Getting the Most Out of Reviews & Media Coverage

I had so many different title ideas for this article on how to leverage media coverage, but had such a hard time deciding. So I wanted to share a few with you right here:

• Getting the most out of your Book Reviews
• The Power of your Thank You!!! (+ Etiquette)
• How to Leverage Media Coverage
• What to do when someone shares your Children’s Book
• Amplifying your Book Shares

Whenever we receive reviews for our beautiful children’s books, or are being interviewed for a podcast, blog, or magazine, we get incredibly excited. And we absolutely should, because we’ve worked so very hard to write our book, get reviews, and secure these interviews.

But the question is this:

Why then aren’t we doing more (MUCH MORE) with these reviews, interviews, and any other media coverage we are receiving?

Beyond sharing these wonderful and well deserved accolades with our friends and family via a post in places like Facebook or Instagram, we often don’t take as much advantage of these beautiful opportunities as we should, could, and ought to. 

But we really should, because the more we share these things, the more people around us will become aware of our beautiful children’s books. 

So today, I’m going to share a few things I wish I’d learned much, much sooner; things that:

• Help with our own visibility 
• Ensure people continue sharing our work
• Help build and strengthen connections with other fellow authors
• Help boost our credibility (this is such a huge one)

When it comes to social media and human psychology, here’s something to remember: 

People love and appreciate nothing more than having their media posts (1) liked and (2) shared! It’s great for business, for self-esteem, and of course in our case, our children’s books. This holds true whether this person is an author, a business owner, an entrepreneur, or even a celebrity. 

The thing is that once we’ve shared our interview or any type of book-related news through this one single social media post, most of us STOP. For whatever reason, we think that sharing this media coverage once, that’s all there is to do. All we can do.

But here is the thing that from now on, I want you to remember: 

Once you do appear in this interview, once you do receive this professional review, once you do appear on someone’s podcast, once you do receive this shoutout on someone’s feed, that’s when it’s YOUR turn, where you have to step up your game. Because it is up to you to spread the word! How you leverage media coverage of your book it is up to you! 

To show you what I mean by “leverage,” I’m going to share a couple of examples of how I have been leveraging some of my media coverage these past couple of years. Hopefully, this will get your creative juices flowing as well, so that next time you receive an amazing review or land this wonderful interview, you know WHAT YOU CAN DO on your end to get the most out of this type of publicity.

No matter what type of media coverage you are receiving, always ask yourself this questions:

How can I make the absolute most of this opportunity?

Media coverage and the type of opportunities I’m referring to in this article are any of these:

1. Reviews
2. Interviews for an article 
3. Podcast interviews
4. Someone sharing your book on social media 
5. Book awards you’ve won
6. Bestselling status of your book
7. etc.

1. Leverage Media Coverage: Guest Posts

I’ve written about the incredible power of Guest Posting for us children’s authors before right here. In today’s article, however, I’d like to focus on how I leverage them.

Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a few guest posts for places like Scary Mommy, Business Insider, and Kindlepreneur. 

Kindlepreneur is one of my favorite blogs that I have been reading for years. So once my article appeared on this blog, I got to work to make the absolute most of this opportunity. 

I began sharing it like crazy:

• I shared it on social media with my friends and family.
• I shared it via email with my readers.
• I shared it on my website.
• And I still send people to this article to this day.

Here is what this heavy sharing resulted in:

Lots of Shares

Sharing this article among my own circle of friends, family, and readers helped get the ball rolling, especially right after it had been published. Not only has this article been read tens of thousands of times over the past few years; but it has also now been shared more than 2,000 times by its readers.

Lots of Comments

Something many guest posters forget about is to check the comments section of their article. This is such a missed opportunity to connect with the article’s readers as well as the blog owner. 

After my article had been published, I didn’t just disappear. Instead, I continued to check the comments section and responded to readers’ questions. That’s why this article now has 180+ reviews.  

This doesn’t happen often on a blogpost, is helpful to its readers, and also won’t go unnoticed by the blog owner.

Podcast Interviews

Because I continued to respond to people’s comments, Dave (the owner of this blog) invited me to appear on his podcast.  

This, in turn, led to many more guest posting opportunities and podcast interviews.

DO THIS:

• Once you’ve shared what you have written, share it again. 
• Be sure to thank the blog owner for this opportunity to appear on their blog! 
• Show your commitment by responding to the questions that may be asked by readers in the comments section below your blogpost. 
• Add your blogpost to your media page on your website, if you have one. If you don’t have a website, you can learn how to set one up for free right here.
• Depending how big the blog is, add the logo to your banner on your website.
• When approaching other blogs, mention the blogs you have already appeared on.

REMEMBER THIS:

A podcast host or blog owner is much more likely to bring you back on or recommend you to others if they know you are going to share and are going to send some eyeballs their way. They gave you the opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas on their platform, so be sure to pay it forward by thanking them for the opportunity and by sharing it widely.

2. Leveraging Media Coverage: Interviews

At the beginning of the year, I was interviewed for a Forbes article. This article has been viewed 32,711 times. 

The average number of views of this contributor’s last 20 articles is around 11,515 times, with many well below 10,000 views. So why is mine three times higher? 

It’s higher because I shared this article EVERYWHERE! I shared it:

• On Instagram
• My Instagram Story
• On Facebook amongst my family and friends
• My website’s media page
• In my emails

I shared it with whomever was willing to listen. And the four main reasons I shared it where these:

• BECAUSE I was so incredibly proud of the fact that I had been interviewed for Forbes a second time.
• BECAUSE I wanted to make sure as many people as possible would read my article.
• BECAUSE I wanted Forbes to show my article in their selected featured section (which would generate even more views).
• BECAUSE I wanted to make sure that if I were to approach this contributor again in the future, she would be more than willing to interview me again, because she knew I would send an incredible amount of eyeballs her way.

Besides sharing my feature to make sure I’d send us much ‘traffic’ to this article, there were some other things I did to make the most out of this opportunity:

Your Media Bio:

I updated my media bio, which I share in places like my website and my Amazon author profile.

Your Website:

I added it to my media banner displayed on my website. Doing so instantly boosts your credibility with visitors of your site.

Your Email Signature:

If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you add a branded signature block to your emails. This is such a wonderful opportunity to pique a receiver’s interest, no matter the subject of your emails. This is how I’ve gotten a number of author-visit invitations, without ever having introduced myself as a children’s book author. My email signature did all the work for me.

If you’d like me to show you in a quick video how I created this free email signature that automatically shows up at the bottom of every email, visit www.eevijones.com/emailsignature

DO THIS:

• Once you’ve shared your interview, share it again. 
• Thank the people who helped you make this article/ interview possible. When sharing about it, be sure to tag them. 
• Thank the contributor/ the person who interviewed you. When sharing about it, be sure to tag them.
• Thank the photographer or anyone else who was involved in this feature; and again, be sure to tag them when sharing.
• Add your interview or feature to your media page on your website, if you have one. If you don’t have a website, you can learn how to set one up for free right here.
• Add the logo to your banner on your website.
• Add the feature to your media bio and your email signature
• When reaching out for future features and interviews, mention those you have already appeared in.

REMEMBER THIS:

Believe it or not, but journalists, interviewers, editors, and contributors don’t often receive thank-yous from people they have featured in their articles. So be the one that stands out (in a good way) and reach out to express your appreciation. They’ll remember you for it! Plus, it’s the right thing to do!

3. Leverage Media Coverage: Awards & Bestseller Banners

Once I started winning awards with my children’s books, I added “award-winning” to my author bio. And when I became a USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, I added that to my author bio and email signature as well

Just like before, I started sharing these proud moments by:

• Adding it to my email signature
• Updating my author bio on my website 
• Updating my Amazon sales pages

DO THIS:

• Once you’ve shared your incredible win, share it again. 
• Thank the people who helped you along the way of publishing your beautiful Children’s Book; tag them in your shares.
• Thank any contributing parties, such as your illustrator and editor. When sharing about it, be sure to tag them.
• Add your win to your website.
• Showcase your win in your media bio and your email signature.
• When reaching out for interviews, weave your wins into your outreach message.

REMEMBER THIS:

Despite what others may say, people do often judge a book by its cover. This also holds true to any title people may hold. So be sure to showcase all that you have accomplished in terms of your children’s books. Winning an award is a big deal, so be proud of it and share these wonderful accomplishments.

4. Leverage Media Coverage: Reviews

Reviews can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes:

• Professional reviews from institutions like Kirkus (in case you are wondering, I do NOT recommend Kirkus!!)
• Reviews from friends and family
• Reviews from readers you don’t know
• Opinions about your children’s book shared in interviews, podcasts, etc.

Reviews are extremely important, especially in the early stages of our newly published children’s books. Every single review is treasured and celebrated by the author, so why not also share it? 

Sharing an especially beautiful review can often do wonders:

• It shows your excitement
• Lets others know how important reviews are for authors
• May inspire or remind others within your circle to leave their review for your children’s book as well
• May inspire others within your circle to purchase your new children’s book and/ or to share it

Oftentimes, our book is being praised in other places than those reviews already shared on Amazon. These praises don’t have to remain unshared. If we can’t get a certain review or public mention as an official review, we can always add those ourselves by making use of Amazon’s Editorial Review section.

To show you how you can make use of this section, I’ve recorded a short video.

(If you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of my future uploads.)

DO THIS:

• If you have received a beautiful review, be sure to share this wonderful win on social media; maybe even create a fun little image on places like Canva. 
• Thank any contributing parties, such as your illustrator and editor. When sharing about it, be sure to tag them.
• If these reviews can’t be submitted as a regular review on Amazon, be sure to add it yourself, using Amazon’s Editorial Review section.

REMEMBER THIS:

Unless people have written and published their own book, most often don’t understand how important reviews are to the success of a book. Sharing your excitement openly lets them know how they can support and help you.

5. Leverage Media Coverage: Shout-Outs

This one is near and dear to my heart. And that’s because it comes out of the goodness of people’s hearts.

A few months ago, one of my biggest article interviews went live with a major publication. In this article, I shared the work of fellow children’s authors. I remember so clearly when, many years ago, one of my first books received a major shout-out! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops and share it with EVERYONE. But you know how many of these featured authors shared it with their community? One! What a missed opportunity! 

What a missed opportunity to:

• Share it on their own social media
• Share it with friends and family
• Share it on their website, stating that they had been featured in a major publication
• Perhaps even connect with or thank the person for this opportunity of having had their book mentioned and featured

DO THIS:

• If you’ve received a shout-out, no matter how big or how small, thank that person who took the time to do so
• Show your appreciation by re-sharing this shout-out on your own media channels. 
• Depending on the shoutout, evaluate if you should showcase this feature on your website

REMEMBER THIS:

Any time your beautiful children’s book is being shared and mentioned, that person took the time to do so. These gestures are incredibly generous and should never be taken for granted. Show your appreciation and pay it forward.

I hope this article helped get your creative juices flowing, giving you some ideas on what to do with all the amazing shout-outs you have been, are, or will be receiving. Momentum is important, so be sure to make the most of every opportunity you are receiving! 

And next time you see a fellow children’s author share any of their wins, show your support! Give their post a “like” and maybe even share it.

When it comes to being a children’s book author, any author, for that matter, connecting with one another is important. Supporting one another is important. 

We are not each others’ competition. We are each other’s allies and supporters. At least we ought to be. 

xo

~ Eevi

P.S. If this article has helped you in any way today, please be sure to share it or perhaps even leave a review right here for my book How to Self-Publish a Children’s Book – which is most likely how you have found me; so leaving a review will help others find me as well. Thank you so much! 

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