When Warren asked me to offer some PR insight to his readers, I knew there was one thing I wanted to say above all else: the greatest mistake you can make when publicizing your book is to talk about your book.

Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Of course you want people to know about your book. You want them to be intrigued by the story, enticed by the characters, dying to know what happens next, right?

Here’s the problem with that strategy: there are millions of intriguing stories, enticing characters and suspenseful plot lines out there. Millions. If you make your publicity campaign about your book, you will never stand out above the rest. To the consumer, your book’s plot line will simply blend into another book they heard about and another after that. It may be a hard truth to hear, but it is nonetheless, truth.

What makes your book so completely unique, so unlike anything else that’s out there, is you. Your story. That’s the trick. Pure and simple. The best PR campaigns do not spotlight the product; they spotlight the story behind the product. Why did you write this book? Is it auto-biographical? Were you down to your last dime, living off Ramen noodles and praying the power wouldn’t get shut off just so you could finish that last chapter?

Did you stay up late into the wee hours to write despite early morning meetings at the office? Is it your first book? It is your fiftieth? Is this the story you began to write ten years ago and only now returned
to finish it? Did you go on ride-alongs with the cops to ensure authenticity? Is the story based on your childhood? It is a commentary on how you see society? Are you young? Old? Male? Female? Black? White?

Are you a suburban housewife who always felt she had something to say?

Or, a dance club player whose nighttime adventures would make Hugh Hefner blush?

When Rocco Mediate recently played against Tiger Woods, the media wasn’t buzzing about his golf swing. They talked about how it took him twenty-three years to become an overnight success. Had that not been
the story, I would never have heard about him – nor would I have tuned to watch the sudden death face off with baited breath. The story behind the scenes is what got me.

This is how you make yourself memorable to the media – by giving them a reason to write about you. This is how you ensure the consumer remembers your name when searching online or in the book store.

By branding yourself, instead of your individual work, you serve all of your books – past, present and future. People will excitedly look for the next thing you write, or happily discover something that’s been on the shelves for years. It’s easier to attract consumers to book-signings if they care about the author they are going to see. It’s easier to secure speaking engagements on college campuses if you, yourself, are known. By branding yourself, you give media, bloggers and consumers something to sink their teeth into; something to relate to, and most importantly, something to remember.

So, when you contact the media, when you reach out to bloggers, when you tell your story, make sure it is your story you tell, not your book’s.