Top Tips For a Strong Book Press Release
Creating a strong book press release can be a vital component for a successful book launch and for continued book marketing. Most authors feel that completing a book can be the toughest challenge, but marketing that book will have its own struggles. Learning more about press releases and how to best fashion a book press release to get it noticed by media will help move the marketing process forward.
Creating a Strong Press Release for Your Book
- Make it relevant. The press release needs to be more than an announcement of a new book. It needs to connect to the community that the media outlet covers. It should be a story and not a sales pitch. It needs to be timely – meaning that it has to be news WORTHY to make the news.
- Keep it short. Media professionals are bombarded with hundreds of press releases each week. Pack your press release tight to cut down on that weight.
- Keep it clean. The content created within your press release should be free of all grammar and spelling errors. It is also important that the press release remain in the industry accepted format.
- Tell a story worth sharing. A good story will catch the eye of the media outlets, but it will have the added benefit of creating an interest among the readers and viewers of those outlets. Your story is not the book release, but the creation of the book and the storyline within the book.
- Create a dynamic but pertinent headline. The first words the reporters and producers need to read have to catch their attention and keep them reading. The headline is always the first impression and sometimes the ONLY impression.
- Make it about them. Although the press release is designed to promote your book, it has to be a benefit for the audience of the media outlets. Offer information, entertainment, or other engaging material.
- Know the outlet and mold the press release to meet that outlet. Investing the time to read the publications or to watch or listen to the shows the media outlets produce will be time well spent. You will learn more about the target markets of each element and be in a position to tailor your press release to meet those slants.
- Include links to graphics, to your website, and to your book. The goal is to make it easy for the media outlet to get all of the information. You will also want to include contact information so that the journalists or producers can arrange an interview.
The writing of a book can be a great accomplishment, but it is only the beginning. Marketing the book will require an investment in time and energy as well. Starting a buzz about the book and the writer can provide earned media for promoting your book. Developing the skills to create a strong book press release can go a long ways to making the marketing path a little easier.
