You might think it costs money to get promotion or advertising or exposure but it doesn’t. It only takes a little research and the guts. Self serving means you have to get used to talking about yourself and always looking for new ways and angles to reach the media. I can use myself as an example:
Self publishing a book means I am constantly promoting my self. On my own I have managed to get into magazines and newspapers I never thought I could get into. Here are some tips on how I did it.
1. I know the topics inside my book and outside my book.
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a. This means I can break my book down into different areas of promotion. From the topics found inside my book. My book is about modeling, but also it is about the Internet so for example: currently I am marketing it to the technology sections of magazines and newspapers. b. I allow my book to be fluid, it can be sexy, but at the same time it can be very serious and depending on who I am pitching it too my press release and email changes.
2. I research books that have a similar topic. And I Google those books and I then research what magazines and newspapers and blogs have featured these books and I research the writers, what I mean is I research Who Has Written About This Type of Topic and I think of a way that I could gain this writers interest for an article about my book, including a similarity and also how my book is different.
3. Use the Internet as a source of promotion. Join blogs, make a Myspace page, facebook, get involved with the online community and charity’s and organizations that might have something to do with your book. This way also if an editor or writer wants to write about you, they can also find your website and your profile and learn more about you and your book.
4. Magazines print once a month so the chances for a magazine are slimmer than that of a newspaper which comes out everyday. So if you have a local newspaper send them a sample of your book or your book and don’t be afraid to seriously write your own editorial. As in, write a story about yourself and submit it. If the newspaper is really busy but there is space left for an article and the press release you sent is decent, they might as well just use it and publish the story.
5. Always look around you. Ideas are everywhere. Today on the way home, I picked up the Village Voice sitting on the subway bench, with it, tonight I plan to scout of all the names of writers and stories which have even the slightest similarity to my book. Then I will Google them. Then I will prepare a letter in Word personalized to their article and mention my book and ask for the chance for them to review it, I will pull in some points where my book shines, the unique factors but I will keep it to only about two paragraphs. The way to get press is not to go on and on. Just be quick, to the point and follow up with a phone call.
6. Write about your book in ten different ways. Come up with different ways to approach the press. I submit to the fashion, technology, books, lifestyle, and female editorials and magazines, and newspapers and don’t forget the website is a great tool to market yourself so email and contact websites that feature stories with similar topics that relate to your book.
7. Email! It saves a stamp and postage, and compared to mailing the book cold-mail, and usually you can email a sample of your book too, it is a quick way to pitch yourself without spending money.
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