Great easy tips by Shel Horowitz, book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer, about how to write your book press releases.
Which would you rather read: “Electronic Privacy Expert Releases New Book” OR “It’s 10 O’Clock—Do You Know Where Your Credit History Is?”
If you follow most advice about how to write a press release for a book, you’d end up with something like the first example. You’ll put all the 5Ws in the first paragraph. And you’ll put your readers to sleep.
But when a client hired me to write a press release for a book on electronic privacy, I turned in the second example. The main text repeated the headline and continued: “It's 10 O'clock—Do you know where your credit history is? How about your employment records? Your confidential medical information?
“How would you feel if you found out this sensitive and should-be-private material is “vacationing” in computer databanks around the world—accessible to corporate interests who can afford to track down and purchase it, but not necessarily open to your own inspection?”
The book and author weren’t even mentioned until the third paragraph.
Any book has multiple angles—news hooks you can use to gain media and reader attention. I chose to focus on data privacy that time. If I were writing that press release today, I might focus on identity theft, hacking, or the influence of fake news on elections. But NEVER on “expert releases book.” Publishing a book, by itself, is not news. Just in the US, it happens about a million times a year. That’s 2740 books published every day! You want to stand out in that crowd.
So if you’d rather not imitate a snooze button, try something different. Tell “the story behind the story” and create a press release that people will read (and act on). For nonfiction: What problem does your book solve, what pain does it alleviate, what success does it lead to (financial, relationship, career, personal growth, etc.) Ask yourself who needs the information, and why.
For fiction or memoir, what kinds of people will identify with your main character? What exotic situation or fascinating career fills in the backstory? For either—what seasonal or charity tie-ins, awards, or superstar endorsements make your book newsworthy? If your press release is fun and exciting, readers will realize that your book is also going to be fun and exciting.
As a book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer who writes a lot of press releases and book covers for books, I do this constantly. Here are some actual press release headlines I’ve written for clients (starting with one for my own tenth book):
NONFICTION:
- Finally, A Handbook for Business To Change the World and Make a Profit—As General Motors, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, the City of New York, and Others Have Done (This is for my own most recent book, and I’ve left the hyperlink in to the complete press release)
- 54 Million Americans “Swallowed by a Snake”
- At 54, He Moved Across the World—Because It’s Never Too Late for Dreams
- Missing for 400 Years, Mercator’s Atlas Is Now Available in North America for the First Time
FICTION:
- If Romeo and Juliet Had THIS Magical Parrot, Things Would Have Been Different: Romeo and Juliet Meets Robinson Crusoe Meets House of the Spirits—in Africa
- Kidnapping…Terrorists…A Foreign Land: Carinci’s Latest Suspense Thriller Chases Danger Across the Emerald Isle
- A Children’s Picture Book Where the Good Guys Don’t Win? Yes, Really!
- Still More Honors for Debut Novel, “The Dark Dreamweaver”—Named an iParenting Media “Greatest Product”
In spite of their “just the facts, Ma’am” training, journalists love these kinds of press releases. And in today’s world where readers can find press releases in search results, you might even capture reader interest directly.
Shel Horowitz writes press releases and book covers and develops strategic marketing for authors, green and social entrepreneur businesses, and nonprofits. His 7th book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers (2007), was endorsed by Dan Poynter, Fern Reiss, and other publishing gurus. His 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, is endorsed by Seth Godin and Chicken Soup’s Jack Canfield. Discuss your next marketing project with Shel: 413-586-2388 (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.US Eastern) or https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/contact/ – and pick up his free gifts for you at https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/freebies/
Shel Horowitz – Book Marketing Copywriter, Strategic Marketer & Book Publishing Consultant
