CHAPTER I, Post # 6

2. Hire a local or regional publicist.
A local publicist might charge $300 to $400 dollars a month and are good at getting you into local radio stations and newspapers. Also most regional publicists book you into bookstores and coordinate the necessary publicity and announcements. A local or regional publicist works best if you live or work near a large ‘literate’ metropolitan area. In the trade there are certain cities that for the most part can be designated ‘illiterate’. Simply put their citizens do not read let alone buy books!

Both national and regional publicists charge for their services. Expenses, such as, postage, long distance calls etc. will be passed on to the author.
With either a national or local publicist, get their references. Talk to bookstores about them. And ask for a flat rate on the publicity campaign they plan to initiate. Ask for a detailed work plan or publicity campaign proposal that includes which media outlets they will pitch and the services they will provide.

3. Depend on your publisher’s publicist.
Your publisher’s publicist will typically have over 200 books per year to promote. Your book will be listed on your publisher’s seasonal list. The top of a publisher’s seasonal list is mostly populated by the so-called “A-List “ authors and the books your publisher has the greatest sales expectations. The further down the list a book resides the less attention it will receive. Some bookstores will automatically order a publisher’s top five or top ten books. It is up to the sales representative to convince the booksellers to buy more books.

FYI: If you can get a sales rep on your side you will have a white knight to help you.

Depending on advance sales, your publisher’s view of the importance of your book and any national publicity you have managed to generate they will have your book somewhere on their list. Few first time authors will displace a Norma Roberts or an Edmund Morris. Not that they won’t work on you book. They want your book to succeed. But they also know the odds.

Trying to reach your publisher’s publicist might be difficult. You’ll know almost immediately. Chances are you will only get their secretary or their voice mail Be persistent but not a pest. And of course if you constantly call and are seen as bothersome you might not get to them at all. All publishers, agents, and publicists have had their share of authors from hell. Don’t be one. Be agreeable. As my father always said (don’t you love these) you attract more flies with sugar than vinegar.

I will say one thing in defense of my publisher publicist. He did a good job and educated me in many of the aspects of publicity especially as it relates to publishers. I was lucky. I could get on the telephone and call my publicist and he would answer the phone. Few of the bigger houses will respond the same way.
By the way, when I say him, it’s an anomaly. I think I had the only publishing house in the business run by men. Gentlemen, the publishing world is gender controlled, and it’s not us. Most agents, editors, publicists and publishes are women.

The fact is simple. Women read more books than men. I read that 80% of all fiction books are purchased by women over the age of fifty.

The bottom line is that no matter what your publisher does, you are the CEO of your publicity and promotional campaign.

FYI: Your agent, your publisher, and your publicists are all busy people. Don’t abuse your access. Ask questions but don’t bother them except for important issues.

4. Promote your book yourself.
Take control. Design and execute your own promotion campaign. Educate yourself, read. Promoting your book yourself is the gist of this manual. It is not easy. It’s time consuming and can be frustrating. After you are finished with self-promotion you will realize a publicist is worth every penny.
So, you must ask, why did I self-promote my own book? It came down to the bottom line. I couldn’t afford a publicist.

Don’t expect your agent to promote your book. Contrary to many new author’s expectations that is not a literary agent’s job. You can ask your agent for ideas and tips but do not expect any in-depth promotional help from your agent.

Peppered throughout this manual are Don’t s -- on what not to do. They are quick posts for you to learn from other authors’ experiences and mistakes.

Get ready, take off your author’s cap and put on your promotion helmet.

PROLOGUE Post # 3

NOTHING SELLS ITSELF.

This old mantra is true if not more so in the publishing world. Type up in bold large letters -- NOTHING SELLS ITSELF -- and tape it to your wall in front of your desk, kitchen table or where ever you work. Promotion equates to sales in any business. However, as I have said, unless you are very lucky, you as a first time author will receive little help from your publisher. Experience has shown them for the most part overinvesting in a new author is a waste of money. Why do they even publish new authors? The hope is out there lurks a new Steven King, John Gresham or Jackie Suzanne waiting to break into that 15% level. The chance of a wildcat well striking oil is better than the possibility of finding a new best selling author. One glance at the New York Times Bestsellers list show the same authors making it year after year. They are sure bets. New authors are not. Still if you push and promote wisely and sell enough books to get noticed attitudes will change. If your book suddenly shows promise then the publisher will take notice. They will jump on your band wagon and help. Otherwise for the most part, you are on your own. Think of a publisher as a fisherman on a lake with scores of fishing lines in the water waiting for the big hit. When it does they reel it in and take the appropriate credit. For the other books, they are just drowning worms.
“Publishing houses will take ten books by new authors and throw them against the wall hoping three will stick,” political satire author D.V. Date said at a recent Writing Conference.
One bright light is that even with the plethora of tried and true repeat authors that rule the best seller lists, a surprising number of first time novelist did make the top 15 Publisher Weekly’s best sellers list. Sometimes all it does take is good writing, a good story and good luck along with promotion.
For the rest of us without a rabbit’s foot in our pockets if we want our books to succeed we have to do most of the publicity. Remember no one knows your book like you do. So push it yourself.

This is a good time to remind you of the most important word in the writers’ echelon:

PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE

Another reminder sign for your walls.

You have already done it. You have persevered. You have written your book. Now redirect that perseverance into promotion. Be optimistic, enthusiastic. Believe in your book. Promote as if your book is on the New York Times Bestsellers list and you want to keep it there for 12 weeks. To get on the New York Times list you’ll probably have to sell more books in a week than your publisher has printed. But don’t let that stop you. Think second massive printing.
The first printing is based on advance sales. This is the only point during the publishing schedule that you have a chance to exert any influence, except of course, your second (and more) editions. So start to promote early and persevere. To influence advance sales we’ll talk about the all importance ‘sell-in’ which we’ll get into later.
No matter what you decide to do remember persevere. Like the Nike man says, “Just Do It.”