There’s no question that media coverage is moving more and more online. In previous years, securing a New York Times review or an appearance on the TODAY show was every author’s dream. Now, there are websites and blogs that have an even larger readership, and unlike newspapers, which are discarded each day, or morning shows, which are only available in the moment, online media coverage is available to be accessed forever (more or less). Traditional media should be a facet of most publicity campaigns, but it no longer determines a book’s success. There have been hundreds of bestsellers that never received a single print review.
While some books can hit the bestseller list without traditional media coverage, I’ve never seen a successful book that didn’t have an online component to the promotion strategy. Even older audiences read news sites and forward articles to friends. And if your audience skews younger, they’re likely not watching the morning TV programs—your best shot at reaching them is through online outlets. Receiving a review on Bustle or Newsmax may not be as prestigious as a New York Times review, but prestige doesn’t necessarily sell books.
There are many facets to online promotion, but in this section we will focus on online publicity, which is different from online marketing and social media. Publicity is securing editorial coverage of the book in the form of a review, interview, or other feature, and that’s what we’ll focus on in this section.
There are four major types of outlets that feature online publicity.
When it comes to structure, websites are most similar to newspapers and magazines. They are broken up into sections, have an editorial staff, and usually have a distinct mission or voice. The content is written by staff writers as well as guest contributors, which is then edited and curated by a staff of editors. Some smaller websites may be run by only a handful of people, while the larger ones have a staff of hundreds.
There are seemingly endless types of websites: news sites, lifestyle sites, sports sites, and the list goes on. Like magazines, think of anything that interests you and there’s usually a website for that. For the purposes of this section, we are focusing on editorial sites, not those dedicated to a business, organization, or other form of e-commerce. The websites under discussion here are those with articles, interviews, quizzes, and other editorial content. Examples include Huffington Post, Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, Hypable, and others. This can also include the online components for popular print publications like the New York Times or Seventeen. Because the web provides endless space for content, many articles and features which don’t make it into the print publication will often appear on the website.
Unlike websites, blogs do not have an editorial staff, and the content is written by one writer or a group of writers. The voice is based on the person writing the content rather than the editorial voice of the publication. Many newspapers and magazines have blog components, which are run by individual staff writers or editors. These are structured like columns and take on the voice of the columnist.
It is usually fairly easy to differentiate a blog from a website by looking at the “Contact” or “About Us” pages. There, you should clearly see who is writing the content and whether or not there is an editorial process. If it’s not clear, take a look at the articles posted. Are they all written by the same person or the same group of people? Are there different sections of the site or is it one stream of content? If the content is broken up into sections and there are many different writers posting content, then there’s a good chance you have a website, not a blog.
The differentiation between the two is important for a few reasons. First, understanding the structure of the media outlet will help you understand how and to whom to pitch. A website deals with editorial content in a different way than an individual blogger. This will be addressed further in the “Pitching” section.
Second, there is a different editorial standard and code of ethics for websites and blogs. Unless the blog is curated by a newspaper or larger publication, it’s usually run by an amateur who often isn’t familiar with the standards and ethics of journalism. They are not obligated to fact check or cite sources, and the content is largely based in opinion rather than presentation of facts. You cannot assume they will double check quotes from your book, fact check your bio, or only present data with proper citation. I work with many bloggers who are former journalists and are extremely professional when it comes to disclosing sample products, pulling photos from the web, and quoting their interview subjects properly. But there are many more who aren’t familiar with those practices. I recommend treading lightly when it comes to participating in phone interviews, which may leave you open to being misquoted, and be prepared when you send off your book because they may get certain facts wrong, and some may not even read the whole book before posting their review.
This is not to say that blogs are not worth pitching to—they are. There are many influential bloggers who have large followings and are able to effectively promote your work. But the expectation for the reader should be a bit different. An interview or feature on a blog may not be held to the same editorial standards as one on a news or lifestyle website. Any outlet with an editorial team will be held to a higher standard; therefore reviews or features on those sites will hold more clout. Clout is different than influence. Sally’s book blog may have more subscribers and influence than the Los Angeles Review of Books, but she doesn’t have the same clout.
These are online radio shows, usually available for download through iTunes, Google Play, or the individual’s blog and website. A few years ago, podcasts were these obscure shows produced by amateurs in their basements that only hipsters and more tech-savvy people listened to. But now that no one ever leaves home without his or her phone, the popularity of podcasts has increased dramatically. Popular sports talk radio podcasts are being downloaded in the hundreds of thousands, and NPR’s breakout hit, “Serial,” has been downloaded or streamed more than 5 million times.[6] These days, most mainstream radio shows produce supplemental podcasts, and even many amateurs have upped their production game and managed to secure a following.
Like traditional media, the bigger and more popular the show, the harder it is to land coverage there. But you also don’t want to spend time doing an interview on a poorly produced show with no following. Listen to podcasts, read their reviews on iTunes or Google Play, look at how many times they’ve been downloaded. It will be easy to distinguish the pros from the rookies.
In addition to original podcasts, many radio stations are also recording their live shows and publishing them as podcasts online. This allows fans who miss the live show to listen on their own time. Think of it as DVR for radio. Radio shows that produce podcasts in conjunction with their live broadcasts are more desirable to secure because you reach a wider audience than you would if your interview was only available to those who listen live. It’s also easier to share your interview with your social media following because you have a direct link, rather than asking them to tune in at a specific date and time.
As podcasts take the place of live radio, video blogs (vlogs) and web series are beginning to take the place of television. This is especially true for the younger generation, who prefer to consume media via their computers, tablets, and phones—some of whom have cut the cord on cable completely.
In essence, vlogs are the same as blogs. The only difference is the format; instead of writing articles, a vlogger will speak their mind on camera. Vlogging is particularly popular in the teen and young adult community (which makes sense based on the age demographic), and many YA authors are having success as vloggers themselves. Additionally, there is a large community called “book tubers” who review books on their own dedicated channels. Again, most of the book tubers are young and focus on YA, but there is also a growing community of romance vloggers. It hasn’t caught on within other genre fiction communities or the literary and nonfiction communities yet, but I believe it’s only a matter of time.
Vlogs differ from web series, which are structured like television shows but distributed online. Like TV shows, web series come in a variety of formats: news, entertainment, sitcom, drama, etc. As an author, your primary focus will be on news and entertainment shows. Just like you did when looking for appropriate TV shows, you need to find suitable web series that host guests and produce segments.
Finding popular vlogs and web series can take a bit of time, but with YouTube it’s easy to see which ones are the most viewed and have the highest ratings. YouTube will also allow you to search similar videos and provide an “If you liked this, you may like this” suggestion with every video you watch. Combing through the various stations takes time, but YouTube is fairly easy to navigate.
While YouTube still reigns as the king of video content, there are other sites like Vimeo and Daily Motion which also host video programs and features. Almost all users post to multiple platforms, so I usually stick to YouTube when it comes to searching for vloggers and web series, but if you find yourself getting stuck, give the other sites a try.
An easy way to understand online media is to remember that for every type of traditional media coverage, there is an online counterpart. Newspapers and magazines equate to websites and blogs. Radio shows equate to podcasts, and television equates to vlogs and web series. And just as with traditional media, the subjects are endless. There are online media outlets for any interest; the only difference is the format. And when it comes to approaching online media contacts, your methods should be similar to those you use for their traditional counterparts.
Unlike traditional media, which can require up to seven months of advance notice, online media outlets usually have a far shorter lead time. Much of this depends on how often the outlet publishes new content—most websites and blogs post new content every day, while podcasters and vloggers sometimes only produce 1–2 shows a month. When creating your media list, include notes about how often new content is posted. This will affect how far in advance you need to pitch.
Additionally, while newspapers are tossed in the recycling bin at the end of each day, online content stays around for much longer. Therefore, it’s not always necessary for coverage to appear around the time of your book launch. Generating some early publicity can be a great way to build name recognition before the book comes out, as long as it’s not so early that people forget who you are by publication date. Ideally, most of your media coverage will release around your pub date, but a few features or interviews a week or two early is still great for generating preorders and early buzz.
People need to hear your name or see your book cover dozens of times before it actually sticks in their brains. If all your coverage hits around launch time, it may be several weeks before people make the leap to buy the book. But if they hear your name and see your book cover image a few times leading up to your publication date, by the time your book comes out and the wave of reviews and interviews rolls in, they’ll be poised to buy.
Now that you have an understanding of the various online media outlets available to you, you can start creating a media list. Because there are far more online outlets than there are traditional media outlets, your list should be notably longer than your traditional media list, but other than length, the process is fairly similar.
To identify which online outlets are the best fit for your campaign, you must first think about your typical reader. When your readers are online, which sites do they view regularly? What newsletters do they subscribe to? What types of content are they interested in reading? Go through the same steps as you did in the “Traditional Media” section.
If you don’t spend too much time online and aren’t entirely sure of what online media your audience consumes, that’s completely okay. Instead of creating your own outreach plan, you can simply borrow someone else’s. Identify a book similar to yours, preferably one that came out recently. Plug the book title into google along with keywords like “blog” or “online review” or “podcast” and see what comes up. Compile a list of all the online outlets that covered the book. Chances are, they’d be open to covering yours, too!
Another great characteristic of online outlets is that it’s easy to link up or reference similar outlets. Most bloggers feature a blogroll, which is a list of other blogs they read. Vloggers will “favorite” videos from other vloggers, and many podcasts will include links to other shows on their network. Feel free to plunge down the online rabbit hole and see what other opportunities you’re able to dig up.
Once you have a solid list of outlets (35–50) you’ll need to evaluate whether or not these sites receive any traffic. While many websites and blogs look professional and boast well-written content, you may be surprised by how many of those websites only receive a handful of visitors each month.
The purpose of online media coverage is to expand your name recognition and reach potential readers. Therefore, you should only focus your attention on online outlets with a strong readership.
When evaluating whether or not a site is worth pitching to, I recommend taking a holistic approach. Rather than focusing on one aspect of the data, you should take multiple things into consideration:
Sites like SimilarWeb provide a snapshot of how much traffic a website receives. Plugging the URL of a website you’re considering into SimilarWeb’s data engine will provide the following data:
These data points should paint a picture of how much the site is viewed and what users do once they get there. Some sites will have unique visitors in the millions, but if the average time on site is less than a minute or the bounce rate is really high, how many of those people are actually sticking around to read the content? Other sites may have fewer monthly visitors, but a lower bounce rate and higher amount of page views. This means that the people who do visit are actually reading the content. It’s always better to have a smaller, engaged audience, as opposed to a larger audience that isn’t really connecting.
Most online outlets have corresponding social media accounts, providing another opportunity to reach readers. Whenever new content is posted to their website or there’s a new podcast available, they will post an announcement on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels. If the outlet has a large social media following, you’ll have an opportunity to reach those followers.
But you should pay attention to more than just the number of followers. For Twitter, you also want to look at the follower-to-following ratio. Many Twitter users will follow people with the sole purpose of receiving a follow-back, boosting their numbers without growing a real audience. For all platforms, you also want to pay attention to the level of engagement. If someone’s Facebook page has thousands of “likes,” but their individual posts don’t receive any likes, comments, or shares, it’s a good indicator that those followers aren’t actually reading—or even seeing—the content. Keep in mind that users are able to purchase followers to boost their numbers, so just because someone’s Facebook page has a high number of likes doesn’t mean they have an engaged audience.
Not only is this important when it comes to gauging social media engagement, but you should pay attention to these things on the actual website as well. If blog posts are shared frequently, that means more people are seeing the content than just the regular subscribers. Comments are great indicators of engagement. Websites can game the system by using content marketing or SEO tools to drive traffic to their site, but if people aren’t actually reading and engaging with the content, what’s the point? Remember, the goal is to reach potential readers. If they don’t connect with the content, you won’t see that conversion.
When evaluating the online outlets on your list, you want to keep all of these aspects in mind. If a site has only a moderate amount of traffic but comments and shares indicate an engaged audience, or the site has a large social media following, then it may be worth your time to contact them. If the traffic is really high but so is the bounce rate and there is limited engagement, then you may want to cross them off your list. Remember, the goal is to reach potential readers. If they don’t read and engage with the content, you won’t see that conversion.
Once you’ve culled your media list to only include outlets with a large, engaged audience, you’ll use a tactic similar to that discussed in the “Traditional Media” section. Most blogs and websites have clearly displayed contact information; some use contact forms. Occasionally, you’ll come across an outlet without any clear contact information. In these instances, it’s okay to reach out to the person via Twitter or Facebook message. This shouldn’t be your pitch; it should be a short message saying you’re trying to get in touch with them about their site and would like their email address. People who write for online outlets tend to be more open to communicating via social media, as long as it’s handled professionally.
Like your traditional media list, you’ll want to pay attention to which person is the best contact for the content you’re pitching. Most bloggers will have a review or PR policy on their site. Read it carefully. For podcasters and vloggers, listen to and view a few shows so you’re familiar with what they cover, and try to get in touch with the person most likely to cover your content.
While the primary goal of online media coverage is to reach potential readers, there is also a secondary benefit: Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. If you’re a new author, especially one with a more common name, you may notice that Googling yourself won’t yield the most desirable results—oftentimes, your website shows up halfway down the page, or even a page or two into a Google search.
Boosting your Google-ability is extremely important when it comes to discoverability; you need to make it as easy as possible for people to find you.
This is where SEO comes into play. There are many companies that will charge you thousands of dollars to boost your SEO, not telling you about the many easy ways you can do it for yourself. One of those ways is securing online media coverage.
When a blogger reviews your book or you write a guest article for a news site, they will include a link to your website. This is called a back-link, and the more back-links you have, the higher your site will show up in Google searches. How much “Google juice” you receive from a back-link will depend on how much traffic that website receives. Securing a back-link on a site like Huffington Post or Salon.com will give you a bigger boost than a link from a smaller blog.
Because of this, many SEO companies or high traffic websites will attempt to sell you guest post slots. For a fee, you will have the opportunity to write a guest article for a high traffic website and receive a back-link. Google is onto this and will sometimes flag content that is clearly pay-to-play. Avoid the shortcuts and attempt to secure the online media coverage yourself.
Though there are more opportunities for online media coverage than ever before, a large percentage of these outlets don’t have a large enough following to make an impact on your book sales. During your research, you may find more than 100 book blogs that would be a good fit for your book, but don’t be discouraged if 95 of them only receive a handful of visitors a month. Focus on the quality of the outlets rather than the quantity. This way, you’ll be able to reach more readers through less effort.
SimilarWeb.com
Compete.com
Quantcast.com
Alexa.com
[6] David Carr, “‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More,” New York Times, November 23, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/media/serial-podcastings-first-breakout-hit-sets-stage-for-more.html?_r=0.