Succeed With Email Press Releases

Here's something you need to know if you want to send email press releases, either to print media or as an “exciting announcement to friends, business associates, and family.

Follow these rules so your announcement won’t be deleted, filtered to spam, or judged rude by the recipient.

The KISS Rule

Keep it short, sweetheart. People are busy. Give the pertinent information, you know, the old who, what, when, where, why, and how along with the book info: title, genre, ISBN, publisher, release date, price, & how to get a copy. Keep it to a couple of paragraphs so the reader doesn’t have to scroll and scroll again.

Be Thoughtful

Address the emails individually. That's best. Second best is BCC if you have to. But please don't send them en masse using CC. Never CC everyone, putting all of them in as recipients where everyone can see everyone else’s email addresses. I can’t tell you how much annoying mail I’ve received from total strangers who click a mass email Reply To All. Don’t be guilty of this. If you send each one individually, the recipient will think you actually thought of them especially for this, and it will make them feel special.

Personalize

Put a little note at the top of the email with a personal message if at all possible. Enjoyed meeting you at the book signing. Or Love your blog. Or I hope I can write half as good as you. Be sincere. The few seconds you spend doing this will make the recipient regard you warmly rather than with irritation.

Be Timely

Send your email announcements in a timely fashion - not so far in advance of the book’s release that they forget, and not so far after the release that the book is no longer available. "Timing," as funny man Steve Martin said, "is everything."

Find a Hook

Make sure your news is not only of interest but is presented in an interesting or entertaining manner to hook your reader. If mailing to media for inclusion in local newspapers, remember to find a hook that makes it locally newsworthy.

Takeaway Truth

The media gets thousands of press releases weekly, sometimes daily. Individuals are flooded with email also. Make sure your email is valued by the receiver in some way.