Angela,
I was recently published by a local magazine. I’m thinking about hiring a press release service to spread the word about my article. Editors might be interested in my article since it’s not an “advertisement,” and then people reading it will see a mention of my book in the bio.
What are your thoughts on this?
C.A.
I appreciate your angle of thinking people will be more willing to read quality, informative content than they will an ad. And, providing that type of content, with a subtle ad at the end, is also a very good idea. You’ll get far more eyeballs that way.
However, buying press release services to announce getting published in a small magazine is a very bad idea.
First, editors at other publications aren’t going to care that you were published anywhere. They hire writers every day. Getting published is not seen as impressive to them.
Second, those editors aren’t going to be willing to send eyeballs to another publication (where your article appears).
Third, press releases are a waste of money. This isn’t a new thing. It’s been going on for years. There are numerous services that are happy to take your money to create and email or fax out a press release here, there, and everywhere. The problem is, journalists, bloggers, magazines, newspapers, and many others (including myself) are inundated daily with “press releases.” Most of them are simply junk that have “For Immediate Release” typed at the top. The vast majority of press releases are thrown away, sight unseen. I have an email filter that automatically sends press releases automatically to trash.
In essence, unless that press release is directly related to a celebrity (i.e. Stephen King just released a new book), nobody is going to read it. If there is a real news story that people care about, the media (even small, local outfits) are all over it already because real “news” spreads so fast now, especially since the explosion of social media.
Press releases don’t work for selling books, or much of anything anymore. Don’t waste your money. Please download your free copy of 55 Dos and Don’ts of Book Selling RIGHT HERE.
Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Wonderful wisdom from Angela. The only PS I might add is that local newspapers are often interested in books by local authors, and will follow up on a well-written press release with a feature article. That has happened to me with all of my BookLocker books. Now, whether, or how many, copies of the books are bought thereafter — well, that’s an interesting question indeed. 🙂
El