The Essential Media Kit for the Nonfiction Author

Copyright (c) 2007 Gail Richardsher own news stories accordingly. A press release
One of the most vital items an author must have inshould be short-a page or two at most, with a
hardcopy and online is a media kit. Keep it in PDFprovocative headline that grabs the reader's attention.
format, and you will have everything you need in oneEnticing statistics in the opening of a press release
place.immediately communicate the magnitude of the
You are creating something that contains all theproblem or challenge the topics your book addresses.
information that a media representative will need whenWriting should be short, pithy, and tight. Always include
preparing an interview or writing a story. If there is aa brief author bio and all the relevant book information
news story that is relevant to your book, a reporter willand ordering information.
have no time to waste in getting the information he orInterview Questions and Answers
she needs. And if you and your book are ready, youIt is very helpful to reporters and interviewers when
will get the interview.you help them ask the right questions. Most of the time
A full media kit will include at least:you will be doing an interview with someone who has
� A Table of Contents for the media kit itselfnot had time to read your book. Professionals know
� Fact sheet on book including the title, author,this and do everything they can to help the interviewer
publication date, ISBN, number of pages, retaillook good and do a good job of highlighting what is
availability, testimonialsimportant in your book.
� Book cover photo (full scale, color,It all comes back to your core messages. Think of
print-ready, 300 DPI)what questions you'd like an interviewer to ask you so
� Author photo(s)you could answer them by giving your core messages,
� An author bio (full version demonstratingand when there is time, examples of each.
why you are an expert on this subject)When you write interview questions, write the most
� Reviews, testimonials or endorsementsimportant ones first. It is likely that there will be time for
� Press release(s) � you canat least two to three questions in any interview, so
continue to add to thesemake the first three questions in your list the ones you
� At least ten interview questions the authorabsolutely want to be asked because they give the
is prepared to answer (with the answers) that highlightmost important pieces of information that will make
your core messagesyour audience anxious to hear more and buy your
� Book excerpt from the introduction or anybook.
piece that shows the impact of the workGreat interview questions are the ones that help the
� Clippings from previous media interviewsinterviewer get right to the controversial part of your
articlesbook. What are you telling your reader that is counter
Plan to make this media kit available before publication.to what they might have heard before or contrary to
The media won't wait until you've had a chance to putconventional thinking.
this together, so if it isn't completed beforehand, theyMake sure and have examples or stories to illustrate
will go to the next story.each controversial message point. If there is a great
If you get frequent requests from the magazines, instory behind why you wrote the book, have your
particular, you'll want to have some hard copiesinterview questions bring that out as well.
prepared and ready to go. Hard copies usually areInterviewers like to ask for key points, or five tips, or
sent in a colored folder with a printed label of the frontthree strategies, so give them questions that allow you
cover on the front cover of the media kit. You willto answer with a list of items. These have great
want to have a template of a personalized lettertake-away value for listeners or readers of the
ready to go out with the media kit.interview.
Author BioCreate a compelling media kit and you will get more
In the bio for your media kit, you want to clearly stateand better interview opportunities.
something about your background and yourGail Richards is founder of a dynamic website
accomplishments that is relevant for this book and itsconnecting aspiring authors with the classes, audio
readers (about 100 to 500 words).library, tools, information and resources needed to
There are two common mistakes in writing an authormake smart, informed decisions at each step in the
bio for a Web site or a media kit. The first isnonfiction book publishing journey. Jan King is the
saying too much, and the second is saying too little.founder of a membership organization devoted to
Press Releasessupporting and coaching women who become
An author should continually think about how her booksuccessfully published nonfiction authors.
relates to the news of the day, and she should release