Your Author WebSite’s Media Page: 14 Items to Include

Above is an example of a media page from author Kathy Lynn Harris’s website. So do you need a media page (also known as a media kit?)

If you are considering a blog tour, are contacting reviewers, want to be featured on blogs, websites or your local or national newspaper/ magazine, a media page is a killer resource to have. It makes reporters and bloggers owners’ lives a ton easier (trust me I know all about this!) and this in turn means that they will be more likely to feature you.

If all the information about yourself and your book is in one place, it’s just so much easier to whip up a short post or feature. This is the aim of the media page, to cater to the media folk, so keep them in mind when building the most intuitive and informative media page possible.

Here is a list of 14 useful things you can include on it.

1. A summary of your press attention to date. This can be images and links to PR you have already received to show off a little.

2. Author Bio for Press. This is a professional yet fun summary that doesn’t include your whole life story. Keep it to under 150-300 words and make sure it’s interesting!

3. A Book Description. Short and interesting enough to be lifted and used in it’s entirety on another site or article.

4. Author Photo: Upload or attach a link to a professional, high resolution headshot. Not you at dinner with your other half or hanging out on the sofa in your Christmas sweater!

5. Book Info: The vital statistics – title, subtitle, genre, ISBN, no. of pages, formats available, publisher and release date.

6. Reviews and endorsements: This can be sentences lifted from Amazon.com reviews, or endorsements from professional reviewers or other authors/ celebrities (blurbs) if available.

7. Press releases, if any.

8. Buying information: Links to the relevant retailers.

9. Contact information. Your email address or that of a publicity rep, Twitter handle if you have one.

10. Interview topic ideas that are relevant to your book. Give the reviewer/ reporter/ site owner some food for thought.

11. News pegs. How does the book ties into contemporary issues, politics, news? Even if your book is a fiction, you can be considered an “expert” in the topics and issues presented in your story. Your personal story is bound to influence your writing, so if you’re not shy present your own experiences in relation to your book, too.

12. Sample chapter/ excerpt: (A link to) Don’t go overboard or include anything with spoilers! Enough text to pique interest is all that is needed here.

13. Book trailer/ audio file (interview)

14. Info on your target readers: Who reads and buys your books? Why? This info helps a journalist, blogger, or other potential reviewer know if you appeal to their own target audience.

And there you have it, a Media-friendly press page! It might take you a few hours to get all of this information together,  but the content will be useful for ALL of your promotional efforts, and will help you get the media attention you deserve by putting you a cut above the rest.

See my example for my book Wow! Glowing Bride in 30 Days here. See an example put together by 30 Day Books for the author Kathy Lynn Harris here.

Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mainly Free) Part 4: Promoting & Marketing a Book

*This is Part 4 in the series, and is cross posted from my other site Ladies Who Critique.com*

4. Promoting a Book: 10 Sites You Can Use in Your Promotions

Image Courtesy of sellingbooks.com

*This is part 4 in the series Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free). Find part 1, Writing a Book here. Part 2, Querying a Book here. Part 3: Producing a Book (for self-publishers) here.*

1. Amazon Author Central Be sure to fill out your Amazon author central profile, claim your books, import your blog and Twitter feed in order to make the most of the free profile Amazon offers you.

2. Vistaprint Create marketing materials such as bookmarks, business cards, Tshirts, pens & fliers for a low cost at Vistaprint.com.

3. CafePress- Merchandise can be designed and ordered in a print on demand fashion, at CafePress. This can help with offline PR efforts, and is a lot of fun too! For example, here is the CafePress Ladies Who Critique shop.

4. YouTube: Make a video blog (vlog) or book trailer and upload it to a YouTube channel for free. Make it interesting or entertaining and it might just go viral.

(You can read this great article from NovelPublicity about the why and how of book promotion on YouTube).

5. Quibblo: Quibblo online quizzes are a great way to introduce your characters and story to potential readers. Create character quizzes, fun surveys, polls & personality quizzes. Make your own quiz for your blog or Facebook.

 6. HARO.com - Help a Reporter Out – “No such thing as free PR? Over 50000 journalists use HARO to locate experts for on-air interviews, article quotes and more.” If your book is non-fiction, or has some non-fiction PR angles, be sure to read the HARO emails each day where journalists and other media peops send out requests for experts or people with knowledge in a certain field to quote. That could well be you!

7. Animoto.com: Animoto is a slide show software that allows you to add pictures and music – a great, low budget way of making book trailers. It’s free for up to 30 seconds, longer videos are available for a low cost.

See an example book trailer made with Animoto.com.

8. Blogging platforms: WordPress is my platform of choice (very customizable and flexible – Ladies Who Critique is hosted on WordPress), Blogger is also a popular (and free) option.

If you want a great resource to learn how and what to blog about in order to create a successful blog, I suggest Kristen Lamb’s Are You There Blog, It’s Me Writer.

9. Email marketing services: Mailchimp/ Constant Contact are both great services for emailing several people at once; perfect for author newsletters or for spreading news about your writing/ books and keeping a complete list of subscribers. Mailchimp is my fave, plus it’s free up to 2000 contacts.

Here is an article from Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn on building an email list for author marketing.

10. Reddit: Users add news links, but these don’t really have to be “news” in the traditional sense. You can upload links to your latest blogpost, photos, or anything that might be of interest. Votes by other users promote stories to the front page (but you can also be voted down so be sure to add something of value!) Great for promoting your own articles and news. As a writer, be sure to join these groups: writing, nanowrimo, selfpublish, books, literature.

 The next post in this series will cover social media sites you can use in your promotions: stay tuned post-Thanksgiving!

The Kindle’s ‘Before You Go’ Feature

The latest generation Kindle now brings up a Before You Go… screen on the last page of all books, which can be a great way of spreading the word about your book through social media, as well as garnering reviews on Amazon.com. That’s two fantastic promotional opportunities!

Unsure what ‘latest generation’ means? See this page for images of the different Kindle generations to see what yours is!

The Before You Go… feature invites the reader to share with their Twitter and Facebook followers/ friends that they’ve finished the book. They are also able to give it a rating and write an Amazon review.

The page also links to other titles by the same author, as well as a list of books that “Customers who bought this book also bought…”. This is great news for authors with more than one title.

Image courtesy of pcmag.com

Key Points: Before You Go

1. Before You Go is a built-in feature and it’s only built into the latest generation. Neither the Kindle owner nor the book publisher has to turn it on, it’s naturally there.

2. Readers do need to enter their Twitter and Facebook account details into their Kindle in order to share what they have read.

3. The only real thing you need to know as a publisher: the Before You Go… page is a very useful way of getting reviews on the spot since many people will forget to write them later. And as we all know reviews drive sales. So you want as many people as possible to see this page.

What you do not want therefore is a ton of backmatter between the last word of your book and before the Before You Go screen. When formatting your book, be sure to make sure the Before You Go screen comes soon after the book finishes.

Traditionally there might be acknowledgements, references, book club questions and prompts after the last word. I would argue that it is more important to have readers see this screen than include this information. Important acknowledgements (brief ones at least) can come at the beginning of the book, and other information can be found on your website, which you can leave a link to at the end of the book.

The only backmatter exception I can see worth having, is a chapter excerpt for another of your titles at the end of your book. If readers enjoyed the book they just finished they will most likely want to read your excerpt and be drawn into your other title this way.

What are your thoughts and experiences with the Before You Go… screen? How will you handle not leaving the traditional pages and pages of acknowledgements? Do you think that spreading the word through social media in this instance drives sales?

How the Right Amazon Tags Can Help With Your Book’s Visibility

Have you added tags to your book on Amazon or the Amazon Kindle yet?

Here is an example of the tags for my wedding guide on Amazon:

What a lot of authors don’t realize is that tags not only describe your book, they also influence recommendations and this results in more visibility, showing up in pairings more often and thus being seen by potential customers who are browsing similar titles. The aim then is to catch his/her attention and draw them to your product page. In other words…

Authors, Are you using your Author Central page? | It’s your friend.

If you are selling a book or eBook through Amazon, you should absolutely be taking advantage of author central on Amazon.

I know, I know that you are thinking “GROAN!! Yet another social media site to keep up with.”

But actually it’s not all that much work at all, and once it is up and running (i.e. you have filled out your basic info, added a photo, imported your blog) you will rarely have to touch it again.

The benefits:

How Adding Customer Images Can Increase Your Sales

Did you know that on Amazon you can add customer images to any product?

Just go to any Amazon product page and look under the book image (usually the book cover). Here you will see the following option;

“Share your own customer images”. Anyone can upload these images, including the author or publisher. In the case of my wedding title, I uploaded 4 images to compliment the existing image of the book cover. These include my author profile picture, an image of the paperback book and two images of it on my Kindle.

When we added images to two of our titles, our sales increased significantly. Coincidence?

People Working in the Publishing Industry are the Nicest People Everrrr | Dan Blank

There are a ton of blogposts and articles written about self publishing and book marketing every day, and it’s fantastic. Each morning I check my social media sites as well as my RSS feed and I learn a ton of useful information, all over my first coffee. And I don’t spend a penny.

18 months ago I didn’t even know what self-publishing meant and I certainly didn’t know a thing abut book marketing or promotions. I started from scratch, desperate to get my husband’s manuscript into print.

That book is now in it’s second edition, we have sold the Chinese rights to a large publishers in Taiwan, and while hubby won’t let me post sales figures (borrring), let’s say we are more than happy with the sales.

Why Getting Reviews on Amazon Should be Your First Priority | (& Why bookstores leave me overwhelmed))

Reviews are the reason Amazon is where it is. The other day I was in a brick and mortar store and I was struck by the lack of info I was getting about the books I was browsing. I needed social reassurance, because I grew up in the 90′s and 2000′s and that’s what I’m used to receiving.

Image courtesy of weheartit.com

Perhaps my parents relied on word of mouth recommendations from friends and family – the current generation depends upon several detailed written reviews. Without book reviews, all we can do is judge a book by it’s cover, and that’s a tough task. We crave something more. We crave the nod from more than a handful of people saying “this is worth spending your hard earned money on”. Or, “don’t waste your time”.

The Unique Book Marketing Tactic that Convinced me to Buy | With Author Megan Karasch

I met Megan Karasch, author of Tales from my Hard Drive, at the LA Times Book Festival in April. She was occupying a booth as many authors do, but one book marketing idea of hers led me to actually download her novel onto my Kindle AS SOON AS I got home (now that’s good marketing).

I LOVED the book (recommend it with 5 stars and no hesitation) and I am equally in love with her special marketing tactic. So what was it?

From Megan:

“Melissa (the leading lady) is a writer for a newspaper called The Beacon, so for me it was a no-brainer to create a Beacon newspaper as a marketing tool. We came up with the flier you saw, called it The Beacon and included substance that we believed would pique interest: an excerpt from the book (one of Melissa’s Beacon columns); a synopsis; reader reviews; and a tidbit about me.”

I interviewed Megan to get more deets of how she produced this marketing sheet and the results she has had from it.

Megan, first off, tell us how you feel about book promotions and marketing in general? Are you a confident ‘wave your knickers in the air’ kind of promoter, or does the whole thing scare the be-jeebers out of you?

It’s completely frightening and foreign to me. I’m not a publicist and I’m not in marketing. This is the DIY era, though, so I have to learn to be brave and wear many hats.

I firmly believe in my book and its ability to entertain and I truly enjoy sharing it with people, and those are the driving forces behind my efforts and perseverance.

Did you start promotions before the book was published? If yes, what did this consist of?

I didn’t; but looking back, I wish I had. In fact, I definitely will for my next one. I’ve learned that it’s important to build hype about your book to get people pumped up and on the edge of their seats waiting for it to be released.  People seem to desire the hot new item, so if you can build up your book as that item, I think it pays off.

I met you at the LA Times Book Fair where you were sharing a booth with another author. Us authors can definitely take a leaf out of your book and promote work of a similar genre together. How was the experience for you?

The LA Times Book Festival was a fantastic, rewarding experience. I shared the booth with a seasoned writer, JD Shapiro (writer Robin Hood: Men in Tights and other films and the book, The Truth About Men). I think people were drawn to our table because we exhibited books with popular, fun themes (i.e. sex, dating and love).

Personally, I was ecstatic to meet people who read the marketing material or heard my pitch and became excited about my book.  The satisfaction I get from those who are eager to read it or who read it and enjoyed it, is a key reason that all the time spent writing and marketing it is worthwhile.

I also met publishers, fellow authors and other industry professionals, all of who provided helpful information. I’d go back to the festival in a heartbeat.

Let’s talk about your awesome marketing sheet. I picked this up at the book fair and was in awe at how effective it was. I read the whole thing and went home and downloaded  it to my Kindle straight away! Can you talk us through how you made it?

Absolutely, I’m thrilled to hear your reaction to it. Initially, my sister, my boyfriend and I were thinking of marketing ideas for the book’s launch party. We wanted to craft something that was insightful but was also creative and that tied to the book.

How many copies did you have printed?

For the book festival, I printed somewhere between 300 and 400 copies and gave pretty much all of them away.  We gently pushed them on people who stopped by our booth, hoping that even if they didn’t go to the festival to make a purchase, they might do so later when they had time to read the flier and become intrigued by the story, like what happened with you.

They look great this way, but for financial reasons I was surprised it was in color. Were they expensive to produce?

Sort of; I think I paid somewhere around $0.75 or $1 per sheet (it’s less if you buy in bulk). I am an unknown author with my first book in a very saturated market, so I have to stick out as much as I can. And I think sometimes the little things help in that regard.

My book is a light, fun, beach read and I wanted the marketing materials to reflect that tone. The color helps make it pop; black and white just doesn’t fit with the spirit of the book. I am also in love with the cover art that my mother and a friend designed and I just couldn’t bear to see it in black and white.

Where else have you handed these marketing sheets out?

We handed them out at my book release party and I sent them to a few agents, publishers and review sites. I will continue to hand them out at festivals and maybe book signings, and the like, depending how far I am going to take this book.

I read that you are a lawyer AND play drums in a band. How do you fit in promoting and marketing around your busy schedule?

I don’t know but I’m certain sleep deprivation plays somewhat of a role. I have a lot of interests and they are all meaningful to me, so I work it all in, somehow.

To be as effective as possible at marketing though, you need more time than I have and you need to be more of an expert at it than I am. To be perfectly honest, I’ve done my book somewhat of a disservice by pairing marketing with an otherwise full schedule. As I said earlier, I believe in the book so I have promoted it to the extent of my ability.

I have been able to secure some book reviews (which have fortunately been positive) and I’ve been able to garner attention through social media, so I am proud of my accomplishments; however, for my next book, the marketing will start earlier and will involve a publicist or other expert in conjunction with my own efforts.

Any other tips you’d like to share with other authors who want to try the marketing sheet for themselves? 

A bright, bold and concise promotional flier is a helpful instrument to give people a meaningful glimpse and get them excited about your novel; but it is only one of the myriad of tools available for authors to promote their work.

To learn more about Megan Karasch and her Tales from my Hard Drive, visit the website here.

Buy the book here, and follow her on Twitter here.

Affiliate Marketing, Book Trailers, Discounts & Email Signatures | Book Marketing 5

In my book marketing series: What has, and hasn’t, been working | Book Marketing I’ve looked at Pay Per Click ads, author websites, PR and social media. Tomorrow I’ll be talking about how Amazon really should be your best friend. Here are some strategies to try that don’t fit into of those categories, but are still worth a mention.

1. Offer Discounts -Last year we ran a July 4th special and gave out a discount code that was only valid for 4 days. A limited discount encourages readers who have been meaning to buy the book but haven’t got around to doing. If you send out a newsletter, then you can include the discount code in your newsletter, or you can even send out a dedicated email to your mailing list. Yet another reason to make sure you are collecting emails on your author website.

2. Change Your Email Signature to link to you author site – This is a tip I learned from Peter Bowerman in his ‘The Well-Fed Self Publisher’. I guestimate that I send out around 20-30 emails every day, to a variety of people. If I can catch the eye of just 2-3 people that might result in a sale, or even better an introduction to a good contact or idea. It’s worth a shot!

3. Affiliate Marketing for bloggers/ site owners

I have only recently started this with the Leaving Japan Guide. We offer affiliates 40% on all sales brought in from their blog or site. There is a permanent link on their site which helps drive traffic. It’s too early to know whether this is working or not, but if you are interested in trying it, I use e-Junkie’s very easy to use system (even though I despise their name and feel like it sounds suspicious and awkward).

4. Book Trailers

Ha! While it was fun to make these, I’m not sure how successful they have been. Maybe that’s because they aren’t very good and had a very low (read $0) budget. You can see ours here:

GMAT Book

Leaving Japan Trailer

Wedding Planning Book

Now if you want to see some really good trailers, check out these badboys. I imagine both of them pulled favors from professional friends (in fact I read that Gemma Burgess bought her friends a lot of drinks to make this one and is fortunate enough to know a professional director). If you have this luxury, go for it!

Gemma Burgess’ The Dating Detox | Fiction

Meg Mateo Ilasco & Joy Deangdeelert Cho’s Creative Inc | Non-Fiction

My Book Trailer advice:

+ Keep it short

+ Keep it simple

+ Use high quality images

+ Use Animoto for free 30 second video slideshows

Do you have any book trailers to share, or advice on making great ones? Feel free to leave a link below!