Creating and Executing a Book Publicity Plan
Integrate your publicity program with your business and marketing strategy


No matter where you are in the book publishing process, at some point you’ll need to create a book publicity plan.


A publicity plan is a strategy that is specifically designed to capture the
media's attention. The specific information you include identifies how you
will communicate in a strategic way to encourage newspapers, radio shows,
magazines and trade journals, and television shows and stations to cover your story.


Your publicity plan identifies those written materials you need to create to reach media outlets with your newsworthy stories.


A book publicity plan is a major cornerstone of your integrated book marketing plan. It’s the piece that covers how you’ll get the word out via the media radio, tv, newspapers, and magazines and trade journals. It integrates with your business plan and your marketing strategy.


It’s easy to create a simple book publicity plan on one piece of paper.


You really should do this with your book before you start writing news
releases and blasting them out. A one page plan will help you set a course and direction and keep you on track.


Get a piece of paper and place your book title across the top.


Realize that there are several phases to book publicity and that in each
phase, you’ll need to target different media in a certain order of preference.


Realize that you’ll need a different news release to succeed at each phase and that you may be sending the news release to different media. This is because your purpose is changing at each stage.


Phase To Whom Content of News Release


Pre-publication buzz Book Trade & Public
What’s coming
Why it’s great
Who will love it


Galleys Book Trade What it is
Specs
Marketing Plans
Who loves it


Announcement of Publication Book trade and Public What’s here
Why it’s great
Who loves it


Book reviews Book trade and Public What’s here
Why it’s great
Who loves it


Book signings Public Event announcement
Why it’s great
Who needs it


Post Publication Feature Stories Public Feature stories
Problem solving tips


Interviews Public What you say
Why it’s entertaining
Who needs it
Why its great


Early in the process you are trying to get coverage to notify and inform the book trade the libraries and book stores and wholesalers and
distributors. If you get even try to get publicity in the public media it’s purpose is to raise awareness of what is coming and generate interest.


Once your book comes out your primary purpose is to generate public interest that drives sales. The trade publicity becomes secondary in importance.

Reviews and feature stories are more important. As you are actively promoting your book you publicize your book signings and events. Event announcements, interviews, tips articles, and feature stories are what you are after.


Once you’ve done an initial suite of post publication publicity, you’ll
need to come up with a plan to carry the book forward for it’s useful life, which can be as long as you want to make it.


So now take a second piece of paper. Let’s assume you want to implement a
plan that has you transmitting a news release to media each month for a year.


One the left hand side of your paper create a list of numbers one to twelve, one for each month of the year.


Now start with number one and write a headline or at least a news angle, and keep on going till you have 12 news angles, one for each month of the year. Also identify what media target (radio/tv, or print)


Title News Angle Media Target


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.


Voila! Your year long publicity plan is almost done. You have the titles and subjects for each news release. You also know what type of news release to create. This lets you plan and identify what you need to do months in advance. You can now resource load the plan and identify the costs and actions you need to take to implement each step of the plan.


Vary and adapt your plan to focus on holiday tie ins, current events, and
other known predictable things that people focus on during the year.


Now start writing one page news releases, one each for each month.


For each news release make sure you reformat and revise it appropriately for radio and tv and print. Radio and tv want the emphasis on the talking points and entertainment value to the listening or watching audience, print media want emphasis on the information and value added to the readers.


If the news release strikes a chord, you convert the news release into an
article and then transmit it to get it into circulation.


Target your media:


Know your customers. Learn what they read watch and listen to when they
are in a buying decision for whatever it is you are selling.


Then look at the categories of media that cover these areas.


You can target any number of ways. Your media list will vary from news
release to news release.


You need media lists to match the phase of you book publicity plan:

· Pre-publication awareness

· Book Trade and Libraries for Galleys & Announcements

· Book reviews

· Public Print Feature Stories

· Radio and tv


Have a ready to use media kit toolbox


You also need to prepare your media kit toolbox. A media kit is a package of information specifically designed to capture the media's attention. The
specific information you include is communicated in a strategic way to
encourage newspapers, radio shows, magazines and trade journals, and
television shows and stations to cover your story.


Your media kit toolbox needs to contain the effective materials you can use to reach media outlets with your newsworthy stories.


A good media kit toolbox can contain any number of items:

· Several Articles
· Backgrounders
· Fact Sheets
· Key Person Bios
· FAQ’s
· B&W and Color Pictures
· Interview Questions and Answers
· Marketing Plans
· Media Clippings/media history coverage
· Testimonials
· Quotes
· Review copies - autographed
· Cover letter
· Idea Proposals
· News angles
· Interview topics
· Myths & Legends
· Brochures
· Tour schedules
· Success stories/case studies
· CD Rom or diskette with information and materials
· Video
· Tips
· Tests
· Tools


You must place these materials into an attractive and distinctive folder or
holder of some kind. Some people use a glossy paper and glue the cover of
their book to the cover. The goal is to be noticeable and to stand out from the stack of other materials the media may receive and have on their desks.


Each one of these can be one to two pages single sided or back to back. You can do it yourself or hire a graphics designed to create a color laser printed set of materials the sky is the limit, but your pocket book will determine how you prepare these materials. Some media kits are very modest but still effective. Some media kits will easily cost $5.00 per set plus the book.


You can be quite imaginative when it comes to your media kit just be
realistic and relevant.


A proper media kit contains the materials you need to be persuasive with your media. It must support your goal getting publicity. It may be that some media need more, some need less. Others may want this, while others need that. If you find that the materials you send don’t produce, improve them till they do. Use what works, get rid of what doesn’t work. Improve constantly.


So you pick what you need based on what you believe your media will want. And by all means be generous.


You can and should use media kits at each stage in your book publicity plan. They again must serve the desired purpose and be written to achieve that goal.


You transmit them in advance to key media and immediately after receiving a
request.


Know your media, know your goals, create and transmit what you need to be
successful.


Put Your Media Kit Online


Once you create your media kit toolbox, you should place it online at your web site.


Call it you media center make sure you have a prominent and easy to find link on your home page.


Make it easy and entertaining for media to write articles about you while you sleep.


Pack your online media kit with oodles of information and ready to use data. Make high resolution color and black and white pictures available via e-mail upon request or via instant download.


Add to your press center regularly.


Use all vehicles to reach media


You want to design and maintain a PR assault that stimulates the medias senses using all available tactics:


1. Street mail
2. Fax
3. E-mail
4. In Person
5. Phone calls
6. Other media/research
7. Referrals


So design a Publicity Plan and implement it faithfully, at least as long as
it's profitable to do so.


• Monthly via fax & e-mail
• Selected street mail call first
• Judicious follow-up to three to five or more per day


Budget your Publicity Plan


You should now be able to identify the key components of your publicity plan and come up with a monthly cost estimate for each phase.


Copywriting
Media lists
Fax and Email Distribution
Media Kits
Postage
Follow Up.


Whether you budget weekly or monthly is up to you.


How much you need to invest will depend on the amount of effort, the number of media, and the frequency of actions you take.


Pick a number say $500 a month. Now estimate how much it will take to do
each step within that budget amount.


Realize that $500 a month times 12 months is $6000 a year.


Realize that this is a do-it-yourself cost. If you hire a PR firm or a
publicist, you may encounter costs many times this amount.


Meeting Media in Person


Any by golly, if you get to meet with them in person, make it memorable.
Bring copies enough of media kits and review copies for a small army, so that you create a buzz that lingers in the office days after you are gone.



Take several of your media kits with you. Do your presentation. Be
responsive and if you don’t have what you need, promise to bring it back asap. Close the deal.


And don't forget, there are lots of ways to make a great and long lasting
impression, and the best one is to: BRING GOOD FOOD!


Don't ask me why, but it works. These folks are often stressed out office
hounds. They are starved for tension release and a great inner office
experience.


They feel forever indebted to you for feeding them, especially if it's unique and high quality, or home made. Bring enough to have a small office party, and give out lots of cards, postcards or whatever.


For some reason, a dozen Crispy Creme donuts is really a good idea these
days.


The news streaks across the newsroom faster than lightening, and voila you
have an audience of five to ten key editors!


Then it’s show time!


How to come up with news angles


One of the best ways to come up with news angles is to study what other people have written in your field.


You can search the media online to research how media have covered your
subject before quite easily.


You go to a media jumpstation (like the one at this web site) and you search for the media in your field. Then you study and analyze media articles that are about other people.


When you look at a media I like using USA Today, analyze the way the features are written the flow, order of topics presented, the perspective of the writer, the type of information presented, the length, and organization. Look over the story ideas on a subject for the past year. Find and review the editorial calendars so you can pitch a story idea that fits in the editorial schedule.


These are factors are the crucial clues which show you how you should present yourself.


Create a Media Calendar


When you create your book publicity plan, remain aware of the media lead times needed for certain categories of media.


Magazines four to six months
Weekly newspapers four to six weeks
Daily Newspapers two to three weeks
Radio and TV two to three days to weeks to months in advance depending on
purpose


So if you create a calendar it should look something like this for magazines:


June Christmas
July New Years
August Valentines Day
September St. Patricks Day
October Spring
November
December - Mother’s Day
January Father’s Day
February Summer
March Independence Day
April School
May Halloween



Get the idea? Now adjust your news angles to fit the calendar and identify
the right media to go with the plan.


Check your materials:


Check your communications materials against the 5 tips below to ensure your
message has the maximum effectiveness and impact.

1. Educate the media and make them understand.
2. Make it relevant to them and their audience.
3. Be credible don’t be weird.
4. Empower your media. Give them what they need and make it easy to get what they want if it’s not instantly available.
5. Keep it simple make it easy to read and understand.


Go for Continuous Improvement


Kick it off.


If it works great!


If it doesn’t seem to be working, change it.


If you want some help feel free to call me.