Book Publicity Tool Kit, Part 1 – Inventorying Your Tools

By Rick Frishman - Mar 16 , 2007

Professionals always come prepared. Good plumbers don’t show up at your home unless they have all the right tools with them. And, they keep their equipment in shipshape condition so repairs go smoothly.

Well, the same holds true when you want to publicize your book; you need to have the right tools and they must be ready to use. Having the right tools is an indispensable part of being prepared.

Numerous tools can help you publicize your book. However, for our purpose, lets classify them in two basic categories. They are:

1. Primary tools, items that are essential and that no promotional campaign should attempt to proceed without, and

2. Secondary tools, those that are not essential but can help your campaign be more productive.

Previously we discussed the author’s silver bullet, which is an author’s number one publicity tool. No book publicity campaign should proceed without a silver bullet. In addition, every campaign should include the following primary tools, which we will subsequently address in greater detail.

The primary tools include:

• Websites
• Media lists
• Media kits
• Press releases
• Biographies
• Photographs of the author in color and black and white, including one of the author in an action shot, perhaps signing the book or doing something that relates to the book
• Question-and-answer sheets
• Business cards
• Newsletters
• Promotional materials

Additional Tools

The number of additional tools that you can use in your campaign is as extensive as your imagination. Finding them can be an exercise in creativity. Unlike the primary tools, which are a must for every campaign, additional tools should be plugged in only when they can be helpful, because adding tools you don’t need can clutter your campaign and weaken the impact of initiatives that could be more productive.

The following items are examples of some of the additional devices you can use. Be creative and come up with other promotional tools of your own that could help you publicize your book.

Additional promotional tools include:

• Articles
• Blogs
• Book excerpts
• Bookmarks
• Brochures
• Clippings
• Contests
• Endorsements/recommendations
• Fact sheets
• Gimmicks
• Graphics (photographs, charts, diagrams, lists, illustrations)
• Handouts
• List of top topics for the media
• Op-ed piece
• Pitch letter
• Postcards
• Puzzles
• Quizzes
• Quotations
• Reviews
• Sample chapter
• Stories about the Book
• Toll-free telephone number
• Videos