How to Get Your Book Reviewed in Magazines
In one of my past magazine jobs my office was next to that of the book editor. He would get boxes and boxes of books daily. There was a separate room devoted to storing these books, but that still didn't keep them from piling up in his office. Whenever he returned from vacation he practically had to use a bulldozer to get his door open!
You see the problem, right? How do you get your book noticed, let alone reviewed,
when it is just one among stacks of books in an editor's office? Here are a few tips
to help you map out a winning strategy.
1. Determine which magazines are the best for reaching your target market.
As you plan to market your book, decide first who your ideal reader is. Is it a 35-
year-old urban professional man? Is it a stay-at-home mom who lives in the
Midwest? Is it female college graduates who also happen to be sports fanatics? Once
you decide who you're targeting, ask yourself: What magazines does my ideal reader
read? Those will be the magazines you'll focus on. That way, you won't waste time
and money pursuing dozens of magazines which, even if they did review your book,
wouldn't give you much in terms of gaining readership. With my novel we focused
on magazines with large female audiences. Ideally you should be doing this a few
months before your book comes out because the goal here is to either write a story
for the magazine or get interviewed in the magazine, and have the article appear
before or just as your book is published.
2. Find out what the editors need.
When you have chosen the magazines, buy them and read them. Do they have a
certain writing style? What kinds of articles appear in the magazine again and again?
If you can, write, email or call the features editor and find out what kinds of stories
the magazine is looking for. You'll have more success if you can fill the editorial
holes the magazine is already working on.
3. Let an editor know what you have to offer.
Start sending query letters to get article assignments. If you have a particular
expertise, you can let an editor know that you're available for interviews if they ever
need an expert on a particular subject. Often an editor will assign a story to a writer
and give them a few possible interviewees to help them get started. I contacted
editors at Essence a full year before my book came out to let them know that I was
working as a personal and career coach. Within a few weeks I began getting calls
from reporters to interview me for working mom stories for Essence.
4. Mention your book or get it mentioned.
When your article gets published, make sure you get the little italicized blurb at the
end that says that you are "a writer whose next book, The Best Book in the World,
will be published this month by Big Press, Inc." You get the idea. If you are being
interviewed for an article, chances are they won't have room to mention your book
but you should still tell the reporter about it anyway. You can even ask them to put
it in their notes. As the story gets discussed in meetings, someone might say "Did
you know she also wrote a book?" This builds awareness.
5. Check in with your contacts, but don't pester them.
Once your book is sent out for review, you can call or email to make sure that the
editor got the book, but leave it at that. You've done all you can. I've never met the
book editor at Essence, but when I heard that he was aware of my novel I was totally
psyched. I kept my fingers crossed after that. One last note: Some magazines and
newspapers don't review self published books. Find out beforehand so you can
make your efforts elsewhere if that's necessary.
© 2005 Sophfronia Scott
Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah". Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com
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