Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

Authors often overlook book publicity when creating their book marketing plans. That’s usually because they:

• Don’t know what it is
• Don’t realize it’s a realistic option
• Want it but don’t know how to get it

But those who understand key book publicity facts and are interviewed on television or a podcast? Or who see their book included in a media outlet’s “best of” list? Or are interviewed for an in-depth article on something they know a lot about?

Those authors are hooked on the power of publicity.

Not sure what it’s all about? I’ve got four book publicity facts that help demystify the topic and process so you can use book publicity to introduce more readers to what you write.

Fact #1: Book publicity is that free media exposure that results when your book title appears in a print or digital newspaper, magazine, or blog article or is heard in a podcast, radio, or TV interview.

With the growth of social media, that definition has expanded to include social media mentions. For our purposes, though, we’ll focus on just the news media.

The biggest difference between publicity and other forms of marketing – advertising, direct mail, sponsorships, etc. – is that you can’t buy it. You simply can’t pay for an interview with a legitimate news outlet.

In addition, studies show that publicity is 10 times more effective than advertising (which is when you pay for, place, and control the message along with when and where it appears).

That’s because of the implied editorial endorsement. The thinking is: If a journalist thought enough of you or your book to interview you or reference the book, you must be an expert (or your book must be a great resource).

While publicity is free, authors often pay for related services such as press release distribution (I recommend eReleases) or a publicist.

Fact #2: Free press release distribution services and sites don’t actually “distribute” press releases.

Authors often tell me that they use free press release distribution sites, but this is one of those situations where you get what you pay for.

“Free press release distribution service” is a misnomer. Free sites don’t send your press release out to reporters, producers, editors, writers, hosts, or bloggers.

The releases sit on the service site waiting to be discovered. That’s better than nothing – and who knows? Maybe it will be found there and used.

Still, if you want to make sure your newsworthy press release or tip sheet gets distributed to the right media outlets and journalists, build your own media list or use a paid press release distribution service (see 1. above).

Fact #3: Book publicity is about more than sending press releases.

Press releases, especially book announcement press releases, are only part of the mix (although that release announcing your book’s publication is essential because it’s so versatile).

You should also pitch appropriate media outlets on story or segment ideas related to your book that you can contribute to as an expert source. 

To do that, study the media outlets, blogs, and podcasts read, watched, or listened to by your book’s target audience to figure out what sorts of articles and segments they run.

Once you’re clear on the kind of content they use, you’ll be ready to brainstorm article and segment ideas that you can “pitch” – propose – as an expert resource.

Many authors also pitch and write by-lined articles or essays on topics related to their books. These are often published with a writer credit that includes the author’s book title.

Fact #4: You don’t need relationships with journalists to get book publicity.

Oh, sure, if you have them, relationships help. But they’re not required.

What you need is an understanding of how the system works — which media outlets reach your target audience, how to find the right person at that outlet to contact, and what to pitch them.

When I was working for clients as a publicist, I got them featured in publications ranging from USA Today and Business Week to the front page of The Wall Street Journal without knowing a soul at any of those media outlets.

When my first book came out, I booked myself on nationally syndicated TV talk shows, appearing alongside celebrities that included actor George Segal, without any contacts at those outlets.

But what I did know was the importance of studying each target outlet to understand:

• What they use
• How my book or my client’s product, service, or story fit into that framework
• How to determine the best person to contact
• How to write a pitch that would get read

You can do this, too.

More resources on book publicity facts

I’ve linked throughout to several articles on this site that can help you take advantage of these four publicity facts, but here are a few more:

• The best ways to get author and book publicity
• Trade journals: The book publicist’s secret weapon
• How to get trade journal book publicity
• Sell more books in your backyard with these local book publicity tips
• Free download: 8 Services That Help Journalists Find Authors and Other Sources

All it takes is time, a willingness to learn, and persistence. That last point is especially important. Even skilled, experienced publicists strike out frequently. But with persistence, they succeed. And so will you.

What do you need to learn about book publicity, or what advice would you offer authors? Share it in a comment.

When I visited the store to talk about getting it on shelves there, the store representative said that wouldn’t be possible. There wouldn’t be enough demand for it, she said.

She changed her mind quickly, though, when I told her the local daily newspaper was interviewing me for an article on the topic and that I’d be speaking about it at a local conference.

That’s because she knew that the local publicity would help sell books.

Local book publicity tips

Would you like to sell more books locally, whether it’s through local stores or online retailers? Here are tips for getting the free local publicity that can help make that happen.

1. Research your local media outlets.

In most areas, these include some or all of these:

• Daily newspaper
• Weekly community newspaper
• City business journal
• Radio stations
• TV stations
• Community bloggers

After you’ve identified your local media outlets, read/watch/listen to them so you can identify the publicity opportunities.

What kinds of articles do the daily and weekly newspapers use? Do the radio stations have talk shows with guests? Do the TV stations have early morning or noon news casts that feature in-studio interviews with community residents?

2. Determine where you fit in.

Studying how each media outlet handles news and information helps you figure out where you fit in at each.

For example, you might discover that anything related to your book’s topic is too “soft” for TV evening newscasts focused on hard news. But you might see that the local noon news broadcast often has a sit-down interview with a news anchor and someone in the community who’s doing something interesting – you.

And you’ll probably see that weekly newspapers cover just about everything. Honestly, they’re a gift to local authors because of that. They’re also widely read because they’re hyper-local.

3. Get contact information for the section or segment that makes the most sense.

Once you understand where you might fit in to the programming, determine who to contact at each. (Learn how to do that in my article, “How to build a killer book publicity media list.” Tip #3 is especially relevant.)

4. Figure out your “news hook” – your angle.

Your “hook” is what makes you or your topic newsworthy or interesting.

A journalist needs a good reason to interview you. What can you talk about that will interest a diverse audience?

If you’ve written a book about composting, for example, you might pitch the newspaper on an article about local businesses providing composting bins in office kitchens, or about how to compost at home.

A romance novelist might pitch an article on how to add romance to your staycation this summer. (Get more fiction news hook ideas in “Finding the hidden news hooks in your fiction.”)

Ideas like this can work for radio and TV talk shows, too.

For a community blogger or weekly paper, “local author writes book about X” or “local author sets new thriller in (your community’s name)” is often enough. That sometimes works for local TV talk shows, too. It depends on the size and sophistication of your market.

It’s rarely enough for a daily newspaper, though. (And bookstores pay attention to dailies, so if leveraging publicity to get store distribution is your goal, you want publicity in your daily paper.)

5. Propose your idea.

We call this a “pitch.” You’re pitching your article or segment idea or topic.

You do this via email. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• When pitching radio talk shows, offer to provide questions in advance for your host to ask.
• With TV talk shows, you’ll need an interesting visual – a prop. If it’s a “local author writes book” segment, your book will be enough.

When I was a guest on “Home & Family” talking about how to get a good holiday gift from the man in your life, I brought the winning entries from my “Worst Gift from a Man” contest.

• For daily newspapers and magazines, help the reporter by suggesting other people to interview for your article idea.
• Understaffed weekly newspapers often welcome articles that are written for them. Offer to do that.

Need a little help? I can give you shortcuts that save you time! There are templates and examples for media pitch letters and sample questions (and many other book publicity tools) in my Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates. Get your copy now.

You can do this!

via GIPHY

I always advise authors to start their publicity efforts locally to get the experience needed before approaching national outlets. Starting locally also helps you figure out which hooks or angles resonate with the press.

Local media outlets are also more forgiving of a pitch that isn’t as slick as what they might receive from a publicist with far more experience. If they see a germ of a good idea, they’re more likely to hang in there to determine if it will work.

Most importantly, they want a good story. If you’ve got something to say that’s interesting to your local community, you’ll get a fair shot at it.

The resulting visibility will help you sell more books in person and online, boost your profile locally, and open doors to other opportunities that can include public speaking and consulting. Give it a try!

Have you received local publicity? Tell us about it in a comment!

It tells me that publicity and author press releases are part of their book marketing plan. Publicity is a free way to get a huge credibility boost, so I encourage authors to pursue it.

But  That’s why it’s important to understand which situations are important enough to write and send a release.

You also need to know who to send it to, because it’s not a one-media-list-fits-all situation.

10 situations that warrant author press releases

A press release is also known as a news release – and for good reason. A press or news release needs to announce news.

I always recommend running it through a “who cares?” filter. That will help you decide if it’s “news,” and who to send it to, as well.

If you find yourself in any of these newsworthy situations, consider writing and distributing a press release.

1. Publishing a book

A book announcement press release is an essential author marketing tool. In addition to sending it with media review copies, you’ll add it to your website and use it to interest bloggers and podcasters in your virtual book tour.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal if it’s business-related
• Your local city magazine
• Your alumni newsletter
• Newsletters for trade associations you belong to
• Industry trade magazines
• Bloggers serving your audience
• Podcasters serving your audience

2. Doing a book signing and author presentation

To generate attendance, announce your book event with a press release that covers the basics – who, what, when, where, why, and how.

If you will be demonstrating how to do something, be sure to include that information. Anything visual will up the event’s appeal to TV news assignment editors.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal if it’s business-related
• Your local city magazine
• Your local TV stations

3. Offering advice on a problem your target audience struggles with 

A “tip sheet,” a specific type of press release that offers tips or advice in bulleted or numbered format, is one of the most effective ways to generate news media attention.

Send a general interest tip sheet to:

• All local media outlets, including radio talk show producers
• Daily newspapers with a circulation greater than 100,000
• General interest magazines
• Bloggers covering the tip sheet topic
• Podcasters covering the tip sheet topic

If your tip sheet advice is for a very specific, niche audience, send it to a more focused list of magazines, bloggers, and podcasters serving that audience.

4. Won an award

Congratulations on that book award! There’s a smaller media audience for this kind of news.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal if it’s business-related
• Your alumni newsletter
• Newsletters for trade associations you belong to

5. Newsworthy survey results

Have you surveyed your readers about a topic that will interest others, too? Maybe you’ve asked them how they discover new books to read, where they buy their books, or what book format they prefer. If you write nonfiction, you might have issued a survey with questions related to your topic.

Share the results in a press release.

Send it to:

• Newsletters for relevant trade associations
• Industry trade magazines
• Bloggers serving your audience
• Podcasters serving your audience

6. Speaking at a conference or event 

This is impressive. Provide the who, what, when, where, and why in your press release.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal if it’s business-related
• Your alumni newsletter

7. Speaking at a conference or event and seeking media interviews on site

Conference speakers often work to expand their reach by doing industry trade magazine and local media interviews on site at the event. What’s realistic or possible depends on factors that include your presentation topic, media outlets that will attend, and the size of the conference city (the larger the market, the less likely you are to interest local reporters in a conversation).

Write a short release with the who, what, when, where, and why – just the facts, ma’am. Send it with a request for an on-site interview that includes what you’d like to discuss and why they will be interested in that topic.

Send it to:

• Newsletters for relevant trade associations
• Industry trade magazines
• Local daily newspapers in the conference location
• TV stations in the conference location if the event has a consumer angle

8. Elected to a leadership position in an industry association

Congratulations! Write a short release with the facts and a brief bio.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal
• Your alumni newsletter

9. Selected to serve on a board of directors 

Be sure to include information about the nonprofit you’ll be serving in the press release.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal
• Your alumni newsletter
• Newsletters for trade associations you belong to

10. Local perspective on a timely news topic

Local journalists love when someone in the community can provide accurate, authoritative commentary on a breaking news story. (Earlier this week, that might have been why it’s wrong to assault a colleague at the Oscars.)

Summarize your perspective briefly in a press release; include your bio so it’s clear you’re qualified to speak on the topic.

Send it to:

• Your local daily and weekly newspapers
• Your city business journal if it’s business-related
• Your local TV stations
• Your local radio stations

4 situations when you shouldn’t send a press release

The press isn’t interested in these events:

1. You’ve revised your book.
2. Your book has a new cover.
3. You’ve hit a self-determined sales milestone.
4. Your book is an Amazon category best-seller.

These situations all have a place in your book marketing plan, but they won’t generate publicity. Don’t spend your time on press releases about any of them.

Resources for author press releases

It’s easy for me to say “here’s what you need to know about author press releases,” but it doesn’t help if  you don’t don’t know what a press release looks like, how to write one, or how to find those media outlets to send it to, right?

Here’s information on this site that will help:

• How to write a book announcement press release
• How to write other types of press releases
• How to write a tip sheet
• How to build a media list
• How to email a press release to journalists

Finally, at a minimum, write a book announcement press release. It’s the most useful and versatile of these 10 options.

Which of these press releases have you created and sent out? In what other situations should authors send a press release? Please tell us in a comment.

I like to watch television in the evening to unwind, but I find it almost impossible to just watch TV. I have to be doing something else at the same time — flip through a magazine. Knit. Promote my book.

Promote my book? Really?

Yup. And you can promote your book while watching TV, too.

If you’re a multi-tasker like me, try doing a few of these book promotion activities the next time you watch your favorite show.

1. On social media, follow the people who influence your readers.

Zeroing in on the social networks your ideal readers use, find and follow the people who influence them. An influencer is someone who is both active online and respected and followed by your target audience.

Novelists can start with the most popular authors in their genre. If you write fiction, your influencers might also include genre bloggers, prolific genre readers, and any well-known genre publishing house editors.

Nonfiction author influencers are often industry or topic experts and leaders.

While you’re at it, go to their websites and subscribe to their newsletters, too. (But do not add them to your newsletter list!)

2. Follow your influencers’ fans on social media.

After you’ve followed your influencers, go back to their profiles and begin following the people who follow them. (I do a quick profile check first before following someone.)

Over time, as you see what they share, you’ll learn more about what your readers are interested in (especially if they talk about books). And, if they follow back, you’ll add more of the “right” readers to your network.

And don’t forget to follow your own fans, too. I find it hard to stay current with connections, so I use my network TV commercial-break time to follow back the people who have recently followed me. (Streaming without commercials? Hit the pause button now and then.)

Some social networks offer recommendations for other people to follow, too. It’s a lot like when Amazon says, “If you like that product, you’ll like this one, too.” Because the suggestions are based on someone I just followed, they’re on target.

3. Schedule social media posts.

Use a free desktop or smartphone social media management tool to schedule your social network posts several days out. And do it all during commercial breaks.

You can also use your smartphone to share what others post, all without missing any of the TV action.

4. Pin to your book-specific boards on Pinterest.

You probably know what kinds of images and content you want to share on Pinterest. Wait until you’re parked in front of the TV set to pin it.

It’s a great way to add content to your boards without feeling like you should be doing something else — because you are doing something else. You’re relaxing with a good show.

5. Set up Google and Talkwalker Alerts.

Create these alerts for your name, book title, book topic, and other important book-related words or phrases. You’ll get an email with a link each time any of the phrases you’ve set alerts for show up online.

While you’re at it, create alerts for competing authors and book titles so you stay better informed about the competition, too.

If you receive alerts about news articles, add the reporter’s name to a media list so you know who to contact when you’ve got an article idea that could lead to book publicity.

6. Create social media images with quotes from your books.

I’ll confess: Creating quote graphics is my favorite thing to do while watching TV. I use either the WordSwag or Canva apps on my phone, but there are many other options, too.

Admittedly, I am more likely to create images with inspirational or funny quotes than I am to pull a pithy statement from one of my books, but if I add my website URL to the image, it still helps build awareness.

Here’s one I created for a recent blog post.

Create these for your books by pulling key messages or brief, but compelling quotes from your manuscripts.

The image you’ll place the text on will depend on your book, its personality, and your audience. You can use a different background each time, or you can support your author brand by using the same background each time.

7. Make sure you’re using the right keywords and categories on Amazon.

Amazon is a search engine where keywords rule. Make sure your book’s set-up includes keywords that people will search for to find it.

I use Publisher Rocket for this. It’s easy to do the searching while I’m watching TV, but I prefer to make any necessary changes when I can focus more. I just save and export my search results to work with later.

Publisher Rocket also explores categories so you know you’ve selected the best ones for your book. Use the search results to validate your choices or change what you’ve been using based on the tool’s recommendation.

I don’t recommend changing both keywords and categories at the same time, though. Instead, make one change, then monitor sales to see if it made a difference. After a few weeks, make the next change and watch for results.

Select just one of these to work on tonight and see how much progress you make while watching TV. Doing even just a little to promote your book every night will add up and eventually make a difference that you will feel good about.

How do you promote your book while watching TV? Add to the list of ideas by commenting!

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2015. It has been updated and expanded.)

I’ve seen the impact it’s had on sales first hand.

My first two books were published before social media existed, so promotion options were limited to paid advertising, public speaking, and publicity — news media exposure.

My first book sold out its press run thanks to book publicity that included national TV, radio, magazine, and newspapers interviews. That publicity generated a steady stream of paid speaking engagements that not only helped me earn more from the book, they also sold more books.

My second book went through three press runs on the strength of publicity alone. No tweets. No posts. No shares. Just news media attention in the form of interviews and articles I wrote about topics covered in the book.

Publicity helps your book get discovered

This is why you see successful authors interviewed on network TV morning news programs and in newspapers and magazines. Publicity helps your book get discovered by potential readers.

With book marketing, discoverability is everything. People can’t buy your book if they don’t know about it.

One of the biggest challenges for authors smart enough to see the value in this marketing tactic is building a a list of media people to contact with segment and article ideas.

Creating that all-important book publicity media list you’ll use to promote your book on an ongoing basis takes time and effort, but it’s not hard to do. With guidance, in fact, an intern can do a lot of it for you.

Here are seven tips that will help you craft a media list you can use to get news about your book in front of your target audience.

1. Start with an empty Excel file or Word table.

Add columns for each media outlet, the journalist you should contact, e-mail address, Twitter address, outlet category (radio, TV, blog, magazine, etc.), and background notes. Fill it in as you gather names and addresses.

2. Gather both e-mail addresses and Twitter addresses.

You’ll use them differently, but you’ll want to have both. E-mail is the best option for delivering full-blown pitches or press releases, while Twitter will help you build relationships.

When you have the names of the journalists you want to reach, use Twitter’s search function to find and follow them.

3. Start local.

Write down the local media outlets you believe are most likely to give you publicity, then visit the website of each. Most provide contact information for reporters (print), producers (radio and TV talk shows), assignment editors (TV news), news directors (radio news), and news personalities (TV news).

If you can’t find what you need online, call the media outlet.

4. Use The Google.

Turn Google into your assistant publicist.

Set up Google and Talkwalker Alerts for your book’s topic to help you identify journalists and bloggers who report on it. Research and add their contact information to your database as the alerts come in.

5. Hit the library.

Media directories are helpful, but expensive. Instead of buying them, visit the research desk at your local public library. You can find the right contacts for people at national networks, national and local talk shows, radio stations and talk shows, trade and consumer magazines, and daily newspapers.

Resources include Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media and Gebbie Press All-In-One Media Directory.

6. Go online.

Use the Radio-Locator database to get contact information for radio drive time or talk shows. After deciding who is the best contact at a daily newspaper (fashion? food? religion? business?), use USNPL to build your list.

You can also often find contact information for key journalists on each media outlet’s website. Newspapers are particularly good at this; consumer magazines can be hit or miss.

7. Pick favorites.

Identify the 10 to 12 media outlets that have the greatest potential to influence your book’s success, and study each one to make sure you know exactly where your information will fit. That will help you determine your best contact at that media outlet.

Use and reuse

Build your own media list so you can use it repeatedly. Use it to stay in touch with the media so you are top of mind when reporters are looking for qualified sources.

Be sure to leverage the list by creating a plan for staying in touch with the journalists regularly.

Send a press release when you have news to announce, create tip sheets offering helpful and relevant tips and advice, and pitch timely story or segment ideas to individual journalists. (Get all the templates for pitch letters, press releases, and other documents you’ll send to the media and use in your press kit in Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates, created just for authors.)

Want to simply send a press release to as many appropriate media outlets as possible? When you value your time, it’s more cost-effective to pay a press release distribution service like eReleases (that’s an affiliate link).

Be sure to update your list every six months so you’re always sending your pitch or news to the right person. Continually watch the talk shows you’re targeting or read the print outlets on your list so that you know what types of content they use. Your goal is to always offer content that’s relevant to their viewers and readers.

Provide appropriate content and ideas to the right people consistently and persistently, and your efforts with your new media list will pay off.

What’s your best tip for building a media list for book publicity?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2013. It has been updated and expanded.)