The fact that you have just shelled out a lot of money for a one-time ad in a newspaper or magazine is absolutely no guarantee it will translate to major sales for your latest release. The operative phrase“ one-time” means that you’ re banking on every prospective buyer reading the publication that very day and responding to your call to action. But what if they’ re on vacation, spill coffee on the page or toss the magazine into their Read Later Stack … and then never do? You just wasted your money.

A smarter approach is the concept of“ earned media.” Unlike paid advertising or the content you personally own( ie. your website, business cards, brochures), earned media is all about putting the power of your brand into the hands of readers and subliminally encouraging them to share it with their network of family, friends and colleagues. Every time you contribute a guest blog, comment on the blogs of other writers, tweet and retweet interesting articles, start a LinkedIn discussion, post a review,“ like” a Facebook page / comment / photo, pen an editorial, repin on Pinterest, or offer a quote to a journalist doing research, you’ re putting – and keeping – your name in circulation with the consumers you want to attract. In a nutshell, the peer recommendation factor in today’ s technological platforms is priceless when it comes to long-term publicity and, ultimately, managing a successful media campaign.

Nor should you overlook the effectiveness of the“ answer bag” component of earned media – an interactive tool which invites readers to contribute tips / advice in response to your social media posts.

Selected replies, which subsequently appear on your website or are incorporated in the body of an article, carry the contributor’ s name, mini bio and url.( Authors are especially enthusiastic participants in this strategy because they get to reference their book titles.) An example of how this works in a business context is the ongoing“ 50 Words or Less” section( http:// thefaceofbusiness. wordpress. com / fifty-words-or-less /) which I recently introduced to The Biz Buzz, a website that features interviews with small business owners throughout the world. Inviting interaction not only gives your participants free PR for themselves and their companies( and who doesn’ t love that?) but they are also likely to( 1) circulate the content to everyone they know and( 2) revisit the website regularly to discover new advice they can apply to their own ventures.

In this heightened age of sensitivity when everyone is wary about who to trust, are they more likely to respond to a hard sell,“ My book is really great because I said so” or the word-of-mouth referral from a social media connection who re-posts your funny / insightful / useful bons mots on a consistent basis? If each of that friend’ s friends follows suit and your content goes viral, you have essentially created your own virtual sales force to start a buzz and make the media shout-outs for you.

And it didn’ t cost you a cent.

How are you amplifying your own earned media to promote your book? Share your tips in the Comments section on the website: www. authorpreneurmagazine. com

Former actress and theater director Christina Hamlett is a media relations expert and award winning author whose credits to date include 30 books, 150 stage plays, 5 optioned feature films, and squillions of articles and interviews. In additional to being a professional ghostwriter, she is a script consultant for the film industry( which means that she stops a lot of really bad movies from coming to theaters near you).

Christina’ s latest book, Media Magnetism: How to Attract the Favorable Publicity You Want and Deserve, is targeted to authors, artists, entrepreneurs, business owners and nonprofits. www. authorhamlett. com