Sunday, July 2, 2017

Employ Real Book Publicity Strategy


The strategy to get publicity for your book may seem straightforward: craft a timely and interesting pitch and send it to as many targeted people at the major media outlets. Be persistent, creative and act with a sense of conviction and urgency.

But there’s more than that.

Real strategy comes into play in the following way:

First, timing is deeply important. Are you pitching yesterday’s news? Did you contact a media outlet that has a lead time of three to four months only a few weeks before your book is to publish? Did you reach out to the media at the right time of day -- when they are around and not on deadline or in production?

Second, do you have deeply customized and personalized pitches for the media? For instance, do you shape your pitch so it seems relevant to the person you are connecting with? Does it seem like it is only meant for them and not mass distributed? You need to take the time to truly personalize a pitch that speaks to the needs of that particular journalist or producer and media outlet.

Third, have you considered the different methods and means available to you to make contact with specific media outlets? Did you find multiple people to approach -- and use multiple methods to connect with them: phone, email, fax, mail, messenger, met at an event, social media?

Some book publicity strategy is employed when you get into the PR campaign, see how things unfold, and then plot a course for creation, expansion, or reaction. If something is working, keep milking it. If something isn’t, make a change. Sometimes strategy is obvious, but something personal, emotional, or psychological is holding you back from executing proper strategy. You need to do what makes sense and what seems proactive.

A key part of strategy is to experiment and diversify your approach to book publicity. Look to explore multiple ways and areas to get media coverage. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket (or book) on a single trend. Your strategy is to be flexible, open to as many approaches, and in fact, pursue multiple paths to a goal to see what works and what works best.

Strategy comes in many forms. Sometimes you simply have to work long hours, hustle, work under pressure, and get lucky. This strategy may not involve a genius idea or targeted campaign -- it may simply be the obvious, the expected, the basics -- but to do them really well.

If you don’t apply a strategy or strategic form of mind to your book publicity efforts, you will end up employing a strategy to fail. Have a plan, modify if needed, and look for ways to excel in your areas of strength. Apply and question your results and then take a smart, fresh approach to your book publicity. 


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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs 

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