Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tinamarie Bernard on February 16, 2010 at 8:27pm

Hi Jill,
Kudos to you! I feel so passionate about this subject - as a woman, a mother, and as someone who has seen the pain of abuse hit those I love.

In my son's 1st grade class, one boy was sodomizing another with objects. A seven year old sexually abusing another. I found out from a child social worker that it is a growing, frightening problem, ie, same-age sexual abuse.

I'd love to help you get the press release out there. I'll write about the program on my column, Modern Love, first of all. I'll pitch it to another writer who covers sex education.

One idea for a grabbing headline might be to focus on how younger and younger children are now also the perpetrators. "Little johnny loves trains, planes and sticking crayons in his classmate's butt. Meet the face of the newest sexual perpetrators.' I know, that's really gross! But you get my idea, I'm sure.

Anyway, please let me know when I can pass on the press release information to my audience, etc. Best, Tinamarie
tinamariewrites@yahoo.com

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Permalink Reply by Jill Starishevsky on February 26, 2010 at 5:01pm

Hi Tinamarie,

Thanks so much for writing. I agree that child on child sexual abuse is growing and perhaps it is a topic that needs more attention. I think the headline you came up with is terrific - it's a very ballsy approach. Need to give it some thought as I am not sure I am ready to be so "in your face" about it. I think one of the things that makes my book so appealing is that it is doesn't have that type of feeling to it. May not be the best idea to switch gears so quickly as it may take away from the importance of the message. When I have a press release put together I will send it your way. Thanks so much for offering to help spread the word.

All the best,

jill
info@MyBodyBelongstoMe.com

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Permalink Reply by Tinamarie Bernard on March 1, 2010 at 11:51pm

Hi Jill,
Totally understand. It's a fine line about getting the message out in an effective way without resorting to total 'shock factor.' Please, please do know that I will help you spread the word (even if you don't use my title!) because it is such an important topic. You know, those kids who don't know better and are doing sexual things with their peers may grow up to be adults who don't understand the difference between consentual and coercive sex. It's such an important topic, and I commend your efforts.

Send me the press release and I'll write about it. Promise.
And when you have time, come visit me at my site too.
Here's my lastest...T
http://www.examiner.com/x-2593-Modern-Love-Examiner~y2010m2d26-Lori...

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Permalink Reply by Rose E. Grier on May 5, 2010 at 4:41am

www.itsneveryourfault.com is my site. I have been a freelance advocate for 12 years. If you google my name Rose E. Grier there is a lot to see. I would love to collaborate with someone. I have created an award winning educational program for teens, It is pretty comprehensive.

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Permalink Reply by Rose E. Grier on December 5, 2010 at 6:00am

Tinamarie,
I just found this page and had no idea people had responded. I also appreciate the insight into younger abuse. I am working on an elementary program and obviously need to integrate the info you shared into a section on this kind of awareness. Geeze!
Rose E.

Attachments:

• 2010 sample query.doc, 633 KB
• Educational Program Flyer.jpg, 1.3 MB
• Dear President Bush original.doc, 29 KB

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Permalink Reply by Catharine Way on February 20, 2010 at 5:57am

One suggestion to increase publicity is to make sure that on Amazon the "Click to look inside" feature is working - I went there to have a look inside the book but could not because that feature is not operational. It's hard to know what approach to take on the press release without knowing anything specific about the content. Also, I'm guessing, since you're writing your own press release, that the book is self-published - you might want to have a look at "Publicize Your Book!" by Jacqueline Deval - I haven't read it but it gets high marks.

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Permalink Reply by Jill Starishevsky on February 26, 2010 at 5:05pm

Hi Catharine,

Thanks for the tip about Amazon. While there are a few pages of the book posted at http://www.MyBodyBelongstoMe.com - I need to follow up on making it available on Amazon. I also think having people post their reviews on Amazon may be helpful as well. Will add it to my list of things to do. I appreciate your feedback.

jill
info@MyBodyBelongstoMe.com

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Permalink Reply by Renee Belinda Cooper on March 28, 2010 at 7:15pm

Hi Jill,
I admire and mirror your direction.
What you need is a press release campaign. Not just one will do it. Build your press release campaign like an ad campaign. For example make the first release on the words of the Sacramento paper. Then go after getting more. Each time you get a positive review, make a press release. If you donate to families or schools, do a press release.
Make a list of print media and internet and start sending them out.
Child sexual abuse is an ugly subject most people would like to believe does not happen in their family. But it does. It happens to one in three females. I too recently came out and have made a blog and a few videos to help raise awareness.
Thanks for sharing and caring,
Renee

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Permalink Reply by Jill Starishevsky on April 17, 2010 at 2:55pm

Hi Renee,

Thank you so much for your input. I agree a press release campaign would be effective, but I think if people are inundated sometimes they start to tune you out. Still working on that one that sends a message without turning people off. I think I came up with the headline, but I am still working on the content. Keep up the great work and the videos - they are terrific in helping spread the word.

Be well,

jill

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Permalink Reply by Mary Keating on April 11, 2010 at 7:52pm

Hi Jill. I am a newbie to She Write, in fact, I just launched today! And I am just searching.

I am on the board for Bright Tomorrows Child Advocacy Center in Pocatello, Idaho. I became involved with them a number of years ago when I was working on an article about sexual abuse. I interviewed two mothers of child victims. I have since gone on to write a number of things conerning sexual abuse. I have a couple of ideas. I sent you a friend request. I think that is how it works. I would love to email you the article. Please contact me - and best of luck on the launch of your book - it is a vital issue to talk about!

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Permalink Reply by Jill Starishevsky on April 17, 2010 at 3:01pm

Hi Mary,

Thanks so much for sending the article. David Finkelhor, who is an expert in the research of child sexual abuse, often likens it to an epidemic, much the way you do. I think if more people viewed it as such, it would go a long way in working toward prevention. I am in the midst of putting together My Body Belongs to Me in Spanish. This should be a good opportunity to get back out there and teach people about how to prevent this epidemic. Thanks again for your work in this area.

Jill Starishevsky
Check us out on ABC News:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/talking-kids-sexual-abuse-10255396

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Permalink Reply by Angela E. Gambrel on April 12, 2010 at 4:12pm

As a former journalist for 11 years, I've had a lot of experiences in rewriting press releases. I suspect you will want you to have your press release printed without being altered and/or rewritten, so here's some tips to get your words out (and not a watered down version):
A. Avoid jargon - any type of jargon language (and every field has it; I reported on education and the military and it was like learning a new language.) Most media outlets will cut any jargon out of it and have a reporter re-write it with simple language. Try to remember that most newspapers are written at a sixth-grade level.
B. To help with this, read it out loud to several people who are not lawyers or advocates for children who have been abused. Pick a few ordinary people and see if they get it. If they don't, re-write it or the media outlet will most likely do it for you - and they most likely won't run the changes by you before publishing.
C. Make your first sentence an attention-getter, but not too graphic. In particular, many newspapers are fairly conservative and any approach that they feel might offend their readership (which the demographics say are those over 50) will be cut. Many newspapers also are conservative about certain issues, and child abuse is one of them.
D. Contact the editor(s) of the media outlets you plan to send your press release to before you actually do and explain t to them how important the subject is, what you are trying to accomplish, etc. Many unsolicited press releases end up in the recycle bin - not everything sent is published. Make sure you ask to speak to at least the news editor; any one lower won't do you any good - they might be nice and say, "we'll try," but they don't hold any power.
F. The exception to the above is the cops/crime reporter (in this case. I would suggest a different reporter if you were writing about a subject like, say, autism.) Talk to this person and try to get them as passionate as you are about your cause. I have seen the cops/crime reporter at my former paper (I took a buyout last year to go to grad school) really go to bat for causes she was convinced were important, because the people involved took the time to call and/or visit her and go over the issues with her. You might even get a story out of it!
G. Explain in your release why people should care. Stats are fine, but you need to give them a poignant story of a child touched by abuse and how it has effected him/her. Just don't be too graphic and don't overload it with stats; they take up space and at least in the case of newspapers, will be cut if there are too many stats in the piece. (Stats are considering boring; empathy is what sells and that's still the job of newspapers.)
H. Finally, every community has at least one television station willing to do any story if you bug them enough about it. Many people don't realize this, but TV stations and newspapers are in fierce competition with each other and everyone wants to be the first to get the story out if it's important.
I. Check to see if there are some independent, online papers in your area. I live in a small town, but there are at least three websites which publish articles, information, etc. Also check with local college papers - they are often interested in these types of issues and can be more open and willing to print things that other places won't. You could pitch it toward those going into education, criminal justice, psychology, law.
J. Know your market. One size does not fit all, and you might have to write different press releases for different media outlets - one more conservative for conservative papers, another more open to more details (such as college and independent newspapers.)

I hope all this helps! Good luck.

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