DIY Press Release for Authors
DIY Press Release for authors
Authors need to use every avenue available for promotion in today’s market. One often overlooked avenue is the press release. Any author who has written a book should send a press release to any schools they attended, organizations they are a part of with social media pages and all local media outlets. In order to even get a shot at coverage the focus needs to be hyper localized. It is ideal for an author to tie their book to timely events or local places. For example, romance writers should always send one for Valentine’s Day.
Here is an example of an angle you could take via headline and opening line for a local press release:
Springfield author Marge Simpson speaks the language of love in new tome
Love, lies and donuts are at the heart of a new book by Sprinfield High ’82 graduate Marge (Bouvier) Simpson.
Her book, “My Homer my Heart” takes readers on a tour of the rosier side of Springfield, from the drive-in to the Donut Lad.
You don’t have to be this over the top with the puns, but it doesn’t hurt. Most news outlets farm out re-writes anyway, so you want to give them a string of good sound bites and one-liners to choose from.
Go the extra mile and make your press release look good print in high quality, high color. If you don’t have a high quality printer you can send it to local printers, such as staples and get it printed for less than $1.
If you have a logo, or you have some graphics which set your book apart you may want to make a watermark on your paper. Below are the instructions to watermark a word document.
go to the format menu on the toolbar
Click on backgrounds, the image is typically that of a paint can
Then select printed watermark.
Choose either your logo or a text watermark of your choice of color.
Send your press release with a copy of your beautiful book, a business card, a poster card and if you want a little extra gift which ties into your book, in the case of Marge Simpson it could be a few donuts from the local Lard-Lad or a set of tickets to the drive-in.
