Bet you didn’t know you had to BE YOUR OWN PUBLICIST
Not only do indie authors find themselves in the position of having to do their own marketing, they sometimes discover the hard way, they have to be their own publicist as well.
A well-executed press release can be a game-changer, propelling your writing career to new heights. Does the thought of writing a press release intimidate you? I’m here to take the sting out of the task with tips on to create a compelling press release that captures attention, generates buzz, and boosts their visibility in the competitive publishing world.
Craft a Captivating Headline that Grabs Attention. Make it 20 words or less. Create a Sub-header that gives a little more information
Dateline: Include the city, state, date, and the location where you are located.
The Hook: offer a compelling reason why this book is important now. You want to convince a journalist that your book is worthy of coverage. Is it based on true events? A gripping read? Award-winning? A well-written press release will make a journalists job easier, give them something to write about.
Add a Quote from you the author: what inspired you to write this or some compelling information about the book.
Include Your Bio: keep it short but give some info that builds credibility — awards, acclaim, experience.
Circle back to the book: write a short paragraph about the book itself. Don’t give a synopsis. Write more of a tease: something that compels the reader to want to buy it
Link to a Press Kit. A Press Kit that lives on your website, or in a google doc and contains high resolution photos of your book jacket and an author headshot. The press kit also includes a page of text about the book and about you. At the end of the press release: include a link to that press kit.
The End. At the end of the press release you want to add the words The end OR the symbols ### to indicate to the reader that they’ve reached the end of the doc. Seems silly? It’s actually a very professional touch.
KISS: Keep it short, sis! Aim for one page only. But if you absolutely have to go to a second page, do it at your own peril ;)
Now what? You’ve written the press release, now where do you send it? Virtually no one sends press releases by snail mail anymore. It’s all done via email. You can create a media list by targeting publications and finding out the email address for the journalist or relevant editor. This info is usually located on the publication’s website.
Something more: don’t just email the press release, lots of people are now posting the summaries of their press release on social media, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using relevant hashtags like #pressrelease and other keyword hashtags, with links to the full press release.
