Is It Worth Putting Time and Money Into Media Releases? 14 Dec 2021, 2:36 am

 As an author, you're likely looking for as much visibility for you and your book(s) as possible. There are countless ways to achieve your outcome. One is with press releases aka media releases.

Yet, many authors never consider adding media releases into their marketing mix.

If you're not using the power of media releases in your marketing, you may be missing lots of opportunity.

Paid vs FREE

There are many ways to get traction for your efforts. There are free services you can distribute to, but their reach may be minimal.

There are plenty of paid services that will get you lots of traction, but if you're on a budget, this may not be the way to go.

With my last book launch, I got great results from PRWeb. My releases were picked up by thousands of outlets. However, there is a cost for the service.

This can be cost prohibitive for anyone on a budget, but the reach may be worth reconsidering your budget restrictions.

What's Your Time Worth?

The first thing to determine is what your time is worth. If you have more time than money, manually distributing your releases may be your best bet.

However, if you have a budget, using services that get your release on the newswire are a great option.

The fastest way to get your media release out on the wire is to use a service like PRWeb. There are also industry specific services that can get you in front of the right media in record time.

A quick Google search will bring up services in a variety of industries.

You can search on virtually any industry to see what's available.

Before jumping into paying for distribution, do your due diligence. Check with others in that industry to determine if the investment is worth is.

Local Media

If you plan to do local book signings, your local media can be the way to go.

Local media includes:

• Daily newspapers

• Weekly publications

• Monthly magazines

• Radio stations

• Television

When sending media releases to local media, you need to send in a timely fashion. Weekends are usually not the best time to send out your information.

How to Send Your Release

Selling in Bookstores 14 Dec 2021, 2:34 am

 With the convenience of shopping from one's couch or office, why would anyone take time to go to a traditional bookstore? Actually, there are many reasons.

Readers of all ages love the experience of walking into a physical bookstore, grabbing a cup of coffee to sit down and read a few favorites before making a buying decision.

However, massive bookstores are not always the stores of choices for today's book buyer. One reason is the closure of chains like Borders. Secondly, many prefer to shop at independent stores.

Great opportunity

In the era of online buying and the e-book, new technologies are offering independent bookstores a lifeline. Without the constraints of the big chains and big box stores, the independents can create a much more memorable experience for book buyers.

Whether it be a book signing for a local author, regular events to increase interests of young readers, small workshops, or fundraisers for local charities, independent bookstores are in a great position to create an experience for communities of all sizes.

According to Christian Science Monitor, "Eight years ago, independent bookstores were supposed to be ancient history, thanks to a lethal triple whammy: competition from large brick-and-mortar chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, surging e-book sales, and the growth of the indomitable book behemoth, Amazon."

Shocking But True

What surprised many avid readers was the closure of mammoth stores like Borders while we saw an increase of independent stores.

Not only was there an increase in the number of stores, there was also an increase in sales and profits of the independents.

Best of all, many independent owners became increasingly willing to work with self-published authors by creating an environment of support for their works.

The resurgence of independent bookstore goes hand-in-hand with the "buy local" movement. Book buyers are taking control of where they buy books by choosing to spend locally. Money talks!

What Authors Need to Know About Indie Stores

Many self-published, and high-bred published authors would love to sell in bookstores, but have no idea how to get into the stores.

First, take time to learn as much as you can about the challenges and opportunities for indie owners. Next, map out a plan to get into the indie stores. Third, realize the more visible you are to indie owners, the better. The visibility needs to be in person, on social media and through content marketing.

Authors are considered influencers. As an influencer, visibility gives you more leverage.

With all that's available online, there is no excuse for an author to not have a strong presence.

Get to Know Your Local Indie

It's often been said, "It's not what you know. It's who you know." This is certainly true for indie bookstore owners. You have a better chance of getting in a local store if you are a regular customer. After all, if the owner knows you are loyal to indie stores, there's a much better chance of securing their support for your book sales.

Your Book Is Your Business 14 Dec 2021, 2:33 am

 Start where you are with what you have. You've heard it hundreds of times. But what does that mean? You've published the book and you got it on up Amazon. Congratulations!

Now what? Now the fun and frenzy begins.

You push people to buy it. You share the link from Amazon. You do "free download" days with the eBook. You run Facebook ads. You blog about it. You send out eblasts. You get creative and do a book trailer and a few blog tours. You write a press release. You pitch yourself to the media. You book yourself on podcasts or run a teleseminar or start podcast all around the subject of the book.

Hoping people buy the book, talk about the book and then have more people BUY the book. Whew!

Book sales are soaring - for at least three months. Then you know what happens after about 90 days?

Nothing.

You're worn out and tired of pushing your book. You stop pushing it and your sales tank. All that hard work and you are now at a stand still.

That's why being an author is not enough. You have to become an authorpreneur. You must have a strategy to turn your book into a business.

You are the expert and the authority on whatever the topic of your book. You should not limit yourself to just being a sales person for a book. You are the CEO of your information product business.

An authorpreneur creates courses, workbooks, audio books, home study courses, lecture series - and even "branded" products like T-shirts, journals, backpacks or phone cases. This is what we call "product line extension."

Think like an entrepreneur - not like an author. Sure, you can go speak and sell books in the back of the room. But you're not leveraging the entire business model of what is possible with a book.

You can hold a yearly conference or convention around the subject of your book.

You could create a whole sales funnel and launch video/audio lessons for different levels of learning. Think about launching a series for those who are beginning, then intermediate and finally advanced.

You could coach individuals and consult with businesses.

You could sell your book in bulk to organizations.

You could become a paid spokesperson, columnist or a regular contributor to media organization as the expert.

You could get sponsors and provide them with content for their blogs.

The opportunities are endless. There are hundreds of products or streams of income you can pull out of your book, but you've got to think like an authorpreneur. It's really about leveraging your resources, expertise and business savvy to get to the next level.