Your manuscript is finished and the agent submissions checklist is all set: Target list: check. Killer elevator pitch: check. Brief bio including previous literary accomplishments: check. SASE ready to go to those agents who still request one: check. Or perhaps you’ve decided to self-publish and everything’s ready, including a cover designed around a gorgeous image
“Dear publicist, My book just released and I’d like to promote it. How can you help?” “Hi! My novel came out last fall and sales have been close to zero. Can we talk about what your firm can do to promote it?” Ouch! These emails break my heart. I typically get about two like this
As writers, we all know how hard it is to read a book without dissecting, critiquing or copy editing in your head. As a publicist (and a lapsed writer), I can’t help giving the same scrutiny to every email and newsletter blast that lands in my inbox. Sad, perhaps, but true. That’s because, whether you
If you’re thinking of hiring a publicist, one of the first questions you’re likely to ask is: “Do you have good contacts?” Authors ask me this every day. While it would be easy for me to say, “Of course!” (and to add with a glint in my eye, “if you just sign on this dotted
Lately, a new mantra has caught on: “There’s no better time to be a writer.” Not only has self-publishing helped open the doors to so many aspiring authors, but the online world has created more opportunities than ever before to build a platform, network and self-promote. From a schmoozing and promotion perspective, anything seems possible.
Imagine that your book is coming out in several months, and you fall into the camp of those who want to put some time and resources into promoting it. Knowing that that your publisher can’t commit to much more on the publicity side than mailing out galleys to a standard media list, you’ve decided to give it your all, to go ahead and hire an outside publicist.
But as you research firms and see the 5-figure price tags for most campaigns, a lump forms in your throat. Your advance was modest. You know you can’t begin to estimate how much, if anything, your book will generate in sales. At the same time, you’re learning that the gist of what a publicist does is build press lists, write elevator pitches, send emails, make phone calls, mail galleys and coordinate interviews when opportunities arise. All of which seems pretty straightforward. You figure that if you had the time and the nerves, you could probably handle much of this yourself.