BookEnds Talks to Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith
Book: Publicity for Nonprofits
Publisher: Kaplan Business
Pub date: June 2006
Agent: Jacky Sach



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BookEnds: What do you think distinguishes your work from other similar books?
Sandra: Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions provides more hands-on, "here's how to do it" information than any other publicity book on the market. It is tailor-made to the needs of the nonprofit organization, where the person charged with generating publicity probably also has many other responsibilities and wants to know less about the theories behind public relations topics and more about how to create and execute a successful campaign.

BookEnds: What is your favorite thing about this book?
Sandra: I like the detailed level of instruction, the sample forms and tools, and the mini case studies sprinkled throughout the book. They do a good job of bringing the content to life. I was so grateful that nonprofit organizations coast to coast were willing to share their best practices with other nonprofits through this book.

BookEnds: If readers only take away one thing from your book, what would you like it to be?
Sandra: You don't need fairy dust to generate good publicity. You just need to understand a few basic concepts and which tools will take you the farthest fastest.

BookEnds: Why did you write this book?
Sandra: I know a lot about publicity that will help others. I've shared much of it in a book for small business owners, Streetwise Complete Publicity Plans: How to Create Publicity That Will Spark Media Exposure and Excitement, and I wanted to keep sharing it with other market segments. Nonprofits were the logical choice because they need this information perhaps more than any other type of business. I’m now sharing it with authors, too.

BookEnds: What else are you working on?
Sandra: I'm speaking at a writers' conference in Madison, Wisconsin, about book publicity (www.dcs.wisc.edu/LSA/writing/awi/friday.htm) and I'm teaching a four-week online book publicity course for authors in June (www.buildbookbuzz.com/book-publicity.htm) and publishing a free book publicity e-zine for authors (www.buildbookbuzz.com). The goal of the class is to help authors discover how easy it is to get media attention for their books, whether those books are brand-new or have been out for years. I find that authors tend to think only in terms of book reviews when it comes to publicity, and while reviews are important, there is so much more to book publicity that is equally important. Authors need to see and position themselves as topic experts and reach out to the media in an organized way on an ongoing basis. I help them discover the tools and methods for this. There’s also a lot of chatter back and forth among the students in this class that benefits everyone.

To learn more about Sandra Beckwith, see Our Books at www.BookEnds-Inc.com.