Are you guilty of these author press kit blunders?

Your online author press kit will help attract journalists and improve your SEO... unless you're making these mistakes.

When you’re interviewed by the news media – whether it’s a podcast, daily newspaper, magazine, or blogger – you’re seen as an expert and authority.

If you write fiction, it suggests you’re a good storyteller. When you’re a nonfiction author, the interview communicates that media gatekeepers — reporters, producers, hosts, writers — think you know what you’re talking about.

That publicity builds the type of awareness and credibility that can generate sales, speaking gigs, sponsor opportunities, clients — even a publishing contract.

You want that kind of free, but powerful, exposure for your book.

You need an online author press kit

A solid, useful online press kit supports your ability to secure publicity for your book and your career.

It’s not just about supporting important publicity efforts, though. Housing press materials on your site contributes to your author site’s search engine optimization — SEO — too. It will help your site show up in search engine results.

That media resource won’t help much, though, if you don’t have the right elements containing the information journalists need. That content must also be presented in a format that’s easy for all journalists to use.

I’m not seeing that on many author websites, though, which makes me wonder: Are the common author press kit mistakes outlined below interfering with your ability to effectively promote your book?

Don’t worry if they are. These issues can be fixed easily.

Watch out for these author press kit mistakes

Here are the most common issues I continue to see. (Please help me turn this around!)

1. You don’t have an online press room with an author press kit.

Get out!

No press room? No press kit? No media information?

You need to read “Must-have online press room elements for authors and books” before you go any further.

Most authors don’t have an online press room, which means those who do have an advantage over their competition when it comes to priceless book publicity.

When I’m looking for an expert author to interview for an article assignment and have two choices, which one do you think I’ll contact — the author with a press kit or the one without?

When I see an online press kit, I think, “This person wants to be interviewed. I won’t have to talk them into it.”

Unless you’re trying to hide from the press, you need one. It’s expected; it’s useful.

2. Your press materials are only in PDF format.

Here’s the problem with PDFs: You want journalists to copy and paste your press releases, fact sheets, bios, etc. In many cases, when someone copies text from a PDF and drops it into a Word or Google Doc, all formatting is lost. The journalist has to manually insert paragraph returns and so on.

That’s a problem.

That’s why press materials must be available in a format that lets people copy and paste easily. It’s as simple as using the same approach as the text anywhere else on your website.

Major brands know this. Google your favorite consumer brand and “press room,” and you’ll see how it’s done. REI Co-op’s newsroom is just one example of how to present press materials. You’ll struggle to find any major corporation offering press materials as PDFs, which is why I don’t understand why so many publicists get it wrong.

The Simon & Schuster press room shows how to do it the right way. Click on a news item to see how easy it is to copy and paste the text.

Ditch the PDFs, even though you see publicists using them. They create problems.

3. There’s no date on your press releases.

When your book announcement press release doesn’t have a date, I don’t know if the book is new or three years old.

Perhaps you’ve got a press release listing your bookstore appearances, but you haven’t included the year. A journalist compiling a local calendar of events won’t be able to use the information without taking extra steps to confirm that it’s current. As soon as you force reporters to take unnecessary steps, you lose them.

4. You don’t provide contact information.

This is incredibly common, probably because it doesn’t occur to you that someone might want to contact you for an interview or to ask a few questions.

Picture this*: A local network TV affiliate is searching online for local romance authors for a new twist on the usual Valentine’s Day segment.

The reporter finds your site, is thrilled to see that you have a press room, but can’t find your contact information on that section of your site, in your press releases, or on your site at all, for that matter (another common problem).

That will probably cost you that publicity opportunity.

5. There are no images.

Not that you need a lot of them, but you do need your book cover and a high-quality author photo. (You want your imagery to be as good as your book’s content.)

Make them available in both high-resolution (“high res” is 300 dpi or greater) and low-resolution (“low res” is less than 300 dpi) versions. Publications need high-res images; bloggers and websites like low-res.

6. You haven’t clearly identified the press room where you house your author press kit.

This author offers short book descriptions, a bio, and author photos on his site.

You almost have to know they’re there, though, because the words “For the Media” aren’t under Media/Resources in the toolbar. You have to instead select “Author photos” in the dropdown menu for Media/Resources. On that page, you’ll see “For the Media” in a small font at the top. That’s another click.

Still… I applaud this author for including these resources. It’s smart.

Label your press room clearly on your toolbar.

Title options include:

• Press Room
• Press Kit
• For the Media
• For the Press
• Newsroom

Many authors, experts, and others have a section identified as “Media,” which tricks journalists into thinking that they’ll find press kit elements there.

What they find instead are reprints or links to articles or segments that include an interview with the author. That’s good — reporters like knowing that their interview won’t be your first — but it’s misleading and confusing. Keep that separate from your press room (or make it a subsection) and clearly label it with terms that might include:

• In the News
• Media Appearances
• Interview Links

Is this all you need to do to get book publicity?

Sorry, but no. But it’s a great start and an important part of the mix.

Other publicity tactics include:

• Identifying media outlets that reach your target audience and pitching them on specific article or segment ideas
• Responding to journalists using services such as HARO and SOS to find sources
• Creating and distributing tip sheets to the press

There are others, but any one of these is a good starting point.

I’ve got a few resources that can help with all of that, too:

• 5 First Steps to Getting Media Attention, a free mini-guide
• 6 Publicity Tip Sheet Elements, a free guide to creating a specific type of press release that offers tips or advice
• Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Book Announcement Press Release, a short e-book that walks you through every step necessary for creating a press release that gets used, not deleted
• “Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates,” a workbook with templates and samples for every author press kit element you’ll ever need plus templates for pitching the press

Start by adding a press kit — or a few press kit elements — to your website. You’ve probably got the content required in another form already, so you’ll make progress quickly.

It’s never too late to take action. And the “as seen on” exposure you can get as part of the process is worth the effort.

What do you call your online press room? Tell us in a comment.

_{*Channeling my inner Sophia Petrillo}

(Editor’s note: This article was published in June 2017. It is updated and expanded.)