Self Publishing Book Marketing – Book Blast

Introducing the BOOK BLAST Marketing Package, available exclusively for select Outskirts Press authors.

 1. Custom Press Release The custom, professionally-written press release combines information solicited from the author with the professional expertise of our PR writer for a unique, custom release that is focused on the benefits of your book. As the author, you will receive a copy for your records or to further refine and then our News Wire distribution kicks in.

Through distribution, your custom press release is:

• electronically distributed to a database of approximately 100,000 media contacts, newsrooms, industry analysts, and freelance writers who receive daily email listings of press releases which match their filter criteria. In the publishing category these include newspapers (Wall St. Journal, New York Times, USA Today, etc.), magazines (Foreword, Publisher’s Weekly, etc.), and applicable websites and ezines.
• posted to syndicated news feeds on other web sites through our XML/RSS news feed. Adding this news feed increases exposure to your press release.
• optimized for search engines indexing. Search engines regularly spider index our press releases.

2. PR Publicist CampaignSometimes, electronic distribution just isn’t enough, even when the distribution network includes all the perks of our News Wire Distribution above. With the PR Publicist Campaign, a publicist will handle further press release distribution of your custom-written press release with additional, targeted distribution and phone call follow-up to key leads.We will e-mail your custom release directly to the personal email in-boxes of book reviewers and editors in print, radio, television, trades, E-zines, syndicates, and wires locally, regionally and nationwide. This additional distribution circuit is exclusively available through the PR Publicist Campaign, and consists of over 21,000 national media contacts. Applicable trade publications selected for your subject are included free of charge. Editors have opted-in and given us appropriate addresses to e-mail the respective releases to.

Once your release is distribution throughout the circuit, we will place phone calls to follow-up on your single release with key editors, beat writers, and reviewers to push your press release. This increases the probability of coverage/interest. These are not cold calls. The editors and writers receiving your press release and our phone calls have agreed to receive applicable press releases and therefore value the information and the follow-up phone call, which we perform for you.

Then, we will send you every single media lead that results from your publicist campaign. Usually they are in the form of a review copy request but may also be interview requests. The PR Publicist will also send you a recommended cover letter to use when following-up on each lead. You may use it exactly, or alter it as necessary, depending upon each lead.

BONUS: For your convenience, we will register you with a clipping service to keep track of all the promotion you receive from your Book Blast Package. Every time your book title is mentioned anywhere on the Internet, you will receive up-to-the minute email notification. This clipping service lasts for as long as you want.

3. 60 Second Book Video Trailer and Digital Viral DistributionAre you ready to take your book marketing efforts into the 21st Century? Be among the first authors anywhere to use online video marketing. The Book Video Trailer is like a movie trailer for your book. It’s cool, it’s hip, it’s NOW!

• Music, text, video – we handle the entire production for you
• You take a look at the first version and make revisions
• We modify the video once to your specs for the final version
• Final length is 1 minute for optimal online video sharing
• We send you the 6mb video file via email
• Now you have a Book Video to use in any/all of your marketing efforts, however you want

But wait! There’s more! We also upload your video to popular social networking websites, perfect for enhancing your search engine optimization on keyword searches for your name and book title. Plus, successful viral marketing efforts begin at all the sites where we will distribute your video, including:

• YouTube
• Google Video
• Yahoo Video
• AOL Video
• MySpace
• Daily Motion
• Revver
• LiveVideo
• Metacafe
• and more

BONUS: Your video will be embedded into your Outskirts Press author webpage for you, so visitors to your Outskirts Press webpage will be able to watch your book video online from the new Media Center section of your author webpage.

Press play to see a sample of a recent book video trailer:

4. Book Review SubmissionWe have identified 10 book reviewers who, in our experience, have all demonstrated a tendency in the past to review alternatively published and self-published books.With the Book Review Submission Service, included in the Book Blast Marketing Package, we will administer the submission of your book to these ten book reviewers for you as an optional service. Included in the submission to these reviewers is everything the reviewers typically require to consider writing a review, like:

• a professional cover letter
• a professional press release
• your sales sheet
• a complimentary copy of your book for the reviewer to consider and keep

As always, remember that no one (including the author nor Outskirts Press) has any control over whether a book reviewer agrees to write a review, decides to share a review that is written, or what the review will say (positive or negative). Participation in the Book Review Submission service in no way implies that a review will be written or that a review will be positive. On the other hand, positive reviews on popular websites and blogs or within popular journals can improve sales and lead to positive word-of-mouth, which is a precursor to the viral publicity and “buzz” that all authors dream of.

5. Personal Marketing AssistantWith all these simultaneous promotional tactics going on (custom release, book video, book reviews, PR campaign), what’s a busy author to do to keep up with the marketing or follow-up that may result from a viral video, an amazing review, and a potential flurry of interview requests from the publicist campaign?Easy! The Personal Marketing Assistant can help you with more personal and specific marketing needs focusing solely on your unique book and “platform” as an author. You will get a 5 hour block of time which includes an initial 30 minute phone consultation and can include even more phone consultation time as you and your personal marketing assistant feel is warranted to successfully market your book. Here are just some of the many, many things the Personal Marketing Assistant can help you with:

• PR Publicist Campaign lead follow-up
• Suggesting advertising venues for your book and placing those ads for you
• Calling bookstores in your area to pitch your book and/or arrange book signings
• and much more