Book Cover Illustrations

Today’s authors are expected to promote their own titles. Often the best way of doing that is to get interviewed and quoted at blogs, in magazines and newspapers, and on the airwaves.

Easier said than done.

Back in the good old days, reporters beat the bushes for experts to interview. If an author had written about the subject the reporter needed information about, the reporter would quite literally beat a path to the author’s door.

Not so much any more.

Today news agencies, bloggers, and researchers often post notices asking for information. A savvy writer wanting publicity discovers these requests and follows up with an email — hopefully gaining a little coverage for both the author and the book in the process. Sometimes there may even be a radio or TV interview waiting for the author who knows where to look.

Rather than spend time Goggling for these requests for requests, it’s easier to let a couple of companies do the work. These groups collect the various requests for information/authorities from across the various media, and then list them in daily email newsletters. Authors subscribing to these lists search for subjects they can handle and, bingo, another way to get some good publicity for the author’s book. These lists have everyone from small bloggers to The New York Times, to ABC News, and the HuffingtonPost asking for experts. The opportunities for extra coverage can be immense.

Currently there are two good lists to use. One is HARO; the other is Reporter Connection.

If you’re an author with a book to promote, signing onto one or both of these lists is a good idea.

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Duncan Long has worked for several decades in the publishing industry. Currently he works as a freelance magazine and book illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, ISFiC Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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