Making the Most of Media Opportunities with an Online Media Room

New technology has impacted every aspect of book publishing—even publicity. For media professionals in search of that next big story, the Internet is their first stop. A recent study shows that over 90% of journalists start researching a story by searching on the Net. That same study also shows that journalists are constantly frustrated by websites with difficult navigation, outdated or irrelevant information, a lack of PR contact, and no downloadable images and/or multimedia clips. In short, many websites and online media rooms are falling short in this age of "instant" information.

For the savvy book promoters out there, this presents a wonderful news-grabbing opportunity. By simply offering journalists, producers, and editors an easy-to-navigate and well-organized online media room, complete with everything they need to take a story about your book or author from start to finish, you have a great chance of scoring excellent media coverage. To help make your online media room a destination of choice for web-surfing journalists, we’ve put together a few guidelines:

1. Can I Call You?

Sure, it seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people forget the importance of providing all contact names, phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, pager numbers, and mailing addresses in their online media rooms. One of the top reasons journalists use the Internet is to locate PR contact info, and according to one recent study, 45% of the time they are unable to find that vital information in online searches. Make your PR contact info highly visible on your company website, and position it at the top of each page of your online media room. In addition, ALWAYS provide an emergency response phone number. If a journalist is working on a deadline, their ability to contact you at a moment’s notice could determine whether you receive coverage or not.

2. Playing Up Your Press Releases

Not surprisingly, journalists have indicated that press releases are the most important items in an online media room. Be sure that the press release section of your online media room is updated frequently with the latest news about your book or author. Archive all previous press releases in the press release section of your media room, and post all press releases in HTML to make them easily and instantly accessible.

3. In This Case, a Picture Really Is Worth a 1,000 Words

Downloading images for use in stories is one of the top five reasons journalists visit online media rooms. Be sure to offer high-resolution, downloadable images of your book cover, author, and any illustrations or photos from the book that would lend visual interest to a feature story or review. If available, post clips of previous radio and TV appearances. Such clips can greatly influence show producers who are searching the Net for guest experts.

4. Take It Easy on Me: Backgrounders, Story Ideas, and Fact Sheets

Help make the journalist's job a little easier and include a section in your online media room that contains additional information to help flesh out a full article or show segment about your book or author. Provide your media visitors with story ideas to tie your book into current events, backgrounders such as related trivia or topical quizzes, or fact sheets that list basic information about the book and its subject matter.

5. The Online Media Room: It’s Like a Regular Press Kit, Only Better!

When creating your online media room, remember that any component of a traditional press kit can be included in your online media room. As you acquire more content such as reviews, resources, author events, and media placements, be sure to add these to your media room.