Book Review: Public Relations For Dummies, with interview by author, Eric Yaverbaum
Public Relations for Dummies, written by Eric Yaverbaum and published by Wiley, is instructional textbook on being a publicist. Because this is the second how-to I'm reviewing, I've decided to include an interview with the author that took place a year ago, when I first started using the book as a reference guide for publicity. The book has very clear-cut instructions on how to make the most of publicity, utilizing various press and resources, and dotted with anecdotes about the author's own experiences and those of his co-authors.
This book does a very effective job of telling you exactly what you need to do in order to successfully utilize publicity, starting with the planning stages, set up of a publicity office, and even motivating yourself to write press releases. No detail is overlooked--almost to the point where some of the instruction of the book is redundant, but not annoyingly so--because the author, in the book's introduction, includes a note that the book is meant to have its pages flipped through to chapters necessary to your publicity needs. I read it front-to-back anyway.
Along with every suggestion, Yaverbaum includes a brief summary of a similar experience where he either learned the value of said tactic or how it was effectively used. Furthermore, he goes beyond mere instruction to dispel the myths of public relations and examine some of the most successful public relations campaigns of all time. Using his descriptive directions, I've even formulated public relations campaigns of my own that I'm slowly unveiling over the course of the next year.
What the book doesn't do so effectively though is that, while most of it was updated for its 2nd edition, not all of it saw necessary updates. Many of the rules in the book are outdated--unnecessary now in the digital age, despite it being published in 2006. Though this is by no means the fault of the author, other chapters that have been updated can lead to confusion for the reader. I feel like this could have been solved easier with inclusion of a chapter tracking the PR trends up to the year that the second edition was published, with a timeline that denotes when certain practices fell out of fashion and new practices emerged--maybe even with a hypothetical timeline of how long those trends might last based on similar PR trends.
Early on in the book, Yaverbaum expresses what the Dummies book is and how they're all built off the same outline and model, but he goes on to express that they're not specifically for dummies--rather educated individuals who wish to be more educated without utilizing college resources. For those of you who know me, you know that PR fell upon my shoulders by accident and it wasn't specifically my intention to become a publicist, as you know by my education in creative writing. However, this book has considerably improved my ability to craft press releases, to deliver information, and to stay in touch with editors and journalists in order to make the most of the publicity that I wish to deliver. If you've never worked public relations, this book can be a bit overwhelming, but for those with experience in the business, it can only help with instruction on organizing the thoughts of a publicist as they approach each plateau and building campaigns to grow a small business.
The one portion of this book that I felt unnecessary, however, was that in some chapters, Yaverbaum exceeds the realm of budding publicists by examining the trials that only a very well experienced publicist might contend with, like improving sales internationally and the dos-and-don'ts of pitching the New York Times. While this is handy information to have, it automatically intimidated me as a publicist as if I was suddenly thinking, "Have I been doing something wrong because I haven't reached New York Times yet?" To that degree, I advise that you look into more novice related public relations guides before becoming deeply invested in this one, or at least while reading it, don't feel distraught because you aren't quite the publicist that Yaverbaum himself became.
The Riahi Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 stars Although the information isn't all relevant, it is accurate and it does, in its own way, depict a means over the course of several years how a publicity campaign can grow an organization, although because it's not done chronologically, it might steer new publicists away. Furthermore, the lack of publicity trending information makes it a difficult guide to depend on in 2012, even if most of the information is on par with unveiling a publicity campaign, which can mislead a publicist picking up the book 6 years after its publication date. I would like to note, that's a pretty good rating for an instructional guide and because I appreciate the book and the work of the author, I will now publish my interview with him from April, 2011, for my Fiction Writer's Portfolio class, taught by Robert Duffer. Eric Yaverbaum, founder of Ericho Marketing, various fund raising organizations, bestselling author, and writer of many books on marketing and public relations, gave me the skinny on being a writer in a publicist’s world and vice-versa. After arranging a phone conversation via e-mail with his assistant, Mr. Yaverbaum gave me a call one Friday morning to discuss these things, as well as the efforts put into his work and the results.
Behnam Riahi (BR): Why did you go into PR?
Eric Yaverbaum (EY): I just fell in love with marketing. PR was an accident because I was looking for a paid internship and the only person who would give it to me was Matthew Lesko. He paid me a hundred bucks a week and my paid internship is what made his book a New York Times bestseller. No one expected that to happen.
BR: Matthew Lesko?
EY: He's this guy who does late night TV selling government information in a question-of-the-month suit. His first book was called Getting Yours: The Complete Guide to Government Domestic Assistance. It was a cut-and-paste job of a government document, making it a little more understandable he turned it into a book. I promoted it. I had no clue what I was doing, none, zero, which is a great asset in this industry. It was a shocking New York Times bestseller.
BR: Did you write before going into PR?
EY: No, I didn't. I started out as a very lousy writer actually. I was a lousy writer as a kid, who had to get the attention of the press, and lousy writers didn't cut it. It was pretty much learn how to write in a way that can get attention or you're not going to be able to pay next month's rent.
BR: So how did you start writing books?
EY: PR for Dummies was a nightmare for me, because that's my stuff. In that case, the publishing house wanted me. They came to me to write that. When I did PR for Dummies, The Dummies Series was templated. They're forcing your hand at the type of style you have to have, which was very hard for us at first. I had first developed a table of contents and then I had to write about every single, stupid one of my theories, which kills me, and I used a writer for that. I used a writer who is also a New York Times bestselling author who would sit and do an interview with me about each of the topics. We did one topic a day for every chapter. The world is very different from when I got into the business, but if you read that book and you really have a mind for it, that's a great text book. The stories are getting out of date unfortunately. I have to write it again.
BR: What process went into your other books?
EY: Every book, I would say, there's a different answer to how you approach the writing of it. My very first book that McGraw-Hill published is called I'll Get Back To You, which was actually, of all my books, the only book that ever made the New York Times bestseller list. I tell a story in there, with the general manager of the Orlando Magic when Shaquille was there and they were winning NBA championships and I said, "Well, I want to get that GM in the book." And my researcher said, "You can't get him in there." And I said, "Why not? Did anyone even try?" So I picked up the phone and I asked for him. I called up Orlando Magic and asked if he was available and they put me through to his assistant and I said, "Is he in? I'm writing a book, I'd love to include a page on him or a chapter on him." She put me through. I mean, in five minutes.
The last book I wrote was called Life's Little College Admission Insights. It was a knock-off of a Lesson Learned When I Was a Kid. I wanted to do a book that was just as shallow, but it still involves work and research. In Life's Little College Admission Insights, I could do whatever I wanted. I wrote it with my daughter who was applying to college at the time and being a best-selling author didn't hurt her cause. I taught her how to do the research, we set up the model together almost completely done electronically, I taught her how to write a page, put one together on everybody who contributed, and it was just the total process and we wrote a table of contents and filled it. In that case, it was just individual people's advice, we wanted to have the best collection of the greatest admission councilors. There was no real criteria for what made a great one. What made a great one was someone who gave us good insights and someone we could get the legal permission for them, because that's part of the process of book writing. But it was a lot of fun, I'm grateful for that experience.
My biggest book was Leadership Secrets of the Most Successful CEOs. That was my nicest book. I had an entire plan that worked. I did that book by myself. It sold a million copies, but it was not a New York Times bestseller.
BR: How does writing influence your work as a publicist?
EY: What it does show is the power of the medium and the medium is the media and the media is the place that I have crafted my career in. It really all boils down from writing. With my career, the fact that I'm an author drives people to me, so it makes a lot of sense for me to keep fresh books coming out, but they are work.
If anyone tells you there's one way to do PR, they're wrong. What I love, at this stage of my career, is when some kid tells me why he's got a better idea and we do it and it works. It's a constant learning experience. I love people who don't know what the hell they're doing and they do it better. There is no play book here.
PR for Dummies I did because it feeds my practice. People want to work for me, people want to hire me, the book is number one it its category, and it drives people to me. You walk into my office and I hand you one of my books, it still has some “moxxy,” you know? Some prestige to the actual book for the author.
BR: How does PR influence your writing?
EY: What I do basically is I manage the news, which is really an oxymoron because the news hasn't happened yet, but I will tell you what's going to happen tomorrow. I do it all the time. Winston Churchill said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." Well, that's kind of what I do for a living. I write the stuff in advance and I like that.
My goal was to write a book every other year. I think practically, maybe every three or every four. Airplanes are very efficient places for me to write. The art of writing is of rewriting. Get published and make sure that your writing is on the internet. But don't put it out there until you're ready to put it out there. Once it's on the internet, there's no taking it back.
BR: So what do you see in the future of these industries?
EY: My generation: I'm still reading books, I'm still reading the newspaper every day. I don't care how many different forms I can get it in. I'm not reading anything electronically and when I really have to study something, it has to be on a piece of paper. My daughter gets her information in a different way than me and that with the virtual world, things reverberate around it. The office I’m sitting in now is my most teched out office. 16 TV screens and six computer screens, so I have a lot of technology in here. I like this office the most. I watch stories break on twitter and I watch them flash across the 16 screens that I'm looking at and I'm saying, "Shit. Someone tweeted about that four minutes ago. Where were you? Where are you seeing that?" It all falls together, the internet just speeds it up.