Doreen McGettigan

WRITING WEDNESDAY

Wednesday is the day I like to share information, tips and inspiration with writers and bloggers. The kind of information that I wish someone would have shared with me back then.

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Writing Wednesday

Wednesday is the day I share what I have learned on my journey to publication, marketing and getting ready to publish again. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

Whichever path you choose to take for your book, traditional, independent or self-publishing the fact is you will be responsible for marketing your book.  As soon as you start writing a book you should start writing a marketing plan. A marketing plan has three major parts, marketing advertising and public relations.

I wrote about marketing plans here: doreenmcgettigan.com/?p=5230

Advertising here: http://doreenmcgettigan.com/?p=5540

Public Relations (PR) Part 1

Any book can become a best seller if it is written and marketed well. You must create a reason for people to ‘need’ your book. A good Public relations professional is well worth the investment if your publisher does not provide one. If hiring a PR rep is not in your budget, no worries.

What exactly are public relations?

It is the professional maintenance of a favorable public image for you and your business.

The art of managing the spread of information between your business and the public.

Planning Promotions for the purpose of creating goodwill

Creating an author platform

Publicity- press releases- media pitches- communication intended to create a positive image

Creating promotional text, audio, and video

Planning launches, conferences, book signings etc…

Creating promotional materials- business cards, book markers, post cards etc…

Some tips for putting your PR plan together:

Know what is news- News is information that is relevant to the public as a whole. Sadly for us writers, putting our hearts, souls and in most cases a lot of time, a year sometimes more of our lives into our work, experiencing rejection on steroids over and over again and ending up finally, as a published author is NOT news. There are more than a half-million of us a year and the numbers keep growing.

To become newsworthy you must establish yourself as an expert. This is a little bit easier for non-fiction writers but definitely possible for fiction writers.

My second book, The Stranger In My Recliner is the story of a homeless woman named Sophie. My husband brought her home and she lived with us for nearly three-years. After experiencing first-hand the lack of action by government, community and private agencies, the research I did on homelessness, interviewing her friends and family I feel comfortable saying I am an expert on the topic of homelessness.

If you are stuck figuring out your topic of expertise ask your beta readers what message they received from your story…

Have a concise message, who; what; why; when and where. Have you perfected your two or three line elevator speech?

Know who you are pitching. You don’t want to pitch your expertise on rebuilding car engines to the entertainment reporter.

Follow journalist, producers and reporters on twitter but DO NOT pitch them on social media. Trust me just don’t. Simply be entertaining but professional. Join the conversation and favorite and like their stuff, not all of their stuff because that can make you look like a stalker. Be patient…

Have you joined HARO?  http://helpareporter.com

Next week I will share tips on writing a press release and a media pitch.

What is your area of expertise?

Happy writing,

Doreen

“Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and above all accurately so they will be guided by its light.” Joseph Pullitzer 1847-1911

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