Whether you're sending it to a magazine or newspaper, a journalist or blogger, potential ARC readers, influencers, or even event planners - a sparkling media kit boosts your chances of publicity success.
What is it? For an author, a media or press kit is a document that details everything someone who might share your book with their audience needs to know, from the genre and blurb to interview questions and images.
Having a media kit for your novel isn't just great for publicity. It's an organised marketing resource for your book that you can use as well.
So, how do you make one?
1. Book and author details
The details are the most important part of the media kit, because without them, whoever is reading it won't have the information they need (from here, let's refer to all receivers of your media kit as Press). Imagine sending a media kit to a journalist but not including any contact details, or a link to buy the book. You would gain nothing from sending the kit out, wasting your time and theirs.
Collating this information is quite easy, but seriously consider how you'll present it. I can't stress enough how important it is to make it as easy as possible for Press to get the information they need to share your book. If the information is laid out poorly, difficult to distinguish, or incorrectly labelled, you've just made someone's job much harder. In our busy world, with so much competition, that's the last thing you want to do.
We'll talk more about design in Part 2, but first gather the below information and put it into an easy-to-read list.
Contact details:
Author name
Email
Phone
Social Media links
Website link
Other relevant contact methods.
(It's up to you if you'd prefer to be cautious with giving out too many details. Having a separate author email and separate socials will allow you to keep your private information private.)
Next, book details.
Title
Genre
Word count/page count
Target audience
ISBN
Release Date
Link to buy the book
Where it is available to buy (which stores)
Where it is available geographically (where it ships)
Book sample (1000-3000 words)
Marketing
Why should people pick up your book?
Adding marketing details to your media kit allows Press to easily share your book, and in the way you want it presented. In the next blog, we'll talk about adding images and graphics, so you can ensure your book is presented in the best way visually. But today, let's go over the written details:
Quotes from the book
Sales copy - for example your book's hook, hashtags, and USPs (unique selling points)
Early reviews - add quotes from positive reviews (preferably unique and realistic - not just someone saying it's the best book they've ever read!)
Comparative titles - 2-4 books with similar themes or tropes, whose readers will love your book
An 'also available' section with links to your other published work
Press
My best advice for the press section of your media kit is to include potential interview questions. They're a really valuable addition, allowing journalists or other interviewers to know what an interview with you will be like, and if it's what they're interested in. This makes their job much easier, therefore making them more likely to ask to interview you.
The example questions below are general, and you likely won't use them all, but they're a solid place to start. Try to come up with questions you can give unique answers to, to give Press a reason to interview YOU (otherwise, why wouldn't they choose any other author to talk to?).
Example Interview questions:
What is your book about and what makes it unique?
Why did you write this book? (Bonus: Why were you the best person to write this story?)
Why will people enjoy reading this book?
Who will enjoy reading this book?
Why did you name your book X?
What do you do outside of writing?
What inspires your writing?
What do you love to read/Who are your favourite authors?
Which character/non-spoiler scene did you most enjoy writing?
I recommend also giving example answers to your questions, and suggesting that Press quote you directly from the media kit if they would like to. This saves you both time.
If your book has some newsworthy value, you might also include a press release, but that's too much detail to go into here!
In part two, we'll discuss the design of the press kit, what attachments it needs, and what to do with it once it's done! Make sure you're following me on Instagram and LinkedIn so you don't miss it on August 29th.
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