Blog | C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists

Ignite a Winning Digital Marketing Strategy to Launch Your Book

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 by Cathy Lewis

by Cathy Lewis

Like an expectant parent, you anticipate the arrival of your newly printed book with eagerness and excitement. But the work isn’t over yet. It’s time to go into publicity mode.

Your next move is to hire a PR agency that specializes in book marketing. You want a firm with experience, a great reputation, and a proven track record to get your book off and running.

You and the firm will create a digital marketing strategy — building a brand, creating (or refining) a website and social media channels, establishing an engaging tone for your messaging, and adding appropriate, appealing images, videos, interviews, and other relevant content. Together, you and your publicity team will establish timelines for fresh material to keep your online presence fresh and relevant. If you’re incorporating digital advertising, additional appropriate content will be created for that, including images, videos, cinemagraphics, and copy.

4 Ways to Write Winning Bylined Articles and Boost Your Book Publicity

July 6, 2021July 6, 2021 by David Lewis

Today more than ever, targeted online article placements are an author’s ticket to success.

In an era when content is king and more than 8 in 10 Americans get news from digital devices, authors must know how to write bylined articles that not only win over online media outlets, but also wow readers to view, click, like, and share.

Targeted online article placements are an author’s ticket to success — the quickest, easiest, and best way to boost a book publicity campaign. Especially en masse, they help build awareness, momentum, and social media traffic better than any other strategy.

In These Difficult Times, Decide to Make Your Book Publicity a Force for Good

December 3, 2020December 3, 2020 by Cathy Lewis

These are difficult times in America. The coronavirus has given way to a series of historic, cascading crises: a lethal once-in-a-century pandemic, Depression-era levels of joblessness and economic despair, and glaring racial disparities and health inequities afflicting communities of color, only to be exacerbated by the continued killing of Black Americans like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police. It’s no wonder that people of all stripes are living with unthinkable angst and uncertainty.

The ‘So-What’ Is the Secret Sauce in Book Publicity

May 20, 2020 by Cathy Lewis

In a crowded, hypercompetitive, and oh-so-noisy marketplace, book publicity isn’t getting any easier. To succeed, especially at the highest levels, it’s important to know why a book matters.

I’m not talking about peppy platitudes, gross generalities, or heaven forbid, shameless self-promotion. I’m talking about current, concrete relevance — in the here and now, in the real world — preferably communicated in a sentence or two.

I call this “the so-what.” And in respect to every media decision maker — whether in print, broadcast, or digital — it answers an all-important question: Why should I care?

7 Ways to Never Run Out of Book Publicity Content

July 25, 2019 by Cathy Lewis

By any measure, content marketing is the new and ever-expanding ‘it’ in business and branding circles everywhere. Regardless of type — consumer or B2B, digital or traditional — marketing campaigns now run on content. Today, even Coca-Cola spends more money creating its own content than it does on television advertising.

For authors, book publicity and promotion is no exception: Content is king — if you never run out of ideas. For articles, blogs, podcasts, videos, social sharing, media interviews, and more, you need a constant pipeline. Or as one content marketing expert put it, “you need to keep feeding the beast.”

But how can you keep the ideas coming? Here are seven surefire ways to ensure you never run out of content.

Book Publicity Does More Than Promote Books. It Builds Brands

April 17, 2019July 25, 2019 by Cathy Lewis

Why do authors write books? For most, their primary reason is clear: They want to build their personal brand — a smart first-line strategy, particularly now when the average nonfiction book sells less than 250 copies a year.

Today, book publicity — a must-have marketing tool in the new, overcrowded publishing world — does more than promote books. It is purposely designed to build brands.

Consider these key reasons, all proven brand builders, why.

Authors: 27 Foolproof Ways to Max Your Radio Interviews and Sell More Books

July 15, 2018 by Cathy Lewis

As a leading book publicist for over 25 years, I have booked my clients on literally thousands of radio interviews. Today, I know one thing for sure: radio sells books. First, however, an author must be ready and able to maximize the opportunity. Whether a “phoner” or in-studio interview, I ask my clients to use these 27 foolproof tips.

A microphone in a radio station before an author interview.

Book PR – Authors Should Avoid These 11 Mistakes

June 13, 2018June 20, 2018 by Paul Blanchard

Here’s the surprise about PR: getting great media coverage for your book is as much about knowing what not to do than it is about knowing what to do. You can learn to master the media yourself — from social media to digital channels, print media, radio and TV — if you know what tactics to avoid.

A high tech looking image black and day glow green depicting a metal know that says media, and choices of radio, television, newspapers, magazines & internet in white letters.

The first step is to stop thinking PR is all about you. PR is about the audience: the reader, the listener, and the viewer — via the journalist. Even Twitter is about getting on journalist’s radar. To do that, you have to offer quality (not throwaway) content, and working on building a good relationship.

As with any courtship — and that’s what this is — you want to be on your best behavior. So here are 11 PR mistakes to avoid:

SEO Strategies for Authors & Books

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 by Ralph Legnini

SEO search engin optimization written as clouds in a sky between two tall buildings as viewed from the ground. If an author stood alone in the publishing marketplace, driving potential customers to a website would be easy. But with hundreds of thousands of new titles published in the U.S. each year, attracting people to your author or book website becomes like any other marketplace — competition rules. It’s a race for discovery, exposure, and on-line real estate.

That’s why web presence and search engine optimization (SEO), which help people who search the internet to find you, need special and consistent attention.

A Digital Marketing Strategy for Your Book: How It Works, How It’s Measured

July 11, 2017July 13, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

A non fiction new book just published and opened for the first time.

Congratulations: your nonfiction book is coming out. You’re ready to hire a PR agency that specializes in book marketing — a firm with a great reputation, experience and a strong track record. You’re looking forward to getting off and running.

You and the firm will forge a digital marketing strategy, building a brand, creating (or refining) a website and social media channels, establishing a tone and continuity for your messaging, and adding appropriate, appealing images, videos, interviews, and other relevant content. There will be a timeline established, with targets, and all the material will have to be maintained so nothing goes stale. The website will have to be updated; the blog refreshed regularly with resourceful and informative content; social media properties vibrant with daily posts, engagement responses, and updates. If you’re incorporating digital advertising, additional appropriate content will be created for that, including images, videos, cinemagraphics, and copy.

Can Facebook Advertising Sell Your Book?

June 16, 2017July 13, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

A row of books sitting on a black bookshelf.

Ads on Facebook are creating amazing successes for many different types of products and services. As a way for an author to connect with the desired audience, these ads are a great tool and well worth considering. The social network has been deeply mining data for years — on what people like, find amusing and interesting, along with users personal information and demographics — and the result is a gold mine for hyper-targeted advertising. Costs are flexible, options are infinitely customizable, and the results generate powerful data in real time that’s easy to track and work with.

Does Radio Sell Books?

May 15, 2017July 13, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

Q & A with Julia Schopick, Amazon.com bestselling author of HONEST MEDICINE: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases.

Is TV a better platform than radio for selling books? Many of my authors ask me. So I asked Julia Schopick, bestselling author of the book HONEST MEDICINE, to talk about WHY she feels RADIO is the best way to promote and sell books. I think you’ll find her answers fascinating.

Self-Published Authors Need Book PR Most

May 1, 2017August 10, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

Self-Published Authors Can Benefit From Professional Book Publicity Services

Self-published authors and book publicity services go hand-in-hand. That’s because self-published authors need help; they don’t have a big publisher’s publicity department behind them to write and send out press releases, pitch story ideas to target media, and book interviews on radio and TV.

Large book PR firms sometimes don’t take on self-published authors because they feel that top-tier media is more skeptical of self-published authors and their expertise.

But the times, they are a’changing.

Social Media for Authors — Part One

March 3, 2017August 10, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

Digital marketers seek every opportunity to connect their clients with the desired audience in the best and most engaging way. The social media landscape is much different than it was just last year, and it is certainly a full-time endeavor to remain current in tactics when marketing online.

Any Author Can Learn Social Media Marketing!

If you’re an author, YOU are the one who has to have the overview of what the social media marketing capabilities are for your brand. That brand is YOU, and everything you do.

Is DIY Book Publicity Right for You?

February 5, 2017August 10, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

Doing your own book publicity can be a daunting challenge.

A recent New York Times article (“Improving Your Public Relations Without a Public Relations Firm”) got me thinking about do-it-yourself book publicity. And as an author, new or seasoned, you may even be considering the idea for yourself.

But is DIY publicity right for you? Or would your book, not to mention your business and brand, be better served by you hiring an expert?

Yes, cost is a consideration. Today, though, there are scores of skilled solopreneurs and small firms whose fees won’t break the bank. As you consider being a do-it-yourselfer—an author, media strategist, content developer, and publicist all in one—I’d recommend also weighing this: what an expert can do for you smarter, faster, and better.

Here are some essential elements of a successful publicity campaign, ones that a good book publicist will be able to accomplish for you:

The Three Key Elements of Book Promotion

January 8, 2017August 10, 2017 by Cathy Lewis

With effective book promotion, your great ideas will fly.

Authors who’ve just finished their book often experience a rude awakening. After spending a year or more writing their book, and several more months shepherding it through the production phases of editing, proofreading, and design, they wonder, “How do I get the word out?” Assuming you, the author, have figured out the bookstore distribution piece of the puzzle, and have your book up on Amazon and the other online sellers, it’s now time to put your energies into the next stage: book promotion.

Targeting the Three Pillars of Book PR

Book promotion can be a full-time job–as much work as writing the book itself–depending on how much time and energy an author wants to devote to it. That’s why it’s often a good idea to hire a book publicist to help you. Here are three elements of effective book promotion that you and/or your publicist will target.