Feeling Clueless about Book Publicity?
Thousands of books are published every single day (amounting to millions each year) — but only a handful get media and word-of-mouth attention. Their authors talk on the radio and podcasts, on morning or cable TV, and pop up everywhere on social media.
You probably want this type of acclaim for your book, too! But we hear from authors all the time that the practical steps to attaining it seem both complicated and vague. There are a gazillion media outlets out there and millions of busy people to engage — all of this often leaves authors feeling clueless about how to start promoting their books.
This is when you need to put on your detective hat and start sleuthing! 🕵️♀️
First step: Find "comp titles": Pick a few successful, similar, and recently published books — or as industry folks call them, “comparable titles” or “comp titles.” A good comp title has three key elements:
Successful: Choose books that were published to the type of acclaim you would like to see for your work. And the level of success should be feasible for your book, too. For example, don't compare your debut novel to Michelle Obama's memoir. Another debut novel that launched to a bang will be more useful.
Similar: Select books whose topics/themes/genres overlap with yours such that, if a journalist covered that book, they’re more likely to be interested in yours, too. If you’re stuck, you can always ask your publisher and/or your agent for some comparable titles since they know the literary market well. Also, book-selling websites often list “similar titles” — looking through those can be helpful as well.
Recent: Stick to titles that have come out in the last 2 years or so. The media world has an incredible amount of turnover — writers and producers switch outlets all the time, podcasts rise and fall, magazines fold and new online outlets are born — so what worked for a book 5 years ago may not work now.
Second step: Investigate! Do a deep dive to see where the authors of your comp titles have been featured. Where have they been interviewed? Reviewed? What about local coverage? What kind of events and/or festivals did they do? Social media? Don’t forget to check if their website has a "news" or "media" page where you can find all this information in one place. Put everything you find into a spreadsheet.
Now you have a working document to begin outreach for promoting your book! Armed with it, the idea of getting media attention becomes more concrete and you have a roadmap for making your book a success.
Happy sleuthing!