Karina Fabian Guest Blogs on Your Website's Media/Press Room

Often overlooked by authors is a media room on their website. I cover that in The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't but I thought this article by Karina Fabian (with her permission, of course!) would remind those of you who have the book to go back and review the stuff on websites I've given you there. I figured it would be especially useful for those of you who don't have the book. (-: )

The Woefully Overlooked and Neglected Media Room

By Karina Fabian

A media room is a marketing tool for you and a research tool for folks who want to write about you--reporters, bloggers, or reviewers. It's your place to brag, to advertise, to really promote your book and yourself.

It's part of your website, but not necessarily for the casual reader. This is not the place for the "bells and whistles" like glitter graphics, your favorite song streaming or pop-ups. This is the working part of your site. Here's where people go when they have a definite purpose. They're looking at you as a potential interviewee, and expert they can question and quote, a "new find" they can impress their editor with.

In order to reach them--and keep their attention--you want a media room that's easy and full of easy-access information and ideas. The easier you make it for a reporter to write about you, the more likely they will. The more useful you make yourself, the more likely they'll come back when they have another topic.

In some ways, an on-line media room can mimic the kind of media kit you may have already prepared for advertising your book. On the other hand, the ease of the Internet (and the fact that you can add or change things for free) means you can do a whole lot more. Media rooms can contain any and all of the following. The ones marked * are pretty much mandatory, though they may already be on your website and you can just link to them.

* Contact information

* Author bio

* Publishing credits/experience (can be part of bio)

* Book summary/blurb

* Book cover image

* Media Releases and/or News and Events

* Downloadable Press Package (either PDF or .rtf or both)

--Book Reviews

--Sample Interviews

--Awards and Publications

--Essays/Articles for Reprint

--Available seminars, speaking appearances

--Transcripts/audio recordings/video clips

--Ideas for story angles

--Fellow experts

--Downloadable items--business cards, sell sheets, etc.

--Sample chapters of published works or snippets of works in progress

--FAQ or Facts File

Why bother? (I'm not published. I’m not well-known. My publisher handles publicity…)

More and more people are turning to the Internet for their information. Students use it for homework. People surf it just for fun. Reporters turn to it as their first line of research.

Because of that, a web presence is very important for writers. The world has gotten simultaneously too small and too big for us to rely on verbal word-of-mouth to get our names out to readers. A website will help you with that. A media room on your website, however, gets more than your name out--it gets you into the hearts and minds of your readers or potential readers.

A media room complements your media releases; gives your publisher or publicist a link to direct others to; makes it easy for reporters to get what they need for the story, and can draw in the casual surfer. In this technological, information world, it's a must-have for your marketing arsenal.

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Guest blogged by Karina Fabian. After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. From Nuns in Space to a down-and out Faerie dragon working off a geas by St. George, her work takes quirky twists that keep her amused--and others, too. Winner of the EPPIE award for best sci-fi and the Mensa Owl for best fiction. In addition to juggling the stories from at least three different universes, Karina is President of the Catholic Writers' Guild and teaches writing and book marketing seminars on-line.

Karina's Websites:

www.fabianspace.com, where you'll find info about her, her writing and her eclectic writing/homeschooling/humor/just-gotta-say-it blog

www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com, where she'll gladly advertise your book if you'll return the favor to someone else

www.dragoneyepi.net, where you can learn more about the fantasy noir dragon detective Vern, his partner Sister Grace, and the world of Dragon Eye, PI.

Out of the Box Contest E-Book Available for Authors' Benefit

TRI Studio LLC www.tri-studio.com, in cooperation with Authors’ Coalition www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com, announced the winners of The 2008 Out of the Box Promotion Contestfor Writers . Kathe Gogolewski, editor of www.Tri-Studio.com published the winning ideas in an e-book available free for authors.

The top winners include promotional experts Janet Elaine Smith, Allyn Evans, Phil Harris and Billie Williams. Ideas range from a Book-of-the-Week Club that partners the publisher and author with an internet radio program, to an Amazon Tour Group, a Video Tour Group, and an idea that allows readers to watch the progress as an author writes a book. The e-book is available from TRI Studio and Authors’ Coalition as a free download. It is also available for free distribution for interested parties to post on their websites.

Winners of the Honorable Mention awards are presented in random order and include authors Mindy P. Lawrence, Dorothea Buckingham, Nikki Leigh, Margot Finke, Karina Fabian and Jessica Kennedy. The contest was sponsored and created by TRI Studio LLC, producer of The Fiction Flyer, a free e-zine for writers of fiction.

I judged the contest on:1) the originality of the idea, 2) The breadth of applicability, and 3) the ease of use. There were some very interesting ideas which made judging extremely difficult.

According to Kathe Gogolewski, author and President of TRI Studio LLC, the contest was created as a way to showcase new and interesting promotion ideas by authors and for authors. “We wanted to create a tool to help writers in their craft,” she adds.

The e-book, The Winners of The 2008 Out of the Box Promotions Contest for Writers is available for download and distribution here: www.tri-studio.com/outofthebox.html Interested parties may contact Kathe Gogolewski at kgogolewski@sbcglobal.net or Carolyn Howard-Johnson at hojonews@aol.com.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author THIS IS THE PLACE; HARKENING: A COLLECTION OF STORIES REMEMBERED; TRACINGS, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T; and THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.