If you're a new author whose book is coming out soon, then this blog post is for you.
Often publicists will arrange free promotional spaces for authors - especially if there isn't a big publicity budget. They will request that the author and the illustrator to contribute to blogs of reviewers and influencers. Sometimes authors themselves will want to blog on their own websites or on blog collectives.
But if you're new and have never written a promotional blog post, then read on. We will tell you what to do before, during and after writing that blog post!
When your publicist asks you about your interest in blogging, most authors will say yes. Often when marketing budgets are small, especially for a creator of colour, we need all the noise and word of mouth we can get. If you said Yes, read on.
Questions to ask and things to plan
When are the blog posts due to come out? Is it a tour - that means are you writing 6 blog posts one after the other to be posted on different sites in the week of your book coming out?
How many can you manage? Pick a number - ideally 3-5 is a good number. More, you're going to repeat yourself. Less, there might not be too much of a wave in social media.
Ask your publicist - who is inviting you to blog. Visit their sites and understand what they usually talk about. Who is their target audience? Do they want an interview or a straight-up blog post? Do they want recommended titles for their readers?
Is this is the most appropriate list of blog sites for you? If there are red flags - for example, if the blogger doesn't do picture books and you're being asked to write one or if there are things that are contradictory to your book or your beliefs, then tell your publicist about it and discuss it.
Find out the deadlines and mark them in your calendar. Usually bloggers would like you to send it to them a week or two earlier so they can schedule the post and make sure everything is tied up.
Agree the topics for each blog (based on your research in step 3). Communicate your topic and length and number of images to the blogger / influencer via your publicist. Don't surprise them with the wrong content just when the blog is due to go out.
If you're the writer and not the illustrator, ask for permission from the publisher (and illustrator) to share any inside pages from the book. Often publishers would have already shared some for sales and will be happy for you to use them.
How to plan the content
Way before the book is ready to come out, think of the various topics you want to blog about. Divide them into categories.
Here are some popular ones for you to consider:
What inspired the book?
The theme of the book?
Where is it set and why?
Why are you the right person to tell this story?
Can you name five other books for the same age-group that will interest your readers after reading your book? Balance the recommendations with fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels and poetry, where possible.
Is this your first book? How was your journey?
Did you do research for this book - how did you go about it?
What aspect of craft would you highlight from this book - is it in verse? does it cover multiple viewpoints?
Obviously not all of the above are suited for all types of blogs. Book bloggers who cater to librarians will want a different topic to bloggers who address writers. Know your audience!
Getting down to the Writing
You will most probably not have tons of time to hand in blog posts as publicists will only finalise this about 6-8 weeks before the book is out. You can prepare of course some ideas, some bullet points and gather some "Similar titles to recommend" way ahead of this final window.
When you then finally agree the list of blogs, the topics, the length etc, start writing them. I've often found that I've written 20 times more content for the blog than there are words in the actual book. But readers, teachers, librarians love the inside story. They want to know how you did it.
Here are some tips:
Get to the writing way ahead of any deadlines.
If you're given a word range - say 500-700 words, keep to the lower side and share as much in pictures as possible. And remember this is all unpaid work.
Each blog post must cover one small topic and nothing more. Blog readers are surfing the web and their attention wavers too soon.
Make sure you're using only content for which you've permission. Any text extracts or illustrations should be cleared for permission with the publisher. If you want to use any art before it was finalised - like roughs or storyboards, you must get explicit permission from the illustrator.
Keep the tone and content friendly and audience-appropriate. Where possible, let the tone reflect the tone of the book.
Ensure your blog post is not a rant or a whinge. Do not blame anyone, find fault with the system or point the finger at anyone. This is not your session with the shrink. This is your publicity tour, online.
Where possible, make it interactive. Invite the reader to try out a technique that you've used in the book or check something on the map or try a new recipe from the book.
Do you have a youtube video of you reading an extract, attach a link in the blog and refer to it in your text.
Don't be too distant. People read these blogs to get to know you as a writer and the inside story of the book. Dish out some goss (about you), share some cute pictures, give us a glimpse into the person who created the book.
So all done. You've written five blog posts. You've lined up the images. You're ahead of time. Now what?
Spell-check and proofread your blog post. Twice.
Check word count and make sure it's within the specified length.
Don't embed images into the word document. Put placeholders in the document for the images and then attach the images.
Always credit the images - illustrator or cover designer or photographer or the appropriate creative commons attribution.
Name the document and the image files appropriately. Don't send randomly named images that the blogger will not want to open.
If the files are big (make them small where possible), ask if you can share via wetransfer or google drive or dropbox. Don't clog up the mailboxes of your publicist or the blogger. Check before you send.
Always send a doc with a short bio (50-60 words) and a headshot (or a picture of you in situ). Do not send author photos cropped from weddings and pub parties. Treat this as a professional task. Ensure you include your social handles in your bio so the blogger can tag you on social media.
That's it!
Itching to start? Then check out some publicity blogs before you begin!
Comments