One of the parts of self-marketing a book is making a press kit. There are loads of resources online that tell you what to include. What I couldn’t find, even when asking around for help, was an actual press kit that I could look at.
I would rather have been gnawed upon by demons than try to figure this beast out. It was frustrating and the limited information I could find, even at the library, had me wanting to print a copy just so I could set fire to it!
For those who don’t know, a press kit is sort of an introduction that you send to the media. A newspaper can begin, or even write a short article, with just a press kit. It’ll tell people what you’ve written, all the pertinent information like ISBN, release date and such. Then it’ll tell what your story is about, and about you, as well. If you have reviews to add in, those go in a press kit also.
Okay, now you know what I did when I started putting mine together.
Like I said, rather be gnawed upon by demons!
Well, I finally hit a point where I knew it was either try what I had, or stop messing with a press kit. I tried it.
One copy went to a newspaper. I did my homework and located what I thought to be the right member of the entertainment section to approach. I got a response shortly afterward that pointed me off to the editor in charge of book reviews, along with a forwarded copy telling him that it looked like something he may want to see.
In less than 24 hours, I was invited to be on a local, morning news show.
I’m going to take that to mean that I did it right. (Insert “thank god” epithets here, at length.)
Well, given that I had so much trouble with putting this together, I’m sharing my press kit. Anyone who needs one for a book is welcome to download this and use it as a template. If it saves you even a little trouble, losing my leg to that demon with the particularly sharp teeth will have been worth it.
Kambry Ellis 