Is it worth pitching traditional media for PR in an era of paid ads? Can PR build your author brand and attract opportunities you might not have had otherwise? What are the best ways to pitch your book? Dana Kaye answers these questions and more in today's show. In the intro, Kobo Writing Life announces direct audio upload with the benefits of multi-currency pricing, higher royalties, and promotional opportunities [The New Publishing Standard]. Bookfunnel announces ePub to Mobi conversion because of changes to Vellum formatting software. Amazon Alexa announces Samuel L Jackson will be available to interact with on Alexa using their ‘neural text-to-speech' technology — yes, voice-synth AI is here! [The Guardian]. Check out episode 437 for my AI disruption predictions for more. Plus, Amazon also released earbuds, a ring (Loop) and glasses with voice assistants within. The Internet of Things is voice-enabled! Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts, Second Edition, is now available in ebook, paperback, large print, hardback and audiobook — narrated by me! Today's show is sponsored by PublishDrive, a global self-publishing platform distributing to 400+ stores and 240,000 libraries, with innovative marketing tools like integrated Amazon Ads. The writing process is hard enough, so the publishing and marketing process should be easier. PublishDrive helps authors write more, publish more, sell more and worry less. Go to www.PublishDrive.com/penn to learn more. Dana Kaye is the author of Your Book, Your Brand and The Personal Brand Workbook. She's also a podcaster at Branding Outside the Box and the founder of Kaye Publicity, a full-service public relations agency specializing in publishing and entertainment. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript below. Show Notes * What author branding really is and why it's important * The different aspects of book marketing and publicity * How to successfully pitch your book to media * Thinking about timely hooks when promoting your books * How much (or little) marketing traditional publishers actually do for authors — and why you need to care about your own marketing You can find Dana Kaye at Branding...