in how I should approach newspapers and how I should approach blogs? (I'm particularly worried about my dealings with the Slowdown section of Gapers Block - they seem to have completely ignored everything I've sent them, including questions about how to best submit our calendar of screenings to them).

10: Should I write to thank journalists who write things about us?

11: How long should a press release be?

Any suggestions of web or print resources on figuring this whole game out would be enormously appreciated.

Did Ferraro cry?

serazin — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:05:45 -0800

I was sure I remembered that Geraldine Ferraro cried during the 1984 presidential election, and that the media made the event into a symbol of why women are too weak to hold national office, but now I can't find a headline or news article from that time that mentions her crying. Am I getting this mixed up with Pat Schroeder's famous breakdown when she dropped out?

How to write one press release for many events?

bubukaba — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:58:37 -0800

How can I write a good press release for an entire calendar of events? (As opposed to just a single event) I've just become publicity chair of a film society, and I have very little publicity experience. I've never written a press release before.

We show one or two movies every night of each semester, with a couple of special events (director visits, sneak previews, and so on) thrown in. Each week night is devoted to a series (Hitchcock on Wednesdays, Sexploitation on Thursdays, etc.)

So, there's a lot to fit into a press release.

Traditionally we've sent out one press release at the beginning of the quarter announcing the entire calendar - a prewritten article sort of thing enthusing about the calendar and highlighting some of the interesting things we're showing, with our whole calendar tacked onto the end. I'm fairly sure that the main purpose of this release is to get our calendar into local events listings - as far as I know we've rarely gotten actual press coverage. Sometimes we've issued releases for special events, but not always.

My impulse is to do things a little differently, but I'm not sure whether to trust my impulses.

I think it might be better to make one release for each of the five series, one for each special event, and one announcing the calendar in more bare-bones form.

This new calendar release would, instead of a prewritten article thing, have several bullet-pointed calendar highlights, our location, admission prices, etc, followed by the calendar itself.

Is it okay to use bullet points, or do reporters really prefer to dig through a prewritten article? (I suppose that has the benefit of letting them crib from what's written.)

Is it okay/effective for one organization to send out six different press releases at one time (as I'd do if I followed my plan of one per series, one for the calendar)?

Starting up a small press publishing company.

survivorman — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:31:42 -0800

I'd like to learn the nitty-gritty of starting a small press publishing outfit. Please recommend any (free) resources or howtos that would let me know what's involved with such an operation. I would also be involved the book design, if that's what you were wondering. Thanks.

Letterpress Learning in the Windy City

moooshy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:21:33 -0800

I have become very interested in letterpress recently and was wondering about opportunities in the Chicago area to learn more. I would like to become proficient at letterpress and am debating whether to:

a) take a class at Columbia's Book and Paper Center (though Letterpress doesn't seem to be offered on the weekends, when I'm available...)

b) offer my services as a completely novice apprentice to a letterpress in the area (This is what I'd ideally like to do.)

c) something else, but equally enjoyable. (Are there other classes? An operation in a church basement? Someone willing to take on a sidekick?)

I've been reading Briar Press, so I'm familiar with the presses here in Chicago and the classes at the B&P. My question is this: does anyone know of the best way to pursue this? Which business to contact? The best way to offer myself as a free and completely-willing-to-learn volunteer? I work 9-5 M-F, so I can't do this during the week -- but I want to make this vision a (slightly indented and inky) reality.

Thank you for your help.

Recommendations for press release distribution and writing?

Ookseer — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:17:46 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for press release distribution and writing. I've got a new business (site) launch coming up, and "open for business" isn't the biggest of headline grabbers I would still like to send out a release.

I'm most interested in recommendations for distributors since I don't have the knowledge to separate the ones that reporters pay attention to from the ones they put in the circular file. If possible I'm looking for general national (US) distribution for $1K or less.

I could write the release myself, but if anyone has any good recommendations for this, I'd be glad to outsource this task to someone qualified.

Bush refuses mac

Funmonkey1 — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:14:47 -0800

George W had a press conference today. How can I get the whole thing unedited in a mac friendly format? Tried C-Span, they have it, but am prompted to install windows media converters and its in a compact format. Any ideas or resources?

Can I interview on a cell phone?

faunafrailty — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 19:53:49 -0800

Is it considered rude to conduct a press interview by cell phone? (I'm the writer, not the subject.) I'm about to start writing some freelance articles for my previous employer. I'll try to do all interviews at night and on the weekends, but if I have to schedule an interview during my lunch hour, is it considered bad manners to conduct the interview on a cell phone?

My cell phone rarely cuts out, but I don't want to come across as unprofessional if someone can tell I'm sitting in a parking garage on my phone. Or is everyone so time-crunched these days that it seems natural one would interview someone on a cell?

On a related note, does anyone know if there's a recording device one can attach to a cell phone to record the interview. (I'll ask, of course, for permission to record beforehand.)

Thanks.

PR gurus, please hope me!

mwhybark — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:30:55 -0800

Press release distribution services! About six years ago, I coordinated the development and delivery of weekly press releases for my then-employer. I recall looking at and evaluating a variety of online distribution services before eventually settling on a service that was either free or very inexpensive. [+] I had good luck with the service, scoring national media guest shots for my boss on a couple of occasions. Sadly, I can't recall for the life of me what I used. Poking around online it looks as if the rise of SEO has made it really hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. However, it looks like businesswire.com and prnewswire.com are the services with the greatest reach and credibility. Alas, they do not publish their rates. PRNewsire also appears to have gone on a consolidation binge; additionally, it is commonly offerred via third-party sites as a distribution channel, as seen at PR Web Soooo....

A) Is there a decent free or low-cost release distribution service with both credibility and reach?

B) What are the unpublished rates for the services cited above?

Help me avoid overbrewing

daisyace — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:42:31 -0800

Within the last year, I read about a particular problem with a model or line of tea presses. Now, I can't find which model or line was the problem one, and I'm afraid I'll end up buying that one. The reviews said that the model or line (maybe one of the many from Bodum) failed to stop steeping the tea after the plunger was pushed down, because it didn't seal perfectly. Others from the same company avoided this problem.

I thought I read the bad reviews on Amazon.com, but I've been looking and I can't find them. Someone had even done a test, where he brewed the tea, plunged the plunger, poured out some of the tea, waited, poured out some more, then taste-tested to see whether the second pour was over-brewed. It was with one model or line, and it wasn't with the other. (This matters because it's our habit to brew a pot, then pour and drink it one cup at time over the course of a morning, and we like a pot that lets us put off dealing with the leaves.)

Does anyone know which is the bad model or line? Or have a tea press model that you like, that's still available for purchase, and that you can definitively say doesn't keep brewing after the plunger is depressed?

Selling photos

dydecker — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 07:28:31 -0800

How much is a press shot for a musician worth? What is the general ballpark figure for the agents of indie artists who want to buy nice high resolution press shots? I've got someone interested in press shots but I've never done this before so I don't know what to charge him for them.

Google News has dropped my site as a news source! Help!

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 13:30:16 -0800

My organization's web site was recently redesigned (late May), and since then, Google News has dropped us as a news source! The Google Gods are vain and capricious! What can I do? potsmokinghippieoverlords.org (not its real name, of course) recently redesigned its web site. Not only that, but we switched to a new web host, so the IP address changed as well.

Before the grand re-launching of the site, our press releases would be posted to our site and picked up by Google News within a couple of hours. All the press hippies were happy! (we had a good two year run of hits like this)

Yet ever since the fateful relaunch in mid-May, we've had one (1) press release picked up by Google News. I was expecting some lag time between getting crawled by bots and search engine spiders, but it's nearly August! The press hippies are worried!

I went to this page to send them a message in late June, telling them "hey, we've changed our web site, this is our new IP, please count us as a news source again" but no reply.

We're still getting hits from wire service stories and such -- but why no more love from Google News? Any suggestions? Similar experiences?

Famous instances of the press being threatened?

RobotHero — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 19:36:57 -0800

What are some famous instances of the press being threatened or coerced by government, corporations, or other groups? If I get desperate, I'll also accept very tangential stuff, like Doonesbury getting dropped from the Continental Features comics section.

Contact information for Venezuela press office in London?

By The Grace of God — Sun, 14 May 2006 11:07:36 -0800

Hugo Chavez is in London. Does anybody have a quick link to the Venezuelan Government press office? Phone and email contacts appreciated. The Government's website is hard to navigate. Specific contacts for this press office in London would be nice, too. Many thanks.

Where to buy old camera parts

photoslob — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 23:00:32 -0800

Is there an online source for "antique" cameras, lenses and accessories? I bought a Graflex Crown Graphic on ebay and made my first images with it Thursday. To say I'm in love with the camera is an understatement. I need a new/ used Graflex lens board for a 4x5 lens I have laying around and I've checked all the usual spots (ebay, KEH, B+H, etc.) with little to no results. I'm sure there's a shop or two around the country that specializes in this type of stuff. Even a name or phone number to a shop would be helpful. I hope this isn't too obscure

How do I interview people (for the press, not for jobs)?

caek — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 07:07:37 -0800

How do I interview a novelist? I'll be interviewing a reasonably well-known novelist in a couple of days. I've prepared by reading his book (duh), thinking about it, and reading the big reviews. I think I know what I'd like to come out of the interview having discussed, and assuming I can get that then turning it into an interesting feature will not be difficult.

So it's not the content of the interview that bothers me, but the practicalities of making them comfortable, keeping things moving, and generally getting the best out of a one-shot situation. Ideally, I'd like to come away having had an intelligent, discursive conversation about fiction and writing like. If I had a transcript that read like those Robert Birnbaum has I would consider it a wild success (e.g. Martin Amis, Will Self). I don't particularly want to concentrate on his current novel in great detail for the whole interview.

Has anyone got any general advice about how to conduct an interview for the press? Any articles I might read (I don't really have time for books before Friday)? Any advice germane to my specific situation of reasonably high-brow novelists?

I guess interviewing musicians isn't too different, so if you've got any experience or advice for that situation, I'm all ears. In fact, if you've ever interviewed anyone for an article, what do you know now that you wish you knew beforehand?

If it makes any difference, I've only got thirty minutes (and presumably some email/phone follow-up). I already have his basic biographical information, so we won't have to waste time on that. His publicist will be there. English is not his first language, but I believe he is fluent. It will be conducted in a coffee shop. I will be recording it on a dictaphone.

Where are all the hip publicists?

dsv — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 07:25:47 -0800

I need a hip publicist. I've been shopping around and it seems like they're all stuffy and don't know what MetaFilter is (if you know what I mean). How/where can I find someone that's young, energetic and knows the new methods for my company? We've reached a point where we need to start considering press. We're doing a lot of work... under the radar. We have a new Google deal and we're making progress. This has prompted me to look for a publicsist that perhaps can further the cause and at least get our name out there (which I'll hold for this post since that would be bad form). We were thinking if we could find someone young or starting out in the industry but was internet savvy, we would be a perfect first-ish client. Are there any resources for finding that type of person/publicist? Where are all the hip new publicists?

Question number 4433

contessa — Tue, 06 Jan 2004 16:46:41 -0800

I need some advice on how to present myself well on television. It seems that this has become a (very unwelcome) side effect of my current job [details thither...]