Sunday, October 23, 2016

Track Down Editorial Calendars To Promote Your Book



To promote your book and author brand it is helpful to be aware of the editorial calendars for newspapers, magazines, and digital media.  You can look to see when a media outlet is likely to cover a certain theme or topic based on when it says it will cover it.  The media is seeking advertising as well, so it states its editorial plans months and months in advance.

For instance, using the Publishers Weekly editorial calendar for 2017, it already knows more than a year out what it will be covering.  Of course it will cover other news, books and events that it can’t predict or plan for, but this calendar is quite helpful.  It’s upcoming January 23 issue will feature parenting books.  That would be the issue to zero in on if you have something interesting to share about parenting books.  Same could be said for travel books and the Feb. 13 issue or mysteries and thrillers for Mar. 27 issue.  Some topics get revisited in the year.  Cookbooks will be featured for Feb. 27 and August 14, for instance.

To find the editorial calendar for a media outlet, all you have to do is search for the name of the outlet and the term “editorial calendar” right after it. For instance, search for “Vogue Editorial Calendar” or “Maxim Editorial Calendar” and they pop up.

Knowing what the media is looking for helps you pitch them.  It also can help you scoop them.  You can blog about your book in a relevant way, days or weeks before these magazines are scheduled to publish.  For instance, Time Magazine says its 12.19 issue, which publishes prior to that date, will feature its “person of the year.” Why don’t you steal their thunder and name your own person of the year.  Their 9.26 issue featured retirement stuff.  You could have written about it before they did.

Many publications will seek out stories, article ideas, and input from readers to support the themes their media outlet lists in their editorial calendar.  You should seek to contribute.

The media in some respects, is predictable, as evidenced by their editorial calendar.  You need to think along with them and plan ahead to a degree they follow seasons of the year, holidays, annual events, and scheduled moments.  They look at anniversaries honorary days, and things that happen in cycles.

Another thing to look for on editorial calendars is a section like “gift guide” or “preview” or “fall announcements.”  These could be issues where books are listed or recommended.  Maybe you can get yours included.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. 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 2016 ©.
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