Book Publicity Ideas

– Issue Press Releases

– Appear as a Guest Blogger

– Consider Paid Advertising

– Schedule Speaking or Signing Events

– Coordinate a Contest

– Offer a Free Giveaway

– Interact More on Social Media

– Write Articles: A great way to make yourself known as a resource and gain exposure for your book is to write content for other websites or publications. You can do this informally by appearing as a guest blogger, or you can take a more formal approach and write an article for a magazine or website.

Below is an example of a pitch that the editor of Wellness Times (Deirdre) shared with me. (FYI – This is the contact that helped us place the awesome article for Dr. Amber French and Kari Morris.) She demonstrated how she likes to receive information and says it’s useful for authors to have a few pre-written articles available to briefly preview via email to see if anyone “bites”. She often receives pitches like the one below from authors or publicists in an email to see if she’s interested in publishing the full piece. She considers these to be the most useful and least likely to be deleted in her inbox. She loves relevant, easy-to-use, and free content.

While BQB certainly tries to stay on the lookout for opportunities that would be appropriate for each author, you are the one that is in the best position to brainstorm ideas and make connections that will work in your favor. I know you’re not all PR professionals, but we are here to help you learn.

Think about websites and publications that your book’s target audience would be drawn to, and then see if you might be able to come up with a few article ideas that would fit in with their content. It doesn’t always have to directly promote your book. Similar to the article Dr. French wrote or the magazine feature that Millie West was in about her garden, the content was focused about something indirectly related (diet pills or gardening), and the fact that they are an author and have ___ book is intelligently tagged in at the end or mentioned throughout.

See below and email Julie to discuss any ideas if you’d like!

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Begin forwarded message:

Deirdre,

I’m contacting you with a story idea about common medications we all take–and how they may be making us sicker.

The big idea: When we have a physical complaint, most of us pop a pill to relieve the symptoms. The problem is, over-the-counter and prescription medications have harmful side effects that in many cases actually make the problem worse — and do nothing to heal the underlying condition.

The source: Bestselling author Dr. Michael T. Murray, an international expert on natural medicine, says for most common ailments, from acid reflux to arthritis pain, there are safe, effective, natural alternatives to conventional drugs. Not only do they relieve symptoms, they also address the cause of the ailment so that real healing happens.

Key messages: Dr. Murray shares five common drugs that make us sicker, and offers safer, more effective alternatives. He can also discuss:
— How sleeping pills can deprive us of healing sleep
— How headache drugs often worsen headaches
— How osteoarthritis meds weaken joint cartilage
— How antacids create serious digestive problems
— How antidepressants can lead to obesity

Michael T. Murray ND is a naturopathic physician regarded as one of the world’s top authorities on natural medicine. An educator, lecturer, researcher, and health food industry consultant, he is the author of more than 30 books, including his newest with coauthor Joseph Pizzorno ND, The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (Atria, Third Edition, 2012). Learn more at http://www.drmurray.com/.

Please let me know if you’d like me to send his print-ready piece, “Five Drugs in Your Medicine Cabinet that May Be Making You Sicker,” or if I may coordinate an interview.