Linda Radke's Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Publishing books was the farthest thing from Linda Radkes mind when she was contemplating a career. The degree in special education and elementary education she received from Arizona State University in 1976 is proof enough of that. However, book publishing has become her career a very successful career as the head of Five Star Publications and Publishers Support Services! She also has written a number of books, including Linda F. Radkes Promote Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show, and The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing: How to Produce and Market Your Book on a Budget.

Radkes eye for opportunity led her on a circuitous route to her lifes work. After several years as a teacher, she recognized a crying need for a household employment agency in her area and founded one. When she realized that many people who needed her services could not afford them, she decided to tap that market by offering her expertise in a self-published book, The Domestic Screening Kit. Its success led her to write and publish Options: A Directory of Child and Senior Services while she still owned her agency.

Thats when she discovered she had printers ink in her blood. So, she sold her agency and founded Five Star Publications, Incorporated. As if to prove her publishing savvy, Five Stars first titles Shakespeare for Children, The Story of Romeo and Juliet, The Sixty-Minute Shakespeare, and Shakespeare: To Teach or Not to Teach, all by Cass Foster continue to enjoy perennial sales success.

Five Star spawned Publishers Support Services, through which Radke helps self-published authors prepare, promote and market their books. The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing was an outgrowth of this aspect of her business. As she had realized in the domestic-help field, many people who needed her services couldnt afford them. So after ten years of advising publishers and authors, she distilled her money-saving tips into the book. An instant success, the book became a 1996 Writer's Digest Book Club Selection. It won a number of awards including first place in the 1996 Arizona Press Women's Communications Contest

Radkes other books include That Hungarians in my Kitchen (a cookbook), Nannies, Maids & More: The Complete Guide for Hiring Household Help, and Household Careers: Nannies, Butlers, Maids & More. This last book received the 1994 Citation for Career Education Initiatives from the American Association for Career Education. It also took first place in the 1994 Arizona Press Women's Communications Contest and received an honorable mention in the 1994 National Federation of Press Women's Communications Contest.

Five Star also has published the award-winning Profits of Death: An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industries by Darryl J. Roberts and The Kosher Kettle: International Adventures in Jewish Cooking by Sybil Ruth Kaplan, a Jewish Book Club selection.

Through Publishers Support Services, Radke has helped to produce and promote such books as Twisted Scriptures: A Path to Freedom from Abusive Churches; The Proper Pig's Guide to Mealtime Manners; Tying the Knot: The Sharp Dresser's Guide to Ties and Handkerchiefs; and SHOAH: Journey from the Ashes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: 5 Star Publications (April 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1877749362
• ISBN-13: 978-1877749360
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,612,035 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PROMOTE LIKE A PRO tells us everything we need to know ..., May 22, 2000

By A Customer

Review from MARYANNE RAPHAEL,Writer Editor, Writers World

PROMOTE LIKE A PRO tells us everything we need to know to promote our own book or any other project effectively and inexpensively.

In the first half of the book, author/editor, Linda Radke illustrates how to prepare an excellent market plan, how to design a cover that will attract readers, how to find and work with a distributor, how to time our publicity so it will be most successful., how to tie our books in with a newsworthy event, and how to use the World Wide Web to publicize our books. In the second half of the book, experts share their knowledge and secrets on marketing and publicity. A professional publicist lists the practical steps needed to publicize a product. The owner of a Marketing company explains how Big companies use marketing, advertising and public relations. A media-relations consultant describes the top three ways to get valuable free publicity. A successful self-publisher tells us how to raise awareness, build good will and sell thousands of copies of our books. A professional speaker tells us how to use Public speaking to "create credibility, visibility and sales." A journalist explains how to get newspaper coverage for our projects. An editor tells how to make our promotional material "editor-friendly." A book reviewer explains how to get our books reviewed and how to make the best use of our reviews. A marketing expert/columnist shows how we can get our own column. An assistant television producer tells how we can get free publicity on tv. A communications instructor tells us how to make the most of every opportunity to publicize our book.

A successful author tells how we can promote ourselves on radio shows across the country without leaving our homes. Publishing and Internet experts shows us how to market books on the Web.

PROMOTE LIKE A PRO is compact, easy to carry in a briefcase or purse and yet it answers almost any questions anyone can have about promoting and marketing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Promotion I ever read, July 20, 2000

By	Susie Chesser, SDS Publishing (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Linda Radke's PROMOTE LIKE A PRO: Small Budget, Big Show > > By Linda F. Radke and contributors > > Five Star Publications, Inc P.O. Box 6698 > >Chandler,AZ 85246 Paperback $19.95 > >e mail: [e-mail]/promote > >phone:[phone] > > Book Review By Susie Chesser > > More and more authors are publishing their own books these days. > For many of them their biggest challenge is promoting their product > without spending a future. Even authors who are published by the > largest and most firmly established publishing houses are finding > themselves faced with this problem. > PROMOTE LIKE A PRO is a valuable tool for all authors, publishers > and public relations people. The information drawn from many experts > with many years of personal and professional experience, is easy to > understand and follow. > It includes the nuts and bolts of publicity and a master plan for > promoting and selling a book. > It tells how to get an early start making your book known, how to > tie in with important news or dates, with special tips on how to market > an unknown author, how to have a successful book signing, and how to get > the Media's attention. > There are tips on how to build good will with the media, how to get > on radio talk shows all over the country without leaving home. In > short this book tells the reader how to get the word out that he or she > has a book that deserves to be read. By following these suggestions, > an author saves time and money and can make the dream of having a best > seller come true.! > > >

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, December 21, 2000

By	Larry James (Scottsdale, AZ USA - Larry James - CelebrateLove.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As an author, I recognize the importance of publicity and promotion; a high priority! Linda is the self-publisher's "Maze Maven." Have a book to promote? You must follow her lead!