Every independent author could use a little bit of free book promotion, right? And who wouldn’t want their book to be featured in their local newspaper or on their local television stations? An effective way to achieve this goal is to create and distribute a book press release.
Some popular authors have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. For them, simply tweeting that they are releasing a book suffices to get the attention of news agencies. The rest of us, however, don’t need to lose hope. Many journalists are eagerly seeking legitimate stories they can feature in local news outlets or during a slow news cycle. A couple of examples include indie author Hannah Boggs being featured in her local newspaper after receiving an Indies Today award, and our 2020 Best Book of the Year award winner being interviewed on the KHON morning show to discuss his book and award. Occasionally, if a story gains traction, it will get shared and syndicated to an even larger audience and perhaps nationally.
What is a book press release?
According to Miriam Webster, a press release is, “an official statement that gives information to newspapers, magazines, television news programs, and radio stations.” Specifically, for independent authors, it is an announcement of a book’s release or another newsworthy event, such as winning an award or having a book signing. However, in order for your press release to be considered by a journalist, it should meet certain criteria and be submitted via the proper channels. Otherwise, it could be considered spam, and nearly everyone with an email address well knows how irritating spam can be! So, how can you create and distribute an effective press release?
How to create an effective book press release
The first thing to consider is the format of a press release. This includes the length of the information, the manner that it is organized and presented, and the content of the release. So, how long should a press release be? If it’s too long, it may get ignored by a busy journalist. But if it’s too short, then it may not grab their attention. So, what’s the magic length of a press release? Typically, an effective press release is 300 to 400 words in total.
Another thing to note is that many journalists will disregard a press release if it doesn’t appear to be professional. Therefore, follow the industry standard for how to organize and present your information. There are hundreds of examples online, but here’s a general guide to follow:
- The phrase “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” is typically written in uppercase at the top of the press release.
- The date is often written directly above or below the headline.
- A short but impactful headline is typically written in bold print.
- Write your city and state just before the first paragraph.
- The content of the press release should be broken into at least two or three paragraphs.
- Three centered hashtags are often placed below the last paragraph of the content.
- A brief author bio or book description may be included.
- Contact details should be provided so that an interested journalist can contact you about publishing your story.
A bit of variation can be made to the above format, but for a press release to look professional enough to be treated with any regard, it should follow that basic format.
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What content should you include in a book press release?
TOPIC: Give consideration to the topic you want to focus on. The more interesting that you can make your press release, the more likely it is to be picked up and published. For example, which grabs your attention more, “First-Time Author Releases Memoir” or “Adventurer Shares Story of his Everest Climb”? Think of the news stories that you see featured or that go viral, and if you can include something captivating, shocking, celebrity-related, topical, etc. then you will increase your chance of grabbing the attention of a journalist.
HEADLINE: To be effective, carefully craft your headline to appeal to the agency that it is being presented to. For example, if you submit a press release to your local newspaper after your fantasy book wins an award, you might emphasize being local in the headline: “Local Author Wins Award.” However, if you are submitting it to a fantasy writer’s magazine, you might alter it to focus on the genre: “Fantasy Author Gets Prestigious Recognition.”
CONTENT: A press release is not an occasion where you should just copy and paste your book’s summary. Instead, think of it as a brief news article about you or your book. The first few lines should be attention grabbing, perhaps by including an emotional, controversial or impactful statement. Continue the content by clearly conveying the information that you are sharing, using descriptive terms. As is true of an actual news story, including a few quotations will enhance the appeal of your release.
Where to distribute your book press release
It would be great to be featured on a national news channel, right? Well, I hate to break it to you, but unless you’ve really got something extremely interesting, it isn’t likely that they’ll even consider your press release. But that doesn’t mean that it is entirely out of reach either. You just have to remember that if you’re still a relatively unknown author, you’ll need to start small. Check out the websites of your local newspapers, television news channels, and radio stations. Most of them offer a means to contact them with press releases, and if one of them picks up your story, then you’ll have the chance of it being seen by other affiliates and then featured on a larger scale and to a larger audience. Consider submitting it to magazines and agencies that focus on a specific topic related to your book. There are also several websites that offer to publish your press release for free, or to promote it for a small fee. These types of services may be helpful, but proceed with caution when they charge fees, as these websites are often overwhelmed with submissions and yours is likely to get lost in the mix.
So, what are you waiting for? You’re already a writer, so take some time writing up a press release and share it liberally. Perhaps you’ll be able to get a lot of free publicity for your book!
