Winning with Local Media by Dorothy Courtis

 My first job was as a trainee reporter on my local newspaper. Little did I realise how useful that would be when, many years later, I find myself writing and publishing crime novels and having to do the publicity and marketing myself. Knowing that local papers survive on tiny staffs and shoestring budgets means that your story about your new book and how it came to be written is exactly what they want! Local news about local people is what sells papers - so don't be bashful! You're helping them. And if your books are in local bookshops, then you're supporting them by making sure local people know where to go to buy them rather than online.

But you do need to do some work. Don't just ring up the paper, tell them you've got a new book out and expect a reporter and press photographer to turn up at your door. The way to their hearts is via do-it-yourself. You need to give them what they can use.

First, collect print copies of all your local media: is there a local weekly paper? what about the parish magazine? A freebie mainly ads newspaper? Gather them and read them, paying particular attention to any articles about other local authors, artists, musicians, crafts people. This is where news of your book belongs.

Note down the name of the staff writer who has written these pieces. This is your contact. You need their email address -  it will be there, somewhere! And the monthly/weekly deadline. Aim to make contact two or three days before the deadline.

Study the article. How long is it? Count the words. That's your maximum.

Is there a photograph with the article? It probably shows the person the article is about, so you'll need to get one - with you holding up your book or opening a box of books, all showing face-on to the camera. A pic from your phone camera is good enough.

What kind of approach does the article take? Does it focus on the local angle? Then that's what you'll have to do. What you're trying to produce is something that is so close to what the staff writer produced that it can slip onto the page with barely any changes. This really helps a busy editor!

You need a good title, probably majoring on the local angle: 'Local woman's first book', 'Local vicar turns to crime', 'New book for local author'.

And then the piece itself: the first sentence should simply expand on the title, telling in a nutshell what this is about: 'You (name, age if it's interesting! born locally/live locally - say where, your job if relevant) have written/published a book.' This instantly makes you interesting and unusual. Of the millions of people who would like to write a book and the thousands who read books, it's a very small percentage that actually puts in the work to get one written and see it through publication. So don't hide your light under a bushel!

Next, say what kind of book it is: fiction, crime, romantasy, devotional, memoir... and then a little bit about it. A teaser. 

If you've got room, you could say  a little more about you that local readers would find interesting, why you wrote the book, your inspiration.

And last, but not least, you must say where your readers can get the book: 'available in paperback at The Hereford Bookshop and Markey's Craft Shop in Abingdon, and as an e-book on Kindle', as appropriate.

Then stop. Print it out and proofread it fiercely. It must be perfect. Then compose an introductory email if you don't know the reporter you're sending it to.

'Dear X,

I'm a local published author living in Huntingdon and have recently brought out a new book. It's a crime novel set in the Fens, entitled Death in the Fens. I thought your readers might be interested to know about it so I attach a pic of the cover and a few details.

If you have any questions, do please contact me on....

Kind regards

.....'

Check the email for typos. It's your introduction and must make a good first impression. Attach the finished article, and the pic separately as a jpg, and wing it on its way with a prayer... leaving the outcome to God as you start work on the article and pic for the next media contact.

Which must be sufficiently different that they'll want to use it.

It's a good idea to keep some kind of record of who you're contacting, what you send them, and what the result is. 

Then you'll know who is worth contacting next time... because there will be a next time, won't there?

Dorothy Courtis writes crime novels with a faith foundation as Dorothy Stewart. Her latest, Push Over, is number three in the Somerset Mystery Series, and involves a coach tour of Norfolk stately homes. It is available as paperback and e-book from Amazon.