Coming from across the journalist/PR divide to share how her career experience helped with getting a book published is Lucy Werner, founder of The Wern and author of Hype Yourself: A no-nonsense DIY PR toolkit for small businesses.

Despite its workforce being two-thirds female, Lucy noticed a dearth of PR books written by women and decided to change that. Want the tools to hype you and your upcoming projects up (perhaps a new book…?), read more from Lucy, below…

Can you introduce your book in a couple of sentences?

It’s an easy walkthrough guide from strategy and building your media toolkit to the nuts and bolts of how to do the basic creative PR tactics.

Could you tell us about how you came to write Hype Yourself?

I couldn’t find any PR books written by women in PR despite the PRCA saying it’s two thirds dominated by females. That, and I just wanted to demystify the process for small business owners, freelancers and side hustlers who think you need a huge budget with a fat-fee agency to get great publicity.

Are you working on another book, or do you have other projects under way?

Actually, I’ve just submitted a proposal for a second book…. Watch this space. Right now, I’m doing a lot of PR mentoring, workshops and teaching for workspaces, universities and accelerators.

Can you offer any advice to other journalists or PRs thinking about writing a book like Hype Yourself?

Writing advice is so unique. A bit like parenting advice. My general advice would be to do what works for you! In my case, I spent a large amount of time on the planning and organisation of the structure of the book before I wrote it.

Are there any other examples of your writing that you’re especially proud of or would just like to share?

I have written eight blog posts on publicity for Mailchimp in the last year, which are due to be published any day.

Are you available for freelance commissions, speaker opportunities or other roles?

I’m always open for discussions… speaker opportunities are currently my favourite.

What books are you reading right now, or about to pick up?

I always have about three or four books on the go. Right now I’m revisiting some old books: The Art of Happiness, White Fragility and Entrepreneur Revolution: How to develop your entrepreneurial mindset and start a business that works.

Hype Yourself: A no-nonsense DIY PR toolkit for small businesses is available on Kindle and in paperback on Amazon. Follow Lucy Werner on Twitter @LucyWern, on Instagram @wernchat.