Press Releases for Indie Authors

Bet you didn’t know you had to BE YOUR OWN PUBLICIST

Not only do indie authors find themselves in the position of having to do their own marketing, they sometimes discover the hard way, they have to be their own publicist as well.

A well-executed press release can be a game-changer, propelling your writing career to new heights. Does the thought of writing a press release intimidate you? I’m here to take the sting out of the task with tips on to create a compelling press release that captures attention, generates buzz, and boosts their visibility in the competitive publishing world.

1. Craft a Captivating Headline that Grabs Attention. Make it 20 words or less. Create a Sub-header that gives a little more information

2. Dateline: Include the city, state, date, and the location where you are located.

3. The Hook: offer a compelling reason why this book is important now. You want to convince a journalist that your book is worthy of coverage. Is it based on true events? A gripping read? Award-winning? A well-written press release will make a journalists job easier, give them something to write about.

4. Add a Quote from you the author: what inspired you to write this or some compelling information about the book.

5. Include Your Bio: keep it short but give some info that builds credibility — awards, acclaim, experience.

6. Circle back to the book: write a short paragraph about the book itself. Don’t give a synopsis. Write more of a tease: something that compels the reader to want to buy it

7. Link to a Press Kit. A Press Kit that lives on your website, or in a google doc and contains high resolution photos of your book jacket and an author headshot. The press kit also includes a page of text about the book and about you. At the end of the press release: include a link to that press kit.

8. The End. At the end of the press release you want to add the words The end OR the symbols ### to indicate to the reader that they’ve reached the end of the doc. Seems silly? It’s actually a very professional touch.

9. KISS: Keep it short, sis! Aim for one page only. But if you absolutely have to go to a second page, do it at your own peril ;)

10. Now what? You’ve written the press release, now where do you send it? Virtually no one sends press releases by snail mail anymore. It’s all done via email. You can create a media list by targeting publications and finding out the email address for the journalist or relevant editor. This info is usually located on the publication’s website.

11. Something more: don’t just email the press release, lots of people are now posting the summaries of their press release on social media, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using relevant hashtags like #pressrelease and other keyword hashtags, with links to the full press release.

THE UNBEARABLE LIKELIHOOD OF MISTAKES — Why New Authors Need to Forgive Themselves in Advance

My first book — SUFFER! A HOLLYWOOD NOVEL — debuts in little more than two weeks and lately, I can’t help but be consumed with ideas of What I Am Doing Wrong™ in the lead up to its premiere. I’m not talking about the book itself — of course there are going to be elements I will wish I’d written differently — I’m talking more about the marketing of the book. When you are a self-published author, you are not only responsible for the contents of the book but you’re also responsible for how you bring it into the world — how you birth it so to speak. You’re the mother and the midwife all rolled into one.

Not only are you a first-time self published author, you are simultaneously thrust into the roles of first-time publisher, first-time book marketer, first-time publicist, maybe even first-time social media manager. That’s a lot of firsts coming at you all at once. These are the things that simply don’t cross our minds when we open our writing software and lay down the first words that begin our work.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, to become concerned with the shouldas, the couldas, and the wouldas. All those missed opportunities that that will dawn on you right after you launch…when it’s “too late.” I’m here to tell you there’s a way out of that negative thought pattern.

Forgive yourself in advance. The first time you rode a bike or played the piano you probably weren’t good at it either but you got better with time. Give yourself a break. View these missteps as learning experiences. Admit to and share your errors with others to hopefully give them a chance to avoid the pitfalls you no doubt will fall into.

One other thing: disabuse yourself of the notion that once you launch, it will be “too late.” Nothing is too late. If a particular marketing technique isn’t working for you, don’t stick with it, pivot, change your plan, try something else. Launching a book is a fluid, ongoing process. You can adjust your strategy and you can learn the lesson for the next time you launch a book.

One of my favorite mentors on the subject of book marketing, Jenn Hanson-dePaula aka @mixtusmedia on TikTok (and yes, you should be BookTok-ing it up on TikTok), reminded me that promoting a book is a longggggggg process. “The bulk of your sales is going to come after your release date.” My takeaway: A successful launch is great, but realistically, you should be playing a long game. Your book might not gain traction for months or even years. So take a deep breath, try a little tenderness, be kind to yourself, don’t beat yourself up on “mistakes” you make during launch. They’re not mistakes. They’re a chance to learn. Good luck.

Keep on Bookin’

A.C. Sloan

Suffer: A Hollywood Novel will be released 9/7/22 on Amazon and is Available for Pre-order now.