By Lindsay Bell

Ed Zitron doesn’t mince words.

You just have to peruse his website, or read his author bio to get the feel for his honesty, and his down-to-earth style.

Wait. What? How can you be honest and down-to-earth and be in PR?

Ed Zitron is going to tell you!

He calls himself “awful” on his Twitter bio (he also calls himself British), but for now he’s a New Yorker, a journalist, a sometime photographer, and a PR professional “who’s made every mistake along the way.” He also founded EZPR.

His book, This is How You Pitch, is a number one bestseller, and personally, I think it’s plain speak such as the following that is one of the reasons why:

Does the idea of glamorous parties, open bars, and rubbing elbows with the rich and famous sound like an exciting career for you? Then neither this book or a career in public relations are for you.

At the heart of this book is a key message: BE REAL!

Zitron’s goal in writing it was to share what he says is the core skill of PR: Pitching.

His other goal? To help you “…avoid becoming a buzzword-spitting automaton that the media will hate.”

Be still my beating heart. I think I’m in love.

Hang tight my friends, because today is the day when Ed Zitron graces the stage here at Spin Sucks for another live author Q&A.

He can answer all your PR questions for you:

• Why are people hanging on to an antiquated view of the industry?
• Why is the pitch so important?
• Is it really possible to survive and prosper in the dog-eat-dog world of PR?
• How hard is it to start our own agency?
• What’s next for the industry?
• Just what *were* some of those mistakes he made, hmmmm??

Today’s Author Q&A with Ed Zitron

At noon ET (that’s 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, and 9:00 PT for those of you who can’t do time zones), Ed will be here to answer any and all of your questions.

In order to participate, all you have to do is:

• Make sure you have a Livefyre account or be ready to sign in with one of your social networks.
• Set a reminder for noon ET today.
• Order the book so you can support Ed and get your learn on.
• Create a list of questions (if you haven’t read the book, you can bribe Gini and she’ll write some for you!).
• Come back here, scroll to the bottom, and write a comment in the form of a question. As soon as you hit “post comment,” Ed will see it and reply to you. You can even join the conversation around questions others are asking, if you like.

We’ll be here for an hour so you can join us the entire time or step in and out during the hour. It’s entirely up to you; just make sure you’re here before 12:59.

Win a Copy

Those of you who participate in today’s author Q&A (even if you’re late to the party, but not if you’re an Arment Dietrich employee) will be entered into a random drawing for a free copy of the book.

Don’t forget – you have to actually leave a comment, ask a question, or participate in the chat to be entered in the drawing. Otherwise we won’t know you were here.

Get ready with your questions and join the conversation. And don’t fear! If you missed the live portion of this, we’ll keep the drawing open until midnight PT so you still have time to get in your questions.

Former Guests and Who’s Next

For former guests, check out Margie Clayman, Sarah Robinson, Mark Story, Beth Hayden, Sarah Evans, Stanford Smith, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Mitch Joel, Danny Brown, Chuck Hemann, Michael Brito, DJ Waldow, Tom Martin, Ahava Leibtag, Jay Baer, Shel Israel, Mark Schaefer, Gini Dietrich, Rob Biesenbach, Steve McKee, and Neal Schaffer.

And following are the dates for the next few months, so mark your calendars!

Same bat time, same bat channel.

• August 20 – Ann Handley, with Everybody Writes
• September 17 – Tim Frick, with Return on Engagement
• October 16 – Tom Martin, with The Invisible Sale
• November 19 – Paul Roetzer, with The Marketing Performance Blueprint
• December 17 – Diana Kander, with All in Startup
• January 21 – Jeremy Miller, with Sticky Branding