The Big Picture

Dear Authors,

In this issue of BOOK BUZZ! I'd like to talk about staying on track with the big picture of book promotion. It's easy to get sidetracked into one way of promoting your books--staying in your comfort zone. Earlier BOOK BUZZ! e-zines have addressed various ways to promote your book. In this issue I want to list the four major strategies and sub-strategies for promoting your book. I've mentioned some of these in different places at different times. I thought it would be helpful if you had them all in one place...

SPEAKING

I've listed speaking first because it is probabbly the most effective way you can promote your book. Within this category are several options depending on your book's subject or your level of speaking ability. I'll list the easier ones first and progress to the more demanding venues.

1. One-on-one conversations: Sitting next to someone on a plane, meeting someone at a gathering, bumping into someone on the street or in a store can all be great opportunities to tell people about your book. Keep it conversational--don't launch into a long presentation. If you are not comfortable with public speaking, this is a good way to break the ice. If the person seems interested in your book, sell them one on the spot, give them your business card, or tell them where they can get your book.

2. Small groups: These could be a Bible-study group, Sunday School class, or even a Rotary Club meeting. Here the presentation is more structured but still informal. You can allow comments or questions as you go. Try to blend
the subject of your book with the interests of the group. Have a supply of books on hand for sale if the group allows it. Otherwise have a handout or business card you can give to interested people. One of our authors often sells more copies of his book than there are people in the meeting!

3. Church meetings: This will involve entire congregations, and the audience could be quite large. In this setting you will usually need to tailor your message to the greater needs of the congregation, referencing your book as a resource, not the focal point of your talk. Near the end of your message, mention that your book is available in the foyer (it should be) and can also be special ordered from any Christian bookstore (if it's listed in BOOKS IN PRINT).

4. Seminars and conferences: Seminars can include scores of people, and conferences can draw hundreds or thousands of participants. If you've gotten experience with the smaller venues, you may be ready for the big time. In a seminar or conference you're going to know about the interests of your listeners, so stay focused on their needs. If the event ties in with your book's subject, you can practically use your book as a textbook. Check with the event organizers for information about selling your book. One of our authors sold 800 copies of her book at a major women's conference!

You'll find more tips on speaking in BOOK BUZZ! #2.

INTERVIEWS

When you do interviews, you can reach audiences of hundreds, thousands, or even millions. As with speaking, I recommed you start small and work your way up to larger stations/publications.

1. Radio interviews: Talk about the subject you pitched to the program producer. Start with small/local stations/papers and work your way up. Radio interviews were covered thoroughly in BOOK BUZZ! #3 (we even included a list of 1000 radio stations that you can call). You'll usually have lots of opportunities to plug your book--shamelessly--on radio. If the interview is on a small station or if it's at an odd time slot, you won't sell many books. Drive-time interviews on big stations can result in significant sales.

2. TV interviews: These are more demanding because 1) you have to travel somewhere to do them, 2) you have to dress up for them, and 3) you must be better prepared (you won't have a cheat sheet in front of you!). If you can handle those demands, you can reach potentially larger audiences than you could any other way and impact them more deeply than a radio interview. TV is usually more restrictive about plugging products. Ask the program producer what is allowed/what they will provide. It may be limited to a mention by the host or they may flash the information on the screen. Sometimes larger programs will buy your book in anticipation of call-in sales. They do this as a form of fundraising. One of our authors did a TV interview that resulted in a purchase of almost 1000 copies by the ministry!

3. Print interviews: Newspapers and magazines, especially local ones, like to feature local book authors because they view you as a literary cousin. Print interviews (and feature articles) usually start with the submission of the humble news release. It is said that 1-4% of press releases result in some form of press coverage. This percentage could probably be improved if you take more care in targeting your releases rather than broadcasting them. Good coverage in a large size publication could result in dozens of copies being sold (although it can be difficult to track results from this medium).

PUBLICITY

Publicity is one of the most powerful forms of book promotion, but also one of the least understood. The rules of the publicity game are much more complex than with speaking and interviews. Various media have their own preferences when it comes to PR--and these preferences sometimes conflict with other media! In addition to that, since 9-11 many media people are leery of opening email attachments in fear of viruses or opening packages that might contain anthrax or a mail bomb). To get past this problem, call them first.

1. Press release: Even If you're not too keen on sending out lots of press releases, you still need to have a good one when the media asks for it. Your release needs to have a killer headline that stops the media dead in their tracks because you only have about five seconds to capture their attention. Then it needs to be newsy not addy. A press release is not an ad for your
book, it's a germ of an idea for a story or program that includes your book as a resource. Every release should include complete contact information for the sender of the release. It is also appropriate to include the basic buying information for your book: size, number of pages, binding, ISBN, price, where it's available, and publication date.

2. Media kit: This includes your news release, bio page and author photo, and a copy of your book--at a minimum. Other pieces that can be included are: a tip sheet (like a top 10 list), a list of other resources (people, web links, or articles) for the media which might help them in putting together an article or program, clippings of previous articles about you and
your book, copies of taped interviews you have done which demonstrate your ability on air, and just about anything else that builds your credibility. Since media kits cost so much to put together, only send them to media
people who request them. On the outside of the envelope or package write: "The media kit you requested is enclosed."

3. Articles and columns: These are articles and columns you write yourself and offer to publications (usually free of charge). One of our authors has had his column featured in several publications in his state. An article is harder to write because it's longer and usually requires inclusion of other sources besides yourself as the authority. But then when it's done, it's done. A column is a lot easier to write, but then you have the burden of sticking with it over time and coming up with fresh material week after week or month after month. Nevertheless, these are great ways to build local or regional visibility. A cousin of these are the radio and TV program, but these are beyond the scope of this BOOK BUZZ!

INTERNET

You'll notice that we have progressed in this issue from a more primitive form of communication (speaking), through the print medium (just a few centuries old), to broadcast media (an invention of the last century). That takes us to the future of communication: the World Wide Web. The internet has revolutionized communications, marketing, and a host of other areas of our lives. It's so new it's still being invented and all of us are scurrying just to keep up with the latest technologies.

1. Email: It seems so commonplace now, but what would we do without it? Yet the lowly email is often overlooked in favor of other slicker technologies as a marketing medium. The real power of email is that you send it to those
you know (it's proactive). If you can make your emails interesting enough, they will be forwarded to others, who will forward them... When that happens, you have what's called viral marketing and it's very powerful in spreading the word rapidly.

TIP: Whenever you meet someone or do business with them, always try to get their email address. It's so much quicker, easier and cheaper to send an email to 100 people than it is to call or write to them!

2. If your book is available at Amazon.com, be sure to get your friends to write a review for your book and post it at Amazon. It's really easy. First, go to the detail page where the book is listed at Amazom.com. Then scroll down to customer reviews and click the button "book!" The next screen asks you to login or register with Amazon. Finally you are taken to the review
page. Follow the on-screen instructions and read their rules, then submit your review. It will show up in about a week. When I go to Amazon to buy books, I read the reviews and base my purchasing decision partly on them. So, GET THOSE REVIEWS!

3. Author website: Needless to say, I could spend a whole BOOK BUZZ! (or series of them) talking about websites. I could tell you most everything you need to know to get started building a website. But, that is beyond the scope of this blog. May I just suggest that if you don't already have a website that you start thinking about it? Make a plan: What would the purpose of your site be? What would you feature on it? Would you try to have e-commerce (that was one of my big questions)? Would you do it yourself or get a webmaster's help?

4. E-letter or e-zine: I covered this in depth in BOOK BUZZ #5.

SUMMARY

When it comes to book promotion (as opposed to sales) these four areas are the ones you need to major in. These will give you "the most bang for your book." If you concentrate on these four strategies, your book can't help but be successful.

Warmest Regards,
Brian Banashak
© 2004, Brian Banashak