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Why Authors Should Not Use Press Releases To Promote Their Books.

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This blog post will outline the main reasons press releases are not a cost effective method for authors to obtain publicity for their book. Press releases have stopped being read by the very people an author most wants to reach for reasons outlined below.

As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, my specialty is helping authors get exposure to the media and as a result of this, get booked for interviews on TV, radio and in print. I cannot think of one instance where I would recommend that an author use a press release to accomplish this.

Lou Hoffman has an article entitled “The evolving distribution and role of press releases” at PRdaily.com. Prdaily.com is a great free site to follow if you are doing your own publicity. I suggest you subscribe to it. In his article he points out that press releases have lost their effectiveness in recent years for a number of reasons.

Let me list Mr. Hoffman’s issues and add some of my own as to why press releases are not recommended as effective ways to get publicity:

· The number of press releases sent out on a daily basis average about 1,800, which is at a peak. This equates to a flood of information going into any media outlet.

· At the same time, the number of employees in media newsrooms is declining due to staff cutbacks. So there are less people to read your press release. The number of reporters toiling in newsrooms is actually lower today than in 1978, according to the Pew Research Center.

· When distribution of the press release reached only the domain of the media, journalists enjoyed a free lunch. With little effort, they could write stories based on a press release, and those stories appeared fresh to their readers because they couldn’t find them elsewhere. This advantage disappeared around 1996 when press release distribution services started flinging out press releases to the masses via the Internet.

· Press releases are time consuming for most people to write. It can easily take a pro ten hours to write one. It takes much longer than that for an amateur to write one.

· Press releases are expensive to distribute. It costs from $600 to $3,000 to distribute a press release, depending on what distribution service you use.

· Very few in the PR industry, especially those in agencies that charge fees to write and distribute press releases do any kind of evaluation as to their effectiveness. Bang for the buck is not an issue when your business model is built on sending out press releases.

I advise my clients to avoid this needless, inefficient use of their time and money and avoid press release entirely.

A few focused, targeted emails can be sent out for free. I have over 1,000 clients who can testify that you can be incredibly successful at booking interviews in TV, radio and in print by using this method.

Of course what to put in that pitch can be a bit tricky, so I created the Quick Fame System. It comes with one on one phone coaching, so we can tailor the pitch to your unique circumstances. Believe me this is huge. You need this if you are serious about pitching your book and want actual results.

If you fee you just want to brush a pitch by me, you should check out my One Hour Media Pitch Consultation.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this blog post. Email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com with any comments.

Oh and be sure to sign up for the free special report shown on the home page of the blog. It is really good.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith
America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Photo courtesy of PRdaily.com

The post Why Authors Should Not Use Press Releases To Promote Their Books. appeared first on How To Do Your Own Publicity.


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