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Using news releases

News releases that are likely to get picked up and included by editors have a hook, present a controversial subject, or the story relates to a current event or topic.

Look at examples of special interest stories appearing in newspapers and magazines for ideas. The hook doesn't have to be wild or exotic, it can relate to money, health, happiness, fears, controversy or current events. Does your ebook tie into anything happening in the news? If so, use the formatting suggestions in this article and write a news release, or better yet, a series of releases.

A great way to get publicity is to send a news release with an offer of something free. Readers love free stuff and editors are always looking out for free offers for their subscribers. Another media favorite is a "tips" release — a news release that gives bulleted how-to tips on a topic of interest to their readers.

Getting free publicity is not difficult but you must be persistent in your efforts. Get your news releases in front of editors enough times and eventually they will take notice of you. For five years, I sent news releases to 300 craft related magazines, including Family Circle whose subscriber base is around 10 million readers. In that time, no one from Family Circle ever called or printed any mention of my books.

However, I continued sending them releases. Finally one day, a reporter from their Holiday Crafts issue called saying she wanted to interview me, having seen a press release on one of my books. That interview resulted in about $3,000 in book sales.

Consider sending one news release every month to your list of media contacts. Each release can focus on a different angle of your ebook's subject.

How to format a fax or plain paper news release

A news release should inform the publication of the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your story. Don't use words like "unique," "the best," "fantastic" or any other hype. Editors will toss your release in the trash. Write your story as a news event.

The form should be cleanly typed and double spaced. Use a heading with the name and title of the editor on the first line of the upper left corner all in caps. Follow this with the name of the periodical and then a short title that tells something concise about your story. Include a release date or type "For Immediate Release." Skip down about four inches from the top of the page and place the heading for your release. Begin the news information under the heading.

Include these elements in the release, preferably in the first two paragraphs: who it is about, what is the event, when it is happening, where it is held, why it is newsworthy. Two to three paragraphs is plenty. Ideally, you want all the material to fit on one page of paper.

In the final paragraph, include any past awards and accomplishments. Here is where you establish your authority and expertise.

At the end, center and type "-end-" or "###." Skip down two lines and then put "For more information, call: (your phone number)."

The example shown here is a single page news release used to announce my new book. This release was mailed to women's magazines, general craft publications and local newspapers.


NEWS RELEASE  For: Warm Snow Publishers
P.O. Box 75
Torreon, NM 87061
To: Marva Greer, Editor Contact: James Dillehay, (505)384-1195
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NEW EBOOK REVEALS GRANT MONEY FOR
CRAFTS AND HOW TO GET IT

     Many craft persons throughout the U.S. receive grant money every year from over hundreds of foundation and government giving programs.
     "Government grants for $10,000 each have been awarded to craft persons who do woodworking, pottery, basketmaking, quilting, weaving, needlepoint, ceramics, metal working, egg painting, and many other crafts," reports James Dillehay, in his new ebook DIRECTORY OF GRANTS FOR CRAFTS ($9.50).
     "The secret to getting grant money for crafts is 
1) locating grant programs that give to projects like yours, 2) learning their application guidelines, and 3) submitting a winning proposal,"
says Dillehay.
     DIRECTORY OF GRANTS FOR CRAFTS shows how the grant application process works and how to match a craft project with a foundation's giving criteria. The author provides successful proposal writing tips and shows how to avoid the mistakes that get many applications rejected.
     This new book lists over 1,000 foundation, corporate and government grant givers, craft artist in residency programs, craft and art in public places, money for foreign studies and more.
     To download a copy of DIRECTORY OF GRANTS FOR CRAFTS ($9.50) call 1-800-235-6570 or visit http://www.craftmarketer.com/grants.htm.
     James Dillehay is author of six books. His articles have helped readers of major magazines like Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, Working Mothers, Sunshine Artist, The Crafts Report and many others. He is a past member of the advisory board to the National Craft Association.

# # #

/CONTACT: James Dillehay, 505-384-1195/

/EDITORS wishing a review copy, call 505-384-1195/


How to send releases to the media

Send news releases on plain white paper to the postal address of the editor and you have a good chance it will get noticed. If your news is urgent send the release via fax. A recent survey reported that some editors prefer receiving fax news releases to email or postal mail. 

In the book, Publicity on the Internet, author and Internet publicist, Steve O'Keefe says sending news releases by email is okay, but needs to be personalized for each editor. O'Keefe reports success here is about creating relationships with the editors you are trying to reach, not indiscriminate mass mailings or SPAM. His advice is to keep email news releases brief and catchy. Ideally, your message will fit on one screen view. You can and should always include a link to more material elsewhere. 

Formatting an email news release

Formatting an email release differs from creating a fax or plain paper release. When you type an email message into your email manager program, text flows automatically to the next line down when you reach the end of the allowable space. Unfortunately, all email managers don't share the same standards as to what is the length of a line of type.

You've probably received emails where the lines look like someone went in and chopped up the message. Imagine the negative impression you create by sending your important news releases to editors and they see your message in short phrases that don't seem to connect.

For sending news releases that appear consistent in any email reader, the solution is to limit the lines of text to 60 characters. Compose the text of your email in a word processor using a 60 character line length.

At the end of each line, place a hard return. Then save the message as an ASCII text file. Now import the text file into your email composer and send yourself the message to check for how it appears. Double check your release for spelling errors, typos, and contact information before sending to your media list.

Here is an example of a formatted email news release I send to announce my web site. Note that this email release is shorter than a paper release and instead of the contact information appearing at the top as a heading, it appears at the end of the release in the email signature.


Subject line: Free help for craft persons working from home

Free tutorials for craft persons who sell their work are now available on the Internet at the web site, http://www.craftmarketer.com. The site provides free help to develop skills from beginning through advanced craft marketing.

Launched by craft business author, James Dillehay, www.craftmarketer.com gives free advice on a wide range of craft business topics such as: Which crafts sell?; Overlooked markets for crafts; How to sell to stores and galleries; How to get tax advantages from a craft business; How to price craftwork and more.

James Dillehay is a nationally recognized expert on craft business. Author of six books, his marketing articles have helped readers of Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, Working Mothers, The Crafts Report, Arts & Crafts Show Guide, Sunshine Artist, and many other magazines. He is a past member of the advisory board to the National Craft Association.

For an interview with the author or for more information, please reply by email or contact, James Dillehay, (505)384-1195.

***************************************
James Dillehay's http://www.Craftmarketer.com
P.O. Box 75, Torreon NM 87061
(505)384-1195 
myemail@domain.com
***************************************

 

Using a PR service

One of the first places to post your news release is at http://www.prweb.com . It's a free service that allows you to upload a news release that may get picked up by media editors hunting for stories.

A paid service from PR Newswire is at http://www.profnet.com. At ProfNet, you pay around $100 a year to subscribe for which you can be listed in their database of experts and submit leading story ideas to journalists around the world who search this site approximately 10,000 times a month.

To target your media recipients by fax, http://www.imediafax.com will prepare a list of appropriate editors and fax your release to them. In addition to several publicity related services, Imediafax will also write your release for a fee. Imediafax's charge to fax a one page release is 25 cents each, which is considerably cheaper than printing, stuffing, stamping and mailing them yourself.

Here are other firms that handle PR for clients with web sites:

Helpful articles for getting publicity

See related article: How to Use Publicity to Get Sales

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This article is copyrighted and excerpted from the book Your Guide to Ebook Publishing Success by James Dillehay

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No portion of this material may be published, resold or reproduced in any form including electronically for any purposes.  

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