When I won the public relations industry’s equivalent of an Academy Award for a publicity campaign built entirely around press releases in the ’90s (!), I sent press releases via postal mail.

Those days are gone.

And yet, authors and others regularly ask me if they should mail a printed press release when they have newsworthy information to share.

Nope.

In today’s digital society, the only time you should send a printed press release is when you’re tucking it inside a review copy. You need to email a press release to a journalist.

There’s a right way … and there’s a wrong way

There are several reasons why we send press releases with email:

• It’s the 21st century.
• Email lets journalists copy and paste from a press release. Otherwise, they have to retype what’s in the printed document.
• It’s fast.
• It’s so much more cost effective. You’re not paying for paper and postage; nobody is spending time labeling and stuffing envelopes.
• It’s eco-friendly.

Seems obvious, right?

What’s less obvious is that there’s a right way to do it, and there’s a wrong way to do it.

And many, many people who send press releases for a living – publicists – do it the wrong way. I know because I receive their press releases daily.

Their mistake makes sure their message hits the recipient’s trash bin quicker than I close Facebook when I see a snake photo.

You don’t want to make their mistake.

Video tutorial: How to email a press release

I created a step-by-step video to show you how to email a press release to journalists the right way. You can also read the loose transcript of my video instructions under the video. (To see the video steps better, use the “full screen” icon in the lower right of the video box.)

Video transcript

Today I’m going to answer a question I get asked all of the time: What’s the best way to e-mail a press release about your book to a journalist or a reporter?

I can tell you now what the worst way is: Sending it as an attachment.

I know authors do it that way because I receive them in my e-mail.

Journalists – and others — usually won’t open attachments from people they don’t know. That means the press release doesn’t get read, and it could explain some of the disappointing results.

I’ll walk you through the process on my computer screen. It will only take a few minutes.

What you do want to do is copy and paste. You don’t want to attach anything – whether it’s a press release or photos.

1. Start with a catchy subject line. Don’t use “press release from author” or “News release.” You can copy and paste the headline of your press release – that can work. I write something catchy and have it prepared in my Word file with the press release. I’ve used “New book shares pro’s press release secrets” because the press release we’re working with announces my book, which teaches authors how to write a book announcement press release.
2. Then add a short introduction that personalizes the message and says something like, “I hope you can use this; let me know if you have questions.”
3. Copy and paste your press release into the e-mail message form.
4. Add your signature.
5. Check everything over.
6. Fill in the “To” line. If it’s just one person, just type in the e-mail address. If you’re sending it to several at once, you want to protect their privacy and e-mail addresses by not using the “To” space. When sending to more than one person, put all addresses in the BCC line (blind carbon copy) and send it to yourself.
7. Hit the send button.

That’s it. In summary, you need:

• A great subject line
• Quick cover note
• The press release copied and pasted
• E-mail signature
• The “To” line and “BCC” line completed (when appropriate)
• Review before sending

Use a press release distribution service for mass distribution

When you want to send your press release to a large media list, you’re better off using a press release distribution service.

When you use a service, all you need to do is write a newsworthy press release and select the media outlets you’d like to receive it. My favorite is eReleases for a number of reasons that include customer service and your ability to be more selective with the media outlets you’ll want on your distribution list.

Because these services continually update their media contacts, they save you a great deal of time. Some even help improve your press release — never a bad thing.

If your list is smaller or more targeted — local media only or specific trade journals, for example — consider creating your own media list. I’ve got instructions for that in “How to build a killer book publicity media list.”

Write a press release the media will use

You now understand how to email a press release to journalists. Do you know how to write one?

The most important thing to remember when writing a press release is that it must mimic a newspaper article. A press release is news content, not an advertisement. Focus on the facts; omit hyperbole.

I’ve got two resources that will help with that (and be sure to read “Author press releases: 10 situations that deserve one and 4 that don’t“).

1. Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Book Announcement Press Release
2. Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates

Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Book Announcement Press Release walks you through the process, answering your questions before you think to ask them. It includes lots of examples, a template, and other press release resources that will help you succeed.

It’s available as a colorful PDF download with graphics that make it easier to follow and understand the process, and in Kindle format.

Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates is a collection of fill-in-the-blanks forms for two types of press releases, tip sheets, and 12 other commonly used author press kit and media relations documents. Instructions for each tool and actual samples are included so you have a complete blueprint, whether you’re creating a press release or a Q&A for your site.

Now you’re ready to start sending!

Do you have a question about sending press releases? Please ask it in comment.

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2012. 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.

A book press release is the essential media relations tool that accompanies review copies or tells the media and other key influencers that your book is available, among other things.

And yet, too many authors don’t know how to write one that communicates the right information to the right people.

As a result, they lose valuable opportunities for exposure by distributing a document that doesn’t have the right information in the accepted and expected format.

Avoid these 5 mistakes

Because of that, many authors make deadly mistakes that ensure that journalists delete their book press releases quickly, before they’re even read.

Here are the mistakes I see authors making most often and how to fix them.

1. Creating a highly designed document.

This will definitely help your announcement stand out, but it will also grease the path to the digital trash can.

Press releases follow a specific format that begins with an attention-getting headline and looks like a news article. If yours uses the format that reporters, editors, producers, and bloggers need and expect, your press release has a better chance of getting read and used.

If it uses multiple font styles and sizes, a two-column format, and reads like you’re trying to sell the book, it’s called “sales material,” not a press release.

Journalists don’t like sales material. They like editorial content. And that’s what you want to provide in your book announcement press release.

2. Putting the author’s name in the headline.

We invest a lot of ourselves in our books, but because none of us are J.K. Rowling or Malcolm Gladwell, journalists don’t know our names.

Savvy book publicists and authors use that valuable headline real estate to communicate important information about the book, not the author. That’s what you want to do, too.

3. E-mailing the press release as an attachment.

Most business e-mail users won’t open attachments because of concerns about viruses and other nasty problems.

I explain the correct way to do it in “How to e-mail a press release to journalists.”

4. Housing it on your website as a PDF file.

Journalists don’t like working with PDF files because they often lose all formatting when they copy and paste the information into a new file. That means they have to find and reinsert paragraph breaks, and so on.

As soon as you create work for them, they lose interest (and who can blame them?). Give them what they want in the format they want. In this case, that’s text they can easily copy and paste.

Notice how easily you can copy and paste this article. That’s the goal for your press release.

Author Candy Harrington’s press room for her book, 22 Accessible Road Trips: Driving Vacations for Wheelers and Slow Walkers, is an excellent example of how you want to do this. At that link, select “press release,” then click on each option.

5. Not proofreading your press release.

If your press release is loaded with blatant errors such as spelling a word in your title wrong (I’ve seen it) or other typographical or grammatical errors, you’re saying to the recipient: “I don’t care about quality.”

That will encourage people to question the quality of your book, too. That’s not your goal, so proofread carefully. If you’re not good at that, find someone who is to help you out.

How to write a book press release

As an author, you’re the best person to write your book announcement press release. The challenge for most is knowing:

• The end goal — why this tool will help their book get noticed
• What to include
• What it should look like
• How to use it effectively

Help is here!

I’ve just updated my popular e-book, Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book. It walks you through the process step-by-step, gives you a template you can use to write yours, and offers 12 new examples of actual fiction and nonfiction book press releases so you know what yours should look like.

Get all the details on the book’s sales page, where you can learn more and purchase a snazzy PDF or the more ordinary Kindle version.

Taking the time to learn the right (and wrong!) way to write your book’s press release could make the difference between success and failure. It’s not hard when you know how to do it. When you follow the instructions in this book, you’ll have everything you need.

Do you have a question about book announcement press releases? Please ask it in a comment.

You send a book announcement press release, and every book needs one. This book publicity tool tells the media and others why and how your book will make a difference. It’s the author’s equivalent of a birth announcement.

It’s not optional — it’s a necessity. And because of that, it can be the single determinant of how much attention your book receives.

Potential impact of your book’s press release

Why?

When you send a book announcement press release with a copy of your book to reviewers, they skim the document to decide if the book is a good fit for their publication, website, and so on. If it’s badly written or doesn’t have the information they need, want, or expect, your book won’t be reviewed.

Simply put: If you want your book reviewed by media outlets and credible bloggers, you need a good book announcement press release.

It’s a multi-purpose tool

Book publicity is about more than book reviews, though. That’s why you need a press release for your book to get other kinds of valuable exposure, including:

• Interviews with local media outlets
• Short news items in newspapers and magazines
• Radio and TV interviews
• Blog interviews on your virtual book tour
• Speaking engagements
• Website traffic

Most traditional publishers will write and distribute book announcement press releases for their authors. If you’re self-published, you need to go the do-it-yourself route, even if you’ve never seen a press release before.

Get started with these tips

If this is a new concept for you, here are a few tips that will help get you on the right track.

1. Study what the big publishers send to the press. Use Google to find the press rooms of a few big publishers and read their press releases. What can you learn from them?
2. Search for press releases on paid press release distribution sites such as eReleases (that’s an affiliate link, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you use their services) and PR Newswire. Use them as samples that guide you.
3. Avoid the mistakes made by most new press release writers. They including putting your name in the title and ditching the expected format in favor of being unique or clever.
4. Take the time to learn. I wrote Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book so that you would have absolutely everything you need to know about how to write an attention-getting press release for your new book. Follow the clear instructions and you’re done.
5. Proofread, proofread, proofread. Your book announcement press release tells media reviewers, blog reviewers, and others what to expect from your book. If it’s loaded with mistakes, they’ll presume that your book will have lots of mistakes, too.

Your book’s press release can be the difference between success and failure. Take the time to write one that matches what media reviewers and others expect. It’s not hard when you have a little help.

Have you written yours yet? What has been your biggest press release-writing challenge? 

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2012. It has been updated and expanded.)

Today’s step is sharing the news here — whoohoo! And because this new e-book teaches authors, publicists, and publishers a step-by-step process for writing that essential press release that announces a book, I’m announcing it here by sharing my book announcement press release! Makes sense, right?

Got questions about the book? Just send me a note. I’m really excited about it because I know how much it’s needed. Here’s my announcement press release — learn how to write one like this in Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book. (Note that I’ve added the images here to add some visual appeal, but they are not “embedded” in the press release that I’m distributing to the media. I’ve included links to them at the end instead.)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sandra Beckwith, sb@buildbookbuzz.com, 585-377-2768

Detailed new guide helps authors announce their books

FAIRPORT, NY — June 26, 2012 — A new e-book by a veteran publicist and book marketing coach teaches authors how to create the all-important press release that announces their books.

Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book (http://bit.ly/M2d7M1) by Sandra Beckwith is the only resource that takes authors through the press release writing process step-by-step. Authors, book publicists, publishers, and others learn to create a document that contains the information journalists need and expect in the format they prefer.

Get Your Book in the News distills Beckwith’s 25+ years of experience into a handy guide that offers readers:

• Nine ways to use an announcement press release to get publicity, attract book buyers to a website, or secure speaking engagements
• A detailed, 13-step process for writing a book announcement press release and a companion a fill-in-the-blanks template
• Specifics on who to send the press release to, when, how to send it, and how to follow up
• A list of the most common press release mistakes and advice on how to avoid them
• Formatting instructions
• A press release makeover
• Press release distribution service recommendations and other resources
• A bonus section with 11 actual press releases used to announce fiction and nonfiction books in several genres

“A book announcement press release is probably the most essential and versatile book promotion tool because it can generate book reviews, news items, author interviews, blog columns, and speaking engagements,” says Beckwith, who has won several national publicity awards. “Done right, it creates impressive and long-lasting exposure. Done wrong, it ends up in an electronic trash can.”

Beckwith, a book marketing coach and former publicist, helps authors learn how to be their own book publicists. She teaches the popular “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” course online and publishes Build Book Buzz, a free e-newsletter available at https://buildbookbuzz.com. She is also the author of three nonfiction books, including two on publicity topics, and an author publicity workbook.

Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book is available as a PDF for $9 on the author’s website at http://bit.ly/M2d7M1. For more information, contact Beckwith at sb@buildbookbuzz.com.

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Book cover JPG: http://bit.ly/KXT2HG

Author photo JPG: http://bit.ly/KJ2rS6

Media review copy: sb@buildbookbuzz.com

Contact: Sandra Beckwith, sb@buildbookbuzz.com, 585-377-2768

Have you seen a great book announcement press release online? Include the URL in the comments and tell us why it works for you.