Why do I need a media kit and what are the elements needed?
One of my clients is in the process of building a new author website, and one of the things I recommended was that he set up an online media kit. This is where journalists and bloggers can find basic information about you and your book(s) along with your professional head shot and book images. This is a good thing to have. It makes you look professional, and increases your credibility.
One of my absolute favorite resources for anything to do with book marketing is Joanna Penn, who I heard about through Joel Friedlander. Here is an excerpt about online media kits from her book, How to Market a Book, available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions.
Here’s what Joanna recommends you have as part of your online media kit, which is really just a page on your website:
- Your contact details and your agent/representative. Include phone numbers if you can, as some journalists want instant access.
- Short biography and long biography: The short form bio is often used on blogs and in intro sentences on articles. The long form bio is more autobiographical and contains relevant information about your background.
- Professional pictures of you available in multiple different sizes. Include headshots and other more interesting pictures if you like.
- Awards / Bragging rights / Endorsements / Live speaking events
- Press coverage and media reactions
- Product information: Links to your books and images as well as buy links and ISBNs. Back blurb if appropriate.
- Interview topics and key points, interview questions and a 1-pager on your book (as journalists/media interviewers will not be reading your book but would like to sound as if they have).
- Fan resources – sample tweets or Facebook shares with links to your books as well as banner ads so that people can promote your work. This might also include questions for book clubs and other promotional material. Here are some great examples for you to model:Non-fiction: Michael Hyatt’s media kit for Platform http://michaelhyatt.com/platform/media
Fiction: New York Times Bestselling Author CJ Lyons http://cjlyons.net/for-media/
Fiction: Hugo and Nebula Award winner Robert J Sawyer http://www.sfwriter.com/presskit.htm
