Press Releases and How to Use Them

A Short Guide of Do's and Don't's

Thank you for your kind notes on yesterday’s post about being stuck. Guess what? Writing it helped me figure out what to write about next: press releases. Press releases have a long history, but their usage has changed drastically over the past 20 years. Here’s a breakdown of what they are and how to use them. I’ll also give you examples of how not to use them.

What’s a press release?

In book publishing, a press release is a document containing a headline, blurbs, and a book summary with information like on-sale date, price, format, publisher, and contact information for a publicist. Its primary purpose is to entice the recipient to pay attention to a particular book.

A press release differs from an ARC letter (or galley letter) in that a letter is a pitch. You are writing to someone to show them the appeal of the author and book. These are still done, but the bulk of book-to-media communication happens through email, which I will get to later in this post.

Here is an abbreviated example of a press release I wrote in 2022:

You don’t see my contact information or the publisher (leaving that off on purpose). This press release also included a page of blurbs. Using a cover image is becoming more popular so the recipient can visualize the book.

I wouldn't say I like long press releases, so I keep mine to one page. Remember, we live in an attention economy, and no one has time to read ten paragraphs about a book you’ve sent them.

How to use a press release.

Here is where people will disagree with me. In the old days, we’d create press kits. So many trees were sacrificed for these! Usually, a folder included a press release, author bio, author photo, and a sheet of blurbs. Do you know what media people used to do with them? Throw out the contents and give the folders to their kids. Press releases are the same, so a publicist’s contact information is printed on ARCs/galleys. Media people are not reading press releases sent to them for an idea about the book as much as they are reading them to look for the publicist’s contact information.

All pitching is done through email now, which is an indisputable fact. We don’t call journalists. We don’t mail random books to their home addresses—at least, you shouldn’t. We craft pitches in the body of an email, create good subject lines, and target specific media. Some publicity departments/firms do email blasts to journalists. I understand it saves time, but I send individualized emails to each person if I pitch a client’s book. It’s time-consuming, but email blasts are a good way to delete yourself from a journalist’s inbox (especially if you address them as “Dear Journalist”).

This will sound harsh, but it’s true: no one in the media cares that you are announcing your book is being published unless you are a high-profile figure. Even then, a lot of folks may not care. Publicists can’t send press releases for every book to announce its publication. It isn’t strategic to do so. For example, when we send press releases for a highly anticipated book by a political figure or celebrity, we contact journalists with whom we’ve cultivated relationships over the years. We may contact one media outlet first to give them an “exclusive” (which means they get to publish the story first). The story has to be compelling because the media wants attention for it, which means they want clicks. This is not to say that your book isn’t compelling; it just means it’s not a news story. The media is more competitive now than ever, and social media plays a part in getting more eyeballs on stories, so keep that in mind.

You can adapt a press release for your book into a pitch, which is how you’d go about outreach to podcasts and the like. Publicists often use the same language from press releases to pitch book review editors, with minor edits. Press releases not used as announcements are usually mailed with finished copies of books. What happens after they arrive at media offices is anyone’s guess (if you saw how many books The New York Times receives per day, you might weep).

Think of press releases as an information sheet.

Press releases now double as book information sheets: One page, the book’s summary, cover, blurbs, on-sale date, price, format, and publisher/publicist information. This is sufficient to send in a finished book mailing to the media.

The actual pitch comes in an email, and publicists lean heavily on existing relationships with book review editors, producers, etc., to get attention for books. Sometimes, you can have excellent contacts, but there isn’t a lot of interest in the book you are pitching. It may not be the pitch. Instead, it could be that the book isn’t resonating with people. It happens, and authors shouldn’t be discouraged because the media isn’t the only way people learn about books! I often write about author platforms: you must always be the best advocate for yourself and your book.

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As always, thank you for reading Publishing Confidential.