Novel Rocket

The Care and Keeping of a Publicist

By Ginger Garrett, author of Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther (2006 ECPA Christian Book Award Nominee) and Dark Hour

http://www.gingergarrett.com/

I have been blessed to work with some great publicists. I’ve tried to be a good student of their trade and understand how to work with them to everyone’s advantage. Here are a few of my discoveries on how best to care for a publicist working on your campaign:

1. Your publicist spends her time making her look good—spend a little time making you look good, too.
Brag on her frequently, especially to people in positions of influence. Having worked with Jessica Dotta (brilliant woman!) and Rebeca Seitz (a veritable powerhouse, and with cute shoes!), it was remarkably easy to admire their talents. I just had to remember to brag publicly, and often.

2. Publicists are people, too.

I don’t want to dish too much dirt here, but once, in the middle of a campaign, one of my publicists had a baby. Apparently, the publisher had forgotten the contract clause that barred her from having a personal life. For several weeks, she was sleep deprived and cooing over an infant instead of my book!! (The kid couldn’t even type yet!)

Also, publicists are rumored to need regular meals, sleep, and coffee breaks at odd hours, like 8am. Some may even have married or had children before joining the Order of Publicists. Bear with them when their former life distracts them from your--I mean, their—true calling.

3. Publicists can’t win.

Publicists are responsible for securing opportunities for authors, but this doesn’t mean they report to us. Publicists get paid by publishers, and a publisher will ask them to cover multiple campaigns at once. In one case, I landed an out of state interview which would go into millions of homes, and my publicist and I were thrilled. The publisher, however, gave her fits about the cost of the airline ticket.

Publicists have to make both the publisher and the author happy. Publishers want maximum return for as little as possible, for as many authors as possible. Authors want complete, undivided attention. It can be a recipe for tension—unless you quickly swallow your pride, and decide to do everything possible to make securing media a breeze.

4. Do her homework.

Every minute your publicist spends thinking about how to pitch you is a minute she’s not pitching you to anyone.

No one, not even your mom, knows your book better than you do. Take an hour and brainstorm every possible angle for promoting your book. What tie-ins are there? What questions does your book raise that would be great radio fodder?

Writing a book has made you an expert on something. Brainstorm every possible way this expertise can translate into media hooks. Then show your brainstorming list to your publicist and let her pick out a few, or add her own.

Send her a page with links to every web page that might be a good target, every television show, every media outlet you might get into. She may not pursue some of them, but any lead is a good lead, and it might spur a fantastic idea on her part.

5. Write interview questions

Come up with 5-10 interview questions and send these to your publicist as soon as she begins to work on your campaign. These might spark a few media pitch ideas. Be sure to include hints about wild real-life anecdotes you are willing to share. In my case, one story involved the day I threw all my Bibles in the trash and left Christianity. It was a case of temporary insanity that had nothing to do with the book being promoted, but it made for a good interview.

6. Networking

When asked to do an interview, make every effort to be there in person. Telephone interviews are wonderful, but if an interview is within a day’s drive for me, I’ll try to be there in person. Not only does the interview sound better if it’s on air, but meeting people in person opens up so many more doors for future opportunities and networking.

After an interview is over, if you are on-site, don’t leave right away. Make sure you’ve brought multiple copies of your books, signed, and pass them out to everyone, especially the producers who work behind the scenes. Always take more than you think you’ll need, and I guarantee that you’ll still run out.

Afterwards, send a thank you note to the producers, not just the host. And then zip an email off to your publicist and let her know how it went. Remember, she’ll have several clients she’s pitching to this same media outlet, and they will appreciate a heads-up on the quality of the experience.

Recommended reading:
The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity by Lissa Warren
Publicize Your Book by Jacqueline Deval

Good websites:
http://www.glassroadpr.com/
Glass Road PR (now features a speakers bureau just for novelists)

http://www.cpr4pr.com/
Kathleen Campbell, Publicist – has some interesting facts

www.savvyauthorsguide.com
Lissa Warren’s site, which has two free downloads well worth reading

http://www.101publicrelations.com/blog/
A great blog packed with information about the general business of PR