News Releases for the Self Publisher

Since we haven't set any firm agenda for this blog, I think we might be jumping all over the place within the realm of publishing, and I'll try not to vent all of my pet peeves, but since I am a former book publicist, let's talk book publicity for a moment shall we?

Self Publisher: "Joni, I just wrote a news release for my new book and I'd like you to take a look at it"

Me: "Ok, what's your headline?"

Self Publisher: "Author writes new book on how to plan a wedding"

Me: "Could you be any more boring?"

Self Publisher: "But, as soon as they see that, the media will be banging down my door wanting to interview me. I mean, who doesn't want to know how to plan a wedding?"

Me: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"

Ok, what's the problem here? Anyone know? The world's worst news release headline is "author writes new book about...". Maybe if you're only targeting book review media you'll get a few bites, but otherwise... nobody cares! Remember people, you are approaching the media, the tellers of the news. Is what you've given them a story? Is it news? You have to look beyond the book. Find the story behind the story. Here are a few quick ideas:


- Save $10,000 on your wedding with this one tip

- Don't let your mother in law ruin your wedding - here's how

- Plan your entire wedding in 5 days or less


You get the idea. It's not about the book, it's about the story. Here's a tip: get out the newspaper and study the headlines. That's what you're going for. Make it NEWS.

Denise's turn

This is Denise - the Mom. Self-publishing is also my passion, and most importantly, helping authors become successful self-publishers is what I work at every day. I always say, "I wish I had me before I published my book". Learning to self-publish was like attending a self-imposed university program with no professor involved. I had to learn everything, and I mean everything, from scratch. It was such hard work and took so much longer than it would have if there had been someone that I could talk to about the whole process. I spent two years stumbling through the process, but the time was well spent. If I do say so myself, my book is beautiful. The proof is in the pudding: it sold over a quarter million copies, mainly to non-book store buyers. That was so exciting. But now, I have turned my focus to helping other people avoid the mistakes that I made and to gain from the good things that I learned. One of my greatest compliments came from a university professor/business editor who interviewed me for a major newspaper. She said, "Denise, you have so much knowledge about publishing books that you now have a Street M.B.A. on the subject." That still makes me smile. I hope that you enjoy our blog and that you tell all your author and publisher friends to visit us and to add some comments.

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter at http://www.inktreemarketing.com/.

Welcome to our NEW Self Publishing Blog!

"I've always wanted to write a book!"

Oh, good grief, if I had a nickel for everytime I've heard that, I'd be writing this blog from my private cabana, under a palm tree, on my own private island, drinking a pina colada that was just served to me by my cabana boy.... but I digress...

My name is Joni Pypers and my business partner, Denise Hamilton (who is also my Mom by the way!), and I, will be posting to this blog. Sometimes together, sometimes separately, as often as we can, to help you make money by self publishing your own book. Here's a photo of us, with our two other partners (L-R: Debbie Black, Denise Hamilton, Joni Pypers, Linda Matthie):

Self Publishing: this is my business, and has been for the last 9 years - helping wannabe authors get their books published and sold. Is it easy? No. Are many successful? No. Why not? Because they don't listen to me. Well, maybe a few other reasons too, but I wish they would come for help earlier in the process.

So, what happens if you jump in, follow your dream, and publish a book without doing your homework? You end up with a garage full of books -- and believe me, that really happens. It's no joke. Right now, there are thousands of authors out there with a garage filled to the rafters with published books. THEN they come to me for help! Guess what I say? Where have you been?? You should have called me months ago!!

Enter - THE BLOG. I'm hoping to catch some of you before you publish your books. For those of you who already have, I'm going to give you some good tips and tricks for selling your book. Let's clear out that garage!

This blog is going to consist of everything I can come up with to help you succeed in self publishing. Tips, tricks, articles, success stories, interviews... whatever. In my day-to-day business running my self publishing and book marketing site, I come across little tidbits all the time and I'm here to share them with you.

See you soon!

In the meantime, check out my main site: http://www.inktreemarketing.com/. There are piles of articles and resources there to help you.