Thursday, January 24, 2019

How to Write and Distribute a Book Selling Press Release

January 24, 2019

Guest Blogger: Dr. Carol Michaels - CEO of Absolute Author Publishing House


How to Write a Powerful Press Release to Grab Attention




After you publish your novel or book, your work as just begun; consider yourself a PR specialist. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you must market your book. In a recent blog, I explained some of our marketing strategies which included ads, book trailers, and social media. Today’s topic is how to use a press release to gain momentum for your novel. I have more than eighteen years of experience in writing and publishing press releases. What I have found, is that authors have a difficult time constructing two things; their synopsis for their book and their press release. So what is the key to writing a powerful press release? Make sure to include all parts which include:

·         The Heading & The Subtitle

·         Introductory Paragraph

·         The Main Body - the who, what, when, where, why etc.

·         About the Author or About Us if you coauthored a book

·         Contact information

THE HEADING

Your heading is your title.

The key to writing a powerful press release is to target your readers with a headline that is specific to your book. It must grab the attention of your reader or a journalist because that is the first thing they see. Your heading must be straight to the point and short. This is not the time to get wordy. Also, consider using a headline that is catchy to grab the reader’s attention. After that, you need a subtitle that is maybe a complete sentence that summarizes your press release.

THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

Bloggers, media influencers and journalists are very busy and don’t have time to read a massive amount of information. In a powerful press release, less is better. Get to the point right away and provide something interesting to keep them reading. In other words, don’t include rift-raft and long details in your opening paragraph.

THE MAIN BODY

Now it is time to tell them about your novel. Your synopsis is great for this as it explains what your book is about. Remember to use the old fashioned writing technique and include the who, what, where, when, and why? You could also begin or end your main body with your logline. Lastly, include reviewers comments and quotes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When you write this section, it should be boilerplate. One of the mainstays for an author is to have a powerful biography. Use it here and save yourself some time.

CONTACT INFORMATION

When you use a press release service, by law you have to include your contact information. For some authors, this gets a little scary because that means that they have to provide their personal home address and phone number. Don’t let that scare you as Absolute Author has a press release service that is reasonable and cost-effective. They can issue your press release under their name.

A LITTLE EXTRA UMP



Many press release sites don’t allow the use of images; however, when you send it to journalists and bloggers, be sure to include them. In fact, I suggest you include the cover of your book and your sell sheet.

THE BREAKDOWN

Dr. Mel teamed up with me in writing this article and allowed me to use the press releases from her novel Never Stop Running so you can identify the parts. Use these as a guideline when you write your press release. Below that is a template I created that you can use as a guide.