Building an Effective Online Media Kit
Terry's website includes a complete press kit page that is loaded with features including author and book profiles, interviews, press releases and reading group guides. The audio/visual aspects include cover scans, author photos, a video trailer, downloadable media video & audio clips including 12 interview clips. The site gives the press, buyers, book clubs and readers everything they need to learn about Terry and his books.
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Publish It Write: Publishing and Writing Tips for Independent Authors
This month: Words, Sound, Action -- The Extreme Author Website
When I first thought to put together my author website, I had no idea that I’d end up with something so far beyond what I originally had in mind.After months of research to see what other author sites included, I figured I had a good idea, a clean layout, and all the right words and pictures. Little did I know…
My initial site satisfied all those elements mentioned above. It included information about my first print novel, The Witness Tree, as well as publishing credits for my short stories and poetry. I included copies or links to several reviews and interviews. I also included an extended bio. I thought I had it all.
When my second novel, Wolf¹s Rite, was about to come out, I already had site materials ready. They included the cover shot of the new book, as well as my mug shot and several media kit pieces including a general news release and short synopsis of the novel.
Scott Stenjem of Stenjem Design Associates, who did the cover, suggested putting together a video trailer for the novel. I talked with Frank DePalma of Palmatec, who hosts and maintains my site. How much? I wanted to know. “Fifty bucks to upload it, probably less,” he said. I liked that answer. And, it got me asking more questions. So, after some brain storming with Frank and Scott, this is what transpired:
11/02: My complete media kit, including high-resolution photos of me and
the Wolf¹s Rite cover are downloadable. The kit also includes a
Reading Guide, novel synopsis, interview questions about me and about
the novel, and a short bio.
11/03: As reviews and interviews are printed
in the media, they are added to the media kit page.
11/04: The video
trailer, created in flash, but ported to video, is downloadable in
several formats it¹s already been shown on one local station. (Final
production was about $700, but could have been cheaper. I went with a
professional sound service and had Wiant Productions produce the
videos for the net.)
11/05: After spending 10 days on a four-city
signing tour, I had radio and TV clips (from local stations) to put
online along with clips from an interview completed at my hometown
television station. (Again, these items were portioned into short,
easy-to-download clips by Wiant Productions and uploaded onto my site
by Palmatec.)
All-in-all, my site has received positive responses from other writers, magazine editors, and bookstore owners. But, my techy friends didn¹t stop making suggestions. I now have a business-card size CD that includes the basic media kit and video trailer. The CD also has a direct link to my site. I send the CD out with the printed media kit.
One more thing: I wanted to make my printed kit as interesting as my online one, so I include a give-away - a feather and leather strap bookmark -- which ads texture to an otherwise “flat” kit.
You don¹t have to do all this. It can get expensive, but first impressions are lasting ones and I believe these “extreme” elements help you and your book make a splash.
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About the Author Terry Persun lives and writes in Port Townsend, Washington, writing technical articles, news items, news releases, and other promotional materials, ads and brochures. His technical articles have appeared in over thirty trade journals of engineering and manufacturing.
Of his twenty published short stories, most have been science fiction, published in Otherworld, Late Knocking, Oracle, and Starsong.
The Witness Tree was his first novel (Implosion Press, 1998). Second printing rights for The Witness Tree were acquired in 2000 by Russell Dean and Company.
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Contacts:
Scott Stenjem
Design Associates
211 Taylor, Ste 36A
Port Townsend, WA 98368
P: 360-379-6393
E: stenjem@olympus.net
S: www.alliedcreative.com
Frank DePalma
Palmatec Solutions
PO Box 478
Port Townsend, WA 98368
P: 360-385-0931
E: frank@palmatec.com
S: www.palmatec.net/-solutions-/
Peter Wiant
Wiant Productions
1106 22nd Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368
P: 360-385-1188
E: peter@wiant.net
S: www.wiant.net
Terry Persun
Marketing Services
836 Calhoun Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368
P: 360-379-3375
E: tpersun@cablespeed.com
S: www.TerryPersun.com