This Is How To Get Easy Author Publicity by guest @SmartAuthors

By Rachel Thompson | #NaNoProMo

May 04
This Is How to Get Easy Author Publicity by Guest @SmartAuthors via @BadRedheadMedia and @NaNoProMo #NaNoProMo #Marketing #Publicity #Writing

As a self-published author have you ever sighed with envy as you watch another author – most probably trade published – chat about their book on the sofa of a popular TV show? Or maybe you’ve been listening to a podcast or radio show and realized that someone else is getting book publicity you can only dream of?

But is it only a dream? Is it, in fact, possible to land yourself some awesome author publicity?

What Is Publicity?

Sure, if you’re hoping to land a spot on Oprah by the time you’re done reading this, you may be disappointed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find effective publicity that can help promote you and your book.

First, let’s be clear about what ‘publicity’ actually is.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, publicity is ‘Notice or attention given to someone or something by the media’.

And ‘media’ is defined as ‘The main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively’.

So when we talk about media and publicity, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to Oprah and The New York Times. Blogs and podcasts with much smaller audiences, particularly where those audiences overlap with your ideal readers, can be just as effective as those very well known, much larger media outlets.

This Is How To Get Easy Author Publicity by guest @SmartAuthors #publicity #Authors

Rethink Media Opportunities

With that in mind, what should you be doing to get publicity?

If you’re a trade published author, your publicist or the marketing department at your publishing house may send a press release to media outlets, pitching you as a guest or your book for review.

As an indie, you can do this too, but you will likely find it a much better use of your time to be pitching yourself directly to blogs and podcasts.

Now, if you have ever started your own blog, you may feel a little jaded and that blogging is a waste of time.

That’s not true – blogging is an excellent way to reach new readers and engage with them, *if* they are finding your blog in the first place. Ditto podcasts.

The truth is that with nearly 2 billion websites online right now, with many of them being blogs or featuring a blog, it’s impossible to stand out, regardless of how awesome your content is if you don’t do anything to draw traffic to you.

Blogs that are successful today have spent a long time building their audience. It’s simply not true that if you build it online they will come. So if you don’t already have plenty of traffic to your blog, I recommend writing for someone else’s blog or being a guest on someone else’s podcast.

That is how you create your own publicity opportunities and attract attention to your book through digital media.

How You Can Land Your Own Publicity

You may be thinking this all sounds great in theory, but you don’t have any media contacts, so how can you land guest blog and podcast interview opportunities?

You don’t need to be famous or wildly successful to be on many smaller blogs and podcasts and having been on some of those, you can work your way up to bigger ones. All you need is a reason to be there – something of value to offer the audience, whether that’s something you can teach or an interesting experience/personal story you can share.

The key is to do your research before pitching – read a few blog posts or listen to a few podcast episodes to get a feel for the style and what the audience engages with most.

With a little bit of research to find the blogs and podcasts that are the best fit for you, some brainstorming to come up with a few great story ideas and strong headlines, plus a clear and concise pitch directly to the blogger/podcaster, you will be ready to go.

Here’s the overview of how to be a great guest blogger or podcast guest:

  1. Research blogs and podcasts to pitch using Google, and iTunes too for podcasts
  2. Send a strong pitch
  3. Follow up!
  4. Write a great post/record an awesome interview
  5. Write a compelling bio/write a script to use during your interview to let listeners know who you are and where they can find out more about you. Include an offer of some sort of gift to encourage people to sign up to your mailing list.
  6. Promote the post to your networks
  7. Reply to comments
  8. Thank the blogger

Get Your Free Guide to Guest Blogging

Of course, you will have questions about each of these steps. Luckily for you, as part of NaNoProMo I am giving away my Smart Author’s Guide to Guest Blogging, where I walk you through these action steps – and much of the guidance applies to podcasts too – so you can get started landing your own publicity opportunities right away.

So, download the Smart Author’s Guide to Guest Blogging now and let me know in the comments if you will be trying guest blogging or podcasts.

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THE GIVEAWAY

The Smart Author’s Guide to Guest Blogging (pdf version)

This Is How to Get Easy Author Publicity by Guest @SmartAuthors via @BadRedheadMedia and @NaNoProMo #NaNoProMo #Marketing #Publicity #Writing

Guess what. EVERYBODY WINS!

Go download your free copy right away!

Belinda Griffin

Belinda Griffin | @SmartAuthors

Belinda Griffin helps authors launch bestselling books with impact, so they can make the difference they are here to make. As the founder of SmartAuthorsLab and as one of Tim Grahl’s certified Book Launch coaches, Belinda offers expert guidance, as well as practical done-for-you and done-with-you support, to help you plan your first or next launch.

Belinda also helps writers to grow their all-important author platforms, by forming authentic relationships with readers, both before and after publication. To find out more, grab your FREE guide: Ready To Find The Best Book Launch Plan For You? & follow Belinda on Twitter @SmartAuthors.

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For a more detailed plan on developing your book marketing, purchase Rachel’s new book,
The BadRedhead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge
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About the Author

Rachel Thompson is the author of newly released BadRedhead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge: How to energize your book sales in a month - created to help authors market their book. She is also the author of Broken Places (one of IndieReader's "Best of 2015" top books and 2015 Honorable Mention Winner in the San Francisco Book Festival), and the multi award-winning Broken Pieces, as well as two additional humor books, A Walk In The Snark and Mancode: Exposed. She owns BadRedhead Media, creating effective social media and book marketing campaigns for authors. Her articles appear regularly in The Huffington Post,  IndieReader.com, The San Francisco Book Review (BadRedhead Says…), 12Most.com, BookPromotion.com, and Self-Publishers Monthly. Not just an advocate for sexual abuse survivors, Rachel is the creator and founder of the hashtag phenomenon #MondayBlogs and two live Twitter chats: #BookMarketingChat (co-hosted with TheRuralVA, Emilie Rabitoy) and #SexAbuseChat, co-hosted with C. Streetlights and Judith Staff. She hates walks in the rain, running out of coffee, and coconut. She lives in California with her family.

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Leave a Comment:

(10) comments

McKenna May 1, 2019

I found even when I was working with a publisher, I had to do a fair amount of marketing myself–especially when it came to making the blog rounds! Aside from already knowing some of the best blogs/podcasts to contact, the work has pretty much been the same. I grabbed your download–thanks for the tips! You’ve given me some new ideas.

Reply
D.B. Moone May 4, 2019

Belinda,

Thank you for the informed post, as well as sharing “The Smart Author’s Guide to Guest Blogging.” I skimmed through the guide, I but will spend more time with it this afternoon.

My dilemma is I began my blog to garner more name recognition by writing book reviews, recently adding author interviews (in fact I have my third author interview today), I’m preparing to start guest blogs, and I also have some of my musings on my blog. Although not nearly enough. Just as I have three manuscripts sitting collecting dust while I manage my blog and other social media sites. My dilemma is that while I have over 7,650 Twitter followers, my blog numbers are disappointing.

I was recently asked by the Women’s National Association of Books to write a guest blog, which I agreed to. My guest blog is due July 1st, which I am hoping will draw more writers to my blog. Aside from crossing my fingers and hoping my guest blog brings a following to my blog, I am at a loss as to how to get more writers and readers to my blog.

I do not want to write book reviews for the rest of my life; I am a writer and want to get back to work on my manuscripts. Do you have any suggestions? Please feel free to follow my blog at https://dbmoone.com. You too, Rachel, please?

On a side note, I realize your post is more for the published author’s self-promotion, but when you speak to blogs and numbers, I had to reach out.

Sincerely,
Donna

Reply
    Belinda May 5, 2019

    Hey Donna, thanks for your comment! I hear you, promoting blog posts is hard – Rachel has some great tips in this post here: https://badredheadmedia.com/2017/06/helpful-tips-for-promoting-your-blog-on-social-media-you-need-now/.

    This is why guest posting is so great – you’re blogging on a site that already has traffic. The key is to have a compelling sign up offer in your bio, to convert readers into email subscribers. Then, when you have a post on your own blog (or another guest post), you can share it with your list and ask them to share it with their networks too.

    Book reviews are great to do on your own blog – make sure you’re letting the authors know and ask them to share the review if they liked it, as that can help you get in front of more new people.

    Hope that helps!

    Reply
Dana Lemaster May 4, 2019

Thank you for outlining the steps to generate publicity and also for the free download. I plan to blog on my author website and certainly expect guest blogging to be part of that. Blogging isn’t new to me. Prior to creating my author website, I ran a film review site for 3 1/2 years. I enjoy blogging and look forward to writing posts on new subjects. Podcasts may take more time, because of the need to buy and master new equipment. I understand they’re an important part of publicity now, so I’ll factor them into the mix.

Sincerely,
Dana Lemaster

Reply
    Belinda May 5, 2019

    Hi Dana, great to hear you’re embracing guest blogging. Don’t let the tech put you off podcasts, all you need is a decent mic and possibly headphones/ear buds. I have heard of some very successful podcasts that started with just the built-in mic with their Mac, although I would check the quality of your sound before doing that. If you’re the guest, as I recommend in my post, you don’t need to worry about editing software or anything like that, as the host will take care of that side of things.

    Go get stuck in!

    Reply
Linda Moran May 5, 2019

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I listen to podcasts – and I’ve only done one – which was interesting. I know blogging is changing, but I’m having trouble making the transitions from website and separate blog and Medium to a blog + Medium. I’m certainly willing to try a podcast…but my writing is both non-fiction and fiction – I seem to be more focused on non-fiction. I could use the help!

Reply
Rebecca E. Neely May 5, 2019

I’ve been working on reaching out to those with an established platform, who aren’t authors, so I can reach a new audience. Thanks for the download and the advice 🙂

Reply
Raiscara Avalon May 5, 2019

Guest posting is definitely on my agenda, but I’m not sure about podcasting. Not sure I’m ready to branch out into voice quite yet!

Reply
Lisa L. May 6, 2019

Thanks for the PDF guide! Looks great!

Reply
asrai May 7, 2019

I definitely need to be more proactive on soliciting and offering guest posts.

Reply
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