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The Essential Media Kit for the Nonfiction Author

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Published: 16Sep2007
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One of the most vital items an author must have in hardcopy and online is a media kit. Keep it in PDF format, and you will have everything you need in one place.

You are creating something that contains all the information that a media representative will need when preparing an interview or writing a story. If there is a news story that is relevant to your book, a reporter will have no time to waste in getting the information he or she needs. And if you and your book are ready, you will get the interview.

A full media kit will include at least:

• A Table of Contents for the media kit itself
• Fact sheet on book including the title, author, publication date, ISBN, number of pages, retail availability, testimonials
• Book cover photo (full scale, color, print-ready, 300 DPI)
• Author photo(s)
• An author bio (full version demonstrating why you are an expert on this subject)
• Reviews, testimonials or endorsements
• Press release(s) – you can continue to add to these
• At least ten interview questions the author is prepared to answer (with the answers) that highlight your core messages
• Book excerpt from the introduction or any piece that shows the impact of the work
• Clippings from previous media interviews/articles

Plan to make this media kit available before publication. The media won't wait until you've had a chance to put this together, so if it isn't completed beforehand, they will go to the next story.

If you get frequent requests from the magazines, in particular, you'll want to have some hard copies prepared and ready to go. Hard copies usually are sent in a colored folder with a printed label of the front cover on the front cover of the media kit. You will want to have a template of a personalized letter ready to go out with the media kit.

Author Bio

In the bio for your media kit, you want to clearly state something about your background and your accomplishments that is relevant for this book and its readers (about 100 to 500 words).

There are two common mistakes in writing an author bio for a Web site or a media kit. The ﬁrst is saying too much, and the second is saying too little.

Press Releases

An author should continually think about how her book relates to the news of the day, and she should release her own news stories accordingly. A press release should be short-a page or two at most, with a provocative headline that grabs the reader's attention. Enticing statistics in the opening of a press release immediately communicate the magnitude of the problem or challenge the topics your book addresses. Writing should be short, pithy, and tight. Always include a brief author bio and all the relevant book information and ordering information.

Interview Questions and Answers

It is very helpful to reporters and interviewers when you help them ask the right questions. Most of the time you will be doing an interview with someone who has not had time to read your book. Professionals know this and do everything they can to help the interviewer look good and do a good job of highlighting what is important in your book.

It all comes back to your core messages. Think of what questions you'd like an interviewer to ask you so you could answer them by giving your core messages, and when there is time, examples of each.

When you write interview questions, write the most important ones first. It is likely that there will be time for at least two to three questions in any interview, so make the first three questions in your list the ones you absolutely want to be asked because they give the most important pieces of information that will make your audience anxious to hear more and buy your book.

Great interview questions are the ones that help the interviewer get right to the controversial part of your book. What are you telling your reader that is counter to what they might have heard before or contrary to conventional thinking.

Make sure and have examples or stories to illustrate each controversial message point. If there is a great story behind why you wrote the book, have your interview questions bring that out as well.

Interviewers like to ask for key points, or five tips, or three strategies, so give them questions that allow you to answer with a list of items. These have great take-away value for listeners or readers of the interview.

Create a compelling media kit and you will get more and better interview opportunities.

Gail Richards is founder of http://www.AuthorSmart.com a dynamic website connecting aspiring authors with the classes, audio library, tools, information and resources needed to make smart, informed decisions at each step in the nonfiction book publishing journey. Jan King is the founder of http://www.eWomenPublishingNetwork.com a membership organization devoted to supporting and coaching women who become successfully published nonfiction authors.

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