What
are the challenges for authors to generate publicity today? There are many, but
there are also numerous opportunities to cash in as well.
Certainly
today’s author is looking at a diluted news media landscape and an expanded
level of competition. There are more media outlets than ever -- but each reaches
fewer people than five years ago. The number of books published daily by some
accounts is 3000 new titles. Lots of books, lots of media available -- but
authors need time, money, and resources to succeed.
Authors
need to devise a strategy and then implement it.
The
sooner an author identifies his or her goals and then works backwards on all
the steps that will be needed to position him or herself to reach these goals,
the better.
Then
you must divide these tasks into:
-What
you will do
-What
you’ll hire someone to do
-What
will not be done
For
the things you plan to do, figure out how and when you’ll execute these tasks.
Create a metric to measure and evaluate your activity and reflect back to monitor progress, and where needed, to switch the plan.
For
the things you’ll hire someone -- or multiple people to do -- research who would be
a good fit to work with and get them involved in the process early.
The
next step is to develop your brand and your platform. You want to create an
identity or persona that people will gravitate towards. Once you find the voice
that speaks best for you, the rest will flow naturally from there.
Start
the PR prep process early -- at least six months before your book is scheduled to
be out. Do a content audit of yourself and assess what you can create for your Web site, blog, and social media. Think about the topics, people, events,
places, products and resources you plan to identify in podcasts, videos, blog
posts, or media interviews.
When
you promote yourself -- or work with a proud professional -- you will want to gather
ideas and information that can be used in a number of ways, whether it’s to
develop story angles for a magazine, interview answers for radio, blog posts,
or YouTube videos.
The
real challenge to PR is not just time, money, knowledge, competition, or media
landscape.
The
real challenge and opportunity at hand is how you harness your network, resources, ideas, and energy to create a winning campaign.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter.
You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He
feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
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