Media Kits, part one

Media kits. Press kits. Press Release… Oh lord, save me from this headache now. Kidding, just kidding.

Marketing, networking, and getting your name out there is a tough up-river swim, with hungry bears pacing the banks waiting to rip you apart, whirlpools waiting to pull you under, and unknown perils in the dark waters ahead. Frightening isn’t it? Yes, yes it is. But one thing that can help when someone comes looking for important information regarding you and your books is a Media Kit. Also known as a Press Kit.

So how do you craft one of these mythical creatures? Well doing a search on the internet will give you page after page of “expert” advice. I’ve combed through them, I’ve attended a webinar, and almost took up an offer for a $100 template bundle to help me create a media kit of my own. For what it’s worth if you can afford it, I’d say save yourself some time (and gray hairs) and buy the templates, but if you can’t (because we all know how times can be tough) you’ll do best to create a media kit on your own.

Now the plan for this SPE post was for me to have my media kit done so I could lay it all out for you and show you everything I did. However I decided on this topic a week ago and it turns out you need more than a week when it’s your first time. I’m sure with subsequent MK’s the pace goes quicker and quicker, but the first time there is a lot of grunt work. Sorting things out, picking and choosing from the hundreds of items that all the different sites swear you “must have”. In the end you have to pick what works for you.

You also have to pick your format. .pdf or .doc? Which will it be? A .pdf doesn’t lose formatting when opened on a mac or a windows PC, where as a .doc file can format funky given the different machines. But with a .pdf the person can’t copy and paste from the file and with a .doc anyone can easily C&P what they need and be done with it. So which will work best? You’ll have to decide that for yourself. For me, I was going to go with .pdf… But then again .doc would be handy. Maybe I should do both…

See, I swear I’ve gotten ten new gray hairs just in this week of working on my Media Kit. But regardless of the stress by my next SPE post I will have my Media Kit complete and share it and everything I’ve learned over this trial and error period. So that gives me 2 weeks to complete this Media Kit and then share it with you. I know this post isn't much but trust me behind the scenes I'm working my butt off on this project.