If you signed a deal with a publisher — traditional or hybrid — they probably made you promises about all the great work their marketing teams can do for you. But the rosy picture you have in your mind about their book publicity probably doesn’t match what they actually can do. Less than half of…
The job of a book publicist is to get your book written or talked about. Here’s a list of traditional publicist tasks: You need to know a few things about all of this. First, you might think your publisher will do this. Unless you are very famous, they won’t do much. (Of all the hundreds…
You’ve completed and turned in your manuscript to the publisher. Congratulations. Time to have a well-earned break, right? Well, maybe for a day or two. There’s typically at least a 5-month gap between when the manuscript is done and your publication date. (That can be shorter if you’re self-publishing, but there’s still a gap.) What…
American Dirt is an Oprah-recommended novel about Mexicans fleeing violence to find asylum in America. It’s also hugely controversial. The publisher and author are dealing with the blowback. It’s instructive to see how they’ve written about that experience. The unexpected challenge here is coming from Latino communities, some of whom feel that the author Jeanine…
I got a pitch email the day after Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash. It was from a PR person, offering me the opportunity to interview and get quotes from a trauma expert. I found it ghoulish and appalling. But it made me wonder: there is so much death and so…
Yesterday was an exciting day for me. I got to experience the highs and lows of a book launch within half an hour — and learn what a truly committed publisher will do for you. I spent much of the last two years working with the CEO of [24]7.ai, P.V. Kannan, on a book on…
If you’re fortunate enough to afford a book publicist, the chances of your book succeeding go way up. Publicists are experts at language that persuades reviewers, bloggers, and influencers to write about your book. But I’m convinced that you, and not they, should write the first draft of the marketing copy. Marketing activity for a…
Today, I’ll share some insight into how I do outreach to influencers . . . and the power and courtesy of the answer “No.” I am going to reveal how I’m doing publicity and how it feels. I’m doing most of my own publicity outreach for the new book. The publisher has a list, but…