The Ultimate Shopper Promotional Kit: Post-Publication Promotion Author's Tour Promotion How Canada's worst-selling title of 1988 got media coverage in 100-plus markets in 3 months Last updated 07/05

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By September I had mailed at least two kits to every important media outlet which hadn't either rejected me outright or already promised me publicity. After the Maritime tour I did a third mailing, including this cover letter, because the book was by now old news. The hook was the tour itself, and I became the news over the issues and the product.

Under ITINERARY I penned in the city or town and the date I planned to be in that center. Under BACKGROUND I penned in the name of the person to whom the first press kit(s) had been addressed.

I started to have twinges of honesty at around this time, too. Note the "self-styled" qualification.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Author's tour

Sept. 1/87

CONTACT:	Robert Sxxxxx at XXX-XXX-XXXX
ITINERARY:	Steve Winter will be in _____________________ on Oct. _____
BACKGROUND:	Book sent 5/87 c/o ____________________ (additional review ---------- copy available on request) Aircheck, broadcast demos and additional clips available on request.

"AUTHOR, SHOPPING EXPERT TO TOUR ONTARIO IN OCTOBER"

Steve Winter, self-styled "consumer technician" and author of the acclaimed shoppers' handbook THE ULTIMATE SHOPPER, will be touring extensively in Ontario October 5 to 30 to meet with the media and discuss his unique approaches to consumer issues.

Since the book's May 1 release, Winter has appeared on TV and radio across Canada discussing everything from shopping mall strategy and apartment hunting to future collectibles and the art of marketplace negotiation.

His lively, witty approach, which stresses shopping techniques as opposed to consumer advocacy issues and "handy hints", has made him a favorite guest on open-line and magazine shows. On his September tour of Eastern Canada he made 36 appearances in 16 centres over three weeks.

Although he treats his subject lightly, he is dead serious about spreading his message that Canadians are not the hot-shot shoppers they tend to think they are.

"The one thing people tell me more than anything else is that they don't need any help. They figure they're already as good at shopping as they're going to get."

Faced with this challenge in a recent interview, he boasted deadpan that there was no budget he could not reduce by ten percent, and do it without sacrifice. At his insistence, the book's cover beas a guarantee that it will save at least any reader at least $500 a year, and in six months nobody has claimed on it.

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