How to Send Press Releases to Newspapers About Your New Book

There are over ten thousand daily, weekly and monthly newspapers in the United States and Canada. For the first time author they are a valuable source of free publicity. They are hungry for news and your new book is news. When approaching these papers there is a list of things that are frowned upon and another list of things under the heading of ?don't you dare. We will examine the latter category first.

Never start your press release with the headline in all caps or in bold or underlined type. Capitalize your heading as you would a title for a book and no more. Never use a barrage of personal pronouns as you must stay in the third person. Never forget to place a summary statement just after the headline. That is a few sentences that will bait the reader so to speak. It should make them want to read what follows next in the main body. Never, never, never include any personal or contact information in the summary statement or body of your press release. Save the contact info for the last "about" section of the press release, that is what it is for. In that final section, go gently. It is ok to include such info as the projected target of your book, telephone number, web site and other contact information. A note on your credentials is ok too, that is your degrees or experience or anything that qualifies you to have written your book.

Essentially there are four parts to any good press release and they are as follows:

1. The headline: One or two sentences that describe what the news is all about. Don't get dull; if you lose the reader here you have lost the reader for good. Don't say? Author Has New Book On The Social Problems of Latinos. But rather try something like?"Fiery Latinos Who Have Found Ways to Escape the Fire in the Neighborhood." Don't worry as much about it making sense to everyone. Worry more about how it catches their attention, their curiosity or even their imagination. Most editors have played mind games with the public since the invention of op-ed science; you may as well jump in too.

2. The Summary Statement: This consists of one, two or three sentences that summarize what the body of the release is about. Here you must use phrases that offer solutions, new views, controversy, or outright absurdity. If you have written a book on how to lose weight without dieting, try something like. Author Says Diets are Dead At Last.

3. The main body: This is the meat and potatoes section of the release. Choose those finer points of your book those things that comprise the heart of the matter. Use contrasts; compare your ideas with existing ones. If you have written a novel, frame the story line succinctly from the most intense parts of your book rather that a complete overall narrative.

4. Biographical information: Stay in the third person and do not make a sales pitch. Stick to credentials, experience, qualifications, and contact information. Got a web site, use it first and all other contact info as a secondary only.

The ways commonly accepted for submitting press releases to newspapers is in transition. You will still have good results by sending faxes but it is also ok to use e-mail. Newer ways are to use news feeds but at this moment it seems that only big news gets picked up and the wires are very crowded with national and world events for the most part. It will help if you approach editors first to ask if you can send them a news release. If you're not sure how to approach them just ask which editor might be interested in your particular kind of submission. Most editors are very congenial when approached this way and as they say, get your foot in the door. All of this takes a great deal of time and only the very serious need apply for this job.

It almost pains me to say that you must check you spelling and grammar very carefully. Use a word program to write your release first then send it out. It is ok to send the same release to many papers. And it is ok to send them more than one time but you should space your submissions out over a period of several weeks not days. Try to re-word each submission if possible so as not to give the impression that you are bombing them in hope of a result. You may get shot down but don't get discouraged. Some editors will just ignore you unless you have a book on the New York Times best seller list. One other very sad thing to report is that if you have used a POD publisher or you are self published you will rarely get the attention of the major news papers. If your book creates a minor national controversy or if it should leap in sales overnight they might bend their rules.

Where do you get the lists of newspapers? Many lists exist online that will cost you nothing. You can subscribe to a media service that will provide you with huge lists of newspapers but that will cost you from two to five hundred dollars. If that is worth it to you then have at it. Remember newspapers will only put your release in once so when new things arise about you or your book send them the news.. Like anything else in the public domain, some newspapers will reject you, some will be indifferent and some will think you are the cat's meow. Hang in there, it is worth it.

Rev Bresciani is the leader of a non-denominational ministry in the New Orleans area. He has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote, Hook Line and Sinker or What has Your Church Been Teaching You, published by PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book about to be released by Xulon Press entitled An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ. You can see more about Rev Bresciani on his own website at http://americanprophet.org

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Book Marketing Information:

Related Articles

The Perfect Book and Where to Find It!
If I was asked to describe the perfect book, one that's in high demand, moves off the shelves quickly, costs little or nothing to produce, involves the least amount of work possible, and offers multi-income streams, I'd say it included one, preferably more of the following features:It Must Be Quick To ProduceTime is money and the sooner your book is ready to sell, the sooner you'll make money from it.So let us consider just a handful of many ways to create a book in a day, or less than a day, perhaps in just a few minutes!1) Profit From Resell RightsResell rights - a confusing term with conflicting definitions, but a great way to acquire best selling books quickly, at little cost, complete with marketing materials, web sites, representing the easiest and fastest way to start your publishing business.
Best Sellers Aren't Written - They're Made - It's All About Promotion
Writing a book is becoming more and more of a trend these days. In fact, an estimated 5,000 mystery books were published last year in the United States alone, and that number is expected to grow.
Top Ten Basics on Internet Article Writing to Promote your Book
Whether you have already written articles and published them or not, you may want to check out the difference between writing for online ezines and web sites and writing for print media. While some writing concepts work for both, online writing needs a shorter, more focused approach.
How to Get More Readers For Your Book
Marketing your own book can seem like a scary task. You poured your heart and soul into the writing of it, and now when you think about marketing your masterpiece, you think, "I'm a writer, not a salesperson!"But there is a simple way you can get the word out about your book.
Book Talks: What to Say and How to Say It
Great! The Chamber of Commerce, or a similar group, has asked you to talk about your latest book. Though words are your business, you may terrified of public speaking.
Dont Clone your Book or Business Marketing
Remember that the miracle of cloning sheep has its drawbacks. The main one--dying young.
Titles (and Subtitles) Sell Books!
Does a title really sell a book? The short answer is, yes. If a book does not attract a reader initially, it will be overlooked and not purchased.
Your Book Marketing Plan - Winning Strategies and Tips
Many authors hit a roadblock when it comes to putting together and implementing a book marketing plan. You know you need to have one, you have a vague idea of what it needs to include, but pulling it all together into a step-by-step plan of attack is not nearly as easy as it sounds.
7 Vital Book Promotion Tips
As a literary publicist I often am asked about publicity tips, tricks, and the magic behind my work. It's not magic.
Book Marketing 101- Book Publicity for Authors -- Creating a Book Publicity Campaign
Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break your book - in all sorts of ways! Learning to promote you and your book is something that can take a bit of "re-training" for most new authors (and many old-timers too). Publicity is really all about selling your idea (and you), but all too often the word "selling" brings up images of polyester clad used-car salesmen, telemarketers, and strong-arm sales strategies that do nothing but alienate your intended customer.
Increase Book Sales: When a Book is No Longer Just a Book for Sale
Do you have books sitting in your garage that you haven't sold yet and looking for ways to move them? Then you will want to know about these five outrageous ideas that aren't difficult and can be just plain out fun. Dede Hall, author of The Starving Student's Cookbook had very poor sales for her books.
Oh No! A Bad Book Review! Have No Fear...Advice For Dealing With The Blues Of A Bad Book Review
You've just been notified a review of your book has been posted. You're all excited and can't wait to see what has been written.
Book Marketing 101 for the Self-Published Author -- Getting Started
No matter what any publisher or marketing company tells you (even the traditional publishing houses), you, the author, are almost 100% the reason your book will sell.It is your belief, excitement, enthusiasm, and energy that will get a reader excited about buying your book.
Persistent Offline Promotion and Eyeball-To-Eyeball Selling Pay Off Big For Self-Published Authors
Face it, writing and printing your self-published book are relatively easy tasks, compared with all the other requirements for marketing it successfully.
Successful Book Marketing The Natural Way - Part 2
Is your mind muddy on book marketing? Do you wake up each day and say, "I'm not a social person and I hate to beat the drum for my book" or "I just wish someone else could market my book for me"?If you could market your book a pleasurable way, you may not think it a chore. Natural marketing refers to the action you take to get the word out about your service and product that rings true to your heart.
Book Club Sales -- Increasing the Odds
What is a book club sale? It is actually a rights sale or a licensing agreement: you are granting permission to a book club the right to "borrow" your work. You have written a book, and now you are allowing a book club to print and distribute your book to its members.
Top Ten Non-Techie Steps to Market your Book Online
Are you an author who is looking for new ways to promote your book or business? Does the traditional promotion you do take too long and not bring you top results? Are you willing to investigate easy non-techie ways to get more book buyers?Check out these ten steps within "Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market your Book Online:"Step1. Ten Steps Preparation and FoundationWhen marketing your book Online, you need to attract the right customers to your Web site.
Secrets to Selling Books by Mail
This is intended for informational purposes only. Selling books by mail is one of the "ideal" spare-time business ventures that can be operated from your home, and with minimal investment.
Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking
First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon's system to provide marginal sales data at best.
Marketing Virus - Every Writer Needs to Catch It
For you writers aspiring to greatness, you might need a virus, before you can be great! You need a Marketing Virus. Every unknown writer needs a virus that will spread like the deadliest bug known to man.