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Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
If You Want to Get the Word Out, Befriend a Blogger
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Recently my book, Green Interior Design was released. Like most people who have never written a book, I thought the days of sitting in front of my computer coming up with hundreds of pages of clever material was the hard part. Visions of Hollywood scenes featuring authors and their publishers led me to believe that I would be traveling around the country on a glamorous book tour (television, radio, chic book stores, exclusive parties) staying at posh hotels, selling millions of copies and having my editor pick up the tab.
I mean isn’t that what JK Rowling gets to do? Ha ha. The joke was on me. After you write your first book, you the author, get the pleasure of marketing it too. Ok fine, how hard can it be? I contacted a PR person known for her prowess in marketing books. She quoted me $20,000- but no Internet marketing . I did the math. I make about $1 a book , multiply that by a million copies, equals… this sounded like a great plan. Only when I asked how many copies she thought I could sell, she said about 15,000. I confirmed the number with some other design authors. My next thought was, I’m going to need to look at some other options.
Then it hit me- THE BLOGGERS. One of the greatest things about blogs is that unlike magazines that have 3-12 month lead times, blogs can post content immediately. Plus the bloggers put a link (straight to a shopping cart) in the article. I immediatly started contacting the blogs I know and love.
In no special order here’s the list of the blogs who saved me $20,000 in marketing and helped me publicize my book. Thank you thank you thank you! Give em’ a read and be sure to tell them if you have something compelling to announce, they’re happy to help you spread the word.
7. Being Tazim
9. Live Modern
11. Examiner.com
12. Design Shuffle
13. Design Addict
14. Book Page
15. Ink + Wit
18. Charm Home
20. Yossawat
21. LA Mag
22. Lush Pad
23. An Inspired Walk
25. The Jinks Family
27. Simple & Wonderful
28. Moore Minutes
20. Go Design Go
31. Cliff Spencer
If I missed anyone, please let me know! MWAH to the bloggers.
Tags: absolutely not martha, all the best, an inspired walk, Architecture, ASID, Aspen, austin, Award Winning, Bath, Being Tazim blog, belle vivir, bijou kaleidoscope blog, blog catalog, blogs, blue ant studio, Boca Raton, book page blog, Brand Ambassador, california interior designer, Celebrity Interior Designer, charm home blog, chasing davies blog, cincinati enquirer, cliff spencer blog, Commercial, Construction, Contractor, crib candy, Custom Furniture, dallas, Decor, Decorating, Design, design addict blog, design for men mag, design shuffle blog, Eco-Modernism blog, examiner.com, Expert, Expert Witness, famous interior designer, Furniture Rentals, go design go blog, green, Green Interior Design, HGTV, hgtv design happens blog, Home, home design, home remodeling, Host, houston, ink+witt blog, Interior Decorator, interior design, interior design expert witness, Interior Designers, jk rowling, just one more page or two blog, kitchen, la mag.com, La Quinta, LEED, Live Modern blog, Lori Dennis, los angeles interior designer, lush pad, marketing a book, Miami, moore minutes blog, new york, Orange County Interior Designer, Palm Beach, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, pr for a book, Rancho Santa Fe, Remodel, Renovate, Residential, shoe box decor blog, simple and wonderful blog, Space Planning, Spokesperson, Staging, sustainable, the jink family blog, three men and a lady blog, Top Interior Designer, yossawat
Posted in Architecture and Design, Books, Press | 1 Comment »
Green Remodeling Review
Sunday, November 21st, 2010
Barry Katz was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book. Being a recently selected as a member of the ASID National Sustainable Council, one of our first assignments was to update the bibliography. The book couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Practical Green Remodeling extensively covers areas like insulation, ventilation and alternative energy systems. Filled with plenty of eye candy and pictures of Americana style homes, it’s easy (and fun) to read in an afternoon. If you’re just beginning your journey to the green side of home remodeling, get up to speed quickly with this power trio: Green Interior Design by Lori Dennis, Practical Green Remodeling by Barry Katz and REGREEN, a joint effort of ASID and the USGBC. You’ll gain a vocabulary and grasp of the industry that would make Ed Begley Jr. proud.
Tags: ASID National Sustainable Council, ASID REGREEN, Barry Katz, ed begley jr, Green interior Design Lori Dennis, green remodeling, ReGreen, USGBC
Posted in Architecture and Design, Books, Green Building, Green Living, Interior Designers | No Comments »
Green Day at the WDC by Jennifer Sergent
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010
Today we have a special treat, guest blogger Jennifer Sergent. You may know Jennifer from her former positions as senior editor at Washington Spaces and HGTV Magazine. Currently she is the Marketing Director of the Washington DC Design Center and was kind enough to invite me to speak on Green Interior Design and lead a tour through DC’s finest green showrooms.
Take it away Jennifer:
We had the most fun last week when Los Angeles designer Lori Dennis, who has become nationally known for her expertise in green interior design, came for a visit. Her new book, Green Interior Design, will be out later this month:
I knew Lori back when I edited a publication for HGTV, so when she called to say she’d be in town, I invited her to lunch with a few green experts, gathered through builder Mark Turner of Greenspur, who built the CharityWorks GreenHouse in McLean last year.
Left to right: Architect Ernesto Santalla of Studio Santalla, who designed the meditation/spa room in the Green House; Theresa Norton; Mary Anne Duffus, founder of the ultra-green Brooksfield preschool in McLean; Marcia Twomey, president of the McLean Chamber of Commerce; Lori Dennis; Designer Barbara Hawthorn, who designed the outdoor space at the Green House; (me) Jennifer Sergent, Director of Marketing for the WDC; Designer Skip Sroka, one of the design chairmen of the Green House; and Annie O’Connell, manager of the Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman showroom, where the photo was taken
We toured through showrooms with products that Lori writes about in her book, which will be out on Nov. 16. We started at Donghia, where showroom manager Liz Allner welcomed us with coffee and pastries.
Liz had laid out many different fabric lines that are totally green, including Brentano and Pollack. But the coolest show-and-tell examples were the dazzling samples of Maya Romanoff wallpaper:
During the tour, Lori and the showroom managers talked about products that were not only green in and of themselves (Maya Romanoff uses recycled glass for its beads), but also the companies who make them, which practice green standards. Overseas, child labor, too, is a big problem — and these companies try to stay away from factories that are caught using school-age children on their lines.
Next, we went to Farrow & Ball, which is now totally green in all its varieties of paint. They have stopped offering oil-based paint, as well.
Showroom manager Eve Fay describes the green characteristics of Farrow & Ball.
The greatest thing about green products for the home these days (if we haven’t already learned from the stunning CharityWorks GreenHouse), is that going green does not mean sacrificing quality. In Farrow & Ball’s case, it means that their pigmentation is still the best around.
Here’s an example of Rectory Red, on the right, which Eve had “matched” at two other paint companies. Not possible, as you can clearly see.
Moving right along, we went to see the ever-charming and charismatic Brian Benavides at Robert Allen | Beacon Hill, which has an impressive line of green fabrics, from sturdy contract quality to top-of-the-line residential.
Here’s Brian and Lori. Even in a still photo, Brian’s infectious personality comes across.
Jaunty pillows with Robert Allen’s eco-friendly fabric
Robert Allen has an entire green section in the showroom, which Brian pointed out that designers can use to demonstrate to their clients — once again — that the quality of the fabric is never sacrificed just because harmful chemicals aren’t used in the production or milling.
The texture of this fabric is so yummy! The green leaf on the label is a symbol that the fabric is green.
Next, we went to Edelman Leather, where showroom manager Emily Payne not only welcomed us with open arms, but sat us down in the sumptuous (all-leather) sitting area in the front of the showroom.
Emily Payne of Edelman Leather
How is leather green, you ask? Well, for one thing, Edelman uses only leathers produced in Europe, which actually has more stringent green standards than the United States when it comes to using non-toxic chemicals, clean factories, etc.
In addition, no animal is ever killed just for its hide. Emily pointed out that all leather comes from animals in the food industry, where hides are a by-product. So talk about reuse and recycle…
Can you believe this wood-grain pattern on Edelman’s newest leather product? Like, on a wing chair? Amazing. The surface of the cocktail table beneath it, by the way, is also an intricately textured leather.
Emily sent us away with the cutest gifts: small holders for change, credit cards, or business cards. I have already put mine to use!
But probably no one was as thrilled as Mary Anne Duffus, who runs the green Brooksfield School in McLean — Emily gave her a big bag of discontinued leather samples for the toddlers in her preschool to use in their art class. Mary Anne pointed out that no material in their art classes is ever bought new — it’s always reused from something else.
The final stop before our luncheon was Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman, where manager Annie O’Connell told us about her company’s “Pure” line of furniture.
Annie O’Connell
Because this was the last stop on our tour, everyone wanted to take some time to sit down and really “try out” the furniture. Not only are the fabrics, but the frames and even springs in the furniture is green: the wood frames are cut from sustainable forests, and the metal in the springs is recycled.
Theresa Norton sits on one of the “Pure” chairs, which was designed so a lady could sit on it, cross her legs, and look sexy. Mission accomplished, right?
Ernesto Santalla’s purple jacket blends wonderfully with the green silk of this sofa — green in color and concept, that is.
Theresa Norton, Mary Anne Duffus (with her art-class samples from Edelman), and Marcia Twomey also try out the sofa.
Two of my favorite designers came along on the tour with us — and they could have helped Lori quote chapter and verse on green interior design: Skip Sroka, whose new house is a poster child for green building, down to the recycled rubber tiles on his roof (see a story and photos of it here), and Barbara Hawthorn, who’s been doing green probably longer than Lori.
Skip Sroka and Barbara Hawthorn
Skip and Barbara have known each other a long time, and their mutual affection is adorable — I love this candid shot:
There are so many green products in our showrooms that we did not have enough time to see them all, but I’ve been talking to Lori about coming back and expanding our little tour to a larger event during our Capital Design Days in the spring. I was so impressed not only with Lori’s command of the subject, but also of our showroom managers’ knowledge, and our guests’ own experience with the green movement. It was an inspiring day, and I can’t wait to read Lori’s book.
Tags: Annie O' Connell, Architecture, ASID, Aspen, austin, Award Winning, Barbara Hawthorn, Bath, Beacon Hill, Boca Raton, Brand Ambassador, Brentano, california interior designer, Capital Design Days, Celebrity Interior Designer, Charity Works Green House, Commercial, Construction, Contractor, Custom Furniture, dallas, Decor, Decorating, Design, Donghia, eco-friendly, Edelman Leather, Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman, Ernesto Santalla, Expert, Expert Witness, famous interior designer, Farrow & Ball, Furniture Rentals, green, Green Interior Design, Greenspur, HGTV, Home, home design, home remodeling, Host, houston, Interior Decorator, interior design, interior design expert witness, Interior Designers, Jennifer Sergent, kitchen, La Quinta, LEED, Lori Dennis, los angeles interior designer, Marcia Twomey, Mark Turner, Mary Anne Duffus, Maya Romanoff, Mc Lean, Miami, new york, Orange County Interior Designer, Palm Beach, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Pollack, Rancho Santa Fe, Remodel, Renovate, Residential, Robert Allen, Skip Sroka, Space Planning, Spokesperson, Staging, Studio Santalla, sustainable, Theresa Norton, Top Interior Designer, washington DC Design Center
Posted in Architecture and Design, Books, Events, Furniture, Green Living, Interior Designers, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »