How to Create an Author Press Kit with Susan Neal Novel Marketing

I used to host a drive-time radio show where I interviewed authors. Before scheduling the interviews, I would visit an author’s website looking for a press kit page. A press kit is a page on an author’s website designed specifically for journalists. If an author didn’t have a press kit on their website, I assumed they were not ready for a live radio interview.







If you don’t have a press kit page on your website, journalists may be making the same assumption about you.







Press kit pages don’t take long to build, and they can go a long way in getting you booked for media interviews on TV, radio, and podcasts. A press kit page is sometimes called a media kit. Whether you’re independently or traditionally published, having a press kit, or a media kit, on your website makes you look media-ready. A well-written and neatly designed media kit page could get you an interview with your local paper, which could help get your books shelved in your local library.







How do you add a press kit to your website?







To help us learn about creating a press kit, I interviewed Susan Neal. She is a Certified Writer Coach, an award-winning author, and director of the Christian Indie Publishing Association.







Everyone can benefit from media coverage. A good press kit will help increase the likelihood of favorable media coverage, while the absence of a press kit will definitely hurt your chances of being covered at all.







What should I include on my press kit page?







Bio







Susan Neal: First, you want to include your bio. You need a short version and a long version. My bio is two paragraphs long. If a podcaster only wants to use the first paragraph, that’s great. If they want a longer version, they have the option to read the second paragraph as well.







Thomas Umstattd, Jr.: Some authors may be wondering why they need two bios when it seems like a long bio would suffice. You need different bios because journalists use them for different purposes. If I’m introducing you on my radio show, I want a short bio written in third person that I can read to introduce you.







But if I’m writing a custom bio for you, or if I’m a newspaper reporter writing an article about you, I want a lot of information from a longer bio so I can build my own narrative around you.







Headshot







Susan: You’ll want to include at least one professional headshot, possibly several.







When you attend a writers conference, be sure and take advantage of the professional photography services offered. A professional headshot demonstrates your professionalism and commitment to your career. You’ll use that photo across all your social media channels so people can easily identify you.







Thomas, I noticed your headshot is the same on all your websites and social channels. That’s great because you want individuals to recognize you on Facebook, Instagram, your website, or your press kit. Your photo will become an element of familiarity wherever people find you on the internet.







Thomas: James L. Rubart had a standard headshot of himself that I had seen all over the internet. I had never met him in person, but we had both heard of each other. We finally met in the Austin airport because he had a giant poster of himself with his own headshot on it, and I recognized the photo.







I introduced myself. My recognition of his headshot led to an introduction that eventually led us to create the Novel Marketing Podcast.