Book Publicity Tool Kit–Part 6 - Additional Items

By Rick Frishman - Jun 22 , 2007

Copies of Reviews and Articles

Include copies of good reviews or articles about you and/or your book. As we mentioned, the media likes to see and will be influenced by how others covered your book and you.

If reviews or articles have not been published on you or your book, include those that have been written on your subject matter to show the media interest in it. Include them even though they don’t mention you or your book. If they were cover stories, include a copy of the cover.

Try to get articles written about you or your book. Start with your local paper and be persistent. Use your contacts to reach them and push the local author angle. The hometown media is usually eager to support area residents. When you receive local coverage, use it to get more ink.

List of Articles and Appearances

Producers and journalists need subjects that will give them lively, entertaining shows and articles. So, they prefer to feature authors who have strong performance records. They will be more likely to cover you after they read favorable pieces that others wrote about you or review tapes of your appearances. These items may help them avoid asking you what others have fully covered, or assist them in coming up with unique angles or spins.

When you list articles, give the name of the publication they appeared in and the dates they ran. For radio and TV appearances, list the program’s name and the date it aired and include complimentary quotes from the producers or hosts.

An Expansive Article

When you want to give the media more information than will fit on a one-page press release, write a separate article to include in your media kit. The press may pick up your article and run it verbatim or use it as the basis for their own pieces.

Usually, it’s not productive to send expansive or supplemental articles to radio and TV producers because they generally won’t read them. However, on occasion, they may scan an article, be intrigued by it, and consider doing a feature based on it. In those rare instances, they will conduct their own research to develop it along the lines that interest them.

Business Cards

Print separate business cards for your book; don’t use your personal business cards. The business cards for your book can, but don’t have to, include the cover image of your book. On your book’s cards, list the title and subtitle, your name, the publisher’s name, the publication date, and your silver bullet. Also give your contact information.

Business cards can be a terrific promotional tool because they’re inexpensive, which allows you to hand them out freely to everyone you meet. They also can be good icebreakers, informational aids and people generally keep them. Business cards are also ideal places to write personal notes or information.

Consider having the card for your book professionally designed or consult with your publisher’s designer because great-looking business cards are an easy way to attract interest and provide a good impression of your book and you.

Some media kit folders come with cutouts, in which business cards can be inserted. Usually, they’re on the inside pocket. If the folder has a place for your business card, insert it. If not, attach the card to your press release. Don’t toss loose business cards in the pockets of your folder because they may fall out and get lost.

Postcards, bookmarks, decals, note pads, stationery, and similar easily handed-out items can also help to promote your book. When printed in bulk, they’re inexpensive. When well designed, they can be eye catching and give important information, including ordering info for your book. These items can also include the book’s cover image and the same information that is printed on the book’s business cards.

Newsletters

In your media kit, include a copy of the latest newsletter for your book. Use the book title in the newsletter name. For example, call it the “Author 101, Bestselling Book Publicity Newsletter.”

Newsletters are low-cost, high-impact marketing tools that help you publicize your book, stay in contact with those who may be interested in it, and build your list of names. E-mail newsletters are also called e-zines or ’zines. Producing any newsletter can be time consuming and work intensive, but e-mail newsletters are easier to distribute than their print counterparts. If putting out a newsletter becomes a burden, contract out all or some of the work.

Build a subscriber list by collecting lots of names. Also ask your friends and colleagues for names. Your publisher and publicist should be willing to give you access to their lists, and you can buy lists of names from services that compile them by demographics and subject areas.

Don’t send your newsletter to anyone who has not requested it because he or she might think of it as spam, which can tarnish both your and your book’s reputation. In every issue, give subscribers the ability to easily opt out or unsubscribe.

Try to publish your newsletters on a regular schedule because it helps to maintain subscribers’ interest. Also maintain a consistent format because readers are creatures of habit who like the same content to always be in the same place.

The quality of a newsletter’s content is more important than its length. Anything more than a printed page or a couple of computer screens is acceptable if it provides valuable information. Don’t waste your subscribers’ valuable time by filling your newsletters with junk. Keep them vital and interesting so that subscribers will look forward to receiving them and will tout them to others.

In your newsletter, report on recent news and developments relating to your book, its subject, you, those who contributed to it, or experts in the field. Write articles or regular columns and conduct interviews. Invite guests to contribute and encourage submissions from subscribers that could lead to lively exchanges. Also include reviews of and articles about your book as well as excerpts from the book. Always include a form that lets readers order your book electronically.

Provide a calendar of upcoming events. It should list your schedule of speaking engagements, book signings, and personal appearances. Consider including the schedules of your strategic partners or other experts on your book’s topic. You can also provide items such as games, quizzes, contests, and puzzles.

Build loyal subscribers by providing value in your newsletter. Make it interesting, not just a brochure or infomercial for your book or you. People receive tons of e-mail, so distinguish your newsletter by making it outstanding or it won’t be read. Your primary object should be to build and solidify relationships with people who will support your work. So lay off the hype and hard sell.

E-mail the first issue a month or so prior to the publication of your book in order to create interest in your book and obtain purchase orders for it. Then, publish a launch issue just before the book is released and periodic issues thereafter to keep on promoting your book and to remain in contact with subscribers.

Endorsements/Recommendations

Obtain endorsements from well-known people praising you, your book, your appearances and performances. Send copies of your book to other authors in your field and ask them if they could endorse it. Other authors can be surprisingly generous and helpful. Include excerpts of the endorsements you receive in your media kit and post them on your Web site.

Douglas M. Isenberg, Esq., sent letters to the top authorities in his field when he started writing his book, The GigaLaw Guide to Internet Law (Random House, 2002). In his letters, Isenberg informed them that he was writing the book and asked if they would consider endorsing it when it was completed. A number of them agreed and did subsequently endorse the book, which Isenberg believes carried great weight with his target market.

After you make appearances or give interviews, ask the hosts, producers, and interviewers to send you a letter stating that you were a fabulous guest or subject who generated great interest. Ask them to write their endorsements on their official letterhead. Letters of endorsement regarding your past appearances can be extremely important because radio and TV producers often rely on them in booking talent for their shows.

Ordering Information

Since your publicity tools are intended to generate book sales, give potential buyers easy ways to buy your book. Prepare print handouts that you always have with you. Create links on every page of your Web site that visitors can click to order your book. Get a toll-free telephone number that you can repeat during radio, TV, and personal appearances. Select a number that will be easy for potential buyers to remember.

Quizzes, Contests, and Giveaways

If you include quizzes and games in your media kit, the media will often run them as sidebars for its stories and use them as the basis for on-air interviews. Quizzes and games such as anagrams and crossword puzzles can draw more attention when you award prizes to the first individuals who solve them.

Small, inexpensive novelty items printed with your name, logo, or motto and contact information can also be included in your media kit. Useful items like calendars, tipping percentage cards, pens, pencils, flashlights, and sewing kits are effective because many people use and hang on to them.

Contests that offer great prizes can attract a lot of attention. To promote the first book in this Author 101 series—Bestselling Book Proposals—our publisher, Adams Media Corp., sponsored a contest in which it awarded the person who submitted the best book proposal a contract to publish that book and a promotional package for the book worth $20,000.

Trivia, Quotes, and Anecdotes

Factual information, clever quotes, and interesting stories attract interest. The best ones are frequently repeated and can create memorable links to your book that the public will remember.

Anecdotes and case studies serve as vivid examples and illustrations. They make concepts and theories more understandable by putting them in a context that people can more readily identify with, understand, and retain. Good, illustrative anecdotes are usually repeated.

Print every item that you send in your media kit on your letterhead. Don’t use fancy or exotic type or designs that may be difficult to read.

Make sure that your contact information—name, address, e-mail address, Web site address, telephone numbers, and fax number—is on your media kit cover and on both the top and bottom of every sheet. The items in a media kit are usually removed from their folder and often get separated from the rest of the kit. One isolated piece might contain information that arouses interest and prompts someone to call, e-mail, or visit your site.

Packaging

Put all your media kit materials in a two-pocket envelope or folder. Place a photograph of the cover of your book on the cover along with your contact information. Place your press release face-up in the pocket that people see immediately when they open your media kit package. If that pocket has a place for your business card, insert it. Put your picture, followed by your biography, in the opposite pocket. They also should face out.

If you use colored folders for your media kit, make sure that they don’t clash with your book cover image. Color code and layer any items in your kit that you want to stand out. For example, you could print your press release on paper in the primary color of your book cover.

Distribution

Send your media kit package by Federal Express, UPS, or priority mail. Overnight packages give the impression that their content is important, that you value what you shipped, and that you incurred expense to ensure that it would be promptly delivered. However, these shipping methods can be expensive for large distributions.

Action Steps

1. Name an author’s number one publicity tool.
2. List four other primary book publicity tools.
3. What items should be included in a media kit and why?
4. What information should be contained in the lead sentence of a press release?
5. Explain why articles about you should be included in your media kit.

Remember–

To conduct an effective book publicity campaign, you need to have the right tools. Start with your silver bullet and then assemble a great media kit that features a killer one-page press release with a fabulous headline. Write the headline and press release to capture your readers’ interest and make them want to learn more about your book and you.

Include in your media kit a photograph of you and your biography. In your bio, describe yourself through your accomplishments and experience and don’t be verbose. Also include in your media kit good reviews of your book, articles about your book and/or you, a list of features written about you and of your personal appearances, and complimentary letters about you from radio and TV producers and/or hosts.