Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Celebrity Black Book Chosen For Publishers Weekly Front Cover

I learned today that the brand-new 2007 edition
of our Celebrity Black Book has been chosen by Publishers Weekly to appear on the magazine's front cover!

This is the publishing industry's major trade magazine and is sent to every library, publisher, and book seller in the country.

Since we only had a certain amount of the book printed, this is probably going to boost sales. So if you haven't ordered your own copy yet, hurry and do it now before they're all gone!

--> http://www.CelebrityBlackBook.com

And if you read Publishers Weekly, look for us
on the February 26th cover!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Exclusive Rolodex of Private Celebrity Addresses Will Soon Be Released To The Public!

A new book jam-packed with the private personal addresses of over 55,000 celebrities will soon be released to the public.

What scares celebrities is the all-new Celebrity Black Book compiled by Jordan McAuley, a Hollywood insider who helps fans, businesses, and non profits contact celebrities worldwide.

Every type of celebrity is included: movie, television, music and sports stars, plus politicians, supermodels, authors, adult film stars, talk show hosts, world leaders, and more...even reality TV stars!

"The Celebrity Black Book" has already attracted the attention of non profits in search of donations and memorabilia they can auction off, authors in need of quotes and endorsements for their books, and businesses who want to get their products into the hands of celebrities.

It is even "recommended for all libraries" by Library Journal, the trade magazine all library collection managers look to when deciding which books to purchase for their collections.

The Celebrity Black Book 2007 Edition features:

* Over 54,000 celebrity addresses all verified by the U.S. Postal Service's NCOA (National Change of Address) system.

* Every celebrity's category (actor, athlete, musician, etc.) along with his or her representative's name and company contact.

* A free 30 day test-drive of of Contact Any Celebrity's membership Web site and online database (just mail or fax the coupon included with the book).

* Over 800 8.5 x 11 pages weighing in at 5 pounds!

* Plus much, much more.

Jordan McAuley, the book's publisher, is available to reveal insider tips on the best ways
to contact celebrities, and he can tailor these tips to your audience (fans, authors, businesses, non profits, etc.).

Please email jordan@contactanycelebrity.com to inquire about his availability.

The Celebrity Black Book 2007 Edition will be released to the general public on January 1, 2007. It will be available online at http://www.celebrityblackbook.com and wherever books are sold. It will retail for $75.00 (ISBN 0-9707095-8-7) and will be distributed to the trade by Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Atlas Books at 1-800-BOOKLOG.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Coming Soon: The Celebrity Black Book 2007 Edition

I just wanted to let you know that the all-new Celebrity Black Book 2007 is almost ready...

We're putting the finishing touches on it now including having all the addresses verified by the U.S. Postal Service's National Change of Address service. I'll let you know as soon as it's ready in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, why not try the online version of Contact Any Celebrity's database of over 54,000 celebrities and public fitures:

http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/join

A 7-day trial is just $1!

Sincerely,

Jordan McAuley, Founder
Contact Any Celebrity
8721 Santa Monica Blvd. #431
Los Angeles, CA 90069-4507
http://www.ContactAnyCelebrity.com

P.S. - Remember that the online version of our database contains the best mailing address, agent, manager, publicist, production company attorney, business manager, and charitable cause for over 54,000 celebrities and VIPs.

P.P.S. - It also contains the mailing address, phone, fax, and email addresses for over 7,000 celebrity representatives and 4,000 entertainment companies.

http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/join

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Contact Any Celebrity on CNN

So I was interviewed this morning on CNN about Contact Any Celebrity and the Celebrity Black Book. For those of you who have never visited CNN Center in Atlanta, you must!

Entertainment correspondent Veronica De La Cruz conducted the interview, which will air sometime soon on CNN.com's new Pipeline service. I've done interviews on live television before, but this one was tricky. First of all the anchor was in a totally separate room (even though she was just a few feet away) and I had to look into a camera the whole time pretending like it was her!

Actually, it looked more like a small black chalkboard than a camera. Further, I could only hear her questions through a small speaker in my ear and wasn't allowed to look at the monitor below showing how it will look on TV. Tricky, especially when you want to see the anchor's facial expressions or what you look like.

It was totally fun, but I didn't know doing TV interviews could be so challenging! I hope it came out ok. As soon as the producer tells me when it will air I'll post it here along with a link so you can let me know what you think. In the meantime, check out the CNN Pipeline Web site at http://www.cnn.com/pipeline

Watch me on CNN!

CNN is interviewing me this Saturday afternoon on their new Pipeline service about my site Contact Any Celebrity and the Celebrity Black Book. I don't know what time it will air yet, but as soon as I hear back from the producer I'll let you know. Be sure to watch! Also if you don't yet have Pipeline, get it now at http://www.cnn.com/pipeline

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Did You Know?

Did you know that a signed photograph of the Beatles worth $8,600 in 1997 is now worth over $25,000?

Source: Success, Summer 2006

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Common Autograph Terms

ADS - Autograph Document, Signed: A document written in the hand of the signer. (Plural ADsS)

ALS - Autograph Letter, Signed: A letter written in the hand of the person who signed it. (Plural ALsS)

ANS - Autograph Note, Signed: A note written in the hand of the person who signed it. (Plural ANsS)

AQS - Autograph Quotation, Signed: An autographed quotation written entirely in the hand of the signer. (Plural AQsS)

Autopen - A device that uses a pen to duplicate a person's signature.

Carte-de-visite - A portrait photograph, usually full-length, mounted on a small card.

DS - Document, Signed: A document that is printed and originally signed (Plural DsS).

FDC - First Day Cover: An envelope with a postmark issued on the date and in the city a stamp is issued. Sometimes collected autographed.

IPS - Inscribed Photograph, Signed: A photo bearing an inscription or personalization by the signer. (Plural IPsS)

LS - Letter, Signed: A letter written by someone other than the signer. (Plural LsS)

SB - Signed Book

SP - Signed Photo (Sometimes shown as PS)

SASE - Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope

Secretarial - Signed by a secretary or staff member.

TD - Typed Document

TDS - Typed Document, Signed: A typed signed document (Plural TDsS)

You are welcome to share this article as long as you do not edit the text or change the links. (Contact Any Celebrity affiliates may insert their affiliate ID to earn referral commissions). If you post it on a Web site, a link back to http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/ is required.

As Seen on "Martha"

Sitting at the kitchen table, I watched the tiny screen as Matt Laurer reported that a silver SUV containing Martha Stewart had slipped past photographers and into the Alderson Federal Prison Camp, where she would begin serving a five-month sentence.

Since my idea of a gourmet lunch is a grilled cheese with the crust cut off and my idea of decorating is putting twinkle lights in an artificial banana tree, the news that America’s lifestyle diva was entering federal prison, although interesting, seemed certain to have no impact on my life. How wrong I was.

About a year earlier, after 25 years in the Las Vegas entertainment industry, I had begun to write stories for my niece, stories that she seemed to enjoy very much. One story became two and two became ten and before I knew it, I had a co-writer, Dondino Melchiorre, and an illustrator, Juan Varela, and a small publishing company, Story Store Collection Publishing.

Juan doesn’t exactly speak the king’s English, but his Spanish is superb (unfortunately, my high school Spanish had disappeared into a black hole along with pi and the date of Magna Carta), and we often found ourselves dancing a tango of jumbled languages and cultures.

From that often frustrating beginning came the idea that would transform our books from just another collection for children—we’d make them bilingual. Story Store Collection Publishing could not only give young readers a head start in acquiring reading skills; we would contribute to their acquisition of a second language as well.

During our first year, we experienced all the pain, joy, and frustration that every self-publishing entrepreneur goes through. Dondino and I wrote; Juan illustrated; and we made calls and wrote to printers, marketing "experts," toy manufacturers, investors, family, and friends. But if there is one thing I learned from the experience, it’s that the manner in which events unfold can be mostly a matter of serendipity.

My next-door neighbor Jim Sinclair, a Des Moines lawyer, had shown up at my door one evening with a story about cookies that his eight-year-old son, Nick, had written for class. Would you and Dondino like to hear it? he asked. We’d love to!

At first we listened out of neighborliness, but soon we were listening out of sheer pleasure. "The Cookie Story" told about a little boy and his dog, Lola, who adore cookies so much they begin to see them everywhere. For this cookie-loving pair, television was worst—there were the NestlĂ© Toll House commercials, Cookie Monster, and even "the queen" of cookie making, Martha Stewart.

Until then, we had published only our own work. The idea of publishing Nick’s seemed ludicrous, but the more times I read his story, the more convinced I became that it deserved a wider audience than his teacher, his father, and the next-door neighbors. It should be published, and we were just the publisher for it.

Three months later I sat at my desk looking at the first prototype of the lavishly illustrated, now bilingual book entitled "The Cookie Story" by Nicholas Alexander Sinclair, with a little help from his friends. Our wonderful book seemed to provide an angle—eight-year-old author with cookie lust—that would attract attention. But whose? Two words seemed to jump into my head: Martha Stewart. And I knew just where I could reach her.

I pulled out a yellow legal pad and began to write. Surprisingly, the words poured out as a I told Martha about Nick and his story and about what he thought of her incarceration, what he thought about her life, and how she was still the Queen of Cookies.

Later that day, I dropped a copy of "The Cookie Story" in the mail, along with my letter, and by evening I had all but forgotten about it. Martha Stewart probably got a thousand letters a day, more than she could read in a lifetime, and in truth, I couldn’t believe I had even written to her. What had I been thinking?

Almost two weeks after that, in a state of shock, I read Martha Stewart’s heartfelt response. She and her "prison colleagues" loved Nick’s book, she said, and as soon as she returned to television, she wanted to have Nick bring his book and appear on her show. Although I was thrilled, I also knew that her room in a federal prison and our appearance on the show were probably light-years apart. Still, there was reason to hope.

I soon learned that Martha Stewart is a woman of her word. Shortly after her release and return home, I received a phone call from her personal assistant, who passed me on to one of the producers of "Martha."

And as they say, the rest is history. On November 3, 2005, Nick, his father, his stepmom, Dondino, and I flew to New York to watch Nick make his debut on national television. What an incredible interview! Everyone at Martha’s show loved him. With sales up and Nick planning his second book ("The Flying Cookie"), our company’s future is beginning to look brighter.

We at Story Store Collection Publishing live by words written by Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Donna Gummelt, writer at Story Store Collection Publishing, worked on this article with Randy H. Wall, the company’s English editor and an assistant professor of English at South Plains College in Lubbock, TX. For more information, visit http://www.StoryStoreCollectionPublishing.com.

Nonprofit Autograph Auction Success Stories

There are many ways to raise money for your cause, one of which is a celebrity autograph auction. These autograph auctions are usually made up of items signed by celebrities that are then auctioned off, either in person or on an online service such as eBay.

The Right Words. Explain your cause and ask for what you want…nicely. Letter writing is an art form. Simply scribbling three lines in pencil on notebook paper won’t do the trick. The more professional the appearance the better; typed on letterhead is best.

The Rotary Club of Ennis, Texas, used Contact Any Celebrity to get items from celebrities for an auction to raise money for various children’s charities. Their typed letter stated exactly what they were doing and why. The letter also listed their contact information clearly. Some representatives may need to verify that you are truly a nonprofit organization. It then stated exactly what they wanted: “We most humbly request your assistance in our efforts by requesting a personal item from you for the auction; if it’s signed, that will help even more.”

Autographed items came in from Troy Aikman, John Travolta, Rusty Wallace, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Richard Petty, Laura Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Gerald Ford, Jennifer Lopez, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels, Arnold Palmer, Susan Sarandon, Dakota Fanning and an autographed cap sent by Lee Trevino.

Persistence. You may have to ask more than once. Sending a first letter to explain what you’re doing and why is good. Sending a second letter as an update is a good idea too. One Contact Any Celebrity user’s first letter, while only two paragraphs long, really explained her cause and what she was looking for. It also set a deadline for items to be received. After a few weeks she sent out another letter explaining that the deadline had been extended, and outlined the support she had already received. This ended up getting her even more items.

Patience. Celebrities don’t always respond in your expected timeframe. Getting started well in advance of your event is a good idea. Some of Contact Any Celebrity’s users have received responses as far out as one year after their initial letter. Amy Pratt from Plymouth, Indiana, wrote to more than 50 celebrities asking for autographs for a personal collection. “The photos came rolling in after a few weeks,” Pratt said. “The last one we got took over a year, but it’s a surprise each time [a new autograph] pops up.”

She received autographs and personal notes from Ben Stiller, John Travolta, Joe Theisman, Brooke Shields, Michael Jordan, Gale Sayers and Nolan Ryan to name a few.

Another amazing success came from Carolyn Penharlow from Vienna, Virginia for an auction for her son’s school. “I sent out almost 300 letters following the instructions on the website. I was astonished at the response. It was fun to go to the school mailbox every day. Everyone would ask what I got that day! We raised over $15,000 altogether and were thrilled.”

Penharlow’s organization received signed books from Henry Winkler, CDs from George Winston plus many photos from stars like Liz Taylor, Cindy Crawford and Dustin Hoffman.

There are many more success stories where these came from, and we hope Contact Any Celebrity can help with your fundraising efforts.

You are welcome to share this article as long as you do not edit the text or change the links. (Contact Any Celebrity affiliates may insert their affiliate ID to earn referral commissions). If you post it on a Web site, a link back to http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/ is required.

How to Get Celebrity Endorsements & Testimonials for Your Books

Getting a celebrity, notable VIP, or leader in your field to give your book a short testimonial or endorsement (sometimes called a “blurb”) is a great way to boost sales and garner extra publicity. Remember that this is a trade-off. You get a testimonial for your book, and the endorser gets additional exposure and/or credibility. Below is the five-step process I teach authors and writers:

1) Choose potential endorsers based on your book’s subject.
If your book is about animals, for example, target celebrities and/or notable VIPs who have a vested personal interest in animals. If it’s about a disease, target people who have suffered personally from it or who contribute to the disease’s cause. If it’s about kayaking, target people who like to kayak.

2) Ask potential endorsers to write your book’s introduction or foreword.
This technique can work really well as long as you remember the following: flattery is key. Don’t ask for an endorsement at this stage. Instead, flatter the person by saying that because of his or her expertise on your book’s subject, you’d like to ask him or her to write the introduction or foreword. You may want to point out that this is a great opportunity for the endorser to get some additional exposure. When the book is published, you can mention “Introduction by (Expert’s Name)” or “Foreword by (Expert’s Name)” on the cover.

3) Gather a list of names and contact information.
The reference area of your local public library is a good start, but you can find more accurate information online. Search Google for “celebrity contacts” or “celebrity addresses” for a list of resources. If the celebrity has an official Web site, you can usually find his or her contact information there as well. Don’t forget personal and professional connections. Take some time to sit down and brainstorm all the people you know who could put in a good word for you or at least pass along your book and request.

4) Make it as easy as possible to get a response.
Your request should include the draft of your book, a self-addressed, pre-paid FedEx or Priority Mail envelope, an easy-to-fill out testimonial form, and a personalized letter from you. If you’re nervous about sending a draft of the book, you can also include a Confidentiality Letter. You may even want to mention that the better the testimonial, the more likely it will appear in your book (and possibly on the cover), resulting in additional exposure for the endorser.

5) Point out the benefits of giving an endorsement.
Potential endorsers usually won’t mind (and will probably appreciate) the extra free publicity, additional exposure, and added credibility their blurb will provide when it’s featured in (and maybe on the cover of) your book. Let the endorser know you’ll mention his or her name, company name, and city under the testimonial as an added benefit of giving you an endorsement.

BONUS STEP: Follow Up!
If you still haven’t heard anything, send a follow-up letter or email to the celebrities you asked for an endorsement from after a few weeks have gone. Know that getting a good endorsement or testimonial can take time. Celebrities and VIPs are busy, and their mail is often screened by an assistant or representative which can delay your request getting to them.

Always remember the “Three Ps” for getting celebrity testimonial and endorsements for your books: Be Polite, Be Persistent, and Be Patient!

You are welcome to share this article as long as you do not edit the text or change the links. (Contact Any Celebrity affiliates may insert their affiliate ID to earn referral commissions). If you post it on a Web site, a link back to http://www.ContactAnyCelebrity.com is required.

How to Get Celebrity Endorsements & Testimonials for Your Books

Getting a celebrity, notable VIP, or leader in your field to give your book a short testimonial or endorsement (sometimes called a “blurb”) is a great way to boost sales and garner extra publicity. Remember that this is a trade-off. You get a testimonial for your book, and the endorser gets additional exposure and/or credibility. Below is the five-step process I teach authors and writers:

1) Choose potential endorsers based on your book’s subject.
If your book is about animals, for example, target celebrities and/or notable VIPs who have a vested personal interest in animals. If it’s about a disease, target people who have suffered personally from it or who contribute to the disease’s cause. If it’s about kayaking, target people who like to kayak.

2) Ask potential endorsers to write your book’s introduction or foreword.
This technique can work really well as long as you remember the following: flattery is key. Don’t ask for an endorsement at this stage. Instead, flatter the person by saying that because of his or her expertise on your book’s subject, you’d like to ask him or her to write the introduction or foreword. You may want to point out that this is a great opportunity for the endorser to get some additional exposure. When the book is published, you can mention “Introduction by (Expert’s Name)” or “Foreword by (Expert’s Name)” on the cover.

3) Gather a list of names and contact information.
The reference area of your local public library is a good start, but you can find more accurate information online. Search Google for “celebrity contacts” or “celebrity addresses” for a list of resources. If the celebrity has an official Web site, you can usually find his or her contact information there as well. Don’t forget personal and professional connections. Take some time to sit down and brainstorm all the people you know who could put in a good word for you or at least pass along your book and request.

4) Make it as easy as possible to get a response.
Your request should include the draft of your book, a self-addressed, pre-paid FedEx or Priority Mail envelope, an easy-to-fill out testimonial form, and a personalized letter from you. If you’re nervous about sending a draft of the book, you can also include a Confidentiality Letter. You may even want to mention that the better the testimonial, the more likely it will appear in your book (and possibly on the cover), resulting in additional exposure for the endorser.

5) Point out the benefits of giving an endorsement.
Potential endorsers usually won’t mind (and will probably appreciate) the extra free publicity, additional exposure, and added credibility their blurb will provide when it’s featured in (and maybe on the cover of) your book. Let the endorser know you’ll mention his or her name, company name, and city under the testimonial as an added benefit of giving you an endorsement.

BONUS STEP: Follow Up!
If you still haven’t heard anything, send a follow-up letter or email to the celebrities you asked for an endorsement from after a few weeks have gone. Know that getting a good endorsement or testimonial can take time. Celebrities and VIPs are busy, and their mail is often screened by an assistant or representative which can delay your request getting to them.

Always remember the “Three Ps” for getting celebrity testimonial and endorsements for your books: Be Polite, Be Persistent, and Be Patient!