In an article I wrote back in November 5 Powerful Ways to Measure Self-Publishing ROI I mention that a book can be a fantastic way of attracting valuable PR opportunities such as speaking gigs and interviews. Here is a perfect case in point of how easily that can work.
As you probably know I published my first book Stress-Free Self-Publishing in May last year. My launch campaign for the release of that book consisted of doing a 4Sight tour of regional 4Networking meetings in my area where I would visit a networking group as a guest speaker to talk about my book and my experiences of writing and publishing it. This tactic worked extremely well in that I was able to sell nearly 100 copies and triple the number of book contracts I had in my pipeline. But it didn’t stop there. I continued to talk about my book whilst networking and still try to 4Sight at least once a month.
In December I gave a 4Sight entitled How a Book Can Help Your Business at a 4N meeting in Frome, Somerset. It turned out that one of the ladies at the meeting was Dawn Denton, an active author in the Frome community and host a fortnightly radio show called “World of Writers” on Frome FM. We spoke briefly after the meeting and connected on LinkedIn in order to stay in touch. Just after the Christmas break, Dawn sent me an email inviting me to be her guest on “World of Writers”. That opportunity would probably not have come up had Dawn not seen me speak at the Frome breakfast meeting.
So having written my book (which positioned me as an expert in self-publishing), and taking the time to go out and talk about my book (as part and parcel of marketing both my book and my business), meant that I was offered an amazing opportunity to be a guest on an hour-long radio show that is targeted at my ideal market in a town that has the highest number of writers per capita in the UK! Proof that writing and publishing a book can open up various doors and opportunities to you that you may not have had access to before.
The takeaway… talk about your book every chance you get. You never know what opportunities might come your way as a result.
You can listen to the full interview on World of Writers below.
Do you have any tips on using your book to get great PR opportunities that could help budding new authors? If so, post them in the comments below.
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