Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marva Dasef on January 6, 2011 at 10:52am

I think blogs are the thing. Also find the Yahoo groups that feature your genre.

 

A formal press release to media is a thing of the past, especially if you're a small publisher and/or indy author.

 

On the other hand, I usually don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to marketing, so I'm interested in others' responses.

Permalink Reply by Kelly Jo Eldredge on January 6, 2011 at 11:02am

That's great advice. Thanks, Marva!

Permalink Reply by Judith Marshall on January 6, 2011 at 11:04am

If you already have a well-written release, use PR.com which is free.  Also, check out PRWeb.  If you want a wider distribution, I can give you the name of a company I used who distributed to over 1,850 media outlets, and gave me the list to follow up on.  Contact me through my "contact page" on my website if you want more info on them.

Good luck,

Judith Marshall

Author of Husbands May Come and Go but Friends Are Forever

www.judithmarshall.net

Permalink Reply by Kelly Jo Eldredge on January 6, 2011 at 11:08am

Thanks, Judith!

I'll contact you on your site.

KJ

Permalink Reply by Zetta Brown on January 6, 2011 at 12:15pm

I find press releases useful to send to reviewers so they have a summary and all the pertinent info about a book. We've had requests to send books to Midwest Book Review on the basis of our press release.

However, I would warn about sending a release through some of the paid services because you have no real knowledge on whether or not the press release was really useful even if you try to target the appropriate market. Last year I sent a press release out on behalf of an organization. And while it got thousands of impressions, there was no real increase in responses generated from it. You have to decide what you want and what your budget you have (if any). Frankly, we've had better results/exposure by using Book2Book News, which is a popular online resource that allows you to upload press releases for free. 

I advise making a list of venues that target the market you want to reach and focus on them. Try to get some high-profile/popular blogs or publications (online and/or print) and submit your news to them.

Permalink Reply by Judith Marshall on January 6, 2011 at 12:31pm

I think every person's experience is different. I was quite happy with the company I worked with.  And most importantly, the press release landed me a movie producer.  The book is now optioned for the big screen.

Permalink Reply by Kelly Jo Eldredge on January 6, 2011 at 1:50pm

Thanks, Zetta. You bring up lots of good points for me to consider. I will definitely check out Book2Book News, too.

Permalink Reply by Shay Olivarria on January 6, 2011 at 1:50pm

I had a similar experience using free press release companies. I got loads of impressions, but not much work from it. Though, even the few bookings I did get I would consider a success considering I only used free services.

 

=)

 

Perspective is everything I guess.

 

PEACE,

Shay Olivarria

Speaker/Author

 

10 Things College Students Need to Know About Money

Permalink Reply by Kelly Jo Eldredge on January 6, 2011 at 1:57pm

Good point, Shay. It sounds like we're going to have to strike a balance between budget and expectations.

Permalink Reply by Zetta Brown on January 6, 2011 at 4:35pm

Press releases are like print ads. It's really hard to tell if they really work unless someone tells you the found out from the release.
IMO, we got the same results with sending our release through a free service as we did with a paid service so it's not something where we'd put our promo budget into. BUT, we had the MOST success sending releases to specific people/places for free.
But like Judith mentioned, different people will have different experiences with paid or free outlets. What works for some might not work for all. It depends on what you're trying to achieve.

But all in all, I wouldn't totally rule out using press releases.

Permalink Reply by Julie McKay Covert on February 22, 2012 at 8:14pm

I've spent the last couple weeks searching for a publicist. Many of them have samples of their press releases online. So you might check out what the pros are writing and use it for a template. I've gathered a couple good ideas already that I hadn't thought of.

Permalink Reply by Cendrine Marrouat on February 23, 2012 at 7:56pm

Blogs, PrLog, members of the media, Facebook notes, Facebook invitations...