DC Conspiracy[dots pattern]

9.08.2005

The Small Presser, No. 13: "Overhype Overdrive"

I hate news releases that are supercharged hype announcements with a hemie. You know the ones. You'd think Frank Miller, the Beatles and Jesus himself were endorsing the book. There's a certain art to publicizing a book—too much smoke and you turn people off; too little and you don’t get their attention.

Sometimes what seems like a cool marketing idea backfires. This recently happened to the folks at CrazeeComics. They posted on several comics message boards a release touting photos of a couple of soldiers (I assume they’re in Iraq given the “scenery”) reading their comics. Well, whatever the intention was, it drew ire at The Comics Journal message board. Some folks found the use of soldiers as a promotional gimmick tacky. It wasn’t a huge blow out, but the criticism caught the Crazee guys off guard. The lesson here is to think through your idea before acting on it. It’s also wise to run it past someone else to get some feedback before you head forth. They might see things from a different angle that you hadn’t thought of.

Another thing I find generally ineffective in press releases is endorsements. Keep them to a minimum, especially if they’re from little known sources. If Alan Moore or TCJ shower you with accolades, it’d be foolish not to use their comments to plug your book. If you quote me or some unknown Web reviewer with no street cred, it really carries little, if any, weight with the reader and it’s just wasted space.

So what should you include in your release? Just the basics—and make it brief. In three or four paragraphs, you should announce the book, provide a short summary (like one or two paragraphs, tops!) one or two short endorsements (only if the reader would recognize the endorser), and purchasing information. And perhaps note your Web site, too.

I’d also recommend including a little art from the book, something sexy. It can be a single panel or a link to a page from the book. In comics, pictures speak much louder than words, especially in a first impression. Let your work do the promoting for you. A reader is more likely to order a book if he sees a sample of your work and can gauge himself/herself whether he/she likes it than if they read some long-winded dribble about how good your book is and who likes it.

Finally, forget catch phrases. They’re silly and make you look desperate. If you’re work is really that good, it’ll spread by word of mouth and future news releases will be like a ringing triangle at dinner time rather than an annoying gong.

Dembicki at 7:39 AM  |  link to this     

2 Comments

Great post.
In my opinion, Catchphrases are the subtitles to poorly named books.

Deb at 9/08/2005 12:37 PM   

Funny you should mention hype, I just took part in the following collaborative column:
http://www.buzzscope.com/features.php?id=1103

Jason at 9/08/2005 12:44 PM   

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