How to Make an Author Media Kit

making an author media kitYou have a new title out, or you’ve been asked to do a book signing or an interview, maybe participate in a panel discussion — a brilliant opportunity for some publicity. And then someone asks you for a media kit. Gulp. You don’t even know what that is, let alone how to put one together. The good thing is that you probably have all the ingredients for a media kit sitting around on your computer, your website, or floating around on the interwebs. Let’s hunt them down. A quick note first: What I’m walking you through here is only one possible version of a media kit, which is sometimes called a press kit. Your actual mileage may vary.

Mine is divided into two main sections: Information about me, and information about my books.

For information about you, you’ll need… Continue reading “How to Make an Author Media Kit”

How to Build a Press Room on Your Website

Imagine this. In a tireless effort to promote your latest novel, you’ve carpet-bombed the local media with press releases — as yet to no avail. Now you’re at your day job, inserting tab A into slot B or herding Nerfs or whatever you do to make the mortgage payments. Hey, no judgments here. Your cell phone chirps. Sweet merciful Oprah, it’s the book editor of the biggest newspaper in your area…well, her assistant, anyway. The Big Name Author she’d planned to feature was just tagged for plagiarism and other unspeakable affronts to literary sensibilities. You’re the next name on her list, but if you want those precious column inches, she needs your full media kit immediately. What? All you have is a cell phone with one bar and a dying battery, and a whole bunch of random stuff scattered all over your hard drive at home. Continue reading “How to Build a Press Room on Your Website”