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.

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).

When I delivered the luncheon keynote about platform-building for authors at the UW-Madison Writers’ Institute several years ago, I recommended that attendees secure book publicity with tip sheets.

I explained that a tip sheet is a type of press release that offers tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format.

Like a press release, it’s written like a news story so that a media outlet or blogger can run it as is. No  additional research or writing is necessary.

“We love tip sheets”

After lunch, an attendee thanked me for recommending tip sheets to the audience. He was a features editor for the largest daily newspaper in the Midwest, he explained, adding, “We love tip sheets. We’d like to receive more of them.”

He’s not alone.

Media outlets, especially newspapers and magazines, like tip sheets because they can pull just one or two tips to fill space. They also run them  as submitted or use them as a starting point for longer feature articles.

Tip sheet success story

That’s what happened recently to Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer, when she took advantage of current events — a heat wave across the U.S. — to create and distribute a tip sheet titled, “How to Enjoy the Benefits of Nature Inside During a Heat Wave.”

Her advice was included in an article in the Palm Beach Post that was then re-published by USA Today, Yahoo, and The News Sow.

It’s a great example of how publicity begets publicity.

Monthly book publicity tip sheets

“I am grateful that Sandy suggested this tactic for book publicity because it keeps my book marketing active. I had no idea that my tip sheet would be used in a local paper that would ultimately get syndicated to USA Today. That was a huge hit for me and something I can use in all future marketing,” Schwartz says.

She has been sending out monthly tip sheets since April to a handcrafted media list consisting of her local media, national outlets covering parenting and environmental issues her publisher provided, and a few parenting bloggers as well.

“I have been happy with the results given the minimal effort it takes to tweak existing content into the tip sheet format that Sandy provides. It is simple and can lead to great results as I experienced with the USA Today article. Other tip sheets have resulted in articles in Women.com, Mothermag.com, Kiddos Magazine, and Embracing Change blog,” Schwartz adds.

Radio, TV, podcasts, bloggers use tip sheet advice

Radio stations like to share the advice in snippets or, like podcasts and TV talk shows, build author interviews around the tip sheet topic. In fact, my tip sheet on how to get a good holiday gift from a man was the basis of my appearance on the national TV talk show, “Home & Family,” which ran then on the The Family Channel.

Bloggers run them as posts because tip sheets save them the time it takes to write something helpful themselves.

When done right, tip sheets showcase a nonfiction book’s content or a novel’s theme or message while getting the book title in front of the book’s target audience. That’s what book publicity is all about.

Book publicity tip sheet topics

For many, the hardest part of writing a tip sheet is coming up with a topic.

For nonfiction, start by making a list of the most commonly asked questions you get from readers or others. Each can be turned into a tip sheet.

Your chapter topics are a goldmine of ideas, too.

For fiction, begin with your book’s themes, messages, and lessons. A novel that deals with grief and loss, for example, could yield a tip sheet on how to recover from loss.

When Irish children’s author Avril O’Reilly sent a tip sheet to media outlets throughout Ireland, she had immediate success that included newspaper and television exposure for her fiction book, Kathleen and the Communion Copter.

In her tip sheet, O’Reilly offered parents advice for selecting just the right Communion gift for girls. While her book is fiction, she was able to find a nonfiction nugget she could use to create a tip sheet that offered the media useful information they could use immediately.

You can do that, too.

Tip sheet elements

Successful book publicity tip sheets include specific elements:

• An attention-getting headline that includes the number of tips.
• An opening paragraph that describes the problem.
• A quote about the problem from the book author.
• A sentence that introduces the tips.
• Short, helpful tips in a list format.
• A concluding paragraph about the author and book.

Breaking it down

Let’s look at each element.

Headline

The best tip sheet headlines mimic those you see on the cover of women’s magazines – “5 surprising ways to get a beach body fast” or “6 tips for keeping your email inbox at zero.”

Include the number of tips and the tip sheet topic.

Opening paragraph

When writing the opening paragraph to describe the problem you’re solving, use statistics whenever possible to give your content weight and credibility. Using statistics isn’t required, but it’s effective enough that it’s worth doing a little research for studies, surveys, and reports.

For example, the author of a book about family caregiving writing a tip sheet about how to avoid caregiver burnout might use this first paragraph: “The National Association of Family Caregivers reports that self care is one of the biggest problems among caregivers today. The association says that nearly three quarters (72 percent) of family caregivers report not going to the doctor as often as they should and 55 percent say they cancel their own doctor appointments.”

Author quote

The author quote amplifying the problem should always add something new, rather than repeat what was stated in the opening paragraph. Use this opportunity to share an opinion.

Provide quote attribution with the author’s full name and book title.

Here’s how Schwartz did it with her heatwave tip sheet:

But nature is so critical to our health and well-being. “Nature calms us, reducing feelings of stress, anxiety, and anger. It has also been shown to improve focus and attention, as well as reduce blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It even makes us friendlier and more apt to reach out to others in our community,” explains Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer.

This part: [explains Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer.] is the attribution.

Sentence introducing your tips

The set-up sentence for the tips is simple. Use this formula: “Here are (author’s last name) (number) tips for helping (audience/group) (topic).”

For the caregiving tip sheet, this sentence could be: “Here are Smith’s six tips for helping family caregivers take better care of themselves, too.”

Short tips

Use bullets or numbers for your tips. Start each tip with a verb to encourage action and keep each to no more than three sentences.

Remember that your goal here is to offer advice, not talk somebody into buying your book. Focus on providing helpful advice.

Concluding paragraph

The final paragraph ties everything up with two or three factual sentences about the author, the book, and where readers can purchase it.

Again, don’t be overtly promotional. This is a news piece, not a sales tool.

Here’s what a book publicity tip sheet looks like

I wrote “Nine tips for writing an op-ed that gets published” to publicize my book, Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions. It was widely picked up and used in full, as is, by nonprofit trade journals.

Here’s the finished version:

sample tip sheet from Build Book Buzz

(Click on the underlined text above to view or download the PDF file.)

5 common author tip sheet mistakes

When teaching authors how to create and use these media relations tools, I see these mistakes repeatedly:

1. Confusing a tip sheet with an ad. A tip sheet is a subtle book promotion tool. It doesn’t shout “buy my book.” Instead, it communicates, “If you think this information related to the book is interesting, imagine how much value you’ll get from the actual book.”
2. Forgetting to study newspaper and magazine articles before writing the tip sheet. News writing style is informal and factual. There’s no hyperbole.
3. Not understanding that a tip sheet is designed to help people solve a problem. State a problem . . . offer your solutions.
4. Offering a list of reasons to buy the book instead of a list of tips.
5. Avoiding tip sheets because you write novels and don’t see the connection between advice-giving and fiction. It’s true that it’s harder to generate tip sheet topics for fiction, but it’s do-able for every book. I’ve taught many, many novelists how to do this — you can do it, too.

How to use book publicity tip sheets

Distribute tip sheets to media outlets that would be interested in the content. For mass distribution, I recommend eReleases. Do not rely on free press release distribution sites as they won’t send your tip sheet to the press. It will just sit on their site, hoping to be discovered.

Email your tip sheet to a handful of media outlets you’ve researched by copying and pasting your tip sheet into your email message form. Or, use the email list management service you use for your author newsletter.

Add them to your book’s online press room.

Turn them into fiction and nonfiction lead magnets designed to entice people to sign up for your mailing list.

Use them as the starting point for future blog posts.

Include them with article pitch letters sent to journalists.

Add tip sheets to your book marketing plan and you’ll have many new friends among media editors, reporters, producers, podcasters, and bloggers. You’ll also get much more exposure than your competition.

And that’s exactly what you want.

Want help brainstorming a tip sheet topic? Share a brief description of your book here and let’s get people thinking! 

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

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.

• Magazine
• Newspaper
• Online media outlet or content site
• Radio station
• TV program
• Blog
• Podcast

It’s more powerful than advertising and other paid-for marketing tactics because it brings with it far more credibility. That’s because when you’re quoted by the press, you get an authority boost.

People are smart enough to know that journalists are selective about who they use as sources. So, if a reporter chose you, you must know what you’re talking about.

What are the easiest and most effective ways to get publicity? Here are my top three.

1. Write and distribute a publicity tip sheet.

A tip sheet is a type of press release that offers tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format.

Like a press release, it’s written like a news story so that a media outlet or blogger can run it as is. No additional research or writing is necessary.

Media outlets, especially newspapers and magazines, like tip sheets because they can pull out just one or two tips to fill space. They also run them as short articles or use them as a starting point for longer feature stories.

Media outlets, especially newspapers and magazines, like tip sheets because they can pull out just one or two tips to fill space. They also run them as short articles or use them as a starting point for longer feature stories.Click to tweet

Radio stations like to share the advice in snippets or, like TV talk shows, build author interviews around the tip sheet topic. Bloggers run them as new posts because tip sheets with substance help them deliver useful information to their followers.

Learn how to create one and see an example in “How to create a book publicity tip sheet.”

2. Blog regularly.

When I’m looking for sources for my freelance writing article assignments, I often start with a Google search.

I might type in my article topic, or, when I specifically want to interview an author, I’ll type the topic plus the word “author.”

More often than not, search results take me to blog posts. I contact the blogger via email; if they respond (and sadly, it’s “if,” not “when”), we do an interview … and that expert scores free publicity.

Here’s how you can leverage your blog’s content to get publicity:

• Provide your email address on your “contact” page, not a form that people have to type into. Because I rarely get a response to my form-based inquiries, I try not to use them when I find a source I’d like to interview. If I can use only one of the two experts I’ve found, I’ll start with the one who provides an email address.
• Respond to media inquiries quickly. Most of us move on to the next option quickly when we don’t hear back from someone we’ve contacted within a reasonable amount of time.

3. Subscribe to HARO.

HARO – Help a Reporter Out – is a free service that helps journalists find sources to interview and quote in articles and broadcast segments.

It is one of the easiest – if not the easiest – ways to get book publicity.

HARO is every book publicist’s secret weapon because works. That’s why every time I coach an author who wants media exposure, the first thing I ask is, “Are you using HARO?”

And it’s free.

HARO feeds you requests from journalists

When you create a free HARO account, you’ll get three emails a day. Each of these emails includes a collection of brief messages from journalists who are looking for article or segment sources. We call those messages from journalists “queries.”

I use HARO regularly to find people to interview or quote for my freelance writing assignments, and, sad to say, I rarely hear from authors.

Worse, those I hear from don’t respond in a way that makes it possible for me to interview or quote them.

That’s because there’s a right way and a wrong way to respond, and many sources of all types, not just authors, respond the wrong way.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to respond to HARO queries, and many sources of all types, not just authors, respond the wrong way.Click to tweet

HARO response secrets

I teach how to use HARO the right way to get publicity for your author career and your book in my course, “Get Quoted: A Journalist’s Strategies for using HARO to Snag Book Publicity.”

Mastering HARO will give you a competitive edge that will not only help you sell more books, it will contribute to the platform you need to get a traditional publishing contract.

And, for those who consult, coach, or speak, it will boost your profile in ways that attract more clients and allow you to charge more for your services.

Get more information on the Get Quoted course description page.

Publicity begets publicity

It’s important to use any of these methods or others, including contacting media outlets directly with article or segment ideas, because publicity begets publicity.

Here’s what often happens once you’ve been quoted a couple of times:

• You, your book, and your website show up higher in search engine results when people, including journalists, search for your topic.
• Journalists who see you’ve been quoted already are more likely to contact you for an interview. That’s because another reporter has vetted you, and because it’s clear that you’re willing and able to talk about your topic.

You also earn the right to share media outlet, blog, podcast, and content site logos on your website in an “as seen on” banner.

Don’t wait to pursue publicity. Let this free strategy help you reach more of the right readers.

Have you snagged publicity? Please tell us how you did it in a comment!

And many traditionally published authors aren’t earning the advances they used to, either. In the past, they could invest those funds in marketing. Now? Not so much.

Still, there’s a lot you can do to buzz your book that won’t cost you anything but time – and not much of that, either!

Here are 11 ideas to get you started.

1. Create a holiday linked to your book’s topic.

Submit it for publication in “Chase’s Calendar of Events.” Promote it each year with a press release announcing how you and others are celebrating the occasion.

One of my favorite examples is parenting author’s Jen Singer’s “Please Take My Children to Work Day.”

Jen created this years ago when her sons were little. She got a lot of mileage out of this clever twist on an old favorite because she promoted it so well.

2. Become a podcast guest.

Podcasts are basically web-based audio programs built around specific topics, from health and wellness to books and true crime. No matter how niche or esoteric your topic or expertise, you’ll probably be able to find a podcast for it.

Search for podcasts about your topic, then review each program’s website to see if it uses guests. After you narrow down your list to those that do, listen to several episodes of each so you’re familiar with each show’s content and how it’s presented.

Before emailing the producer or host to offer yourself as a guest, Google “how to pitch podcasts” so you’re aware of best practices.

3. Comment on blogs.

Set up a Google Alert for your topic so you know when others are talking about it online.

When you comment on a blog post, provide value in a non-promotional way. You can include your book title in your signature; most blogging platforms ask you to provide a URL in the comment form.

For more on how to comment effectively, read “How to comment on blogs.”

4. Write an op-ed or essay linked to your book’s topic.

An op-ed is an opinion article that typically advocates or educates. Because they’re opinion pieces with a stated bias rather than reported stories, they go in a section of the newspaper that’s set aside for opinions. This is usually alongside the letters to the editor.

Essays are first-person narratives that don’t necessarily express an opinion or try to influence readers. Magazines and online media outlets publish them; some radio stations accept audio versions.

To leverage the op-ed option, you often have to wait for a significant local or national news story that provides the timely hook you need to submit your opinion piece.

After paying for a snazzy cover design, editing, and proofreading, self-published authors don't always have a lot of money for book marketing. Still, there’s a lot you can do to buzz your book. Here are 11 ideas to get you started.Tweet it!

For that reason, and because news stories can disappear quickly, I generally recommend that you pre-write one or two op-eds related to your topic so you can get them to the editorial page editor quickly, before the topic disappears.

Novelists, please don’t dismiss this as a nonfiction-only tactic. For example, romance writers could have leveraged the recent Bill and Melinda Gates divorce announcement by writing essays about:

• Why am I so sad about the Bill and Melinda Gates divorce?
• Will my marriage end up like Bill and Melinda Gates’s?
• Can money buy love?

Get op-ed writing tips in “How to write an op-ed column or essay.”

5. Create “tipographics.”

Tipographics — tip lists in an image that can be shared — are an especially good fit for nonfiction authors.

Here’s how I use this tactic:

• I created a branded master template in PowerPoint, but you can use Canva or any other design program you’re comfortable with.
• I turn the key points from a blog post into an image with a title and the list of tips.
• I add them to a Pinterest board as I create them. Each image links back to the original blog post with more specific information. Here’s one example:

Don’t limit use to Pinterest, though. Share them on any social network where you’re active.

6. Do a newsletter swap.

With a newsletter swap, you and another author agree to promote each other’s books in your email newsletters. 

Finding authors who reach your target audience and have a newsletter will take a little effort (what doesn’t?) if you aren’t already connected to authors in your genre or category, but it’s doable.

Alternatively, offer to write articles for their newsletters.

Learn more about this tactic in “How to do an author newsletter swap.”

7. Create quote graphics from your book’s text.

What pithy gems can you pull from your book for a social media image?

If you write fiction, you might use your opening sentence or a snippet of dialogue. There are no rules other than using a small amount of text that might intrigue your ideal readers.

Nonfiction writers might pull out an “aha!” that offers a miniscule preview of what readers will learn.

Here’s how I did it for one of my books.

8. Compile your own media distribution list so you don’t have to pay a distribution service.

Use a combination of directories and your own online research to develop an e-mail list for the media outlets that will be interested in information related to your book’s topic.

This approach works best if you’re targeting local media only, or focusing on a specific publication category — for example, parenting or packaging industry publications.

Learn how to do it in “How to build a killer book publicity media list.”

9. Ask a blogger to do a Q&A with you.

When you do this properly, it’s a win-win for you and the blogger.

You will reach more of your ideal readers by leveraging your host’s audience.

And, when you share the link to your Q&A on the social networks where you’re active and in your newsletter, you’ll bring that blogger more readers, too.

10. Write and distribute a tip sheet.

A tip sheet is a news release that offers tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format.

It is one of my favorite book promotion media relations tools because it’s so effective as a feature or segment starter and as filler material.

Learn how to write one and see an example in, “How to create a book publicity tip sheet.”

11. Create and share short videos.

I’m not suggesting you start writing, directing, and producing video short stories — far from it.

Instead, if you write fiction, create a series of short videos that answer questions about your book. Topics might include:

• What inspired the story?
• Why did you select the setting you used?
• What’s your thinking behind your characters’ names?

Nonfiction authors might create videos that:

• Show how to do something
• Answer frequently asked questions from readers or your target audience
• Interview others about your topic

More and more of us are watching videos for information or entertainment. Why not take advantage of its popularity?

Need more ideas? Get additional inspiration in “10 free book promotion ideas.”

What’s the best free tactic you’ve used to buzz your book?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2011. 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.)

I pulled out a few of my favorites (below), but before scanning these and the full list at HolidayInsights, consider how you might leverage one of the many special days coming up next month.

How to leverage whacky holidays

Here are just a couple of ideas:

• Write a blog post about why one of the holidays resonates with you. For example, “Old Stuff Day” speaks to me as I spend a little time each evening donating, tossing out, or recycling some of what I’ve accumulated during two decades raising a family. I’m getting rid of “old stuff,” but maybe you’re hanging on to it. Write about why.
• Create a social media image for your favorite occasion in March and share it with a question that generates engagement. I’ll be doing that on the Build Book Buzz Facebook page on March 1, so I hope you’ll join the conversation there then.
• Write and distribute a tip sheet related to a holiday you can link to your book. Proposal Day on March 20 can lead to a tip sheet on how to propose marriage or anything else.
• Create a contest. Ask readers to submit a picture of their favorite food on a stick on March 28 and give a copy of your book to the winner.

I’m sure you can think of many, many more things you can do with any of these quirky holidays next month.

The quirkiest of quirky holidays in March

Here are a few of the whackiest special days, but be sure to check out the full list on HolidayInsights.com.

• March 1 Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day
• March 2 Old Stuff Day
• March 3 If Pets Had Thumbs Day
• March 6 National Frozen Food Day
• March 9 Panic Day
• March 10 Middle Name Pride Day
• March 11 Worship of Tools Day – guys, you can relate
• March 13 Ear Muff Day
• March 15 Dumbstruck Day
• March 16 Everything You Do is Right Day
• March 18 Supreme Sacrifice Day
• March 20 Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
• March 20 Proposal Day
• March 22 National Goof Off Day
• March 23 Melba Toast Day
• March 25 Waffle Day
• March 27 National “Joe” Day
• March 28 Something on a Stick Day
• March 28 Weed Appreciation Day

Which of these can you have fun with? Tell us about it in a comment.

Avril learned how to create and distribute a tip sheet, a type of press release that offers tips or advice, in my Book Marketing 101: How to Build Book Buzz for Fiction E-course.

Using the prescribed format for this powerful publicity tool, Avril offered parents  advice for selecting just the right Communion gift for little girls. She made that bridge between fiction — her book — and nonfiction — the advice she could offer as a result of her book’s research — to create a tip sheet that offered the media useful information they could use immediately.

Article shows you how to write one

I’ve shared the steps Avril and others students in the course use with success in a magazine article, “Tip Sheets: An Author’s Best Publicity Tool” (see pages 24-25). It explains the concept, how you will use it, how to write one, and mistakes to avoid.

Save yourself a lot of time, and enjoy the resulting exposure, by mastering the tip sheet writing process outlined in the article. (Or, if you prefer the fill-in-the-blanks approach that a template offers, check out Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates. It includes a fill-in-the-blanks form with a sample.)

I know from experience that tip sheets are incredibly hard-working tools that help authors, especially novelists, get media exposure their books might not otherwise enjoy. But tell me, what book publicity tool do you use with success? What’s working for you? Please comment here!

Tip sheets help introduce your target audience to your book’s content, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. Tip sheets always state a problem, then offer advice from an expert  on how to solve that problem. In our case, the expert is the author of a relevant book.

“Relevant” is key here. The problem has to have a connection to your book’s content because your book is the credential you use to give advice. For example, if you’ve written a book on how to buy a used car, you can offer tips on used car scams to avoid, but you should leave the advice on how to plan a romantic weekend getaway to the romance authors.

Media outlets love tip sheets

Tip sheets are popular with editors, reporters, bloggers, radio and TV producers, and others because they provide “news you can use.” When I mentioned tip sheets as part of my keynote presentation on platform-building at the University of Wisconsin Writer’s Institute a few years ago, a Chicago Tribune editor in the audience thanked me afterwards for encouraging writers and authors to create and distribute this important book publicity tool. “We love tip sheets!” he said.

Tip sheets that are well-written (more on how to do that here) and offer useful advice and information can generate impressive, high-profile publicity, as my “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” e-course student Candy Harrington discovered. The course materials contain detailed instructions for how to write one as well as samples; Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates includes a fill-in-the-blanks form with a sample.

Students write a tip sheet as a homework assignment, too. Candy sent hers (also posted on her website) to a list of about 100 newspaper travel editors and got excellent pick-up that included this item in the Miami Herald. (Note that this reprint of her tip sheet also links to the book’s website — which is exactly what we want it to do). If you compare the two, you’ll see that Candy’s was so well-done that the editor could just use it “as is” — which always makes it more likely that it will, in fact, get used.

Watch for examples — you’ll see them

USA Weekend, the supplement that goes in weekend Gannett newspapers, frequently includes short articles that read like tip sheets, and the expert sources are often authors offering tips from their books. My daily newspaper included tips for family vacation trips this week by the author of a series of (apparently) self-published children’s books about a little boy who travels. It’s a great example of a tip sheet in action, but it also shows how fiction writers can use this tactic to get widespread exposure, too, because this article ran in multiple newspapers.

No matter what type of book you write, you can use tip sheets to promote it. It doesn’t matter if your book is a memoir, a young adult novel, or a business book — there’s something there that you can share as tips and advice with others.

What are you going to write your tip sheet about? I know you can do it!