How Press Releases Help the Self-Published Writer – Part One: Understanding Third Party Credibility
Congratulations! You finally finished the book! The hard part’s over now, right? If you’re a self-published author, the hard part is just beginning. Because you don’t have the built in publicity and promotion networks that the major publishing houses have, you will have to work extra hard to gain credibility and attention for your book.
Having your book published by a major publishing house gives your book “third party credibility.” In other words, if they think your book is good, than it must be good – or at least it will sell well anyway. The idea is to break-in to the system by providing that third-party credibility without the stamp of approval from the traditional publishing world.
The bottom line is that writing may very well be an art, but publishing and book-selling is definitely a business. If your book can make money, people in the business will be interested in it.
With all that out of the way, let’s get started…
Your first course of action should be to identify your target audience. Who does your book appeal to? What group of people is the most likely to take the time and money to buy your book?
If you’re not sure how to go about identifying your target audience, try asking yourself the following questions about your book: Does your book fit into a particular genre or subgenre? What are the important themes, ideas, or subjects in your book? Are there any geographical places or historical events depicted in the book? What are the professions or hobbies of the characters in the book? Is there anything about your characters or you, the author, which a group would identify with?
Trying to appeal to multiple groups is certainly acceptable and understandable; however, if you have a limited publicity budget, it’s better to boil down your target audience to a well-defined group of people. If your book takes off in that group, it will be much easier for you to broaden your audience at that point. If you’re itching to appeal to a wide variety of people, just think of this as establishing your base.
Now that you have defined your target audience, you need to determine how to reach them. What places do they like to frequent both physically and online? What media do they tend to read, watch, or listen to?
Online marketing can be less costly then other traditional advertising. Find where your target audience lurks online and plant mentions of your book there – email, chat, newsgroups, message boards, etc. Be mindful of the rules of that whatever site you are using however. And don’t forget to send copies of your book to editors at target Web sites. If one of these targeted editors likes your book, you may get some free promotion on their Web site or even a rave review. This all goes back to establishing that third party credibility. In fact, it’s even better if the editor requests a copy of your book based on a recent intriguing press release.
Traditional media, such as newspapers, radio, and television definitely work well, but they are expensive. Also, simply purchasing advertisement does not give your book third party credibility. Any paid advertisement you do shell out for should be to niche media outlets and you should always include any raves by a credible party within the advertisement.
The best way to work your way into traditional media is through the press release. This is a give and take process between you and the media outlet. You provide material for an interview on a newsworthy topic or an interesting article, and they will provide promotion for your book. It’s as simple as that. The trick is how to properly communicate to the media what you have to offer in a way that is most appealing to them.
Create a simple skeleton press release to keep on file as your template. Most likely, you will need to send out multiple press releases to create buzz for yourself and generate attention. When writing the press release, keep in mind the upside-down pyramid format: place your most important information at the beginning and work your way down from that.
The first paragraph is the trickiest. While it needs to be attention getting, it also needs to quickly get to the point (who, what when, where, & why) and clearly express your angle. The second paragraph should back up the first with some interesting credibility. A quote fits nicely into this slot. Each subsequent paragraph should supply supporting information. Remember, most journalists probably won’t get past the first paragraph.
Certainly include an “About the Book” and/or “About the Author” at the end of the press release. Don’t forget to state the 1) title of the book 2) author’s name & credentials 3) when and where the book is available 4) subject or hook of the book – Make sure to write a sales handle, hook, or keynote phrase that describes and sells your book in as few words as possible. This hook will be useful not only in press releases, but in most advertising situations where you have to say a lot with only a few words.
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