“Is online media worth my time?”

POSTED BY stephanie ON April 16, 2010

Is the Pope Catholic? Ah yes… a question that is raised more than you’d think in today’s digital age. While literary publicists (PRBTB included) uncover publicity opportunities via the World Wide Web for our author clients – often ones that lead to long-term relationships – many still ask about the ROI. “Is there an audience for podcasts and online radio?” “Should I send free review copies and giveaway copies to a blogger?” “Is this guest post really worth the time and effort?”

Our advice: always trust your publicist to filter media opportunities and present you with appropriate interviews for your message and audience. And make time for relationship building, with media big and small.

Let’s clear the air on the major players in online media world. Here’s quick breakdown, as we see it:

• Blog Talk Radio shows (ex. “Little Brown & Company,” “The Indie Author Show”) – Book centered radio shows are mostly a thing of the past, except in Internet radio where they are burgeoning and growing in audience size. Listeners of author Internet radio are devoted readers, and being a guest on one of these shows is considered the bullseye for connecting with a niche audience. Also, hosts of Internet radio are typically great promoters. They’ll tease your program with advertising on other sites as well as their own, adding to your visibility in search results. Here, you will find an audience of consumer book buyers; and because it’s an online connection, the host will typically make it super-simple for the listeners to click and buy your book (link to your site and/or Amazon).

• Online news websites (ex. CNN.com, MSNBC.com, SFgate.com) – Largely authored by freelance contributing journalists, landing a hit on an online news website is a fantastic opportunity. Time spent helping the reporter with research and providing them thought-provoking quotes may open doors for you in the future, as they often maintain a source file for their “go to” experts. Today, publicists spend a majority of their time crafting the pitch, collecting quotes and providing necessary research and statistics – it’s our job to help the media tell the story. The more qualified our material, the better our chances of landing you placement in a story. Quality content and credentials are key here.

• File sharing video sites (ex. YouTube, BlipTV) – If your book has a visual component, you may want to hire help to create a professional book trailer. Keep in mind, your publicist can use this as a reel to present to TV producers to vouch for your on-air presence and speaking ability. Also, the viral nature of video file sharing sites makes your message easily adaptable for online media and bloggers who can embed the clip in their site to accompany their own coverage.

• Book review bloggers (ex. BookMaven.com, Beatrice.com, Bookslut.com) – The statistics support the validity of online book reviewers when it comes to selling books. Make sure your publicist has a sufficient stock of books to provide interested bloggers with a book and a few review copies for their readers. Book bloggers are well-connected, voracious readers. A good example is the rise of mommy-bloggers and green-bloggers. An author with a first-time niche book from a small press recently stated that a mention from one blogger in her niche resulted in 500 book sales and skyrocketed her to #1 in her category on Amazon for multiple days. Never underestimate the power of this citizen journalism.

• General websites (ex. iVillage.com, webMD.com, BookReporter.com) – Like news websites, sites like iVillage rely on freelance journalists for their content. Niche websites allow you to connect directly with the audience intended for your message. Be open to invitations to guest post or contribute a bylined article.

While the state of publishing and the news media would have you thinking it’s a challenging time to write and successfully promote a book, the groundswell of new media coming available to authors and experts today creates new publicity opportunities that are virtually unlimited. Publishing has never before been this interactive and collaborative. Therefore, don’t be surprised if, in any given month, you see more online-related “media bookings/hits” than traditional media hits. Online media activity is where it’s at for authors – bestsellers and POD first-timers alike.

Tags: blog talk radio, bloggers, green-bloggers, mommy-bloggers, online media, podcasts, YouTube

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