Everything you wanted to know about creating a media kit for your book launch is here. Launching your book has a lot of parts. You have the launch day event, book cover shots, social media posts, all kinds of stuff. Having a media kit is a great way to prepare for the launch. It is a way of organizing yourself with a library of elements that will make the day go smoother. Check out my latest video on how to create your book’s media kit.
A media kit is a library of images, descriptions, links, quotes, videos, etc. about you and your book. It is a set of tools. You use these tools to promote your book and yourself.
When you launch your book, you want to be ready to go. You do not want to be running around trying to find graphics or key info on your book. It is pain in the neck to keep looking for your Amazon book link every time you want to make a Twitter or Facebook post. If you are being interviewed, you can send the interviewer a book cover, description, or bio. You can keep the elements in a folder on your computer or host them on your author’s website. We can download them when they are needed. It is a huge timesaver. It makes you look professional.
Author Bio
Create several bios of different lengths.
• Have a very short, one sentence or so bio you can use at the end of a blog post. Include your book title and the book URL.
• 50-100-word bio and a 250-500-word bio. Include website and book URLs.
• If you are a public speaker, then include a video or two of you speaking.
Author Photos
Spend a little money and have a professional author headshot created. Be sure to have some images with and without you holding your book up next to your head. Have several sizes produced. I like 2”, 4”, and 6” images. Your images should be 72dpi for web and 300dpi for print use. If you are giving images to a newspaper or magazine, use the 300dpi ones. Some you can do yourself with your smartphone.
Contact Details
• Phone, e-mail, website address, social media addresses, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Also, include your Amazon Author Central URL.
Your Book Info and Description
• Create several book descriptions. A short 10-word sentence for posting on social media or at the end of a post. A longer description at 50-100 words, and a 250-500- word description. We can create these using MS Word or a Google Doc.
• Include info about the book, its specs, ISBN number, size, and the number of pages.
• Where to buy your book, include print and e-book with links.
• Sample book reviews, look at your Amazon book reviews.
• Have a sample chapter in text and PDF that can be emailed out or downloaded from your site. Be sure to include the book URL links to Amazon.
Book Photo Graphics and Photos
I like a variety of book image sizes; 2”, 4”, and 6” images in JPG, RGB format. 72dpi for web and 300dpi resolution for print. Be sure to ask your book cover designer for these images. Make this part of the original book cover design project. If you can only get one resolution, then go for the 72dpi so you can market online. If you have other relevant graphics inside your book, I would create a library of those as well.
You can quickly dress up your book cover images by giving them a 3D look. Below are several online resources.
• Boxshot has free and paid covers, http://boxshot.com/3d-pack/
• DIY Book Covers.com is a free site for making 3D book covers. They also do hardcover books, books on tablets, smartphones, and combinations of devices. https://diybookcovers.com/
• For some really cool 3D cover and environment shots, check out MockUpShots.com. It is a one-time paid service. They have lots of great 3D cover options and books set in mockup backgrounds.
https://www.mockupshots.com/
Book Trailer Video
Create a book trailer video. Host it on YouTube and spread it everywhere. You can use your smartphone to create a simple one. These can be very short. There are many ways to create a book trailer video from just you talking about the book. A series of slides, short interviews, or bullet points. Search on Google or YouTube for examples. See page 60 for more details on a simple video script.
Interview Questions
Create sample interview questions about your book. These can be very helpful for the interviewer. They now have a direction to go in when talking to you. Cover the who, what, where, how, and why of your book.
Sales and Promotion Info
Create some sample swipe text that can be used for posting on social media sites. You can use these yourself or for your launch team or for someone who wants to help your promotion. Be sure to include the book title and URL.
Press Release
If you have created a press release, you can include it in the package.
Resources
3D book cover shot tools
• Boxshot has free and paid covers, http://boxshot.com/3d-pack/
• DIY Book Covers.com is a free site for making 3D book covers. They also do hardcover books, books on tablets, smartphones, and combinations of devices. https://diybookcovers.com/
• For some really cool 3D cover and environment shots check out MockUp Shots.com. It is a one time paid service. They have lots of great 3D cover options and books set in mockup backgrounds (affiliate link). https://www.mockupshots.com/
Online photo editing and design tools.
• Pixlr.com https://pixlr.com/editor/
• FotoFlexer.com http://fotoflexer.com/
• Canva.com https://www.canva.com/, perfect for making a quick graphic
Tools for grabbing your image from the screen.
• Grab, Mac screen grab utility in the Application > Utility Folder
• Snagit, PC tool available online, there are many others also
I have pulled together a Media Kit Workbook to help create your own. It includes a step-by-step PDF Workbook, plus an MS Word Doc and Google Doc to get you started.
J. Bruce Jones is the author of How to Sell Your Book, How I Made $322,650 and Sold 34,605 Books on Amazon, the Inside Secrets. Bruce is an author and creator of over 50 published books. Bruce teaches self-publishing authors how to publish their books. To learn more about Bruce’s latest project, How to Sell Your Book on Amazon, and pick up a PDF copy of the book, click here. https://gum.co/FloHh
