Two years ago, I interviewed a self-publishing millionaire who had sold 500,000 copies of his Special Effects Cookbook and had a great way to get free publicity.
This is what he said…
“As a cookbook author, I’ve been on a full page in the food section of a newspaper, in full color. The entire front page is my face, my story, and all my contact information. And if you get a great story in Boston or Los Angeles or Chicago or New York, millions of people are going to see that.
I’ll tell you what happened to him…
When a full story is published in a big city like that, you sell a lot of books! And he did!
As a self-published author, advertising becomes your new best friend. And in most cases, there is no perfect time to launch an advertising campaign for your self-published book. You do it practically all year round.
You started sending press releases by mail during a time when email wasn’t as important, but even now, email doesn’t work that well. No fax either. Instead, direct mail is the way to go. There are special ways to do direct mail. You put your press release in a big red envelope and use a magic return address marker and just write big letters all over it to really make this envelope look special. I’m talking about a big red envelope, 8 x 10, #10. You can get them at Staples.
Just be scandalous. As the guy in the red suit, he walks into the room and you have to see him.
So you send your press release in a big red envelope and with a black magic marker you write the guy’s name in big black letters. Use a couple of stamps and handwrite the address. You only need ten a day.
He feels hundreds a year for his book. You can do a little bit every day to get that constant stream of interest from TV, radio, or newspapers, the latter of which may work better because you can get an article; usually a full page.
It puts an 800 number on the press release and a computerized system where everything is automated that can handle 10,000 calls simultaneously. Calls can come directly to you from the press release.
The way a press release works and looks is that if it has to follow a format. At the top of the press release, in the upper left corner, simply enter your name and your office phone number for immediate release. You can leave a number with an answering machine, but I don’t recommend it. You want to handle all media contacts yourself.
The person who calls you is usually a journalist and they have an editor. And the whole point of writing a press release in the format I recommend is that you’re not selling anything. You can’t sell anything with a press release. Make them look good with your story. When you go to your publisher and say “hey Mr. Publisher, I found this great story”…it makes the publisher look good, so let him write and let him sell it for you. It works as a thousand wonders. really does
If you want your sales to skyrocket, craft an ad campaign that gets you noticed. Be unique. Let them know that there is no one like you out there. Use his advice on the use of this big red envelope. Works.
