Denny's Daily Zinger: How to Launch a Book, a Product, a Service—Or Anything Else

In 2008, I wrote about Marji Ross, CEO of conservative book publisher Henry Regnery. Her brilliant presentation on creating successful P.R. campaigns was a game changer.

Her model for launching new books was a Blitzkrieg—used by the Germans in World War II to assault the enemy by land, sea and air without warning.

Her company goes dark for a month while making elaborate, highly secret preparations for a publication day surprise. Planning includes:

• Getting sample copies of the book into the hands influencers (but embargo reviews until the pub date).
• Scheduling author interviews for radio, TV, print and the Internet-as many as 25 a day for a solid week.
• Preparing an e-blast to 800,000 known conservatives-politicians, columnists, radio and TV hosts and babble-heads.

The entire Blitzkrieg hits on the publication date and lasts for a full week.

How savvy is Marji Ross? Half the books she publishes reach The New York Times bestseller list. No other publisher comes close to that percentage.

Beyoncés Blitzkrieg
Following Marji Ross' battle plan, Byoncé launched her newest album with a Blitzkrieg last week. It became the fastest-selling album in the history of Apple's iTunes store.

I emailed the story to Marji Ross, who replied: "Well, who wouldn't want to be imitated by Beyonce?! My daughters will be impressed."

"There are two speeds in modern P.R.-fast and dead." —Michael Levine, Guerrilla P.R. 2.0