When content creator, Aida Sanchez, said to me while I signed her copy of my book, “This event exceeded my expectations!” I was thrilled!
A few goals for my book, (#100Pitches: Mistakes I’ve Made So You Don’t Have To), and tour were to enlighten content creators on the how to’s of pitching, give strategies for getting in the door, and help get both green lighters and content creators in the room so relationships could be formed, and later down the road, pitch meetings set. So when TV One’s executive, Robyn Green Arrington (VP of Original Programming and Production), offered the entire audience her email for them to pitch her (provided they were patient with her busy schedule), I felt my dreams starting to come true! That was followed by President of FUBU TV, J. Alexander Martin, offering his contact information too, and the revolution had been started! It felt like the barriers between content creator and development execs came tumbling down in that moment and I was full of emotion!
When, Tatiana Holifield-Arthur, a Social Media Marketing executive from BET, (partly responsible for the success of BET’s New Edition Story) came to me and said, “All I keep hearing from your attendees is that this event exceeded their expectations! It was really great, Squeaky.” I felt like I was on to something, as I truly value her award winning perspective. Usually when she deems something “great”, then it really is.
So, I wanted to give a few takeaways about my book-tour kick off in case you missed it or are planning to come to one in a city near you. (Atlanta is next!)
Here were my 6 takeaways of the book-tour kickoff:
- I did pretty well with sticking to the teachings of my book. Douglas Holloway, (Verizon Go-90 rep and former President of Multichannel Distribution at ION) said, “Squeaky did a phenomenal job interpreting her book for the audience.”
- I was in rare form as I shared all of my honest pitching moments, even the ones that involved the panelist (I think I was a comedian in my other life)! You can see in a pic below.
- The panelist shared pitching and industry insight that made me feel I needed to write yet another pitching book!
- One thing we all discovered from the mock pitch, and it happens to be what I’ve been saying all along, is the best pitches are captivating when we “start with the story.”
- The audience had an amazing time socializing! (Maybe it was the wine, but it felt like a family, not people just meeting for the first time)! Long after the event was over, more than 15 people were still networking in front of the building. Including, TV One executive, and an executive from IOne Digital (formally, Interactive One Digital).
- I sold lots of books, which means people felt the information I shared was valuable!
What an epic kick-off in New York! I hope you plan to attend the book tour when I come to a city near you!
ATLANTA I’M COMING TO YOU NEXT on AUGUST 1st! Get your tickets now. Get in the room! REGISTER HERE.
Atlanta Book Release is Sponsored by WeWork and Get TV Ready.
Here are some pics of the event.
