Free Book Publicity: How Author Scored Interview with Chicago Tribune


GoodbooksToday.com Authors Corner

You’ve written a great book—all your friends and family have read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now what?

Authors seem to think that if they’ve written something intriguing or interesting, and some people close to them like it, that the media will find them and come running.

Instead, to get your book noticed, you need to create some attention—a “buzz” around your book. Until now, that task seemed daunting.

Successful erotica romance author Kathy Kulig used her visits to erotic adult venues to garner media interest. Here is an interview we conducted with Kathy about her experiences with publicity:

GoodbooksToday.com: What was your first big publicity breakthrough? What was the Tipping Point?

Kathy Kulig: I was attending Romanticon, Ellora’s Cave Publishing annual convention, with my husband. (EC is my publisher). Their publicist noticed how my husband and I interacted with readers and other authors at this event and thought it would make a good publicity hook: Erotic romance author, supportive husband and how they balance love, marriage and career. So the publisher approached us and asked if we would be interested in speaking with media. We said sure! I didn’t realize it would turn into a campaign for a few months. After answering a ton of questions for a press release, the publicist learned that I attended a weekend workshop in NY City about BDSM and visited a BDSM club for researching my books. She sent out press releases to newspapers, magazines, online eZines and radio with the hook: Interview Husband and Wife Team Balancing Love, Marriage & (Fictional) Bondage.

GoodbooksToday.com: Did you ever prepare a press release yourself for a book? If so, what did you make sure was in it?

Kathy Kulig: I used to write for a local newspaper and had a few magazine articles published, so, in the earlier days of my career, I did submit a couple informal press releases. I wrote up a short article on something related but not about my book then gave a short bio and information about the book—title, release date, etc. Sometimes the paper ran the article or gave a mention. I never tried a large paper.

GoodbooksToday.com: How did you connect with the Chicago Tribune?

Kathy Kulig: The Tribune article/interview came about through a pitch/press release sent by the publicist. The only mention of my current book in the release was in the bio at the end.

TIP: You can submit a press release without a publicist and get your article/interview in a national or local paper by submitting a really good press release. Give your contact name, phone number and email at the top, a short hook line in bold letters. Only one page, including details of your topic. Think of something that would entertain readers, inform with a high concept and if you can relate it to your book somehow the better. Bullets points help. End with a brief 25-40 word bio, website link and mention: Interviews available upon request.

GoodbooksToday.com: Did the Tribune article help your book sales?

Kathy Kulig: Yes! I did get a nice bump in sales, new members to my newsletter list, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn followers.

GoodbooksToday.com: What advice do you have for other writers seeking publicity from newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, etc?

Kathy Kulig: Remember, the media doesn’t care you wrote a book. That’s not interesting to them. Find a good hook for your press release. Listen to radio, read the newspaper for ideas. Make a list of contact email for the media and send out a great, great press release (one page only!) Be polite, professional and thank them for their time. Be on time when you schedule an interview in person or via the phone. Confirm dates, times and phone numbers. If you call them, respect their time. Ask them, “Is this a good time?” If they say no, ask when you should try back.

The types of online sources and radio available that were interested in giving interviews surprised me. A couple radio stations I was on were college and country stations. I also gave an interview for college newspapers. I wouldn’t have thought they would want to talk to an erotic romance writer. But they were wonderful and a number have invited me back. People are interested in learning about what writers do. Some eZines look for freelance articles and will give a byline with short bio. That’s an opportunity too. I had a few of those.

See related article “Five Mistakes Authors Make That Keep Readers Away..”

Kathy Kulig is an award-winning erotic romance author whose works include elements of BDSM and the paranormal. She resides in eastern Pennsylvania with her husband. Kathy’s latest book, Summer Sins (Ellora’s Cave) is available at Amazon.com  and BN.com. Her next book, Red Tape, will be released soon.

Three steps you can take to promote yourself for free!

First, you need to do something newsworthy. That something would be “the event” and it could be as simple the completion of the book itself, but it should be something unique and interesting. Then you write a press release to get attention for “the event.”

Make sure you write a good press release—use proper grammar, proper press release format, and make sure there are no typos. The professionalism of your press release could mean the difference between an interview and being ignored. (See Press Release Template).

Distribute your press release to the media. This will help you get media coverage, which could be anything from a random blog (bloggers are always looking for subjects) to radio interest.

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