Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 5, Issue 6 | Page 28

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK “BUY” TO PURCHASE ANY BOOK CHECK OUT THESE QUOTES CREDENTIALS TALK (CONT’D) Advertising is dead. Direct mail is dead. Cold calling is dead. It works. It grabs you. But their real purpose is to sell you on their bright, shiny object. So there’s a bit of duplicity involved in their logic. IF YOU ONLY READ THE BOOKS THAT EVERYONE ELSE IS READING, YOU CAN ONLY THINK WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS THINKING. –Haruki Murakami While I’ll be the first to say that one press release standing out in the cold is not going to turn your life around or turn your book into a best seller, a press release has many benefits that you may not realize or that you take for granted and don’t appreciate. SO LET’S GO THROUGH THE NEW RULES FOR PRESS RELEASES: Press releases are indexed on Google, so you can get page one rankings. If you are on page one of Google, there’s a good chance your prospects will see it and click through. Consider this paid advertising. When people see you on Google, listed on a news media site, you benefit from their branding and you gain credibility. One of my clients was booked on Fox News Boston when a TV producer Googled his keywords and she read his press release which we distributed for him and was printed on more than 100 media websites. Of course, this Google ranking happens only when you use a quality service, not a free service. If you use a free service, Google probably won’t list it. Reporters and bloggers do read press releases. Yes, not all reporters and yes, they all won’t write about you. But some will. Any one article could turn make a big difference for you. Many of my clients have gotten requests for interviews based on press releases they read. ANY BOOK THAT HELPS A CHILD TO FORM A HABIT OF READING, TO MAKE READING ONE OF HIS DEEP AND CONTINUING NEEDS, IS GOOD FOR HIM. –Maya Angel