To celebrate the release of Book Two in the John Pilate Mystery Series, PILATE’S KEY, we’re giving you a chance to win some spiffy prizes!

GRAND PRIZE:

Paperback of PILATE’S CROSS

Autographed by the author and book cover artist/designer David Terrill

Paperback of PILATE’S KEY

Autographed by the author and book cover artist/designer David Terrill

and

One Download of the Shelf Unbound 2011 award-winning short story

OBSIDIAN

in any ebook format you prefer.

FIRST PRIZE

Paperback of PILATE’S KEY

Autographed by the author and book cover artist/designer David Terrill

SECOND PRIZE

One Download

PILATE’S CROSS or OBSIDIAN

in any ebook format you prefer.

THIRD PRIZE

One Download

PILATE’S CROSS or OBSIDIAN

in any ebook format you prefer.

How to Play:

In the new John Pilate Mystery PILATE’S KEY (see below for links to download your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo or other ereader copy) there are at least five (5) lines from classic/cult movies quoted or recognizably paraphrased by characters in the book.

For your chance to win, read the book (no complaining–you have 26 days to read a 202-page book!) and be one of the first 4 persons to email three (3) correct answers to Author (at) Pilatescross.com before Noon CST on February 12, 2012.

Answers must be sent in this format:

The line spoken by the PILATE’S KEY character, which character said it, and from what film was the line paraphrased?

Example:

“My health. I came here for the waters,” Pilate said.  (Casablanca)

Grand Prize awarded to first email received with correct answers.

Other prizes will be awarded to correct answers in order of receipt.

Winners agree to allow their first name, last initial and City/State/Country be used for contest results announcements on Facebook, Goodreads, PilatesCross.com and Twitter.

Judging by J. A. Greenwood–all results announced Feb. 12, 2012 and are final.

Winners of paperbacks must provide full name and address for shipping. (U. S. Postal Service media mail shipping costs paid by J. A. Greenwood.) J. A. Greenwood is not responsible for items lost in shipping. Books will be shipped as soon as possible after the announcement of winners (subject to publisher fulfillment times and shipping conditions).

PLEASE DO NOT POST ANSWERS TO FACEBOOK, GOODREADS OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE.

If answers are posted publicly prior to contest conclusion, the contest will end with all entries ruled invalid.

Questions?  Ask ‘em right here on this page.

Get your Kindle Copy here. Get your copy formatted for Nook, iPad, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, PC, (EPUB) as well as Stanza, Smartphone, PDF, etc. here.

Thanks for reading! I hope you’ll enter!

REMINDER

If you’re in the Kansas City area Feb. 23, be sure to come to the reception and presentation about my work hosted by the Kansas City Public Library! More details and RSVP link here.

We do a somewhat irregularly-published e-newsletter (aka eblast)–but when we do it’s usually pretty cool. Info, tips and fun stuff galore.

So if you want to sign up, go to our homepage:

Then look for this box in the lower right corner:

…and enter your email addy. We don’t send out more than one e-newsletter a month (usually less than that), but you can get some inside skinny you won’t find anywhere else plus the occasional special perk.

Another option–and this is more frequent than the eblast–you can get an email every time we publish a new blog post.  Just go to the homepage and find this box at the upper right corner:

…add your email address and you’ll be notified every time we post something on the AlexanderG Whiz blog.  You’ll note also that above that box is a convenient search box–you can look for that great post we did on Lawyers Vs. PR, for example, just by typing in the search terms. Below the subscribe box are handy links to find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even sign up for the RSS feed.

So, those are some easy ways to keep up with what we’re doing here. We hope you’ll sign up if you haven’t already done so. It’s a blast.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that in my spare time I like to write short stories and mystery/thriller novels. In fact, my second thriller (Pilate’s Key)  is coming out next month (visit my Facebook page for updates). It’s the second in what will be a trilogy of adventures featuring the hapless John Pilate and his imaginary pal Simon. (Hey, the reviews are pretty good!)

So, if you haven’t read the first book, Pilate’s Cross–and you’re worried you won’t dig the new book unless you read the first one–I have good news. You can get 25% off the paperback. Just use the coupon code BUYMYBOOK305 at the link below. This coupon expires December 14, 2011. It also makes a nice gift for the readers in your circle of friends and family, if I say so myself.

If you prefer ebooks, no problem–you can get Pilate’s Cross for only 99 cents on Amazon!

So, this Holiday Season, enjoy a cheap thrill from yours truly. (Did I mention it makes a great gift?)

One of the first questions we get when meeting with a prospective client is, “How do you do this? How does this work?” (Usually accompanied by a skeptical sideways glance.) I think this is indicative of a certain mystery that many people have about public relations consultants and how we work. It may even stop people from considering the hiring of a public relations professional.

To take a little of the mystery out of it, here’s a simple breakdown of our work activities for most clients (this is after the proposal has been accepted, contracts signed and we get down to business). This could be a PR campaign, an integrated marketing plan, presentation or a combination of several work activities:

1. Project Management – includes all billing, administrative tasks, timelines, interviewing/hiring vendors if necessary, etc.

2. Client Communication – any and all time talking to the client– phone, online or in person–and travel time if it’s an extensive trip.

3. Conceptualization – thinking about and researching the project. This includes gathering research, conducting interviews, focus groups, surveys or writing proposals or plans and establishing key messages.

4. Implementation – doing the work. This includes writing press releases, designing the ads, writing web content, working with media (making pitches), vendors, graphic artists, social media experts, etc.

5. Reporting/Project Review – reporting results and reviewing tweaks to improve outcomes. This can also be the final meeting if it’s a project or the end of a campaign.

Fees depend on whether a client wants to retain us on a monthly basis or hire us for a specific project or campaign. (More about fee structures here.)

Every client has different needs. We can tailor our activities and fees to suit each client. Let’s talk about your next PR campaign, speech, crisis communications training or other service so we can figure out “how it works” for you.