One way to publicize your new book that is highly effective, yet rarely discussed, is to write and distribute a book press release through a syndication service. It’s now even easier than ever to create a press release that pulls its own weight while creating a win-win situation for you and the news agencies who accept your release.
Why News Agencies Love Book Press Releases
News agencies and outlets around the world never stop looking for the news. It’s their job, after all. They’re also constantly looking out for new content that can boost their circulation and sales. That’s good news for you, because if you can write a press release (or hire someone to write one for you), then you can take advantage of this absolute hunger for news and stories.
All you really need to do is write an article in the accepted press release format, send it to a syndication agency, and finally watch as you get published in all of these different sources. You should be watching with a smile, as each page has the potential to bring you hundreds of thousands of new readers.
Hold On – It Does Have to Be Newsworthy!
Yes, nothing’s ever truly as simple as it first seems – such is the world we live in. Many of the places you get published on won’t do much to help you in terms of views and sales. What you really want is to get the interest of the top news agencies so that they run with your press release and give you that precious oxygen of publicity.
In many cases, that means hooking up with the news somehow. For some books, this won’t be too difficult. For others? You’re going to have a tough time.
If you look at Google Trends, it’s really easy to see what people are talking about. Google News is also a great way to see what news is trending at the moment, particularly in relation to things that you might be able to tie in with your book.
The key here is really to find something and show how your book is a timely one. Now, some genres are going to be a lot easier than others – but this is a serious key to getting published. Having some news to tie into your book goes a long way, and a lot further than a simple release that announces a new book is launched.
Build On People’s Intrigue and Curiosity
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but when it comes to marketing, curiosity is one of the most powerful things in the world. After all, it drives all of us to find out more. One of the best ways to get people curious is to make them feel intrigued.
Now, when you’re an author like Stephen King, you can pretty much turn around and say, “Hey guys – I wrote a book!” and everyone will be thrilled. An exciting new horror story from the master; it’s news, automatically.
Most likely you’re not quite at this level yet, so you’re going to have to really work some angles. We’ve already looked at the news angle – what about people?
As a writer, you already know that people love stories – if your book has helped anyone, or was inspired to do something directly by your book, that’s another angle you can pursue.
You can even go for the whole celebrity endorsement if you’re lucky enough to have access to someone at a certain level of fame who will help you. Celebrities are big business in today’s world, and having one talk about your book in a positive light doesn’t just give your book that celebrity shine – it also comes with a lot of fans. Obviously, this is not open to everyone – but if you can, try it!
Distribute the Smart Way, Not the Hard Way
Now, once you’ve got your book press release written and done, you’ve got two choices:
- The hard way: Distribute your PR yourself
- The easy way: Distribute via PR syndication
Syndication is hard work, and you’re going to spend a lot of time looking for emails, finding people, and writing cover letters. Frankly, you shouldn’t not do this, but you should let a press release distributor do the bulk of this, leaving you to fill in a few important gaps personally.
Don’t try to overwork yourself by shouldering the entire load! It will exhaust you in no time at all. There are a lot of services out there such as PR Web, eReleases, and PR Newswire which can take care of all this for you.
One thing you need to remember is that a book press release does not guarantee fame, fortune, and an avalanche of publicity. What it does guarantee is that it will appear on a lot of websites across the internet.
Now, this can be just as valuable in itself, as telling people that your book appeared on Fox News gives it a certain status, and you can prove it. Whether it gets natural attention from there on out depends on so many things, starting with your actual press release’s quality – and that’s such a subjective thing.
To sum it up, there are two things that you have to keep in mind when creating a book press release: you need to make it a newsworthy one that catches people’s attention, and you also need to remember that it may not make you a superstar overnight.
Hold your expectations, and focus on the fact that your book will now be featured on some big, syndicated websites – and that you can use that amazing social proof in further marketing.
Remember, a book press release is just a small part of your overall marketing arsenal, but also a powerful one. Happy writing!
