Three Ways to Contribute to Your Promotion Campaign's Success

Randolph, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2009 -- Effective media kits are something that you must help to create. And you can do it, even if you've never written a media kit or even seen one. A publicist will take the lead, but you should take an active part in the media kit creation process -- whether or not your publicist explicitly invites your participation. That will ensure that you'll be satisfied with the results, and you'll have the winning media kit that you can stand behind. A media release focuses on a particular angle rather than on your product or service, and only you know for certain what you'd like that focus to be. Your publicist will have an idea or two, but your vision (and your goals about how you want the media to perceive you) is what matters most. The media kit represents your company and you, and it helps to shape your image and build your brand. Your reputation is at stake every time someone reads it, and that ultimately makes it your responsibility.

Your publicist may have a great track record in the publicity business, but he or she is unlikely to create the perfect media kit for you without your thoughtful input. Although you might want to let your publicist get the ball rolling by creating a competent first media kit draft, your participation really should kick in even before your publicist begins to conceptualize the release. Here are a few of the key contributions you can offer:

- Media hooks. Your publicist tunes into the media's news sources and knows what's going on in the world. But you know which current events are most likely to resonate with you, and which news stories you feel the most passionate about. If there's something going on in the news (or there's an event that's about to take place) that you'd like to emphasize in your promotion campaign, then let your publicist know. Your publicist can incorporate that news hook into your media kit, and you can offer quotations (which can take the form of comments on the news story) that will work well for the release, too.
- Language and concepts. Are there key phrases and ideas that come up frequently in your line of work or your area of expertise? Don't make your publicist figure them out. Instead, provide a list of the words and ideas that should make their way into the media kit.
- Questions. Publicists often include suggested interview questions in media kits for the journalists' benefit. You know what you'd like Conan O'Brien to ask you if you're sitting on his couch .... your publicist can only guess what those questions might be. Imagine that Conan (or your favorite talk show host) is asking the questions most likely to elicit the information you want to provide, and deliver those questions to your publicist. Good questions, your publicist can create. The questions you want the media to ask you, your publicist can only guess at -- unless you make them clear.

Yes, a publicist potentially could create a decent media kit alone. But that shouldn't be good enough. And that doesn't reflect the way that the best publicists prefer to work, nor does it reflect the way you'd want them to work. When you participate in the media kit creation process, everyone involved will be thrilled with the results. So provide your publicist with your ideas before, and during, the promotion campaign. You'll love the results, and your promotion campaign's success will reflect your efforts.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

How to Market, Sell, Distribute, and Promote Your Book for Authors and Publishers

Randolph, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/31/2007 -- It's easy to print your manuscript these days and make it look like a book. . If you can write it, and someone can digitize it, then you can put it a finished copy of it on your bookshelf in a matter of weeks. But that doesn't mean what you have is a book.

For a printed manuscript to be a real book, it has to be in the distribution channels. People must be able to order it. You have to work on marketing, selling, distributing and promoting your book – if you really want to have a book.

Successful book marketing, selling, distribution, and publicity don't exactly require advanced degrees or special talents or even luck. They just require information, and once you have that, you have all the tools you need to turn your manuscript into a viable book project. The information you need to get started is on the Web. But where are the answers to the most basic questions when you need them? And how do you even find out what those basic questions are?

In her new e-book, How to Market, Sell, Distribute, and Promote Your Book: Critical, Hard-to-Find Information for Authors and Publishers ($24.99), independent book promotion specialist Stacey J. Miller provides answers to such questions as:

* How can you let Oprah Winfrey's producers know about your book?
* How can you pitch your book to the buyers at major chain bookstores?
* How can you establish a business relationship with Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com so you can sell your book online?
* How can you find a book distributor to get your work into other book-selling channels?
* How can you create media lists, and how can you contact book review editors?

Almost anyone can self-publish a book, but the difference between creating a potential book (one that can be ordered if anyone ever hears about it) and creating an actual book (one that people are actually reading) is knowing what to do after your plans for publication are in place … and while your topic is still hot, and you're still interested in using your book as a vehicle for building brand, increasing your credibility, making money, or fulfilling your life-long dream of being a real author. Don't let the lack of knowledge stop you from taking the next step on your journey of being a respected published author of a real book.

Stacey J. Miller is a book promotion specialist and founder of S. J. Miller Communications, an independent book publicity firm. Visit her online at http://www.bookpr.com/bookpromotionbook.htm.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm