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.

What’s the best way to announce your book via email?

I receive a steady stream of book announcement emails. I want to be excited for the authors, because this is a big deal. Sadly, though, most of the messages aren’t very compelling.

More often than not, they’re self-congratulatory (“I’ve achieved my dream!”) or self-serving (“If you buy my book on Amazon in the next 24 hours, I can become a best-selling author!”).

Some are brief: “My new book is out. Here’s a link where you can buy it.” Others are rambling. Few tell me why I’d want to buy the book – what’s in it for me, the reader.

8 tips for using email to announce your new bundle of joy

I don’t want you to repeat the mistakes I keep seeing in my inbox, so I’m sharing eight tips that will help authors with any level of marketing experience write a book announcement email message that will resonate with recipients.

1. Tell us what the book’s about.

Don’t presume that we’re up to speed. This might be the first time we’re hearing about your book.

Start with the description on the back cover or, if it’s e-book only, the Amazon description. It should tell us why we will want to buy your book, right?

You might need to massage it to make it more personal, since email is such an informal means of communicating.

2. Realize that it’s not about you.

It’s about the person you’re writing to.

Tell me what your book will do for me.

Will it educate, inform, entertain, enlighten?

How will your book improve my world, help me improve someone else’s world, or help me forget about my world?

3. Include a link where we can purchase the book from a trusted online retailer.

Seriously – you’d be surprised at how many messages omit this. If possible, include links to more than one retail site.

Don’t use your Amazon Associates link when providing that retailer option, though. Amazon’s terms of service don’t allow using them in email messages.

(Hint: Your author website is not a “trusted online retailer.”)

4. Forget the “help me make my book an Amazon best-seller” plea.

This message is too you-focused.

And, really, unless you and I are close, I don’t care if your book is a best-seller or not.

All I want to know is whether I’ll like or need your book or if I know someone else who would.

5. Don’t come on too strong in your email blast.

You might suggest that your book makes a nice gift, but don’t tell me that I “should” buy it for everybody I work with.

Some of us respond better to requests than to demands.

6. Ask me nicely to share your news with my networks.

If I know people who will want to know about your book, I’ll help spread the word. But sometimes I need to be reminded of that excellent idea.

7. When sending from your desktop email program (Outlook, Gmail, etc.), “bcc” everyone you’re sending to.

Put your own email address in the “to” line and the recipient addresses in the “bcc” line so that you aren’t exposing email addresses. Using the bcc option will keep your connections’ addresses private.

Send your announcement to anyone in your address book who might realistically be interested in your book. Be thoughtful about this. Not everyone will be interested, and it could be inappropriate to send to some.

If you plan to send an email blast to lots of address book contacts, consider emailing in batches over time so your messages don’t get flagged as spam.

8. Remember that the quality of your announcement reflects the quality of your book, so make it as good as you can.

I received one that looked like a ransom note, with multiple fonts and sizes. I know this wasn’t what the author intended.

What’s that old saying? You only get one chance to make a first impression?

That’s why you want to make sure that your announcement uses correct grammar and has no errors. (I actually received one that had a mistake in the book title.) Details matter.

If it’s sloppy, we will think your book’s content is a mess, too.

Don’t stop with the email announcement

Whatever you do, make this just the starting point for your book launch. There’s lots more you could — and “should” — be doing to promote your book.

Focus on learning as much as you can about your ideal readers so you can get your book’s title in front of them both online and off.

Have you ever purchased a book based on an email blast announcement? Why?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010. It has been updated and expanded.)