Media Kits, Part Two

So what is a Media Kit and why is it important?

Go to any of the web pages I’m linking to down below and they will go over how important a Media Kit is. It is a major marketing package. It helps people promote your book without you having to do anything. Journalists expect to see one if they visit your website or blog. Most importantly it puts out the information, correctly, that you want people to have.

Why is that important?

Here’s a scenario: Let’s say a blogger is doing a review, it’s 2 am and guess what, they forgot to ask and you forgot to send your bio to them, it’s too late for them to contact you now about it so they go to your website and look for a media kit (now, if you have one, you probably should have sent it but you know, mistakes happen) so they go to your site and you don’t have a MK available. So that blogger now has three choices: scrap the whole review, scrap any sort of bio which helps promote not just your book but your brand as well, or they decided to just make a quick bio for you. At best the bio will be bland and uninteresting and at worst they could get some information horribly wrong. If you had a Media Kit there they could have downloaded it, copy and pasted what they needed, and the whole thing would have went off without a hitch.

Now as a Hybrid Author with only two books and one short story anthology out I don’t have journalists or bloggers banging on my door night and day looking for easy access to my info, but if any of them do happen to swing by my blog I want to make sure any info I can provide them is readily available.

By and large a Media Kit is a helpful tool for branding and marketing, but it is always offered first, never sent unsolicited. That’s not to say if someone is doing a review for you that you shouldn’t include your Media Kit, you totally should. But don’t just start sending out your Media Kit willy-nilly to every blogger you find without them even showing an ounce of interest in you first.

Now, I’ve combed over sites explaining how to make a media kit, I’ve attended a webinar on the subject, I’ve highly considered shelling out money for some Media Kit Templates (but in the end I didn’t have it in the budget), and I’ve poured over other author’s Media Kits to see what I liked and what I didn’t like.

Some people tell you that you only need a book synopsis and an author bio. Other people say you need a separate .doc for every thing in the kit: Bios (tiny, small, medium, large), a Press Release, Sample Interview Questions, Sample Chapter, Contact Information. Others go even further by saying you need to have an introduction for when you are speaking at an event, Book Review Excerpts, And a .doc specifically for photos of you (color and black and white head shots, plus color and black and white candid’s. Maybe something with your dog? You out fishing?) You can even find a PicMonkey tutorial on making a Media Kit on the photo editing site. Possibilities are endless and overwhelming.

For my approach I took what was relevant to me. I don’t have hundreds of book reviews to warrant having a page of book reviews excerpts in my Media Kit. Nor do I have professional head shots to fill up a photo .doc in my Media Kit. I have yet to master how to write up a decent Press Release so rather than embarrass myself, I figured I’d leave that out as well. Public speaking isn’t in my near future (maybe one day) so that could be cut as well.

What I do have is a synopsis, bios (a twitter bio, a small, and a large), a sample chapter (obviously), my contact information, and I even sat around and thought up some sample interview questions and answers.

I guess we better address that one real quick.

Why sample interview questions? Because sometimes you might get asked to appear on a podcast, radio interview, or get asked to do an online interview, but the person interviewing you might not have the time to actually sit down and read your book (shocking, I know) so this helps them. It says “hey, you might not have read my book but here are some questions you can ask to make you look good and I’ve already answered them so you know what I’m going to say ahead of time.” Easy-peasey. A Media Kit is all about making the blogger/journalist/interested party’s life easier. The easier you make their life, the more chances they might give you in the future to help expand your brand and marketing.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s get back on track. Should it look all prettied up? Well it certainly shouldn’t look boring, but not too much because you don’t want it to look gaudy. That is strictly from a graphic design stand point. A simple boarder, maybe a drop shadow to help it stand out, place in a logo if you’ve got one, maybe some badges if you got those too. Now, if you are doing them all individually then by all means put these on every page, but if you are compiling them and you are using graphics that take up a lot of space you might consider using your images on the first page and then possibly the last. You don’t want to distract on every single page of your sample chapter with your logos and what not.

So how do mine look? Here’s some screen shots of each of my files separately:

Synopsis (note I put hyperlinks in my files which include the buy links):

Sample Chapter:

Bio:

Contact Information:

Sample Interview Q&A:

Here’s a look at my completely assembled Media Kit for Waking Up In Bedlam (which includes Synopsis w/buy links, Bio, Contact Information, and Sample Chapters of WUIB with the buy links again at the bottom:

 (notice my award nomination badges and my logo are only on the first and last page when it's all put together, because having them on every page would be distracting)

-Here’s a little note I wanted to add about my author picture. Everyone will tell you to use a professional picture (also called a head shot). I don’t have a head shot, and I am a very camera shy person. So I choose to put in a picture of me looking like I normally do. If you saw a head shot of me you wouldn’t recognize me. I don’t generally dress up, I can’t put on a forced-smile to save my soul, and honestly if you saw me at a convention I would want you to recognize me. This is me, it is who I am, I’m not a doll, I don’t play dress up. A little bit of lip gloss is pretty much the only makeup you’ll see me in, and usually I’ll be a t-shirt that shows one of my many fandom obsessions and my rather oversized sunglasses. Add in my headphones and a beanie, and that is me. So it was my choice, to include a picture that shows me as me, not me as something I’m not. One of these days I’ll get head shots done, I’ll find a photographer who understands I can not smile on cue and will be able to find a way to get a genuine smile by catching me off guard. Until then, I’d rather just be me and honestly I am tired of hiding that. <3

Now if you’d like to use my Media Kit as a template for your own feel free to click here and download them from my blog and enjoy.

Web pages to help you construct a Media Kit of your own:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/04/23/press-kit/

https://www.standoutbooks.com/author-media-kit/

http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/presskit.shtml

(Just do a google search for “how to make an author media kit' and you will have information for days and days)

Do you use a Media Kit? If so, have you found it has helped you in your marketing? If you are a review blogger do you like having a Media Kit included with the book you are reviewing? Let us know in the comments.

Ego

e·go

  [ee-goh, eg-oh] 

noun, plural e·gos.

1.

the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, andwilling, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others andfrom objects of its thought.

2.

Psychoanalysis . the part of the psychic apparatus thatexperiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediatesbetween the primitive drives of the id and the demands of thesocial and physical environment.

3.

egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes moreunbearable each day.

4.

self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded hisego.

5.

( often initial capital letter ) Philosophy .

a.

the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.

b.

Scholasticism. the complete person comprising both body andsoul.

Today we are going to cover egos. Now as we see Dictionary.com defines ego in several different ways. I'm going to focus on the third definition. Now, as indie authors, we have to have some what of an ego in order to talk about our books, suggest them to people, do interviews, and essentially brag about ourselves for a little bit. But that only takes a bit of egotism and some confidence, hell, I know authors who fake it most of the time and it works.

But there are authors out there who have too much ego. Why does it matter, you ask? I don't know about you, but when I was an aspiring author, hell as a published author, I look up to those authors who are down to earth. Someone you can talk to as a person and someone you can relate to. I think this is important as an author, if you have too big of an ego and come off that way, eventually it'll hurt your sales, your reputation, and as an indie author you can't afford that.

Let me give you an example. Back in 2006, a friend flew me out for a book signing for a particular author. It was a pretty exclusive book signing since it was an end of a tour party. I was so excited, because it was an author that I admired, adored, and looked up to. So I get out there, and I'm nervous as hell because this is my first time meeting a big name author. But by the end of the night, there I stood at the table with her and decided, 'she's a normal person, I can talk to her as such.' I don't remember what I said, but she completely blew me off and wandered away. I was devastated. It wasn't like I expected her to remember my name, or my face, but a small conversation to take home with me. As I closely watched her, she didn't approach anyone and blew off everyone who tried to approach her. Now, we're talking about a book signing with maybe 50 people at it. She acted like she was better than everyone and above them all.

This stuck with me, and to this day, I have a hard time picking up her books to read them. I felt like persona she gave online, on social networking, on her website and interviews was not the cold shoulder person I had met. That didn't sit right with me. I haven't bought one of her books since.

So let me give you the flip side of this.

Two years ago another author that I adored came to a city near me. I was three months pregnant, and my poor husband feared for the interior of his car because I threatened to throw up every few miles. This was a huge signing so I didn't expect any personal time, I just wanted to see her and get a book signed. So my husband indulged me. We got up there and there was a massive group, as expected, I found someone I had communicated with online, and she gushed about how this author just adored her fans and were grateful for all of them. So the author did her speaking, and then came the book signing part. I got up there, and was nervous, but I didn't want to make the same 'mistake' that I had at the other book signing, so I mumbled, 'hi.'

The author caught me off guard. "Oh my gosh, I love your hair!" (it was tinted purple at the time) And despite the fact that there were at least 100 people behind me, she took a couple minutes to talk to me. She found out I was pregnant, wished me luck, and gave me a huge hug. I was in aw and on cloud nine for the rest of the night. I don't expect her to remember me next time, but I know that I will always continue to support her because I watch how she struck up a conversation with everyone. Better yet, I watched how at the end of the signing, she hung around to mingle with those who stayed after. Some of them she'd even known by name because they showed up to all her signings.

Ego. It can hurt you if you let it get out of control. Those are two memories I will always keep with me and two great examples. As an indie author, if we turn one person off by pretending or thinking we are better than everyone else, it really hurts us. Because that person will tell someone else. Now, I'm not saying don't advertise or don't talk about yourself ever, but remember you are nothing with out your readers. When you're writing your bio, or answering questions, be weary of things that make you sound egotistical things like, "a brand new look on this genre" "as demanded by thousands of fans" "Worlds best author." when writing bios, answering interview questions, unless you're quoting a source that can be found--that's a different story.

I recently attended a convention under my other name, and one of the best things about this convention was that readers, bloggers, and authors all had time to mingle. The person who ran the convention stressed that it was the best thing we could do as authors, sit down with readers, and don't automatically start talking up your books, hell don't even mention them. There were several people who bought books after just sitting down and having a normal conversation with the authors, and they had no clue that they were talking to authors.

So check your ego, get your head out of your ass, and be a normal person who just happens to write. Be down to earth, even as an author, big name, small name, new or seasoned, you are still human and not a god or goddess. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Please feel free to comment.

Author Bios

So this week Mia and I had the challenge of writing author bios for another project. I hate writing author bios. They often come out cheesy, fake, or make you sound arrogant. That being said I thought I'd share a bit of insight I've gained through writing them.

The instructions we received included: Do not include information that could be used for stalking (not the exact words here) like where you live (we were told not even the town), do not use information that could be considered outdated. (Like age)

Okay, easy enough, but when you are using a pen name, and you don't want both bios to read the same or give out important information. What do you do? How do you talk about yourself without sounding pompous and asinine? My advice? Have fun with it, mention your writing, your other books. However don't claim that you're the best at something, or are fresh, or give a new look. Things like that are for the reader to decided.

That being said, if you are actually (and I have to put that in there, because their are authors who claim it and aren't) best seller, mention it! That is worth the bragging rights. Won awards? Mention it! If you have a ton, be selective pick the ones the readers are most likely to know. You don't want your bio long and drawn out. You want something that's quick to read and something that catches the reader's attention.

My favorite line from my new bio reads "Her preferred genre is paranormal romance with a flare for things a little less vanilla." That tells my readers, at least those who know the term, that my sex is going to be a bit more rough and they may even dare to hope for BDSM. The rest of it tells them when I started to write, where I write (In my office where the coffee is endless and chocolate magically appears ;) )

So again, my advice is to have fun with it. Readers like to know that authors have a sense of humor and have personalities. You don't want a boring bio, you don't want one that makes you sound pompous, you don't want one that gives promises that are more opinions than anything. My formula for writing bios? Simple, Place, Time, Fact about your writing (genre, other books you have, best sellers), something fun. My last part reads Can be bribed with coffee and sweets.

Good luck!