First Word

Is traditional public and media relations dead? The analysts are asking this question because of the rapid rise of social media as the main technique to start buzz and sell products. My answer is no, it's alive and well. Today, you've got more avenues than ever before to promote your books, products or services. The real answer is you've got to cross traditional public relations with trending social media techniques, but one without the other isn't the working formula.   Here is how it should go:   Step 1: Create a traditional media campaign and promote to the online, print and broadcast media. Step 2: Set up interviews and promote book reviews. Step 3: Take the results in the form of links and use social media to blast the results to your respective social media audiences. Step 4: Use social media to promote to your respective audiences your own book promotions and excerpts. Step 5: Engage your social media audience.   Traditional media c...

  Tip #1: Blog – Most blog sites are free . You can use their templates to build your own blog site look and feel. I personally prefer to keep it as professional as possible – especially since I am a business owner promoting a brand ( www.3LPublishing.com ). I like Google’s blogspot (here). Other blog sites are available. Now some authors (depending upon their genres) may feel like their site wouldn't have enough content. In that respect, you can pull out themes from your book and discuss them. You can talk about the writing process. And if you’re really bored, blog about your dog, but just make sure you keep your blog content current. Lack of content makes your blog look abandoned. Tip #2: Social Media posts . I have to admit that sometimes social media can be invasive what with people messaging me about private matters. I have even had moments where I wanted to de-activate my social media, but that would be a mistake. It sends the wrong message. It als...

My recent post on book promotion is one of the highest read posts on this blog right now. I figured readers must be hungry for that information. The great benefit of promoting all of our books is the side-bonus of promoting my company 3L Publishing as a "via". So, I thought I would share what's required in your author toolkit to market and promote to your target audience. Authors are required to build what is called a "platform" (a place and methodology to spread their messages). A platform enables authors to spread the word about their books, viewpoint and message, and more importantly create the critical following. A following is gold in this industry. It means multiple book sales not just of one book, but other books, too. The following addresses what should be used to build a platform. Media Kit -- industry standard media kits are required not only for the media, but also for the book sellers and associations where the author might speak. The industry ...