Why Every Author Needs a Media Kit

(Wikimedia)

When I self published my first book, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Thanks to the internet, I found some good articles and advice books and made a start on publicity. You can’t do everything at once, so I started slowly. When I talk to people now about my social media platform for example, their eyes glaze over with panic because it sounds so complicated. It is quite complex – now – but I have been building this for five years.

I was better at publicity when I launched my second book – been there, done that – but there was still so much to learn. When I dealt with the media, I didn’t have a media kit. I didn’t even have a press release. I just rang people up or emailed them and said, 'I’ve just published a book, can you help me?'

Sometimes I got lucky, but mostly I was ignored.

Document Changes and Comments

At the moment I’m going through the professional edit of my second novel, and it occurred to me that some of you out there may not know about the facilities offered by word processing software (Microsoft Word and similar) for critiquing work.

I use Libre Office, which is a free Microsoft Office clone, so the explanations and screen shots will be from there, but the principles work in most word processors. Once you know what’s possible, you just have to find your own version on the menus.

Changes

When you critique a piece of writing, you want to be able to suggest changes in the text to improve it or correct spelling or grammar errors. You do this with the menu option Edit/Track Changes/Record Changes. I think Microsoft Word may call it Track rather than Record.

Philip K Dick (1928-1982)

Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer notable for publishing works of science fiction. Dick explored philosophical, social, and political themes in novels with plots dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, alternate universes, and altered states of consciousness. His work reflected his personal interest in metaphysics and theology, and often drew upon his life experiences in addressing the nature of reality, identity, drug abuse, schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences. Dick was married five times and had three children.