We’re taking a look at the various pieces to include in the marketing portion of your novel proposal. Last time we talked about including a brief intro to your marketing plan and then a list of publications. If you missed it, you can check it out here.

Today, we’ll cover two more sections: Media Appearances and Networks.

Media Appearances

Following the Publications section of my proposal’s marketing plan, I included a list of all the local TV and radio stations at which I’d seek out coverage. I had a little bit of an advantage here because in my day job I work with the media quite a bit. But simply showing your potential agent or publisher you’re informed about your local media and  willing to make an effort at grassroots is just plain smart.

I also included information about my comfort level giving interviews and my past experience in this area. If you have any similar experience or personal connections with the media, be sure to include that.

Here’s a nice side note to this: A few months before my first book released, my publisher contacted me asking for information about local media in my area and any contacts I might have. Because I’d already completed this part of my marketing plan, it was one less thing I had to pull together in those crazy busy pre-release months. All I had to do was copy and paste the info from my proposal and boom, done.

Networks

Okay, now this is the spot in your marketing plan where you’ll let the publisher know you’ve got some ready-made platforms for spreading the word about your book. And at first consideration, it’s easy to think, “Uh, I’m not a celebrity or a famous speaker or Tim Tebow. I have no platform.”

But we’re all part of some kind of network! And those networks are the initial foundation of our platform. Networks like:

• National writing groups and organizations. MBT, for instance. Or ACFW. RWA. Local writing groups too can be a great network for word-of-mouth marketing in your area.
• Church groups with large memberships. I have a friend who attends a mega church and their women’s ministry includes over 400 women.  That’s a network, for sure.
• Business organizations. Some of my most surprising marketing opportunities have come through contacts I’ve made at my day job. Just recently I was invited to appear at a statewide event by someone I’ve met maybe five or six times in the past five years at various work events.
• Alumni groups. If you’re connected with your alma mater in some way, it can be a great way to spread the word about your release. News of my book release was included in my college’s alumni magazine and I can’t tell you how many random emails and messages I received after that from old friends I haven’t seen in years.
• Organizations with some kind of connection to your novel’s subject matter. Now, this is a little easier for nonfiction proposals, but it works for fiction too. Do you include a character who sews or knits? Are you in any kind of sewing organization yourself? Those kinds of things…

We’ll continue looking at proposal marketing plans next week. For now, do you have any questions about including media appearances and networks in your marketing plan?