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Published by Bob Kelly
Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister
WordCrafters, Inc.
www.wordcrafters.info
Providing the Right Word for Speakers, Writers, Ministry Leaders and Business Executives – since 1979!
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Volume 4 – Number 2 February 2006
In This Issue:
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THE QUOTE CORNER (Advertising Part 2)
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Last month in this space, we presented a number of quotes that were highly
critical of the business we call advertising. This month, in the
interests of fair play (something Im rarely accused of), we present the
other
side of the coin. In reading them, however, please bear in mind that
the opinions
expressed
are not necessarily those of the editor.
In fact, after sitting through 30-minute news programs, which bombard us with 15 minutes or more of commercials, with a little bit of so-called news sprinkled in, its hard for me to think too kindly of any form of advertising.
Advertising isnt a science. Its persuasion. And persuasion is an art. (William Bernbach)
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. (Steuart H. Britt)
The business that considers itself immune to the necessity for advertising sooner or later finds itself immune to business. (Derby Brown)
Advertising is what you do when you cant go see somebody. (Fairfax W. Cone)
A good ad should be like a good sermon. (Bernice Fitz-Gibbon)
You have to do a little bragging on yourself, even to your relatives. Men just dont get anywhere without advertising. (John Nance Garner)
Give them quality. Thats the best kind of advertising. (Milton S. Hershey)
We are living so fast, and inventing so fast, and changing so fast, and there are so many of us, that he who does not advertise is left to the spiders, the cockroaches and the microbes. (Elbert Hubbard)
Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. (Thomas Jefferson)
Advertising is the background music of our times. It means that goods are movingmoney is changing handspeople are working. (Ernest A. Jones)
Advertising begins when the first crying child advertises his wants to his mother, and ends only with the epitaph on the headstone in the village cemetery. (Edward S. Jordan)
Nothing except the mint can make money without advertising. (Thomas B. Macaulay)
Never write an advertisement which you wouldnt want your own family to read. You wouldnt tell lies to your own wife. Dont tell them to mine. (David Ogilvy)
In our factory, we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope. (Charles Revson)
Advertising is the foot on the accelerator, the hand on the throttle, the spur on the flank that keeps our economy surging forward. (Robert W. Sarnoff)
Advertising enriches life by quickening the imagination, arousing interest and enlarging the taste. (Ralph W. Sockman)
(Note: These quotations are taken from our collection of nearly 400 published volumes of quotations and 1.5 million entries. If youre looking for some quotes on virtually any subject, send us an email at bob@kellygram.com, or call us at 480-895-7617. Or, if you have a quote topic youd like us to feature in an upcoming issue, email it to us and well get it on the schedule.)
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THE WORD OF THE YEAR!
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We recently stumbled across an organization called the American Dialect Society
(ADS). Never having heard of it before, we assumed it must be of fairly recent
vintage, but it turns out its been around since 1889. (For those keeping
score at home, thats 117 years.)
According to its website, the society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. Its membership includes academics and amateurs, professionals and dilettantes, teachers and writers.
One of the responsibilities of these academics, amateurs, professionals,
dilettantes, teachers and writers is to vote annually on the Word of
the Year, and, in
January, ADS issued a release proclaiming that the WOTY for 2005 was
----- Truthiness!
Say what? Truthiness? According to the ADS, truthiness refers to the
quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather
than concepts
or facts known to be true. According to several sources, James Frey,
author of the bestseller A Million Little Pieces, indulged in quite
a bit of
so-called truthiness in his book.
In fact, what Frey actually indulged in was more accurately labeled lying, incurring the wrath of no less than Oprah Winfrey herself, who had earlier been taken in by Freys lies, and didnt seem to appreciate it a whole lot.
On top of that earth-shattering news, we were shocked SHOCKED to learn of another medium in which a form of truthiness is apparently practiced routinely. It seems, according to a recent magazine report, that the producers of Reality TV engage in various forms of tampering which make it appear, thanks to some cutting, splicing and editing, that some of the things contestants say on screen are significantly different than what they actually said.
The term used in that pull-the-wool-over-their-eyes industry isnt truthiness, but frankenbiting. Not being a member of the ADS, Im not eligible to vote in its annual WOTY election, but I think frankenbiting would be an excellent choice for 2006, although they probably wont want to run back-to-back synonyms for L-I-E.
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SWIFTIES
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In the January 2006 issue of her excellent ezine, The Door Opener,
our friend and colleague Barbara McNichol included an item on
Swifties that
offers some
great advice on writing, and also brought back some memories.
She wrote: Stephen Kings On Writing masterpiece makes it clear which tools of the craft work well for writersand which tools dont. For example, he rails against using adverbsspecifically ly wordswhen attributing dialogue to a character. He calls this use of adverbs Swifties after the Tom Swift novels written for young adults.
To accentuate his point, King
adds: When I was a teenager there was a party game based on ones ability
to create witty
(or half-witty)
Swifties. [Youve
got a nice butt, lady, he said cheekily] . . . Dont do
these things. Please, oh, please.
Barbara then extended this invitation to her readers: Be
on the lookout for Swifties and send me your funniest ones!
To
get the
ball rolling,
Im sending
her the following:
- He pulled the wool over my eyes, she said sheepishly. And this double
Swiftie:
- Please take my picture, she said candidly. OK! Say cheese, he replied
craftily.
To send Barbara your Swifties, or for a free subscription to The Door Opener, visit her website: www.barbaramcnichol.com.
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PLANNING A BOOK? IT HAD BETTER BE GOOD!
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Is 2006 the year youre finally going to finish writing that book youve been
thinking about for so long? Why not? Lots and lots of others are doing so.
But the numbers are awfully intimidating. According to R.R. Bowker, LLC, there
were 195,000 books published in 2004, an all-time high, and an increase of
72 percent since 1995. And, a book by a typical author averages a mere 11,800
copies sold.
To be successful in a very crowded marketplace, and to beat that average, there are two essentials. First, it has to be very well-written and highly readable, and, second, you must be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time, energy and money to market it. It doesnt matter if you self-publish or use a traditional publisher, sales of your book will depend on Y-O-U.
I dont do book marketing, but can direct you to some folks wholl work with you. However, I can certainly help you, as I have many other authors, put together a book youll be proud to put your name on. Whether you need it ghostwritten, edited, proofread, or some combination thereof, Ill be happy to consult with you about it.
Im beginning my 27th year of doing just that for dozens of satisfied clients. I guarantee my work, and never charge a fee for an initial review or consultation. Call me at (480) 895-7617, or email me at bob@kellygram.com, and let me show you how you can look good on paper.
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SMILE AWHILE
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Im grateful to my daughter Mary, who spotted the following item in a recent
issue of The Saturday Evening Post and was kind enough to pass it along.
Applicant Résumé Bloopers
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ODDS AND ENDS
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Back Issues:
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on our website: http://www.wordcrafters.info/back_issues.html.
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Comments/Questions:
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A FINAL WORD
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Work like you dont need the money. Love like youve never been hurt. Dance
like nobodys watching. Sing like nobodys listening. Live like its Heaven
on Earth. (Source unknown)
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© 2006 by Bob Kelly. All rights reserved.
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