After pouring sweat over the newest book, it’s time for the next step: Getting it out there for people to buy. Unlike the Field of Dreams, if you write it, they won’t necessarily come unless you’re John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, or Patricia Cornwell. If you are one of them, “Hi! I’m a fan of your books!” Not all authors have a publisher to do the press releases and promotional material work or at least, enough to spread the news.
In Putting It on Paper: The Ground Rules for Creating Promotional Pieces that Sell Books, Dawn Josephson walks through the steps of developing a book marketing campaign with a press kit which typically includes (and she covers all items): a cover letter, a press release, a mock book review, an author bio, a sell sheet, a catalog, a give-away item, and an article. However, it doesn’t stop there. The advice isn’t just applicable to authors of books. It’s also valuable for writers who want to promote newsletters, services, and other published works.
I’ve seen my share of media kits for books and products. Some don’t have any benefit for my needs while others sounds like a stereotypical used car salesman trying to make the sale in an uncomfortable way.
Josephson walks the talk since her book, of course, came with a media kit and it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen. Based on this, the book describes how to create a media kit like hers using questions and answers, key points, templates, and real-life examples using the templates. The examples are exactly what I like to see in a press release and other materials in a media kit.
Publicity is hard in that authors and publicists print a general kit and send the same thing to everyone. That might make it easier, but it won’t be as successful has tailoring the kit to the recipient’s needs. With word processors that do mail merge saving us time, it shouldn’t be a problem to give the target reader the information needed.
Creating promotional materials may sound dull, but the book actually gives it a fun spin with its 160 pages of solid advice. Applying the tips and ground rules from Putting It on Paper, any author or publicist can run a successful book marketing campaign.
Title: Putting It on Paper
Author: Dawn Josephson
Publisher: Cameo Publications
ISBN: 0974496618
Date: January 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 170
Price: Cover: USD$19.95 Amazon:$16.96
