If there is any chance at all that your book will get reviewed or covered by the press, you’ll want to invest the time and money into creating a professional media kit. That’s what I did just as soon as I had completed my piece of the editing process for Busting the Brass Ceiling, the book I’ll be self-publishing this fall.
I started with the synopsis, which will double as my sales copy, a few tweaks notwithstanding. I already had a stunning cover, thanks to Incubation Press’s book designer Lieve Maas, so the first two elements of the media kit were set.
I was also lucky enough to also have a handful of big-name endorsements, which my co-author Fanchon Blake had secured a decade ago. Nothing like having the likes of bestselling author Joseph Wambaugh, Congresswoman Pat Schroeder and Los Angeles’s five-term mayor Tom Bradley rave about your book.
Most people don’t start off having those kinds of endorsements—or any endorsements for that matter. Which explains why you might want to start working on garnering those a good six months before you publish.
What else will you need for a media kit? You’ll for sure need a great author photo and bio, as well as glamor pictures of your book cover. You’ll want to provide all the basic details about who the publisher is, pricing, etc. Here’s what my publishing information looks like:
Incubation Press
Trade Paperback: $15.99
ISBN: 978-0-9998584-8-6
eBook: $9.99
ISBN: 978-0-9998584-9-3
Publication date: November 20, 2020
292 pages
Available on Ingram and wherever books are sold
In my case, I also needed a media release. I chose a focus that relates to current events—excessive police force and the fact that as early as the 1970s, studies have pointed to women officers as the solution to that problem. At that time, however, most police departments were predominantly male and white, with limited roles and advancement opportunities for women. That changed when my co-author Fanchon Blake challenged on her department’s discriminatory policies, sued and won after a seven-year legal battle.
Once the media kit had been written, it needed to be designed. Using the awesome interior page design that Incubation Press’s book designer Lieve Maas had created, @KeriBarnum—the promotions person Incubation Press has teamed with—made the content I had written look better than I could have ever imagined. (Good thing I’m the writer and editor on the project and not the designer or the marketing expert!)
Since the whole thing is up on my website, you can take a look for yourself. Or you can just download the full media and marketing kit.
A bit overwhelmed by all this? I know the feeling. I’m also finding out that with the right people by your side, you don’t have to be. So reach out if we can help.
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