How to Use Press Releases to market your ebook.

A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the news media announcing something with news value to gain media coverage.  If done well, it can bring in substantial revenue for you.  It can be a powerful tool for marketing your ebook. You can use a press release to announce the publication of your book or announce a limited time offer of your ebook.

There are several free online press release distribution and press release services to help you get good exposure for your press release.  These services help you build roads from your ebook to potential clients.  They provide your press releases with hyper links back to your blog and build paths for internet users to discover you and your book.

I suggest trying the free services first as the paid services will cost $300 or more.  PRlog.com is my favorite free service.  They are a free online press release distribution and press release submission service that provides HTML links in your press release body, a search engine optimized web page, multiple industries and tags, video press release, and Spam protection on your email address.

PRlog.com distributes your press release to numerous news sites, numerous search engines, numerous java script html & RSS feeds.  They provide customizable real time daily and weekly alerts, social media integration, and your own press room.

Other free press release distribution sites that provide paid services and some free ones, include: 24-7PressRelease.com, 1888PressRelease.com, ClickPress.com, EcommWire.com, Express-Press-Release.com, Free-Press-Release.com, Free-Press-Release-Center.info, I-Newswire.com, NewswireToday.com, PR.com, PR9.net, PRBuzz.com, PRCompass.com, PRUrgent.com, Press-Base.com, PressAbout.com, PressMethod.com, PRLeap.com, PRLog.org, TheOpenPress.com.

Writing press releases can be a powerful and effective way of marketing your ebook!

How to Write a Press Release

What is a press release?  A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the news media announcing something with news value with the objective of gaining media coverage.  If done well, it can bring in substantial revenue for you.  


For a press release to be effective, it should be written professionally and contain information that is newsworthy. It should be written in third person.  In other words, instead of using we, us, and ours, you should be using, they, them and theirs.

A press release consists of the following elements:

Headline:  The first line of text that tells what the press release is about and grabs the attention of journalists.  It should be short, but descriptive.  Write it to catch their eye.  It should be written in title case.

The Summary:  Identify a unique feature about your product or service.  How will your product or service make the world a better place?  It's a single paragraph of about three to five lines.  It's in sentence case, only the first letter of a sentence is capitalized.

The Body:  The body includes the following elements.

- Dateline:  The date of the press release and the originating city of the press release.  For some press release services, including PRLog, the date stamp should not be entered as it is automatic.

- Introduction:  The first paragraph, where the press release body starts.  It gives basic answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and why.

- Details:  This is what comes after the introduction.  It gives further explanation, background, any statistics, and other details relevant to the news.  For PRLog, it should be at least 500 words and a minimum of two paragraphs.  All paragraphs should be between five to eight lines each.

About:  This section is all called the "boilerplate" because it is used over and over again.  It is a short section providing background information on you or the company or organization issuing the press release.

Media contact Information:  Contains the contact information including the name, phone number, email address, mailing address, etc. for the media relations contact person.

Overcome writer's block!

To overcome writer's block, write an erotic scene!  An erotic scene puts you, the writer, in the middle of the action:  mind, body and soul!  An erotic scene allows you to tap into emotions and use all your senses:  sight, sound, touch, smell and taste to construct a powerful and moving scene.  As a result of using all our senses, creativity flows easily and freely and you'll find  yourself unstuck and able to go back to work.  And, even if you can't use the scene in your present work, save it for a future work!

Great characterization is the key!

Great characterization is the key to a great romance novel.  We need to create complex, surprising, and unforgettable characters.  Loveable, realistic and believable characters.   Flesh and blood characters.  Readers must be able to identify with, and become attached to, both the heroine and the hero so they will invest their emotions in the story.  There must be enough chemistry between the two main characters to make readers want to see them end up together. 

The Romance Novel focuses on the romance between the heroine and hero

A romance novel differs from all other novels because it focuses on the romance between the two main characters:  the heroine and the hero.  The serial murders that may be occurring are a secondary plot.  If the world is coming to an end, it’s secondary.  More than half of the story involves the heroine and hero’s relationship.  Less than half focuses on the plot that carries the story along.   The hero and heroine must not only solve the murders or save the world they must fall in love along the way and figure out how they can be together for eternity.   It’s a pretty tall order!