Three book marketing veterans share their thoughts on how to be your own book publicist in this presentation from the 2011 ASJA annual conference.

2. Our panelists
• Sandra Beckwith
• Marsha Friedman
• Penny Sansevieri

3. Sandra Beckwith

4. Overcoming obstacles
• “I don’t like calling attention to
myself.”
• “I see what others do and it
makes me uncomfortable.” (The
phrase “shameless” keeps
coming to mind.)
• “I’d rather be writing.”
• “I don’t have time.”

5. You’re an expert
• Applies to nonfiction & fiction
• Time spent researching topic
• You know more about your topic
than most people

6. Leveraging expert
status
• Journalists like to interview
experts; experts often have
book as credential
• Pitch yourself as an expert
• Pitch letters: You’re the expert,
not the writer

7. Sharing your expertise
with tip sheets
• Tip sheet: Press release offering
tips or advice in bulleted or
numbered format
• What questions do you hear the
most? They are your tip sheet
topics.
• Useful for generating short news
items or as background info.

8. Tip sheet format
• Title includes a number
• State problem (use stats when
you can)
• Quote from you identified as
author of XYZ
• Set up tips with one sentence
• List tips
• Close with standard paragraph
about book

9. Exercise
• What’s your first tip sheet topic?

10. Distribute widely
• Use paid & free press release
distribution services
• In-house media list
• Convert to blog content
• Syndicate online through article
sites
• Add to online press/media kit

11. Marsha Friedman

12. Best time ever to promote
your book! Why?
Today we live in a world of expert
celebrities!
• Explosion of specialty shows on
radio & TV
• Cable TV
• Satellite radio
• Websites/blogs
• Social networking
• Cross promotion

13. The expert celebrity
• Experts in all walks of
life:
– Suze Orman
– Rachel Ray
– Julia Child
• What do they all have
in common?
– All are best-selling
authors that
launched their
careers with a book

14. You’re a published
author… now what?
• Congratulations,
whether you’re a non-
fiction or fiction author,
you now have an
admission ticket to the
media!

15. Why is talk radio a great
medium for your book
promotion?
• Talk radio offers specialty
shows in every demographic!
– AM talk listeners: Ages 35 – 64
– Evenly split among male and
female
– Effective sales tool that provides
a live conversation with a
captive audience

16. Why talk radio?
• Talk radio offers specialty shows
in every demographic!
– Offers a credible 3rd party
endorsement
– Provides enough time to tell your
story

17. The value of TV for your
book promotion!
TV offers visual appeal!
• You can showcase your book
• Use props and charts to best
illustrate your message

18. 5 basic rules for pitching
radio & TV producers
1. Never, ever pitch your
book!
2. ALWAYS pitch the
problem your expertise
solves!
3. Never, ever pitch yourself!
4. ALWAYS pitch the issue
you’re an expert on!
5. Tie your topic to the
news!

19. Tie it to the news!
• The importance of
following the news….
• The Lou and Janet
story

20. Questions to ask yourself
• What part of your
message are you most
passionate about?
• How would you sum up
your message?
• Anything controversial?
• Is your message in the
news?
• 5 key talking points!

21. Your radio pitch
5 pieces to the radio pitch
puzzle:
1. Headline
2. Topic summary
3. Discussion points
4. The data
5. All about you!

30. Darlene Quinn’s results
The results speak for themselves:
– Radio interviews: 123
– National TV: 4
– Local TV: 12
– Print impressions: 74,854,122

31. Radio interview tips
• Be enthusiastic
• Smile when on the air
• No cell phones allowed
• Don’t sound like an infomercial
• Know your host

32. Radio interview tips
• Be entertaining
• Get local whenever
possible
• Limit your use of
numbers and statistics
• No technical jargon
• Eliminate potential
distractions

33. TV interview tips
• Use visuals and props
when possible
• Don’t rush it! Make your
points succinct
• Be mindful of body
language
• Assume the camera is
always on
• Don’t be combative

34. TV interview tips
• Research current news
topics
• Don’t sound rehearsed
• If you slip up, forget
about it; move on
• Convey appropriate
emotions
• Speak in a conversational
manner

35. Marketing gold
• Publicity is marketing
gold!
– It positions you as an
expert in your field
– It provides 3rd party
endorsements from the
media
– Cross promotion &
marketing opportunities
are endless

36. Let’s summarize
• So, you now know:
– What PR is!
– How to become newsworthy
– How to choose the right media
– How to pitch the media

37. Penny Sansevieri

38. Goals
• Why are you doing this?
• Why are you here?
• What do you hope to gain?

39. Building your platform
• What do I need to be
successful?
• What do I need to do?

40. Getting on Google
• Relevance
• Authority

41. Author Marketing Experts Inc www.amarketingexpert.com

42. Networking online

43. Creating a plan
• What does your eco-system look
like?
• Who can you target?
• Blogs, websites, Twitter,
Facebook

44. Success leaves clues…
• Google Alerts
• Typepad
• Network with other successful
authors

45. Online tracking tools

47. Tips for cyber-schmoozing
• Blog comment
• Listen
• Learn
• Participate

48. Why would you Twitter?

49. The best ways to use Twitter
• To communicate, not broadcast
• Share news particular to your
topic or industry
• Offer helpful insight, advice, tips
• Share data and information
relevant to your market
• Link to your blog, link to other
blogs, link to articles

50. Twitter facts
• Twitter reached 1 billion tweets in 3 years, 2 months
and 1 day. Now Twitter users send 1 billion tweets
per week.
• One year ago, users sent an average of 50 million
tweets per day. Today, that average is 140 million.
• The average number of accounts created per day is
460,000. Over half a million (572,000) accounts
were created on March 12, 2011.
• There has been a 182% increase in Twitter mobile
users this past year.

51. Everything is your resume
• Everything is searchable
• Anything you write could end up
in the media
• Never write anything you don’t
want your grandmother to read

52. How to manage social media
and still have a life…
• Reuse, recycle
• Allow your social media sites to
“talk” to one another
• Plan, plan, plan

53. Questions?

54. Contact:
• Sandra Beckwith,
sb@buildbookbuzz.com,
http://buildbookbuzz.com
• Marsha Friedman,
mfriedman@emsincorporated.com,
http://www.emsincorporated.com
• Penny Sansevieri,
penny@amarketingexpert.com,
http://www.amarketingexpert.com