If you’re writing a book you need to be ready. Not just for the hard work and the self-doubt and the copy-editor’s queries, but ready for That Moment. That Moment when the news story breaks that is an absolute gift to you, because suddenly everybody’s talking about the subject in which you’re an expert, and this is your chance to play the ball and take the public stage.
It can happen very quickly, and often very unexpectedly. Ben Cameron, of Cameron Publicity and Marketing, put it this way in The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast:
“Something can come up in the news one day and then it’s old news the next day. You have to be ready, you have to have everything ready to go and then pitch it right away, as soon as something comes up in the news that you can comment on. You get in there and you comment on it and you talk to the media… If you don’t do it quickly you’ll miss your chance.”
So are you ready?
It doesn’t matter if your book’s not actually published yet, you can still seize the moment as ‘author of the forthcoming [title]’ if you have your marketing collateral in place.
The press release is still the cornerstone of most PR campaigns, and if you’re responding to a current news story obviously you can’t prepare this completely up front, but there’s a lot you can do so you’re ready to go at the drop of a headline.
Here’s a basic marketing collateral kit for authors in the process of writing a book:
- A good picture of you – not an Instagram snap or a portrait with your kids, I’m taking about a professional head-shot taken by a professional photographer that immediately identifies you as someone who is credible, professional and worth listening to. You’ll need hi-res and low-res versions, and it’s worth getting black-and-white versions done too.
- Boilerplate text – basically just a bit of text that sits at the bottom of every press release to give the journalist some background information, almost like a mini ‘About’ page on your website. Often a journalist will just lift this and use it in the piece as it stands, so it’s worth getting it right. You need to include a few details about you, the book, your business, and your contact details. Which means you need to create:
- A biography – a short professional biography that simply says who you are, what you do and why you matter in the context of this story. Write it in the third person and keep it factual. Highlight particular achievements or positions, and any particularly relevant or impressive experience or educational credentials. As short as possible, and ONLY relevant information.
- Your elevator pitch – two sentences or so that communicate crisply and clearly what your book’s about, who it’s for, and why it matters. You can use this in a phone call, an email, even in a chance conversation with a broadcaster or journalist. (Not to mention potential customers.) It’s hard to distil the message of your masterpiece into just two sentences, but you’ll be amazed at your own clarity and the response of others when you do.
If you’ve got all that, you’re ready to sit and draft a brilliant press release or email to a journalist at a moment’s notice when That Moment – YOUR moment – arrives.
But you can do even more than that.
Here’s a couple of tips for real author PR pros:
- The cover – OK, so you might not have this in the early stages. But as soon as your book’s taking shape and long before it’s ready for publication you need to be working with your publisher or directly with a designer to get an image of the front cover design. You can tweak it later or even change it completely if necessary, but nothing says ‘This is a real book’ more convincingly than a picture of how it’s going to look. Don’t just use it for press releases: stick it on your website, share it on social media, put a thumbnail in your blog signature, get it out there and own it. (And you may find it a source of strength and inspiration as you battle through the final stages of the writing, too.)
- Anticipate questions – as Ben says, “you know what they’ll find if they Google you, you can figure out what their entire knowledge of you is. From that you can pick out what their obvious questions are going to be and you can prepare for them.” Simple, but brilliant. You can even draft a few suggested questions for the interviewer to ask you – as long as they’re interesting and right for their specific audience or readership, most journalists will be grateful and that much more likely to pick up the phone.
So you’re ready. Now what?
Getting these basics done up front will mean you’re ready to take advantage of promotional opportunities even before the book is published. If you see a news story that you can speak to, you can quickly shoot off an email or press release to a journalist with your take on the story. Include a juicy quote they can use along with the marketing collateral and offer yourself for interview.
Remember that most journalists are pressed for time: the more easily they can simply lift your copy as it stands, the more likely they are to use it. And if you’re sending a press release to local radio or internet radio stations, consider including a list of sample questions they could ask – it saves them time, and it usually makes for a much better interview.
While you’re preparing for your moment of glory, it’s worth taking a good hard look at your social media and your website; if they need brushing up do that NOW so that you can feel confident when you start promoting your book.
And remember too that while it’s great to be ready to go when your area of expertise hits the front pages, as Ben says:
“If you’re blogging and working your social media consistently on your area of expertise, you may well be the person the journalist reaches out to even before you have chance to make the call.”
If you struggle with the idea of (self-)promotion, you might like this interview with The Hungry Entrepreneurs by Sarah Arrow. And Sherry Bevan has written a superb post on the importance of consistency, in promotion, social media, and in business generally.
