How to Build a Press Room on Your Website

Imagine this. In a tireless effort to promote your latest novel, you’ve carpet-bombed the local media with press releases — as yet to no avail. Now you’re at your day job, inserting tab A into slot B or herding Nerfs or whatever you do to make the mortgage payments. Hey, no judgments here. Your cell phone chirps. Sweet merciful Oprah, it’s the book editor of the biggest newspaper in your area…well, her assistant, anyway. The Big Name Author she’d planned to feature was just tagged for plagiarism and other unspeakable affronts to literary sensibilities. You’re the next name on her list, but if you want those precious column inches, she needs your full media kit immediately. What? All you have is a cell phone with one bar and a dying battery, and a whole bunch of random stuff scattered all over your hard drive at home. Continue reading “How to Build a Press Room on Your Website”

Book Marketing Tips for Authors

K. S. Brooks
What’s it gonna take to get you to buy this book?

There has been a lot of complaining recently about authors who “overmarket” their books like used car salesmen yelling full blast in our faces. This, of course, raises the question: what exactly IS acceptable? Technically, only you can answer that – if you care not to alienate or oversell, the key to making that determination is really “treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.”

That said, I do have some tips for newbies and all authors which will make your efforts more tolerable for those receiving them, and more rewarding for you in return.

#1 – Post book excerpts. Choose a day each week as your book excerpt day. This works great for Twitter and even better if you have Twitter set up to post automatically to your Facebook and other profiles. One Tweet, many social platforms. Not sure exactly what type of excerpt to use? I like to mix it up. Some weeks I’ll just tweet all prepositions or adverbs. Sure, anyone can tweet a sentence. What’s the point in doing that? Continue reading “Book Marketing Tips for Authors”

Press Releases – Free Publicity

Mr. Pish Press ReleaseThere’s always discussion amongst authors about ways to promote their books.  People get caught up in blogs, facebook author pages, twitter posts, forums, etc., etc.

Long before those methods, there were press releases.  Although the technology has changed to make disseminating press releases easier and faster, it’s still a valid way to promote your work.  And most writers/authors overlook it.

Got a new book coming out?  Press release.  Win an award?  Press release.  Doing a book event?  Press release.  Just like in the days of yore.

Only you can determine who should get your press release depending on your demographic, subject matter, location, etc.  That can be a lot of work, toiling over your laptop, emailing incessantly – as you should send these emails individually and not in a group blast.  Nonetheless, it’s necessary. Continue reading “Press Releases – Free Publicity”