Ascot Media Group: Our Portfolio

Mark Littleton - Author

Ascot Media has proven their worth over and over to me, with getting me on many radio interviews, newspaper reviews, and even recently on Fox and Friends. They are worth every penny and more.

Mark Littleton
Author - Big Bad God of the Bible

Mark Littleton is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor and youth pastor. He has authored more than seventy books, which have collectively sold more than one million copies.

Tom Williams - Author

Recommendation for Kim McCall and the Ascot Media Group

From Author, Tom Williams

When searching for representation throughout the media world, diligence and relentless effort are key, but follow up with meticulous attention to detail are the real secrets of success.

Kim McCall of the Ascot Media group is the follow up queen. Kim, Trish Stevens, and their associates have broken all barriers to the carefully guarded media world and have not only hurdled the maze of traditional safeguards but have made friends with the media gatekeepers!

After communicating with several authors regarding publicist firms, there can be little doubt as to the fast-paced results from Ascot Media, and how far ahead of the norm, Kim McCall and Trish Stevens are.

The following is a testament of a newly published author and the publicity story of Lost and Found.
After contacting every newspaper and magazine nationwide, advanced reading copies were dispersed and 18 rave reviews were collected prior to publication. Book cover-art was then the focus and Ascot was relentless until the cover art was perfect. After publication, nationwide radio interviews followed along side numerous press releases. Television interviews were next, local and network, with Fox and Friends opening even more doors that were quickly pursued by the clever ladies at Ascot Media.

After 11 faced paced months with the Ascot Media Group, I find that not only am I well represented by the best in the business, but the experience is as fun and exciting as if I have my very own Jerry McGuire working hard to, “Show me the money!”

Bill Forstchen - Author of over 40 books

My name is Bill Forstchen and I’m the author of over forty books. I will admit up front that I can be considered insane for at least two reasons. First, that I would actually sit down and write forty books. Second, for the longest time I believed nearly everything my publishers told me. . .especially when it came to marketing.

Author Bill Forstchen

Whether you are just getting into the business, or an old hand, we’ve all shared that incredible thrill of opening a letter after months, perhaps years of waiting and read. . . “Dear author, we love your book and want to publish it!”

Those first months are like a honeymoon. . .all those wonderful promises of life long love and devotion. “We are going to put you at the top.” Or, “You’re our A list author and wait until you see how we sell your book.” “We’re building your future and we’ll be partners for life!”
Some honeymoons actually do work, but for most of us in this business, you quickly discover that. . well, the day after publication your beloved “spouse and life long partner” no longer respects you. . .in fact can not even remember your name. . .and something seems to be wrong with the joint bank account! And hey, where did she go. . . all the furniture in the house is missing and even the house is gone!

So consider this next paragraph to be a little “infomercial” for Ascot Media Group:

“Having problems with your publisher. Tired of walking into your local book store and you can’t find a single copy of your work? Have you been sitting by the phone for months waiting for someone, anyone to call for an interview and all you hear is a dial tone? Did your publisher promise “on the souls of his grandchildren” that they’d turn you into a best seller and you find out he has no grandchildren! Then call Ascot Media Group today.”

Seriously though. Publishing is one helluva brutal business. We, the authors get into it for a lot of reasons, but I think one common denominator above all else is that we love books, we love writing, and there is the streak of the idealist in us. Publishers? “It’s not personal, it’s business.” And that business rarely considers you the individual. You are just one book of a hundred or more they might market this year. Sure they will have the one or two fair haired favorites that some attention is lavished on, but for most of us, enough copies are run off to turn a profit for them, and that is it. Could your book have been a best seller? Maybe. . . but if the publisher didn’t plan for you to be a best seller, then dream on because it just ain’t gonna happen. I learned these hard truths across twenty five years of slowly crawling up the ladder. My success did come thanks to half a dozen books with a very famous co author and friend, but when it came to titles I still wrote on my own. . . zero effort even though my co authored books won near universal praise for story and style, my co author lavish in his praise of my ability.

One Second After by Bill Forstchen.

A good buddy in the business, a consistent NY Times best seller had been hammering me for years about the main step to success. To hell with what your publishers promise. Most of it is hot air, (he also references what can be found in pastures as well). If you study how the top players made it. . . they had their own publicist. That is the key. Someone who works for you and with you. Someone who has a stake in your success, someone who is a pro who knows marketing, which frankly very few of us authors have a real grasp of.
My friend is right. Long before publication of my latest book “One Second After” early reviewers were telling me that my book was absolutely my best ever, and that beyond that it was an important book with an important message. But yet again, all those early honeymoon promises from the publisher. . .yeah right. I could see the book was heading for oblivion.
Well this time I decided to fight back and fight to win.

My best seller friend pointed out Ascot Media to me and I gave them a call.

A few emails, a half hour on the phone and we had a contract.

Why? Well let me say something about her contract first. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about alleged publicists that lock you into a six month or year long deal for a lot of bucks and then you never hear from them again. Successful or bomb, you still must pay them every month. Ascot Media is more than happy to start for just a month or two and openly says “try my team out and if you are not happy you are not tied in.” That was refreshing, it put the performance demand on her right up front. Second, Ascot offers several different packages and there is no “hard sell,” on their part. Ascot Media is frank and open, laying out the benefits versus cost of each. Ascot is more than happy to provide referrals from other people in your particular line that have worked with their team and urges you to feel free to call them for an evaluation and advice. And finally, well there is just something about Ascot Media that won me over within a few minutes. I figured if they could do that, then this is a professional group who understands selling and the market.

I am writing this after only a few weeks of our working together. I am deeply impressed. I find emails from the Ascot staff time stamped at 3:00 AM setting up a potential interview. Their press releases are hot and they know how to peg the right spot in the market.

I think Ascot Media Group is a winner and they can make you a winner too.
In closing. If you had to chose between trusting a publicist in your publisher's office who works for the corporation, or a publicist who works directly for you. . .who would you believe first?
Feel free to call me at any time if you wish to talk it over. If you want to hear some horror stories about being an author or feel like sharing a few of your own, I’ll get out the scotch or whatever you prefer while we talk.

And then sign on with Ascot Media.

Sincerely,
William R. Forstchen

Sabra Ferguson - Jerry Audley Music

I highly recommend Ascot Media for all your publicity needs.

We have been working with Ascot Media for a year now and the group has done a remarkable job for Jerry Audley Music. Ascot Media has very high standards when it comes to their work and they are very thorough. Ascot also has a heart as big as Texas!

Sabra Ferguson
Management
Jerry Audley Music
972-880-1607
sabraferguson@mac.com
www.jerryaudley.com
www.myspace.com/jerryaudley

Drake Larson, author of The Cults of Relativity

To Authors and Publishers

We want to take the opportunity to recommend Ascot Media Group to both publishers and writers who are looking for a marketing team to help promote a book. The Cults of Relativity is a book geared toward unique audiences. Ascot Media Group and their viral marketing took the extra effort to find the audiences interested in the technical side of Dark Energy and Relativity. The fact that the book also deals with how Dark Energy is tied to biotechnology made their job that much more difficult. Their effort to work on press releases until they found the one that caught the public's attention was noteworthy.

Ascot Media has a natural talent for lining up interviews. We both have worked with several other ad agencies in the past, and none have equaled Ascot Media's performance. We highly recommend them.

Drake Larson, author of The Cults of Relativity
drakelarson@yahoo.com
www.drakelarson.com
Harley Patrick, Publisher, Hellgate Press

Frank Romano, Author, Storm Over Morocco http://www.frankromano363.com

I am an American author that lives in France, though I visit the United States often. I recently hired Ascot Media Group to handle the publicity for my book Storm Over Morocco which is about how I was imprisoned by a group of brainwashing militant Muslims.

Ascot Media Group are a very efficient and loyal team. I was surprised that by the end of the first month of working as my publicists, they hadn't wasted any time in setting up 5 TV appearances (including one radio interview), across the US, of which three were broadcast live, including 2 Fox News interviews. I'm looking forward to my next TV tour that is presently being arranged by this team. I highly recommend them to anyone needing a jump-start on publicity.

Frank Romano
Author - Storm Over Morocco
Frankfro@aol.com
http://www.frankromano363.com

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Jeffrey S. Stephens, www.jeffreysstephens.com

Jeffrey S. Stephens : Author of The Portofino Deception

The enthusiastic team at Ascot Media, have taken my novel, THE PORTOFINO DECEPTION, from the darkness of obscurity to the light of exposure, arranging innumerable press releases and internet blogs, media reviews and a series of national radio interviews and in-studio television appearances around the country. Anyone interested in promotion of a product, from a book to a political candidate, would be well served to contact the passionate and devoted group at Ascot Media.

Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Stephens
14 Duncan Drive
Post Office Box 11177
Greenwich, Connecticut 06831
www.jeffreysstephens.com

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Stacy Gooch Anderson, Author of The Santa Letters, www.thesantaletters.org

As a brand new author, I was admittedly quite overwhelmed not only by the nuances of the publishing world but even more so by the marketing required for a new book title by a previously unpublished, although known, writer.
And then ASCOT Media came into the picture.

The ASCOT Media team has embraced my project and made it as important as if it were their own. And my scheduler, Monica Foster, has dedicated her self to the success of the message of The Santa Letters with a passion equal to my own.

Their offices are out of southern, Texas and it was interesting for me to note that not even a natural disaster like hurricane Ike could deter their efforts as they got back to work as soon as they could and rallied behind me. It was humbling to hear their cheerful voices void of complaints as they rose above the chaos that surrounded them and got to work not wanting to disappoint me.

I have not only been blessed with a super publicity group but with friends who embrace my passion and do everything they can to help me share my vision. If you want a publicity company that will not only put their best foot forward but will stand behind you 150%, go to ASCOT Media.

Stacy Gooch Anderson, Author of The Santa Letters
www.thesantaletters.org
www.stacyganderson.com

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Cedar Fort, Inc., www.cedarfort.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I am the Publisher at Cedar Fort, Inc. We have a backlist of 1700 titles and currently publish 120 new titles each year. We have been using Ascot Media Group since August of 2007.

The ability of this group to key in on certain market segments is nothing short of fantastic. The specific effort of Ascot media group resulted in one of our authors getting onto the NYT bestseller extended list.

We are very excited about our future with Ascot Media Group. You are more than welcome to call me as a reference.

Thank you,

Lyle V. Mortimer
Publisher
www.cedarfort.com
2373 West 700 South
Springville, UT 84663
801-489-4084

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Steve Alten, N.Y. Times best-selling author

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Steve Alten and I am the N.Y. Times best-selling author of seven novels. I have worked with no less than a dozen publicists since my first novel, MEG, hit best-seller lists in 1997 and have been frustrated by the mixed results and wasted dollars spent. For my eight novel, THE SHELL GAME, I hired Ascot Media Group to do a viral internet blitz. The results have been incredible.

Ascot targeted websites, blogs, and organizations that believe in the message of The SHELL GAME. They received requests for advanced reading copies from over 300 groups representing tens of thousands of supporters. A month prior to the book’s release, the publisher presold 37,000 of the 40,000 first prints. During the first month of its release, The SHELL GAME hit numbers 33 and 31 on the NY Times best seller list.

In addition to the viral campaign, Ascot targeted the media in the thousands, resulting in radio and television interviews that also helped push me on to the NY Times best seller list.

I highly recommend Ascot Media to anyone looking for a big return on their advertising buck.

Steve Alten, Ed.D.
www.SteveAlten.com

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Actors Gem Productions, www.CelebrityMysteryTheater.com

Actors Gem Productions

"Ascot Media Group was paramount to the success of my National Campaign to launch Actors Gem Productions across the US at the beginning of year 2007. Their commitment to my business provided me with national recognition in all areas of media to include world-wide internet publications, radio spots, print articles, news coverage’s and television talk show interviews.

My client activity increased by 70% with a continued escalation in demand. I highly recommend Ascot Media Group for anyone interested and ready to support the substantial increase of attention you will receive due to their involvement with your endeavor."

Bobbie Winslow
CEO – Actors Gem Productions
Celebrity Mystery Theater
www.CelebrityMysteryTheater.com

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Adopt-An-Author

Adopt-An-Author is a 501-3C non-profit that encourages teens to read. Ascot Media’s efforts helped expand our reach from 5,250 schools in 2006 to over 8,500 schools in 2007!

They did a phenomenal job, to which we are indebted.

Leisa Coffman, V.P.

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Tom Williams, Author

Letter of recommendation for the Ascot Media Group

Dealing with media is not unlike walking through a large and very old house with darkened hallways and many locked doors. There are obviously actions occurring behind the closed doors but to the outsider these sacred doors can be impenetrable as bank vaults.

With Ascot Media, the old scary house suddenly becomes an open house with everyone that was so untouchable and locked behind blocked barriers suddenly becoming accessible and approachable.

There can be no doubt that the Ascot Media Group are true shinning stars in the publicist field and relentlessly rely on techniques that most other firms consider too much work. The Ascot Media Group is unstoppable in their conquests for their client’s goals and show kind attention and patience when guiding newcomers through the mysteries of the media world.

I cannot recommend strongly enough the Ascot Media team.

Tom Williams: Scripts columnist, feature article writer, and author of “Lost and Found”

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