A quick reminder about publicity: Publicity isn’t advertising. You can’t buy it; you can’t control it. Publicity is what you get when you’re interviewed for an article or on a talk show, or your book is mentioned in a short news item. “Trade journals: The book publicist’s secret weapon” lists the typical book publicity opportunities in trade magazines.

So how do you secure this exposure that means so much more to your book than paid advertising? Here are the six steps to follow.

1. Review several issues to see what kind of content they use.

Does the magazine have a “news brief” section where it might run a new book announcement? Do the articles include expert interviews? Does the magazine use guest columns written by subject matter experts (you!)? Does it run book reviews?

2. Find the trade journal’s “editorial calendar” online.

Editorial calendars outline the year’s scheduled content. It isn’t always all-inclusive, meaning, magazines will often run articles that aren’t listed on the editorial calendar. Still, if you can contribute to something that’s scheduled already, you want to let the editor know that you’d like to be considered as an expert source.

Here’s an example from Power Equipment Trade.

Google will help you find editorial calendars for your targeted trade journals if they’re published online. If the one you’re looking for isn’t, call or email the magazine and ask them to send it to you by email or regular mail.

Review the editorial calendar for scheduled content — columns, articles, special issues — related to your book’s topic or content.

3. Make a list of how you might contribute to the content.

What’s on that list depends on what you uncovered in your review, but it might include one or two articles from the editorial calendar, a list of article ideas that would be a good fit for the magazine and that could use you as a resource, or a guest column you’re qualified to write.

4. Match the magazine’s sections and articles with the staffer responsible for it.

Many times, the sections include the appropriate editor’s name as a credit. Staffers often write articles, too. Both are clues to who you should contact with your idea.

You can usually get the right editor or writer’s email address on the publication’s website under “editorial staff,” “contact us,” or “about.” You can also get editor and writer names from the printed publication’s masthead, which usually lists who does what at the publication. It’s typically near the front of the magazine, not far from the table of contents,

Write down what you’ve learned — who edits the news brief sections, which staffers write articles, and so on. If you can’t figure that out from either the print or online edition, email or call the magazine.

5. Map out your strategy.

You’ve got your list of how and where you might contribute to the trade journal; you’ve figured out who edits or writes which sections. Now you need to decide where you’ll start.

If your book is new, and if the publication includes book news in its news brief section, you might want to start by sending the right editor your book announcement press release along with an offer to send a review copy.

Or, if you are an excellent resource for an article listed in the editorial calendar for an upcoming issue, that might be your starting point.

Pro tip: Contact trade journal editors four months before the issue’s publication month.

6. Send your pitch.

If you’re sending a press release, copy and paste it into an email message. (Learn more in “How to e-mail a press release to a journalist.”)

If you’re offering to be a source for an article scheduled on the editorial calendar, say that in an email. Include information on why you’re an appropriate resource (your book and other relevant credentials).

If you’re “pitching” (proposing) an article or guest column, study their articles and columns so you understand what they want and use. Then follow the pitch letter instructions and sample in Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates to make sure you present your case appropriately.

Here are two more pro tips to help ensure success.

Bonus tip 1: Monitor HARO, PitchRate, ProfNet, and other services and respond when you’re a good fit for articles.

I use these services to find sources for assigned articles for trade journals; so do thousands and thousands of other freelance writers and journalists.

Learn how to respond appropriately so you get an interview. (Get tips in my free “How to Respond to HARO Requests” cheat sheet.)

Pro tip: Don’t respond to HARO and other media lead queries with “You should interview me. Call me.” You’ll be wasting your time.

Bonus tip 2: When a journalist calls or emails you for an interview, respond promptly. As in, as soon as you possibly can.

‘Cause if you don’t, she’ll find someone else to interview and quote.

This is important because if you’ve got a book that fits well with the regular content of one or more trade publications, it’s likely that a journalist will eventually get in touch to interview you as an expert resource for an article. You’re a natural source.

Case in point . . . a few months ago, I wanted to interview an author for an assigned cover story for a trade journal. I searched Amazon for the topic and found two authors who would be excellent resources. I emailed each of them — three times — without getting a response.

Then I called both and left messages.

The response? Silence.

A prominent quote or two in this cover story would have sold books to the magazine’s readers because they’re the target audience of both books. But the authors lost out. Obviously, they don’t care or they would have responded. But you do care, right?

Does getting trade journal book publicity take effort and thought? Yes.

Is it hard? No.

Is it worth it? Yes.

Publicity is valuable — more valuable than advertising. It has that implied editorial endorsement that goes far with your target audience. It tells them that the trade journal views you as an expert — so they should too.

That’s the kind of credibility that leads to book sales, speaking engagements, consulting work, and other opportunities. If it makes sense for your book, add it to your book marketing plan.

What topic can you talk about with authority? Tell us in a comment. 

Successful authors and their publicists go after trade journal publicity because it sells books and generates paying speaking opportunities.

Savvy nonfiction authors and novelists alike add this tool to their book marketing tool kits because they know that any trade journal publicity helps sell books.

What are trade journals?

Also known as trade magazines, trade journals are publications that serve a particular industry or profession (“trade”). Examples include Beverage Dynamics for the distilled spirits industry, Vows: The Bridal & Wedding Business Journal for bridal salon owners, and HVACR Business for people in the heating/cooling/air conditioning business.

There’s a trade journal for just about every niche business or profession you can think of.

If you write nonfiction, the connection between your book and trade journals might be obvious.

If you’re a novelist, it’s harder to see any possibilities. But for many of you, they’re there, especially when you think about the industries or professions in your book. Here are a few examples that might get you thinking:

• A primary character is an interior designer: Contract magazine, “the leading publication for commercial interior design and architecture, connecting professionals and covering projects, products, and practice issues that set the standards in the industry.”
• The story setting is an independent public relations agency: PR Week, “the essential title for PR professionals in the US.”
• The protagonist is a jewelry maker: MJSA Custom Jeweler, which “focuses on how to meet consumers’ desire for personalized jewelry that reflects their unique tastes and beliefs.”

These authors got trade journal publicity

Libby Fischer Hellman, the author of more than a dozen mysteries, credits an interview with publishing trade magazine Publishers Weekly with contributing to the success of Nobody’s Child.

“It went on to do very well and received lots of award nominations,” she says.

After Jen Miller’s memoir Running: A Love Story was reviewed by a trade journal for librarians, Booklist, “An awful lot of people have been posting that they picked up my book at their local library,” she says. “I know the power of trade publications, and the power of librarians, so I was thrilled that they reviewed it.”

What can you realistically expect from trade journals?

The primary publicity opportunities with trade journals focus on:

• Short news items
• Book reviews
• By-lined articles that you write about your book’s topic and that mention your book title in an author’s credit box at the end of the article
• Articles that include interviews with you as an expert resource; your book title is the credential you will offer
• Excerpts

Short news items typically announce that the book is available and run in the news briefs section with a short description. The information often comes from the book’s announcement press release.

Book reviews are particularly influential when your book’s audience is precisely the people reading the magazine. In addition, you can pull out positive, pithy excerpts for your Amazon sales page, website, bookmarks, and other marketing materials.

By-lined articles allow you to further position yourself as a subject matter expert by writing in-depth about one narrow topic from your book. When my book Publicity for Nonprofits was published 10 years ago, I wrote several trade journal articles on topics ranging from how to position a nonprofit’s leader as an expert to how to publicize fundraising events and write op-eds.

Articles that include interviews with you focus on a specific topic in the same way that bylined articles do, but somebody else writes them. When you’re interviewed for an article, you will be one of many sources.

Excerpts might be long or short, like this one from 10 years ago that is still available online (!). Reprinting long excerpts requires getting permission from the author or publisher.

Getting this kind of free and valuable exposure isn’t as hard as you might think. I’ll share information about how to do it in an upcoming post.

Update September 7, 2016: Read the “how” in “How to get trade journal book publicity.”

Have you gotten trade journal publicity for your book? Please tell us about it in a comment. You might inspire another author to take action.