Take a few minutes to read
Kim Wolterman Blog Post about our workshop this past Saturday and her top ten tips for Authors and publishers.
10 Media Relations Tips for Authors and Publishers
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| The Publicity Hound |
Writers and publishers in the St. Louis area are blessed to have the active and resourceful
St. Louis Publishers Association
right in their backyard. In addition to monthly meetings and an annual
class on getting your book published, occasionally a national speaker is
brought in. Such was the case last Saturday when Joan Stewart, aka
The Publicity Hound,
came to St. Louis for a jam-packed three hour workshop on tips for
profitable self-promotion. Joan is a publicity expert, speaker and
trainer who works with businesses, authors, marketers and many others
who need assistance with their publicity endeavors.
Saturday's workshop covered working with the media, creating video and
audio, blogging (and repurposing your own content), press releases and
pitching to journalists. Here are my top ten takeaways from Joan's
presentation:
10.
Pinterest is one of the fastest growing forms of social media. This visual platform is predominantly used by females.
9. Join
LinkedIn groups that contain influencers who can help you with your promotions, not just author and/or publisher groups.
8. The Freelance Directory of the
Society of Professional Journalists can help you locate journalists who write about your topic.
7. Once you have identified the journalists who represent what you write
about, then read their blogs. Research them before you pitch to them.
6. Authors need to blog. Ideally, a blog post should be around 700 words so Google can find it.
5. Repurpose your content. Turn blog posts into podcasts, create YouTube videos, put tips on Pinterest.
4. Review existing podcast topics. Small, niche topics do well here because not too many people are doing it.
3. Complete a Google profile, and make sure that you have linked all of your websites to it.
2. Creating videos and audio content is imperative if you want to be
found on Google, and to be recognized as an expert in your field.
And the top tip learned from Joan...
1. Promote yourself as an expert, do not promote your book. If the media
sees you as an expert, they will call upon you for stories. The
publicity for your book will follow.
Joan's presentation was professional, entertaining and enlightening. The
fifty some attendees were attentive and engaged. What a productive way
to spend a Saturday morning.
If you are not currently following Joan, I would highly encourage you to
do so. Her publicity tips are priceless, though many of them are
offered for free. To receive her free DIY publicity tips, you can
subscribe
here.
A fascinating
book that tells the story of an airman captured by an enemy who shows
no humanity to his fellow man and is willing to pass the prisoner on to
the Soviet Union without a qualm. Despite his ordeal, the airman shows
remarkable fortitude, strength of character and loyalty to his Service
and his Country. Despite having his dreams of returning to his original
family shattered by his own government, he makes another life for
himself on his return showing once more his resilience. A very enjoyable
read.
