by Angela Hoy
This article may be redistributed/republished freely as long as the entire article and bio are included below.
What makes a press release end up in print instead of in an editor’s garbage can? Many marketers resort to pleading to get their products and service in the public eye for free via the press release. You, too, should offer PLEAS to editors, which means your press release should Personalize, Localize, Editorialize or Sensationalize.
If you remember the PLEAS of press release writing, you’re well on your way to getting published and selling more books!
If you can tie your book to a dated event, such as the anniversary of something related to the topic of your book, a holiday, or human-interest topic (personalize), or if you can tie your book to a local event or a local person (localize) for local publications, or, best of all, if you can write your release in such a way that it is obviously news and very hard to determine if it’s an ad for a book (editorialize), you can probably get the release published in numerous publications.
But, what is the most effective method of press release writing? If you can tie your book to exciting current events, making it appear that your book is the “must have” read for this particular news event (sensationalize), you are almost guaranteed publication. Sensationalizing is an admirable and desired art, but there’s a fine line between what is considered a news story in current event situations and what is simply a hard sell by a talented marketer.
So, what makes a press release “news” and not “advertising?” Talk to any journalist about press releases and you’ll learn that the most successful press releases are written in editorial style, making them appear as an article rather than an ad. Editorial press releases are valued by the lazy journalist, who is looking for material, but not an “ad” to run in his next edition or issue.
For example, instead of sending out a boring, looks-like-everybody-else’s press release (such as “this author has published a new book”), send something exciting and newsworthy. Here is an example of a hook for a Booklocker.com book that is a history book, but is greatly sought after by war reenactment enthusiasts:
HBO’s Project Green Light recently released the VHS and DVD editions of The Battle of Shaker Heights, which tells the story of a young man who participated in war re-enactments as a hobby. There are thousands of war reenactment enthusiasts nationwide, including our local resident, John Doe….
The author will then interview “John Doe”, which could be any person located near the newspaper or magazine’s readership, and will tell the story of their local John Doe and what it’s like to reenact battles, dress in period clothing, etc.
He would continue the article with:
Another war reenactor and enthusiast is Patrick O’Kelley, a decorated war veteran of two wars, who recently retired after 20 years from the US Army Special Forces. He is currently a Junior ROTC instructor and has been a Revolutionary War re-enactor and living historian for over 25 years.
O’Kelley’s new book, Nothing but Blood and Slaughter: The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, Volume One, 1771-1779, is highly sought after by reenactors such as John Doe because it shatters common myths about the war that some consider sacred. Francis Marion was not called “The Swamp Fox” in his lifetime, and Thomas Sumter was never called “The Gamecock” in his. The battle of King’s Mountain was not won by rifle-wielding frontiersmen versus red-coated British Regulars…
Since O’Kelleys books specifically covers battles in North Carolina, he could also “localize” his press releases to all publications in North Carolina, but specifically to each area that the battles in his book took place. He could further editorialize his release by only briefly mentioning the book while offering numerous historical tidbits and trivia items.
O’Kelley could even sensationalize his releases by comparing today’s incidents of misinformation prior to and during the Iraq war (the questionable weapons of mass destruction have been in all the headlines recently), to the misinformation and myths associated with all wars (in particular, the Revolutionary War and the myths discussed in his book).
Once O’Kelley writes a press release that successfully gets published, he can continue using the general parts of the release and only fill in information unique to each locale or news event (meaning he won’t have to rewrite the entire press release for each pitch to publications).
Writers are a creative bunch and completing an entire book is something that most people wish they could do, but that relatively few accomplish in their lifetimes. If you have managed to tie enough people, locations, information and excitement together and completed an entire book, you can certainly find creative and effective ways to PLEAS your book’s press releases for the media.
Angela Hoy is the publisher of Booklocker.com, Inc., an author-friendly POD publisher that takes no rights, pays high royalties on a monthly basis, and treats authors like people, not numbers. She also publishes WritersWeekly.com, the free marketing emag for writers, offering paying markets and freelance jobs every Wednesday at no charge. Angela is an advocate for freelance writer’s rights.
This article may be redistributed/republished freely as long as the entire article and bio are included below.
