November 2, 2021– We’re finding our way around the theme this month, which is an idea a day to promote yourself and your work! This includes best practices and tips to help you navigate the waters of book promotion, advertising, marketing and publicity.
Today’s post is pretty straightforward when it comes to approaching the media. Do what the media likes and stay away from what they don’t like. Here are the likes:
- News: Above all else, the media wants something newsworthy. News is what people talk about around the dinner table and with friends, family, and colleagues. The main goal of the media is FIRST to entertain, then to educate/sell.
- Top 3: Money, sex, and health are what the media thinks the public is obsessed with. If you can link your books to any of these topics, they’ll be more likely to pick it up and publicize it because it increases the media appeal.
- Conciseness: Why use eight words when four will do? Get to the point, make your press releases/info/emails short and sweet and never longer than a page.
- Targeting: Just like writing, if your book is for everyone, it’s for no one. The same goes for the media. Research the audience you want to reach and target, target, target your approach for the best media outlet to pick up your story.
- Relationships: Everything is about building relationships! Folks in the media build relationships, and they prefer to work with those around for the long term rather than one-hit wonders. Once you’ve made a connection, foster it with a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.
Here are the dislikes:
- Too long press releases: Get to the point and make sure you have a hook in your first sentence that piques the editor’s interest. Again, no more than one page! They don’t have the time or the inclination to read anything longer.
- Links that don’t work: Let’s face it; everyone gets annoyed when they click on something, and the link doesn’t work, is broken, leads nowhere, or takes too long to load. What’s more, is that this looks highly unprofessional and is seen as a waste of time.
- Misrepresentation: Don’t lie, exaggerate, or make things up just to fit your publicity narrative. Your article, idea, or release has to be relevant. Don’t fudge numbers or anything else (bestseller list, sales figures, who endorsed you etc.).
- Name dropping: It’s not who you know, but who knows you! No, but seriously, don’t name-drop. It makes you look desperate and ridiculous. It’s fine to mention someone who previously wrote an article on your book if you’ve kept up the relationship; if not, don’t bother mentioning them.
- No follow-up: The fortune is in the follow-up! So many people don’t get what they want because they don’t follow up and find out where their request is or if there have been any developments or progress on your ask.
Follow the tips above while reaching out to the people in the media to chat about your book! Here’s a list of our courses that you may be interested in: Virtual Courses, Classes, and Workshops – Pandamonium Publishing House
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