Smith Publicity Blogs

High-functioning author websites are a cornerstone of book publicity today. If you're about to publish a book and planning a site, keep these crucial success factors in mind. First, If you are hiring a designer to create your website, ideally find one who has experience with authors or subject-area experts. Request samples and ask about the creative process works and fees for updates/maintenance/training for you to update on your own. Make sure to show your creativity and personality. The look and image of your website communicate what you want people to know about you – appeal to your target audience. Once you're underway, update your website frequently. It does not need to be overly time consuming, but do make sure to delete anything that is expired, i.e., old dates, event announcements, etc. For example, if your book is mentioned as coming soon, and the publication date was last month, make sure to update the site. If you are blogging, post routinely to keep cont...

                                  Today, there are many  book marketing  platforms available to self-published authors. When used effectively, they can build visibility and help spark sales. Some platforms provide options for self-published books to show up in the databases of traditional book distributors. However, getting traditional book stores to place orders, securing meaningful media coverage can be challenging. Because people today are oversaturated with news and information, it's essential to create a strategic marketing plan to make a book stand out. Publicity and promotion are vital to reaching target audiences. When you develop a marketing plan for a  self-published book , you're giving it advantages to help it become successful. A plan enables you to be better organized and lays out in detail the actions you will take to accomplish your goals. A well-devised marketing p...

The most effective book publicity  has many dimensions. A well-planned marketing campaign may contain some of all of these aspects, depending on the book and author. Some of the more common approaches include pitch-only outreach. It refers to the time when publicists send only a pitch–without a press release–to a list of media contacts. This practice has become more common over the years and is often useful for radio and TV pitching. Shorter can be better, so pitch-only plays to the limited time many producers have available. The press release is sent as a follow up to those who are interested. Long-lead media refers to monthly magazines that plan and produce their issues several months before the issue date. For example, during late summer, some magazines are working on holiday issues. The long lead times mean publicists need to pitch editors at these publications three to five months before publication date. Without adequate lead time, the publications won't consider th...

                                    Publicity and promotion are vital considerations when you're deciding  how to market a book.  Part of developing a more thorough understanding involves learning some of the tactics publicists use most often. One of the most essential is the high-priority media. They are top-level, national media, or media at any level for which a book or author is well suited. Size isn't always the most crucial determining factor of high priority. For example, a small, niche publication might be vital for a book in terms of spreading the word and sparking book sales. The same might be true for a high-quality niche blogger. A great deal of success depends on introductory pitches from a publicist to media. They're nearly always accomplished by email, phone, or regular mail. For emails, an intro pitch needs to be several sentences, customized for the recipient, an...

Social media is an ever-evolving component of  book marketing , and Twitter for authors can be one of the most effective platforms. In some circles, the debate continues about where authors should spend time online, but in the opinion of many, Twitter has earned a top spot. It allows authors and other experts an opportunity to post frequently with pithy comments. Tweets can range from book excerpts to blog posts and items connected to events of the day. By sharing information and being visible with readers and fans, it helps generate traffic to book and author websites steadily. Twitter users also can be a part of many conversations by sharing tweets from other users. Relevant articles, images, and blog posts from anyone interesting can be great items to share. Retweets help to cultivate relationships with others and keep your feed both  active  and  relevant . Being a Twitter favorite and building a large following can provide a boost to author branding. You ...