Your Author Website ~ Week Two

Day Two: Media Kit

A media kit is the best way to front load information that may sell more books. Not only does it help your readers learn more about you professionally, it makes it very easy for the media to highlight you. When faced with an author they’ll have to hunt down or one where all their information is available at a click, guess which author the media will choose. And the more press you get, the more reach your books will have.

So let’s start with the basics: What is a media kit?

A media kit, essentially is a collection of professional information about you and your books. You can print paper ones to go with your books if you’re mailing hard copies or create a collection of promotional documents in a folder, but the easiest option is to create a page on your website. I’ve nestled mine under the “About” tab on mine, but it can also have its own navigation—whatever works best for your site.

What should be in your media kit?

There are many schools of thought on this. Do an online search for “What authors should have in their media kit” and you’ll find tons. Choose the best options for you at this stage of your career. Here’s a place to start:

1. You’ll want drag-and-drop, copyright free images of you.

2. Your bio

3. Your social media links

4. Contact information

5. A list of your books (I have a button on mine that takes you to my books page.)

6. The genre you write.

Depending on the stage of your career, you may also like to have:

1. Contacts for press and review inquiries (agents/publishers)

2. Praise for your books: This is where you’ll list quotes from reviewers.

3. Availability of your titles:

a. Are they worldwide?

b. What formats?

c. Any movie adaptations?

d. Foreign translations?

The more info you can include, the better! And remember, this is a living document, so as you progress in your writing career, be sure to keep your media kit updated! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to answer a media question by simply sending over the link to my media kit. It will save you time, give you and your website a professional, branded appearance, and it might just help get you noticed!

Join me next week as I talk about email marketing and your website!

Revisit Week One