Follow-up to class on Wednesday, Oct. 9

Great class, lots of fun hearing reaction to the blog posts. Here's a quick round-up of what's expected in the next cycle.

1. In 'The Adventures of Buffalo and Tough Cookie,' please read up to Page 90, or the end of Chapter 22. We'll discuss in class on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

2. The writing assignment this week is to create copy for two direct mail postcards promoting book signings to people in ZIP codes with very different demographics. It's due by e-mail no later than Monday, Oct. 14. I've pasted in the details below in case that helps.

3. Please finish reading the Ben & Jerry's book if you haven't yet. We'll be using it for writing assignments into the next month, so it's important that you be familiar with the entire book.

4. For blogs, by next class (on Wednesday, Oct. 16), I'd expect you to have a minimum of six posts, and to have taken steps to avoid Useless Blog Syndrome. (That means including images, labels, and other elements to explain what your blog is all about.) You'll be getting feedback from me this cycle, so be ready to act upon it. Thanks!

Okay, below are the instructions for the direct mail postcard assignment. Please let me know any questions. Always glad to respond and help out if needed. Thanks! Have a great Columbus Day weekend and see you in class on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Jeff R.
jeffrapsis@gmail.com
(603) 236-9237

CA 500 MEDIA WRITING: TARGETED DIRECT MAIL COPY

Instructor: Adjunct Professor Jeff Rapsis

E-mail: jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Phone: (603) 236-9237 • Class blog: http://ca500fall2013.blogspot.com

DUE via e-mail BY MONDAY, OCT. 14

Please write copy for two direct mail postcards, each announcing a book-signing for Dan Szczesny's new book, 'The Adventures of Buffalo and Tough Cookie,' at a local Barnes & Noble.

The size of the postcard will be 6 x 9. So you have room for a maximum of 10 tightly written sentences to describe the book and get people to want to meet the author.

One postcard is going to ZIP code 17606, Lancaster, PA, which has the nation's youngest median age. Another is going to ZIP code 56593, Wolf Lake, MN, which has the nation's oldest median age. The copy should be written to appeal to the respective audiences.

Basic information for both stores for use in the copy:

Book signing: 

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 at 1 p.m.

Barnes & Noble

59 West Commercial St.

Lancaster, Penn.

(310) 342-2233

www.bn.com

Book signing:

Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013 at noon
Barnes & Noble
2800 Memorial Drive
Wolf Lake, Minn.
(215) 333-8866
www.bn.com

Please send the copy for both postcards to me via e-mail in a single attachment.

CHECKLIST

• Required Elements:

1. Provide basic info about the book-signing: when, where, who's invited, etc.

2. Headline that's a call to action. “Here's your chance to meet a legendary author...”

3. Text that speaks to the demographic of each ZIP code.

4. Description of the book that's tailored to each ZIP code.

5. Description of the author tailored to each ZIP code.

6. Spell the author's name correctly. :)

7. It's a 6 x 9 postcard. So keep it to no more than 10 sentences, tops.

• Remember: Brief is better. Use as few words as possible. Make every word count!

Notes from our non-class of Wednesday, Sept. 11

Here's the text of an e-mail I sent to all students on Friday, Sept. 13

Hi everyone,

Okay, I'm finally back on the grid after a couple of days of craziness that unexpectedly took me out of the classroom on Wednesday morning.

I'm disappointed that we missed getting together so early in the course but we'll be fine. I appreciate your patience. In the meantime, I have a few things for you to do for our next class so we keep moving forward.

Here goes...

1. If you have not sent in the press release writing assignment or the blog address, please do that as soon as possible. I'd like to have everyone's blogs in the directory by our next class. If you're having trouble, please let me know and we'll figger it out. Thanks!

2. The reading assignment for the Great Missed Class of Sept. 11 was to get through the end of Chapter 7 in the Ben & Jerry's Book. For our class on Wednesday, Sept. 18, please read up until the end of Chapter 9, which is Page 120 in my edition.

Please note that these two chapters (8 and 9) are about stock market issues and might seem a little dry at first. But take time to read them carefully, as you can learn a lot from this part of the book. We'll talk about it in class and answer any questions. Just stick with it.

3. In terms of our next writing assignment (given out in class on Wednesday, Sept. 11), it was going to be writing the script for a radio commercial to promote the move of Ben & Jerry's into the Boston area, as described in Chapter 7.

We'll talk about radio commercials and audio scripts during the next class, and then you'll try your hand at writing one. The most important thing to keep in mind is how you only have 30 seconds. What are you trying to accomplish? How can you do it in 30 seconds? What's the message? What must be included, and what can be left out? How can you make it compelling and memorable? How can you use radio's "theater of the mind" to your advantage?

Notice that all those questions really have to be asked and answered BEFORE you actually write anything. It's the THINKING that comes before the writing. Remember, writing is thinking on paper. And having to do it in just 30 seconds is excellent practice in keeping things short, too!

4. Blogs: You should have two posts by the time of our next class. We'll be looking at them and I'll have a couple of things for everyone to do that will improve your blog. But we need material to work with, so keep at it with the blogs!

I've gone on long enough so I'll stop here. But could be some more notes this weekend and the beginning of next week prior to class. Until then, have a great weekend!

All the best...

Jeff R.

Welcome to our class blog!

Hi everyone, You're creating your own blog as part of the class, so it's only fair that I do one, too. So here it is!

This blog will function as a kind of clearinghouse for material, notes, and other information as we work our way through the semester.

It will include our class style guide (on a standing page to be found at right), a directory of all your blogs, the class syllabus, and week-to-week notes about assignments.

I'll also be using Blackboard, but not really that much. More to come on that.

 For now, let me just say it was nice to meet everyone at our first class on Wednesday, Aug. 28, and I look forward to working with you on your writing in the weeks to come.

For class on Wednesday, Sept. 4, please bring the Ben & Jerry's book. We'll go over the first three chapters and base our first writing assignment on them. We'll also be talking about the postcards with the recipe on them, blogs, and some other things. And we'll take our first quiz!

See you on Wednesday morning.