My topic of the day is about writing a press release. I spent some of my Friday writing time doing exactly that when I composed a press release, to send to newspapers in Scotland. Not to my very local rags, since they did small features in December for my last historical adventure release- After Whorl: Bran Reborn. Yesterday's press releases were going to newspapers in my nearest city (Aberdeen) and to Edinburgh.
My current press release is not for a new book release, it is more to make the public aware that my dynasty-based mystery thriller- TOPAZ EYES- has been nominated for a prestigious UK-wide national competition - THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE 2014. And that I desperately need people to VOTE for it before the end of February 2014, be they local or global! It's the public who vote for the book and my publisher- Crooked Cat Publishing- and not a panel of judges.
Whether you live in my home village in Scotland, or in the US, Sweden, China, Indonesia or wherever you as a reader of this blog live, your VOTE for my book counts!
I'm not skilled at writing a press release but this is what I came up with:
TOPAZ EYES is nominated for THE
PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE 2014 Fiction (winter)
Scottish author, Nancy Jardine, is delighted to announce
that her dynasty-based mystery thriller Topaz
Eyes - which revolves around a hazardous worldwide hunt for Mughal jewels -
has been nominated for the winter section of UK nation-wide competition, The People’s Book Prize 2014. This
prestigious prize has no judging panel. It is only members of the public who vote for this award, so every possible vote is needed for Edinburgh-based
Crooked Cat Publishing and Topaz Eyes to go through to the finals
which will be judged in May 2014.
The duration of voting for Topaz Eyes (winter quarter of the year) runs from the beginning of
Dec 2013 through to the end of February
2014, so there’s still time to place your vote and support a Scottish
writer and local publisher.
You can place your VOTE by following this link: http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=1060
Nancy Jardine,
from Kintore in Aberdeenshire, has had five novels published since she stopped
teaching in 2011: novels which cover the genres of historical adventures and
contemporary mysteries with romantic elements. Novels six and seven are due for
publication in spring 2014- both of these are set in Aberdeenshire, during
different periods of Ancient Roman Occupation of the area.
Nancy Jardine says: “I love including something about Scotland in my
novels whenever possible. My fictitious Keira Drummond, in Topaz Eyes, is from Edinburgh and although the fantastic European cities of Heidelberg, Vienna and Amsterdam feature in the hunt for the scattered collection
of jewels, it is Edinburgh
that is the crucial location regarding the discovery of the ultimate mystery
item. I really enjoyed designing the complex family tree for this novel.
Linking together the third generation members who form the ‘hunt’ team, unknown
to each other at the beginning of the novel, was great fun- and it was especially
good inventing the ‘rotten apples’ in the family whose greed gets the better of
them.”
A reviewer of Topaz Eyes on Amazon writes: “…I found Topaz
Eyes to be a highly entertaining read on multiple levels. Author Nancy
Jardine's writing is smooth, engaging and polished. Enhanced by engaging
secondary characters, this book deserves 5 stars. I'll look for more by this
author in the future. What a wonderful book!”
Nancy Jardine’s novels are available in print and ebook
formats from
They can also be purchased from W.H.Smith; Waterstones:
Crooked Cat Bookstore; Smashwords; and Barnes and Noble.
A Youtube book trailer video for the plot of TOPAZ EYES can
be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPf5kTAyi4&feature=channel&list=UL
Back cover Blurb for TOPAZ EYES:
A peculiar invitation to Heidelberg
embroils Keira Drummond in the search for a mysterious collection of
extraordinary jewels once owned by a Mughal Emperor; a hoard that was last
known to be in the possession of Amsterdam
resident, Geertje Hoogeveen, in 1910.
Who among the progeny of Geertje – hitherto unfamiliar third
cousins brought together for the quest – can Keira rely on? Distrust and
suspicion among them is rife.
Which one is greedy, and determined enough, to hire thugs to
tail her… and worse… as she travels to Vienna
and Minnesota? Can Keira even trust Teun Zeger - a
Californian she is becoming very drawn to – as they pair up to unearth the
jewellery?
As they follow a trail of clues, will they uncover the full
collection before the hired gun kills them? Details remain furtive and
undisclosed until danger and death forces their exposure. And who harbours the
ultimate mystery item that is even more precious than the Mughal jewels?
Greed, suspicion and murder are balanced by growing family
loyalty, trust, and love.
After I wrote the press release and sent it to 4 Scottish newspapers, I had moments of doubt about whether I was on target. I 'Googled' - How to write a press release' and then wished I hadn't. Some key elements from the articles I'd read have been followed. What I didn't do was include the above press release in the body of the email, as was suggested on more than one site.
I whittled writing a press release down to;
Headline-eye catching
Lead Paragraph:
Who & What – my key message, ultimate objective and
target audience
When & Where & How –duration of competition voting
and how to vote link
Quotes
Links for me and my books
Most important first, least important last.
I had a blog post to write for my 'every second Saturday' blog at Writing Wrangler and Warriors today so it's no real surprise that 'Writing a Press Release' is my topic. On there, you'll find links to the sites I've used in my researchingof this skill. http://writingwranglersandwarriors.wordpress.com
Do you think I made a huge mistake in attaching it? Are there other mistakes made in the above press release which I could improve on next time? Please drop me a message in the comments box and let me know what you think.
Happy reading, and happy writing if you're an author like me.
Slainthe!
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