A well-written book can get traction based on the quality of its content. In as much as good books can sell themselves, you do not always need to depend on the quality of a book for publicity. Once your book gets published, you can write a book press release to give it the publicity it needs.
Contained in this article is a step-by-step approach to help you write a book press release. However, before walking you through this process, you should know what a book press release is all about.
What is a Book Press Release?
A press release is a piece of writing. Its role is basically to project the catchiest parts of your book. By doing this, it becomes a lot easier for your book to go viral.
A press release can be said to be successful if it can convince journalists to write about your book.
Since the aim of a press release is to get journalists to write about your book, you will need to make it really informative.
With an informative and catchy press release, a journalist can get the details they need from your book without going through the entire book.
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To get the best out of a book press release, you need to think of it as if you are writing for a journalist.
When things are done this way, the journalist does not have to spend so much time writing. All they need to do is make relevant edits and your book is on its way to being famous.
Do Authors Need a Book Press Release?
There is a general notion that an author will always need a press release after writing a book. This notion might be widespread. However, it is wrong. Authors do not necessarily need a book press release.
Some years ago, writing a press release for a book was the only way authors could give their books publicity.
Well, things are a lot different now. You can get a lot of media attention as an author without actually writing a press release.
What Should a Book Press Release Contain?
If a book press release will successfully attract a lot of attention, there are things it must contain. All things being equal, it should have a detailed description of what the book is all about.
That’s not all. It needs to have basic details about the book. These details will help in its distribution.
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Some of them are where the book can be bought, publication date, author, and book title.
One more thing. It should also contain reasons why readers should be interested in the book.
How to Make a Book Press Release Stand out
Being able to write a book press release is great. However, even better is having one that stands out. If your press release must turn out great, there is a lot you should do as an author.
Some factors that can help you get the best out of a book press release are a catchy topic, a captivating storyline, an endorsement, etc.
Steps in Writing a Book Press Release
Below are steps to help you write a book press release for a book launch.
Step 1: Have a target Audience
If you wish to write a press release for a new book or for an upcoming book launch, you will need to have a target audience. You will be unable to successfully write a book press release if you do not have a target audience.
The implication of this is having a target audience is the first step in writing a press release. Once you have a target audience, you can tailor it to get their attention.
Knowing who your target audience is, will not only help you to write the best press release. It will also help you with a choice of the right method of distribution.
When you do things this way, you will not struggle in getting the right people to find your book.
To get started with this step, you will need to ask yourself certain questions. Some of these questions are;
- What are the demographics of your readers?
- What are their behaviours?
- What are their interests?
Things can turn out to be really smooth if you are able to define the age group you wrote your book for.
Additionally, having an idea of the challenges they are dealing with will be of help. That’s not all. You should have an idea of the media outlets they are tuned to.
With all these questions established, you can then write a book press release.
Step 2: Structure of your writing
Once you have a direction for your book press release, you will have to make up your mind on the right structure. It might not seem like this will have a major effect on your write-up.
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Nonetheless, you should give it attention as it has a great influence on how your book press release turns out.
There is a generally accepted press release format. And media outlets expect that your write-up follows the standard format. So, anything off the standard format means you are perhaps going off point.
Also, lots of journalists might not give a lot of attention if your press release is anything less than the accepted format.
Step 3: Catchy Headline
When people take a first look at your book press release, what they first notice is the headline.
Going by this, if you want your press release to be successful, your headline needs to be catchy.
If your headline fails to capture the attention of readers, your press release, and ultimately your book will not get the publicity it deserves.
Writing a compelling press release is not the easiest thing to do. We are aware of this. So, we have put down some tips to help you write a catchy headline even when making an attempt for the first time.
- Provide a solution
- Build trust
- Create a story
- Link it to a trending event.
Step 4: Catchy sub-headline
Your headline might get you the attention you need. However, it just might not be good enough to keep the attention of your audience. After the headline is done getting the audience to give you their attention, you need a sub-headline.
With a sub-headline, readers will have an understanding of what your book press release really stands for. This means with a good headline, the audience can discover what your press release is all about.
Step 5: Parts of your press release
A book press release is made of several parts. And these different parts are responsible for introducing the part just after them.
The first paragraph is really important. It has to be very engaging and should give a summary of every other part of the press release.
For the first paragraph of your press release to be effective, it should be less than 60 words.
Furthermore, you should focus on providing answers to questions like who the author is, the author’s motivation, and where the book can be bought.
Additionally, it should contain details about when the book was written, and how experienced the author is.
A book press release is usually not targeted at people in your industry. With this in mind, write in a very simple language that people will not struggle to understand.
Once done with the first paragraph, you should include other information in the paragraphs that follow. When things are done this way, you are not tempted to make the paragraph longer than it should be.
Step 6: Author Bio
At this point, you will need to create an author bio. Your author bio should contain information about your background.
Additionally, you should talk about the number of books you have written. Don’t stop at this. Go on to write down other details that you are comfortable sharing with your audience.
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Once you are done talking about the basics, feel free to add links to your website. Also, include your recognitions and honors.
The best press release boilerplates are usually about 100 words long.
Writing a broiler plate when a book has one author is quite easy. However, if the book was written by two authors. Both writers can get an introduction in the first paragraph. There are no rules that state both writers must have the same boilerplate.
Step 7: Distribution
This is the last process in writing a book press release. And it is just as important as other steps in this process.
As soon as you are done writing, the next thing you should do is distribute it among journalists and media outlets. This step is very important because it is a determinant of how successful the entire process is.
When looking to distribute your book press release, there are lots of ways you can go about it.
You can take advantage of the existence of social media platforms. Also, you can post the press release on your blog or website.
While the already mentioned methods of distributing a press release are effective. It is best to get directly in touch with the media house if you already have them on your contacts. If you do not have any on your list, look out for journalists that cover areas related to your book press release.
The Takeaway
If you follow the steps above, you will never have issues writing a book press release for a book launch. This is regardless of the fact that you are writing one for the first time.
