Marketing Your Book for Cheap or Free

Learn how to tell the world about your book on a budget. The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) is pleased to present “Marketing for Cheap or Free: How to Utilize Traditional and Social Media to Promote Your Book Without Spending a Lot,” a lunch and learn workshop instructed by Arkansas food expert, micro-press owner, and prolific author Kat Robinson.  The course will be held from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm on Friday, February 18. Participants have the option to join virtually or in person at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, 515 Spring Street in Eureka Springs. The cost of the workshop is $35.

This workshop will demonstrate how to go about making contacts in the media, through traditional and social media channels, to promote books to the public. Author and thirty-year media veteran Kat Robinson will share the ins and outs of how television and radio producers and newspaper editors choose stories to assign and publish. Learn how to connect with individuals in the media and get free publicity for your work. Robinson will discuss how assignments are made in traditional newsrooms, the differences in those settings, the new virtual world, and what you can do to set your book apart from others when it comes to making a pitch. Workshop participants will learn how to source contacts in traditional newsrooms, the basics of constructing a media query, ways to utilize social media tools to entice sharing of book-related publicity, and the dos and don’ts of making contact with media-related individuals. Robinson, the author of 11 books including culinary travel guides, cookbooks, and food histories, has utilized these practices with her micro-press, Tonti Press, to promote published works by herself and other writers.

This workshop is ideal for any writer interested in promoting their work. Participants should bring their preferred method of taking notes and a desire to learn. This is sure to be an informative and invaluable class. Workshop attendance is limited to provide personal attention to participants. Register at  www.writerscolony.org/events.

Kat Robinson wrote the book on Arkansas food, the 2018 compendium Arkansas Food: The A to Z of Eating in The Natural State. The Little Rock-based author and food historian is well known for her culinary travelogues covering including Arkansas’ most significant restaurants, mom-and-pop dairy bars, and where you can find great homemade pie. She is also the filmmaker behind the 2021 documentary Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats, and the host of the Emmy-nominated show Make Room for Pie. Learn more about Robinson at www.tiedietravels.com and her micro-press at www.tontipress.com.

Robinson’s initial career as a producer and on-air personality in television and radio guided her when promoting her later food writing adventures. Her eight-year stint as the senior producer for Today’s THV This Morning at Little Rock CBS affiliate KTHV provided her with valuable experience in vetting and scheduling guests with local programs. She has mastered the three-minute interview.