A Media Kit: The Primary Marketing Package for You and Your Book

When you finish your book, it’s as though you’ve crossed the finish line after a marathon.

You’re exhausted. You’ve been working so hard you’re practically numb. And you’re probably thinking, “It’s finally done.”

Don’t derail your efforts by forgetting to create a Media Kit for your book. Whether it’s digital or print, you need a kit. It’s your primary marketing package, a wardrobe of materials that promote you and your nonfiction or fiction book.

7 Reasons You Must Have a Media Kit

A Media Kit can take weeks to create. Like your book, it requires writing, rewriting and proofing. And it must look attractive. Here are seven reasons you need to devote time and attention to your media kit.

1. A Media Kit , also referred to as a press kit, is the major marketing piece that represents you and your book.
2. Anyone interested in any aspect of your book can find everything in one place. Your audiences include journalists, bloggers, reviewers, retailers, individual buyers, event planners, librarians, and anyone who wants to promote your book.
3. A Media Kit serves as a crutch for busy journalists. They can cut and paste into stories they are writing entire paragraphs from your press release , synopsis and author bio.
4. Magazine and newspaper editors can find your high-resolution book cover inside the kit. They don’t have to email you with a special request “because the photo you provided won’t reproduce well.”
5. A tidy “sell sheet” can double as a printed order form at live events like speaking engagements and book signings. No need to give people two pieces of paper: One that describes the book and another they can use to order.
6. Most radio and TV talk show hosts who will interview you don’t have time to read your book. They will appreciate a list of interview questions. Another big benefit: You can choose the questions you want to answer.
7. The kit includes a variety of ways people can contact you: by phone, email, Skype, and on the social media sites. This information is so important that it deserves its own document. Don’t bury it at the bottom of your author profile.

 

What It Is and What It Isn’t

During my two decades working in a newsroom, I’ve seen people misuse media kits. Here’s what it is and what it isn’t.

1. It’s a collection of branded, hype-free marketing materials. It is not a free ad.
2. It serves as collateral material for journalists—something you offer to them after you pitch a story idea and they say, “Yes.” They might ask, “May I see some background material or your Media Kit?” The Media Kit is not a carrot that you dangle in front of a reporter as a substitute for a pitch. They don’t have time to read it. I didn’t either when I worked as an editor. I threw hundreds of printed Media Kits into the trash, unopened.
3. A Media Kit is something you offer. It is not sent unsolicited.
4. And it’s always a work in progress, not the type of project you “set and forget.”
5. After you have created all the items for your Media Kit, hire a proofreader to review everything.
6. Almost everyone who refers to your Media Kit will be able to use the digital version. But you might need a printed kit at some point, so it never hurts to have several on hand.

Upload the digital version of your Media Kit to your website, preferably as a link from the home page or the page that features your book. You can also put the kit in your online Pressroom.

Every item in the kit should be a separate PDF link. Don’t build security into each PDF and make it impossible for journalists to cut and paste your copy into their stories. Your job is to make THEIR job easy.

Update your Media Kit every few months or as soon as you get publicity and great book reviews, because those can be part of your kit, too. If you’re short on time and don’t want to have to create the media kit from scratch, see the author box below for a quick shortcut.

About the Author

Publicity expert Joan Stewart, also known as The Publicity Hound, has created a bundle of media kit templates that walk authors step by step through the entire process of building a Media Kit. It can be used by anyone on a PC or a Mac and requires no technical skills. Learn more about Quick & Easy Media Kit Templates when you click here. She shares email tips about Media Kits, book publicity and more twice a week. Subscribe at www.PublicityHound.com.

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