Someone I know, who originally discussed publishing her book with me, then went to one of the largest and most prestigious publishing houses in the world, had her book accepted, and told me about it just as the book was coming out.
Warmest congratulations to her and very best wishes for every success with the book.
But now she writes to ask: “What are some of your thoughts on getting the book reviewed by journalists? I wonder whether I should hire a book PR person. I looked up LinkedIn and saw that you are actually connected with a few. What do you think?”
I have no idea why she thinks I am a soft touch for free advice. Nor do I have any idea why she thinks a small publisher can give any advice in relation to his seniors and betters – in fact, as it happens, in relation to one of the largest and most prestigious publishers in the world.
But I know her problem – all large and prestigious publishers publish several books a day. This particular publisher brings out something like 7 books a day. That is not just a publishing factory, that is a bit of a publishing gigafactory, isn’t it? So how can you as one author among over 2000 they deal with every year, expect to get any advice or information from them at all? Why not try someone who has a collegial obligation to respond?
Anyway, let me share with you what I wrote to her:
Dear XXXX
Book PR is, actually, the work of your publisher.
If you intend to supplement the efforts of your Publisher that is not a bad idea at all, because your publisher is a huge factory. They do not give equal emphasis to all books they publish – no publisher can.
So, your first task is to explain to the right sort of person within the organisation that you have a certain sum of money that you want to put behind your book publicity, and you therefore need to work with them to avoid duplication but also to invest your money in such a way that it is most advantageous to you as well as to them.
The difficulty with accomplishing that first task begins with identifying the right person to speak with in your publishing house. What is the difficulty with that? Well, you are like an ant in front of a juggernaut. Who can you reach for the purpose? Your editor? Of course. But if you have tried to reach your editor in that very large and prestigious publishing house, you will surely very quickly become aware that he or she has already been moved on to their next project! If you are lucky enough to actually reach your Editor, what is the likelihood of her or him knowing anything about the structure or workings of the company’s huge Publicity Department?
If you do succeed in getting pointed to, or even introduced to, someone from the Publicity Department, be careful to check first how far up or down the hierarchy of the Publicity Department that person is. If you are in contact with someone too low down in the hierarchy, you may get information in relation to one specific matter that person is responsible for and maybe one or two “nearby” matters, but those individuals won’t know anything about higher or more distant disciplines in the publicity department. On the other hand, if you are in touch with someone too high up in the hierarchy, that person is likely to be busy with too many things – moreover, that person will be dealing with abstractions like ROI on advertisements, and whether the Department has the right algorithms to identify which are likely to be the best-sellers on which they should spend a larger part of their budget.
Assuming that you can reach someone at the right level, you have to winkle out of them (and that is NOT easy to do, as that can be regarded as confidnetial) specifically what your Publisher is already doing for you (Press Release? Sent to who all exactly? Review copies sent to which outlets (print/radio/tv/podcasts)? What is the Publisher doing for your book on social media? Book submitted for which book festivals? And which Book Awards?).
Then you need to get the best advice you can before deciding which others in each category you want to reach – and whether you want to do so yourself or by hiring someone.
IF you wish to hire someone, you have to be able to ascertain that person’s or entity’s capability, flexibility and willingness to do specifically what you want them to do, rather than you having to fit into their predetermined cookie-cutter.
In fact, agencies and individuals that suit any such specific shopping list are most difficult to find. The kinds of individuals you can find and best try to use are: university students, fresh grads or tech geeks. These can help you with admin-type work in relation to publicity , but the high-level work can only be done by Book Publicity people who have the right contacts. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across any of those people who are happy to stray out of their cookie-cutter because their own cookie-cutter is their business model.
In reality, therefore, at that stage, your work boils down to figuring our what admin-type work, done for you by students, fresh grads or tech geeks, is going to give you maximum bang for your buck.
And that isn’t easy to do, since you are not knowledgeable about the field. You can only take a guess at it and give it your best shot.
So every good wish for that
Warmly
P