This just in from Trisha Gallagher... More good news...
"I just wanted to add that I advertised in Radio/TV Interview Report from Bradley Communications about my angel project. An unlikely by-product was that a man called who was a representative for QVC Home Shopping Network.
I appeared as a guest host twice and was paid for it. They even gave me a day and half of media training (one full day at the QVC studio, and a mini-session in a local Friendly's restaurant), complete with hair and make-up for the two appearances. Although the product I was demonstrating was not a sell-out, I learned so much. I was not even demonstrating my own product but since my product was about angels, they had me involved twice with their inspirational shows, regarding another person's angel product.
It was less expensive to have me do it since I lived within a day's drive of doing the segment, and it would have cost a lot more to accommmodate the two ladies who invented the angel product. They were from California and Alaska!
Friday, February 04, 2005
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Bookstore Tourism: An Income Stream
Looking for a Literary Sideline to Supplement Your Writing Income?
Consider Leading Bookstore Tourism Road Trips! -- by Larry Portzline
Making a living as a professional writer often means finding part-time or temporary non-writing jobs to supplement your income. It’s sad but all too true.
So, when the need arises, do you look for a gig that’s related to your chosen profession, such as teaching a writing class or proofreading a local magazine? Or are you forced to take what you can get, like flipping burgers or moving pianos?
Why not lead a Bookstore Tourism road trip? Bookstore Tourism is a hot new travel niche for bibliophiles that started out as a grassroots effort to promote independent bookstores and support literacy efforts. It encourages booklovers to organize day-trips and other literary outings to cities and towns with interesting, fun and unique bookshops that people in their own communities may not get to visit regularly.
In 2003 and 2004, I led six sold-out bookstore adventures to New York City and Washington, DC for two colleges in central Pennsylvania. I made some money as the organizer and tour guide, but I got something else out of the bargain: based on this experience, I wrote a how-to book called -- naturally -- Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addict’s Guide to Planning & Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles & Other Bookshop Junkies.
The guide tells how to plan bookstore road trips with friends, schools, libraries and other organizations, whether the group numbers 5 or 50. It provides numerous tips and easy, step-by-step suggestions on how to research bookstores, arrange transportation, publicize trips, and create brochures and other promotional material.
If you’re a writer on the lookout for a part-time assignment, here are five easy ways to get on board and start leading Bookstore Tourism road trips:
1. Do a test-run: Plan a reconnaissance trip to the bookstores in another town (no more than two or three hours away, preferably). Find out what bookshops are there, including their specialties and exact locations, and come up with a game plan to hit them all (some web research beforehand will help). Jot down plenty of notes while you’re there because you’ll want to share the information with future groups. It takes a little work, but discovering new literary meccas is well worth the initial effort.
2. Plan a group trip with an organization: Bookstore Tourism is a perfect activity for reading groups, libraries, schools, colleges, non-profits and many other organizations. Talk to these folks about sponsoring a bookstore trip, and offer to organize and lead it for a specified fee. Depending on the size of your gang, you can load everyone into a couple of minivans, or, you can hire a tour bus for the day. You can make it a members-only event or open it up to the community as an outreach activity or fundraiser.
3. Combine your trip with other literary attractions: Many great bookstore towns offer tours of famous authors’ homes. Others are renowned as the settings of well-known books. Be sure to include these literary sites in your travels, either before or after you visit the local bookshops.
4. Partner with bookstores and other local businesses: Ask the booksellers in your town how you can partner with them to create Bookstore Tourism events, and hire yourself out as a consultant. Team up with your local chamber of commerce, tour bus companies and travel agents to attract out-of-town bibliophiles to your community. Consider organizing Bookstore Exchange Trips with booklovers from other cities.
5. Start Bookstore Adventure Clubs: Numerous adventure clubs around the country focus primarily on outdoorsy events and even adventure dining at exotic restaurants. Tweak this idea a little by getting the book-aholics in your community to form Bookstore Adventure Clubs, and make literary road trips a monthly or even bi-weekly activity!
Why not take the lead on this ground-breaking travel trend and establish yourself as the Bookstore Tourism expert in your town? It’s a great sideline for writers, and loads of fun for booklovers just like you!
Larry Portzline, of Harrisburg, PA, is the author of Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addict’s Guide to Planning & Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles & Other Bookshop Junkies. For more information, visit http://www.bookstoretourism.com.
Consider Leading Bookstore Tourism Road Trips! -- by Larry Portzline
Making a living as a professional writer often means finding part-time or temporary non-writing jobs to supplement your income. It’s sad but all too true.
So, when the need arises, do you look for a gig that’s related to your chosen profession, such as teaching a writing class or proofreading a local magazine? Or are you forced to take what you can get, like flipping burgers or moving pianos?
Why not lead a Bookstore Tourism road trip? Bookstore Tourism is a hot new travel niche for bibliophiles that started out as a grassroots effort to promote independent bookstores and support literacy efforts. It encourages booklovers to organize day-trips and other literary outings to cities and towns with interesting, fun and unique bookshops that people in their own communities may not get to visit regularly.
In 2003 and 2004, I led six sold-out bookstore adventures to New York City and Washington, DC for two colleges in central Pennsylvania. I made some money as the organizer and tour guide, but I got something else out of the bargain: based on this experience, I wrote a how-to book called -- naturally -- Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addict’s Guide to Planning & Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles & Other Bookshop Junkies.
The guide tells how to plan bookstore road trips with friends, schools, libraries and other organizations, whether the group numbers 5 or 50. It provides numerous tips and easy, step-by-step suggestions on how to research bookstores, arrange transportation, publicize trips, and create brochures and other promotional material.
If you’re a writer on the lookout for a part-time assignment, here are five easy ways to get on board and start leading Bookstore Tourism road trips:
1. Do a test-run: Plan a reconnaissance trip to the bookstores in another town (no more than two or three hours away, preferably). Find out what bookshops are there, including their specialties and exact locations, and come up with a game plan to hit them all (some web research beforehand will help). Jot down plenty of notes while you’re there because you’ll want to share the information with future groups. It takes a little work, but discovering new literary meccas is well worth the initial effort.
2. Plan a group trip with an organization: Bookstore Tourism is a perfect activity for reading groups, libraries, schools, colleges, non-profits and many other organizations. Talk to these folks about sponsoring a bookstore trip, and offer to organize and lead it for a specified fee. Depending on the size of your gang, you can load everyone into a couple of minivans, or, you can hire a tour bus for the day. You can make it a members-only event or open it up to the community as an outreach activity or fundraiser.
3. Combine your trip with other literary attractions: Many great bookstore towns offer tours of famous authors’ homes. Others are renowned as the settings of well-known books. Be sure to include these literary sites in your travels, either before or after you visit the local bookshops.
4. Partner with bookstores and other local businesses: Ask the booksellers in your town how you can partner with them to create Bookstore Tourism events, and hire yourself out as a consultant. Team up with your local chamber of commerce, tour bus companies and travel agents to attract out-of-town bibliophiles to your community. Consider organizing Bookstore Exchange Trips with booklovers from other cities.
5. Start Bookstore Adventure Clubs: Numerous adventure clubs around the country focus primarily on outdoorsy events and even adventure dining at exotic restaurants. Tweak this idea a little by getting the book-aholics in your community to form Bookstore Adventure Clubs, and make literary road trips a monthly or even bi-weekly activity!
Why not take the lead on this ground-breaking travel trend and establish yourself as the Bookstore Tourism expert in your town? It’s a great sideline for writers, and loads of fun for booklovers just like you!
Larry Portzline, of Harrisburg, PA, is the author of Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addict’s Guide to Planning & Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles & Other Bookshop Junkies. For more information, visit http://www.bookstoretourism.com.
Bookmarks for Peace
Trisha Gallagher of teamofangelshelpme.com has parlayed the hook of being a Doubleday and Scholastic author into a topic that is timely. The war in Iraq, the troubles in Indonesia and Sudan, and the search for world peace and inner peace has the media interested in talking to her.
As Trisha noted, "I decided I needed a gimmick so I dubbed myself The Frugal Momma since one of my books is titled Raising Happy Kids on a Budget. The media is often intrigued by my new name (Frugal Momma). Attention is growing daily as I turn my inexpensive bookmarks into an opportunity for name recognition and promotion for paid speaking engagements. The simple web page was done by a 14 year old friend of my son's who only charged fifty dollars. So for all of those authors on a shoestring budget, please visit my one page web site. My motto is now KEEP IT SIMPLE."
As Trisha noted, "I decided I needed a gimmick so I dubbed myself The Frugal Momma since one of my books is titled Raising Happy Kids on a Budget. The media is often intrigued by my new name (Frugal Momma). Attention is growing daily as I turn my inexpensive bookmarks into an opportunity for name recognition and promotion for paid speaking engagements. The simple web page was done by a 14 year old friend of my son's who only charged fifty dollars. So for all of those authors on a shoestring budget, please visit my one page web site. My motto is now KEEP IT SIMPLE."
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