Press Release - Learn How to Write One to Market Your Fiction!

A press release is a vital part of your marketing efforts that starts the ball rolling. It gets your name and your book's name in the media and introduces it to the world. It's not a direct advertising piece nor should it be considered as a direct form of selling material. It is a media tool to use to get your information in front of the right people in order to let people know it's out there and to keep an eye out for it. It's also a great way of building your database of prospective buyers by leaving your contact information with the release in order for people to contact you regarding your new book. It's main purpose is to get people interested in your book.

The following information is derived in whole or in part from Lulu.com. When writing a press release, you want to start with an angle or a hook. Why is the fact that you published a book newsworthy? Why is your book interesting or why would people want to read it?

What is it that they will find interesting? "Jane Smith Writes A Book!" is not interesting. "Jane Smith Finds Great-Grandparents' Civil War Letters and Writes A Book" is more interesting. Editors don’t care about your book, they care about news, and what will be of interest to their readers. The role of the press release is to lead them into writing a story about you, your book, or your topic (calling on you as the expert). It is not to give you free publicity. The release should be professional and dispassionate.

Next, you want to make sure you have a good headline. Don't exaggerate or make unrealistic claims with your press release. Think of your release in the traditional inverted pyramid of journalism. You want the most, the meatiest, stuff at the top - your bottom line per se. Let it trickle down into more and more detail. An editor should get the gist of your book and why it's interesting by reading the headline and the first sentence.

Your first sentence of your release, then, should be where you build upon your angle based on your headline. Make your claims - why was writing and publishing your book a great accomplishment? The fact that you have a book may not be newsworthy, but the fact that it took you 60 days to write a 250 page novel from scratch to publication could be.

It's a lot more difficult to write a fiction press release than a non-fiction one. Non-fiction is usually spurred from something dramatic that happened in one's life and fiction is made up. So finding a great angle may be rather difficult. Going to a local newspaper and talking with a professional journalist may be a good idea to come up with a great angle.

In the body of your media release you are substantiating your claims, backing up the story with details, with quotes, and with authority. The bottom of the release should contain important details, like your availability and the availability of your book.

Check out some tips for writing a press release.