Book Marketing Secrets - Getting Media Attention
by Fern Reiss
PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com
If
you can’t get journalists interested in writing about your book, it
doesn’t matter how good your book is: It’s going to be hard to find an
audience. So how can you pitch your book to journalists to get them
interested? Here are some tips on effective media pitches:
Tie in to the news.
The easiest way to get journalism attention for your book (or anything
else, for that matter) is to tie your topic in to the news. A few years
ago, I noticed a Voice of America journalist looking for sources for a
story. My book, “Terrorism and Kids: Comforting Your Child,” had been a
small-press bestseller in the US, but I wondered if Voice of America
might provide a new, overseas audience. Unfortunately, the journalist
wasn’t doing a piece on terrorism—his subject was the sudden popularity
of home theatre systems. By tying in to current events, however, I was
able to get my book on terrorism into his piece on home theatre
systems, with this email: “You can thank Osama bin Laden for the sudden
popularity of home theatre systems; Americans, post-9/11, are moving
their entertainment into their homes; it’s a 9/11 nesting response.”
That one liner netted me 15 minutes on Voice of America.
Even novels need news hooks. In
fact, novels need news hooks more than nonfiction books. Nonfiction
books have news hooks built in, by their nature. My book, “The
Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage” has dozens of
automatic hooks because it’s non-fiction. I can tie into anything in
the news on infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy, etc. But even novels
can have hooks: Consider putting something into your novel that ties
into an interest, hobby, or pastime of yours, and then focus the media
attention on that. If you’re a knitter, put in a knitter; if you train
golden retrievers, put in a dog. That way, you can tie in to those
topics for your media appearances.
Be concise. The
quickest route to the journalist’s garbage pail is sending them a pitch
that’s just plain too long: Journalists have extremely limited time
limits, and if they can’t read your pitch easily, they won’t. How long
is too long? Keep your pitch to no more than five or six sentences. If
you can’t say it in under 100 words, you’re not ready to pitch it.
Be considerate.
In addition to never sending lengthy pitches, follow the other rules of
basic email consideration. Don’t send attachments to a
journalist---ever. And be sure that the subject line is informative.
(Something like: “Pitch—New Dietary Approach to Infertility” is
perfect, because it both conveys that it’s a pitch, and gives the
journalist enough information to make a quick decision on whether to
continue reading.)
Suggest other sources. Most journalists won’t be able to justify devoting a whole story to just your book. So figure out how your
book is part of a larger trend or movement, and pitch a few other
sources that the journalist can use as well. By presenting a ‘package’
like this to journalists, you’re much more likely to get coverage.
Don’t forget the local angle.
Even most of the big city dailies prefer a local angle on a national
story. So if you’re pitching the Philadelphia Inquirer, don’t just talk
about the national trend; give them the statistics on the national
trend, and then share an anecdote or source that has a Philadelphia
connection. You’re much more likely to get media attention if you
always insert a ‘local’ hook.
Fern Reiss is CEO
of PublishingGame.com, offering books, workshops, and consulting on how
to get a literary agent, publish, and promote a book. She is also CEO
of Expertizing.com, teaching people how to get more media attention for
themselves and their business; in the past six months, she’s been
quoted in over 100 publications from the NY Times to Wall Street Week.
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