Booksellers who signed up for this years NVNR Publicity Speed Dating event have until May 21 to submit their publicity kits. But even if your bookstore is not participating, a publicity kit is an important tool, especially for any bookstore looking to develop a strong events program. It's well worth creating one if you don't already have one. If you are attending the New Voices New Rooms conference in August, a publicity kit is something you can give to vendors.

The purpose of a publicity kit is to make your store stand out. You point to it when talking to publishers, and use it to demonstrate to publicists why the bookstore is a good event partner.

A Publicity Kit Checklist:

• Include your store name, website, and logo.
• Include store's contact information and the specific event coordinator contact if you have one.
• Include your store's location, proximity to universities, schools, and major cities, and potentially a map.
• Include reporting information - meaning where you report your store's sales (New York Times, Bookweb, etc.).
• Venues you work with and capacity information for each venue.
• Community partners.
• If your store has a niche, make sure to include it - what makes your store unique/interesting?
• Information on non-author events your store does.
• Marketing information - how do you market your events?
• Newsletter, social media, media list information, etc.
• A list or grid of your best events in the past year, including attendance, sales, and venue.
• Be concise! And make the vital information pop.
• Be conscious of colors and contrast. Make sure it's easy to read and scannable.
• No large blocks of text - break things up with photos.

For Publicity Speed Dating events publicity kits should be no longer than two pages, in an easily printable PDF format. But it is becoming more common for bookstores to put their publicity kit online, as a page on their website, where it can be easily kept up to date. If your publicity kit is online, include a link on any printed PDF you create.

A well thought out, well-designed publicity kit inspires confidence when you are talking to publicists and requesting authors. It makes it easy to brag about your bookstore and all the things you do really well.

Did you know? SIBA has a gallery of store publicity kits bookstores can use for reference.