What does your school need? Tell BING and win bucks!

I’ve been teaching in public high schools for over twenty-two years. I’d like to tell you that every year, there is more money to fund needs than there are needs to fund.

But then that wouldn’t be the truth. And this year, more than ever, schools are experiencing the same budge issues are most American families. In our district, positions lost due to attrition were not refilled, more teachers are needed to relieve overcrowded classrooms, and supplies? Well, there’s a shallow well and too many buckets.

So, as a classroom teacher, I’m delighted when I find companies willing to extend a hand for the future of education and, ultimately, all of us.

In their latest philanthropic campaign supporting kids’ education, Bing wants to help teachers and students by providing them with supplies and financial support needed to ensure a successful learning experience. Bing will potentially give away over $1 million dollars through their new “Our School Needs” program. This user-generated content competition easily enables students and teachers in elementary, middle and high schools to submit a request for what their school needs most by submitting a photo, essay or optional video.

Students and teachers can learn more about the contest and submit an entry on behalf of their school by visiting www.bing.com/ourschoolneeds.

From now until October 22nd, you can upload photos, essays and videos telling Bing what your school needs for a chance to win up to $100,000!

What does your school need? Every school needs something, from a library to computers to even more teachers. Hear what others are saying in this heartfelt video and get inspired to create your own.

Special Giveaway!
As part of this outreach, five lucky winners will receive a $50 donation to use at DonorsChoice.org to support a local classroom! Click here to enter to win.

Our School Needs: Everyone Deserves a Great Education!
What Does Your School Need?
What: User‐generated content competition that will identify and fulfill the dreams of 4 schools: 1 grand prize winner and 3 first prize schools. Bing will give up to a million dollars in prizes and donations to schools in need!
Why: Every child deserves a great education. Bing enthusiastically supports the teachers, educators and parents who make it happen with products, programs and donations that help provide a great learning environment. This competition is a great opportunity to let teachers and students show everyone through essays, photographs and videos (optional) what they think their schools needs the most.
When: Students and teachers can submit entries from now until Friday, October 22nd (Winners will be announced Tuesday, November 9th)
Where: www.Bing.com/education
How: There will be 3 categories: grades k‐6, 7 – 9 and 10 – 12. . The overall grand prize winning school will receive $100,000 and each category will have a first prize of $50,000.
• Step 1: Teachers and students can create an entry for their school, including a story of what their school needs, photos and a video (optional). Students under 18 will need a parent/guardian or
teacher submit the entry on their behalf.
• Step 2: Entries are made available for everyone to see and rate online. The 5 top rated submission in each category (15 total) is guaranteed a slot in the final panel. Top rated submissions and the
top editors picks will then be turned over to a distinguished panel of judges who will determine the 15 finalists.
• Step 3: Voting begins on October 27. Stay tuned for more information about this phase of the contest and for your opportunity to participate in the Blog Tour for the Voting phase!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and received a DonorsChoose.org giving code and gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

The Bing “Our School Needs…” Contest: How-to-Submit 101

To help teachers, students and parents entering the “Our School Needs…” Contest we did a quick tutorial on what makes a great submission.

The Bing “Our School Needs…” Contest: How-to-…, posted with vodpod

 

GUEST POST: Things You Should Know About Book Promotion by Dean DeLuke

Things You Should Know About Book Promotion

1.   It won’t be done for you. Whether you are self-published or have a contract with a Simon and Schuster imprint, you can’t expect that your promotion will be done for you. It takes time and often takes personal cash expenditure as well. Sure, if you’re James Patterson, you may be assured a virtually unlimited marketing budget. For the rest of us debut authors, figure out in advance what you can afford, and devise a detailed marketing plan around that budget. Even established authors are electing to spend some of their own money on outside marketing firms these days.

2.   It is enormously time consuming. For writers with secondary or primary “day jobs,” the task can become daunting. So develop a budget for time spent as well as for cash expense. Writing guest posts, interviews, social networking, book signings—it all takes time. Lest you find your professional and personal life in shambles, decide how much time you can realistically spend, and stick to that budget the same as you would your financial budget. Even for the full-time writer with no competing job, there’s always that next book that should be on its way to completion.

3.   Continued promotion can give a book a second wind. Rebecca Wells’ Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood was not a huge seller its first year out. But the author committed a full year to touring, giving very entertaining presentations to ever-increasing audiences. We all know the result: book sales took off and Ya Ya Sisterhood became a national phenomenon.

4.   Devise a wish list of your ten top media placements. Be realistic, but include a couple stretch goals as well. Keep a file of all newspaper articles or reviews, radio or TV appearances, and have your publicist present those as part of your package as you reach higher up the media ladder (or do it yourself if you are acting on your own behalf). Start locally and build to a more regional exposure with successive media placements.

5.   Consider enlisting both traditional and online publicists. A good virtual publicist can greatly increase the visibility of your book in the online world, in a way that is very efficient in terms of both time and expense. I selected Pump Up Your Book Promotion for my online campaign.

6.   Carefully read at least one good reference text on book publicity. Read it like you would a text book and take notes for use in devising your own publicity campaign. My personal favorite is Publicize Your Book, by Jacqueline Deval.

This all takes time and effort, and as writers, we would much rather be spending the time writing. But the sad fact is that there are a lot of excellent books that never sell because they never had the marketing necessary to give them a fair chance. And conversely, we can all list some rather mediocre stories that rise to stardom because of the right marketing mix.

Dr. Dean DeLuke is a graduate of St. Michael’s College, Columbia University (DMD) and Union Graduate College (MBA). He completed residency training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and also participated in a fellowship in maxillofacial surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England.

He currently divides his time between the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery and a variety of business consulting activities with Millennium Business Communications, LLC, a boutique marketing, communications and business consulting firm. An active volunteer, he has served on the Boards of the St. Clare’s Hospital Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of Northeast New York, and the Albany Academy for Girls. He has also performed medical missionary work with Health Volunteers Overseas.

He has a long history of involvement with thoroughbred horses—from farm hand on the Assunta Louis Farm in the 1970s to partner with Dogwood Stable at present.

His latest book is Shedrow, a medical thriller with a unique twist.

You can visit his website at www.shedrow1.com or connect with him at Facebook at www.facebook.com/deandeluke.