Can you recomend Public Relations books and resources=

[Kai Backman]

As the title says, can you recomend good Public Relations books and resources? Thank you in advance. :)

[GBGames]

I just went to Amazon.com and searched for public relations. I then had to filter the results to just books:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557532478/qid=1104866884/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/102-4444610-0947365?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576600998/qid=1104866899/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/102-4444610-0947365

Those have about 5 star ratings by multiple reviewers. I imagine they are also important works in the PR world (but since I am not currently into PR I wouldn't know). Generally I try to avoid those that have only one or two high reviews (apparently authors like to make their books seem better than they are by writing anonymous reviews) and especially those titles that have poor reviews.

Once I find a book, if I am still uneasy about it, I tend to Google for the title to see what other people might say. Did someone mention it on their blog? Is it figuring prominently on some website?

So while I can't personally recommend those titles or any titles on PR, I hope that info helps.

[KNau]

I just starting reading this book and it seems pretty good so far:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580626823/103-8863277-3471844

[Tom Cain]

One of my former ad agency partners has worked in PR for many years and taught college courses in it. She says the gurus of the industry are Scott Cutlip and Alan Center, and you should read them if you want to learn the fundamental strategies behind effective PR.

The industry-leading book written by them is "Effective Public Relations" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0135412110/qid=1104937968), currently in its 8th edition. This link is to the hardback version and it is very expensive. There is also a paperback version that is cheaper but still expensive. You might want to consider checking it out of a library.

She says that nearly all other books are tactics books, and while they are informative, you cannot get full use out of them if you don't have a fundamental strategic understanding of PR. She recommends browsing the Public Relations Society of America site (http://www.prsa.org/) before buying any books. She said it should give you a good background on PR that can help you decide how deep into it you want to get.

[Tom Cain]

I forgot to mention a second book, "Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0205360734/qid=1104939236). She doesn't recommend this one as highly, but says it is still better than a pure tactics book for actually learning how PR works.

[Kai Backman]

Thank you for your suggestions everyone. Good pointers all around! :D