Yes, I know my life is all about book promotion, and books, and promoting books, and publicizing books, and...well, yes, I confess. I'm all about books.
But am I seeing things?
I just came across an MSNBC.com story titled: Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss! Vote for your favorite movie.
Yes, I'm aware that several of Dr. Seuss's books have been turned into movie. I'm fond of several of them.
However, is it asking too much that we honor Dr. Seuss on his birthday by remembering his books before we jump to the next topic, film? Is it unreasonable to assume that Dr. Seuss, most of all, would want to be remembered as an author and illustrator?
To me, Dr. Seuss is the genius behind some of the best books that ever were, or ever will be. On his birthday, I want to re-read some of those.
See one of the films? Maybe...but not until I'm finished reading the books. Does that make me strange?
Friday, March 02, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
A book promotion specialist's tools
Like all professionals, a book promotion specialist has her tools of the trade. One of the most important is the relationship she builds with each and every one of her media contacts.
The identity of those TV and radio producers, magazine editors and writers, and newspaper editors and journalists, bloggers, and other media decision makers are a proprietary part of a book promotion specialist's property. But those names and the contact information behind those names are only a piece of what book publicists offer. The rest is the credibility the book publicist brings to each encounter she has with a producer, writer, editor, and journalist. A book publicist stakes her reputation on every author she represents; her association with a book is an explicit endorsement for that book. An author who would like to hire me "only" to send his or her press release, on my letterhead, to my media contacts pays full freight. If I get behind a book, then the author benefits from my reputation, and that's what I offer: my reputation, my book promotion skills, my approach to book promotion, my creativity in planning book promotion strategies, and the media contacts who help me turn unknown authors into experts with a platform.
This is how I see a book publicist's offerings, and it would surprise me to know there's another perspective -- but, apparently, there is. A publicist with whom I have a passing familiarity left a message on my answering machine after hours. When I retrieved the message, I heard a request for the name of the producer I'd worked with to book myself on a segment of "The Rachael Ray Show" to promote my book, 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes (BPT Press).
I was bewildered by the request for a number of reasons including the following:
1. The identity of, and contact information for, the producer I worked with at "The Rachael Ray Show" and every other media outlet I contact was, is, and will remain my business, and nobody else's until such time as I decide to sell my book promotion firm. Does that sound selfish? Well, okay. But book promotion is my livelihood, and to compromise my intellectual property would be self-sabotage, and that's something in which I would not engage any more than I would consider sabotaging a colleague or a competitor's business.
2. I appeared on "The Rachael Ray Show" at the end of 2009. Why would a publicist presume that the producer with whom I worked is still working at that TV show?
3. The names of, and contact information for, producers at every national TV show you can name is available to people who are willing to a) hunt for it (I've written an article about how to get this information -- click here to read it) or b) pay for it. I'd be chagrined to learn that a publicist lacked access to the contact information for a major national TV show. In fact, it doesn't make sense that a publicist would lack that information or wouldn't know how to get it. And, as Judge Judy likes to say, if something doesn't make sense, then it isn't true. Which leads me to the worst conclusion of all.
I believe this publicist wanted to use my name, and my reputation, to contact the producer of "The Rachael Ray Show" without 1) being up-front about the fact that he wanted to do so and 2) without giving me the benefit of knowing anything about the book project on which he was working. Evidently, offering me payment for this information (which I couldn't accept for the reasons I've already outlined) was not a part of the equation.
A book promotion specialist has her tools, and this is how a book promotion specialist stays in business. This is what a book promotion specialist has to offer. If another publicist places so little value on those tools that he or she would blithely request the information, to do with just as he or she pleased, then I call that an attempt at theft.
Yes, there is a Recession going on. Maybe the publicist who tried to take from me a piece of my property and to "borrow" my reputation has fallen up against hard times. But I fear that the publicist in question isn't only facing a financial challenge. I am deeply concerned this individual has declared moral bankruptcy as well.
To the publicist in question: If you happen to read this blog entry, no. I will not return your phone call. And I can't imagine why you left me the message in the first place if you consider yourself a person of honor.
The identity of those TV and radio producers, magazine editors and writers, and newspaper editors and journalists, bloggers, and other media decision makers are a proprietary part of a book promotion specialist's property. But those names and the contact information behind those names are only a piece of what book publicists offer. The rest is the credibility the book publicist brings to each encounter she has with a producer, writer, editor, and journalist. A book publicist stakes her reputation on every author she represents; her association with a book is an explicit endorsement for that book. An author who would like to hire me "only" to send his or her press release, on my letterhead, to my media contacts pays full freight. If I get behind a book, then the author benefits from my reputation, and that's what I offer: my reputation, my book promotion skills, my approach to book promotion, my creativity in planning book promotion strategies, and the media contacts who help me turn unknown authors into experts with a platform.
This is how I see a book publicist's offerings, and it would surprise me to know there's another perspective -- but, apparently, there is. A publicist with whom I have a passing familiarity left a message on my answering machine after hours. When I retrieved the message, I heard a request for the name of the producer I'd worked with to book myself on a segment of "The Rachael Ray Show" to promote my book, 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes (BPT Press).
I was bewildered by the request for a number of reasons including the following:
1. The identity of, and contact information for, the producer I worked with at "The Rachael Ray Show" and every other media outlet I contact was, is, and will remain my business, and nobody else's until such time as I decide to sell my book promotion firm. Does that sound selfish? Well, okay. But book promotion is my livelihood, and to compromise my intellectual property would be self-sabotage, and that's something in which I would not engage any more than I would consider sabotaging a colleague or a competitor's business.
2. I appeared on "The Rachael Ray Show" at the end of 2009. Why would a publicist presume that the producer with whom I worked is still working at that TV show?
3. The names of, and contact information for, producers at every national TV show you can name is available to people who are willing to a) hunt for it (I've written an article about how to get this information -- click here to read it) or b) pay for it. I'd be chagrined to learn that a publicist lacked access to the contact information for a major national TV show. In fact, it doesn't make sense that a publicist would lack that information or wouldn't know how to get it. And, as Judge Judy likes to say, if something doesn't make sense, then it isn't true. Which leads me to the worst conclusion of all.
I believe this publicist wanted to use my name, and my reputation, to contact the producer of "The Rachael Ray Show" without 1) being up-front about the fact that he wanted to do so and 2) without giving me the benefit of knowing anything about the book project on which he was working. Evidently, offering me payment for this information (which I couldn't accept for the reasons I've already outlined) was not a part of the equation.
A book promotion specialist has her tools, and this is how a book promotion specialist stays in business. This is what a book promotion specialist has to offer. If another publicist places so little value on those tools that he or she would blithely request the information, to do with just as he or she pleased, then I call that an attempt at theft.
Yes, there is a Recession going on. Maybe the publicist who tried to take from me a piece of my property and to "borrow" my reputation has fallen up against hard times. But I fear that the publicist in question isn't only facing a financial challenge. I am deeply concerned this individual has declared moral bankruptcy as well.
To the publicist in question: If you happen to read this blog entry, no. I will not return your phone call. And I can't imagine why you left me the message in the first place if you consider yourself a person of honor.
Monday, February 06, 2012
Is 50 Years Too Late for Book Promotion?
Is 50 years too long to wait after an event to publish your story and hope to get some book promotion? Well, not if you've waited 50 years to talk about the affair you had with President John F. Kennedy while you were a White House intern, apparently. Check out just some of the national book promotion opportunities that Mimi Alford's new book, Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, has received. Here's the story on CNN, and here it is on NBC's "Today Show."
And this is just the beginning.
Mimi Alford will be all over the media, promoting her new book, and she'll be given these book publicity 50 years after her lover's death because she was in the right place at the right time -- doing the wrong thing.
When the book sales that result from the book promotion blitz that accompanies Mimi Alford's new book are in, she might just feel that doing exactly the wrong thing was exactly the right book -- from a book promotion perspective.
And this is just the beginning.
Mimi Alford will be all over the media, promoting her new book, and she'll be given these book publicity 50 years after her lover's death because she was in the right place at the right time -- doing the wrong thing.
When the book sales that result from the book promotion blitz that accompanies Mimi Alford's new book are in, she might just feel that doing exactly the wrong thing was exactly the right book -- from a book promotion perspective.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Book Promotion Perspectives
A Houston Chronicle article talks about book promotion from the different perspectives of several successful authors including Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and others.
The story of how Skloot's created buzz for her book (beginning years before its publication!) caught my attention because, by coincidence, I'd just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks . Of course, I read the book because of all the media attention it had received (yes, successful book promotion campaigns work for book publicists, too). But I found it fascinating to see the extent to which Skloot's generated all that book publicity for herself. She didn't wait for her book publisher to do it for her.
In the article, you'll read about authors who used Facebook and Twitter to generate buzz for their book, and you'll read about at least one author who avoided social networking. Finally, you'll read about an author whose appearance on a national TV show -- "Good Morning America" -- was the making of his book and proved, to him, that traditional book promotion strategies still work best (when you're lucky enough to score the right mix of major book promotion opportunities, that is).
Ask half a dozen authors whose books have been successful how they created buzz for their books, and you'll get six vastly different responses. But the cool thing is that we can learn from all of them, and we can adapt their book promotion strategies to our own book publicity goals, needs, and preferences. There's something to be learned from all successful authors.
The story of how Skloot's created buzz for her book (beginning years before its publication!) caught my attention because, by coincidence, I'd just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks . Of course, I read the book because of all the media attention it had received (yes, successful book promotion campaigns work for book publicists, too). But I found it fascinating to see the extent to which Skloot's generated all that book publicity for herself. She didn't wait for her book publisher to do it for her.
In the article, you'll read about authors who used Facebook and Twitter to generate buzz for their book, and you'll read about at least one author who avoided social networking. Finally, you'll read about an author whose appearance on a national TV show -- "Good Morning America" -- was the making of his book and proved, to him, that traditional book promotion strategies still work best (when you're lucky enough to score the right mix of major book promotion opportunities, that is).
Ask half a dozen authors whose books have been successful how they created buzz for their books, and you'll get six vastly different responses. But the cool thing is that we can learn from all of them, and we can adapt their book promotion strategies to our own book publicity goals, needs, and preferences. There's something to be learned from all successful authors.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Book Lust Rediscoveries Kindles Book Promotion Potential
Nearly every author who works with this book publicist has a dream: "Get me on NPR!" Any author whose book is featured on "Morning Edition" or any other National Public Radio show will be in literary and book publicity heaven.
Which is why it was particularly interesting for me to come across an article about Nancy Pearl, a librarian who comments about books on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," and who has created the Book Lust Rediscoveries program with Amazon. The program will reprint books some of Pearl's favorite out-of-print titles that were originally published between 1960 and 2000. Pearl will add her own introduction and discussion questions to each reprinted book.
If Pearl puts her stamp of approval on a book than -- fifty years old or not -- there will be instant buzz about the title, and an instant surge of book promotion potential that, ultimately, will be a huge potential gain for the author. So Book Lust Rediscoveries is all good, right? You'd think so, except I ran across the article about Book Lust Rediscoveries in an article (ironically, one that was published on the NPR web site) titled: "Publishers And Booksellers See A 'Predatory' Amazon."
There's no doubt that Amazon's experiments and goals are in conflict with those of many publishing industry professionals. At the same time, the publishing industry is changing so quickly, and so profoundly, that it's almost impossible to single out one company as "all bad" or, even, as "all good."
My job is to keep up with book promotion opportunities, and right now, I'm grateful to Amazon for providing a new book publicity opportunity -- in this case, to books that are no longer in print. Tomorrow, I'm sure I'll lament something else's partnership with Amazon or a decision Amazon has made that can hurt small publishers ... but, at least in this case, I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. And credit is certainly due to Amazon and to Nancy Pearl for their Book Lust Rediscoveries program.
Which is why it was particularly interesting for me to come across an article about Nancy Pearl, a librarian who comments about books on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," and who has created the Book Lust Rediscoveries program with Amazon. The program will reprint books some of Pearl's favorite out-of-print titles that were originally published between 1960 and 2000. Pearl will add her own introduction and discussion questions to each reprinted book.
If Pearl puts her stamp of approval on a book than -- fifty years old or not -- there will be instant buzz about the title, and an instant surge of book promotion potential that, ultimately, will be a huge potential gain for the author. So Book Lust Rediscoveries is all good, right? You'd think so, except I ran across the article about Book Lust Rediscoveries in an article (ironically, one that was published on the NPR web site) titled: "Publishers And Booksellers See A 'Predatory' Amazon."
There's no doubt that Amazon's experiments and goals are in conflict with those of many publishing industry professionals. At the same time, the publishing industry is changing so quickly, and so profoundly, that it's almost impossible to single out one company as "all bad" or, even, as "all good."
My job is to keep up with book promotion opportunities, and right now, I'm grateful to Amazon for providing a new book publicity opportunity -- in this case, to books that are no longer in print. Tomorrow, I'm sure I'll lament something else's partnership with Amazon or a decision Amazon has made that can hurt small publishers ... but, at least in this case, I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. And credit is certainly due to Amazon and to Nancy Pearl for their Book Lust Rediscoveries program.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Here's How to Garner Instant Book Promotion
Here's how to garner an instant book promotion opportunity. Sell your book to a producer who creates a successful film best upon your book, and then have that film be nominated for an Oscar. There you have it: a chance to create buzz about your book.
USA Today reports that six of the nine movies that were nominated for best picture Oscars this year were based upon books. Those movies are: "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Help," "Moneyball," "War Horse," and "Extremely Loud & IncrediblyClose." Last year (USA Today reports), ten movies were nominated for best picture Oscars, and half of them were based on books.
So if you want your book's title on everyone's lips (and all over everyone's social networking pages and emails), simply focus on having someone turn your book into an Oscar-worthy film. Failing that, do what the rest of us have learned works best: conduct a book promotion campaign that blends the best of traditional book promotion and online book promotion strategies, and maintain your efforts for as long as they're productive, cost effective, and enjoyable. Book promotion campaigns work -- perhaps not as well as having your book-to-film project nominated for an Oscar, but still, book promotion campaigns do work.
USA Today reports that six of the nine movies that were nominated for best picture Oscars this year were based upon books. Those movies are: "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Help," "Moneyball," "War Horse," and "Extremely Loud & IncrediblyClose." Last year (USA Today reports), ten movies were nominated for best picture Oscars, and half of them were based on books.
So if you want your book's title on everyone's lips (and all over everyone's social networking pages and emails), simply focus on having someone turn your book into an Oscar-worthy film. Failing that, do what the rest of us have learned works best: conduct a book promotion campaign that blends the best of traditional book promotion and online book promotion strategies, and maintain your efforts for as long as they're productive, cost effective, and enjoyable. Book promotion campaigns work -- perhaps not as well as having your book-to-film project nominated for an Oscar, but still, book promotion campaigns do work.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Book Promotion and Book Marketing Perspective
Shaun Rein, author of the upcoming book, The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends That Will Disrupt the World, shares his perspective on book promotion and book marketing in a Forbes article, Three Tips on Making Your Book a Bestseller.
Since Rein's book will be published by a traditional house, Wiley, it's interesting that he even has to give book promotion and book marketing a thought. Isn't the publisher supposed to take care of book publicity and all things related to selling books?
Well, no. As Rein has discovered, for most authors, traditional book publishers focus their book marketing efforts primarily on their A-list authors, and they leave all of their other authors to implement a book promotion and book publicity plan for themselves. That's not only true of Wiley. It's the case for all of the large traditional publishers that this book publicist has run across.
A small- to mid-sized traditional publisher is driven by economics to care about the sales of the books they publish -- or, at least, to support a greater percentage of the books they publish than larger publishers do. But the truth is that Rein is correct. To ensure that your voice is heard in the media, and your book's title is mentioned in the press, most authors have to proactively take charge of their book promotion and book publicity efforts.
They can ask for (and will often receive) help from a traditional book publisher's in-house publicity department. But they often have to ask for additional support beyond the resources that the traditional publisher can, or will, provide. That's why authors so frequently also engage the services of an independent book promotion specialist, and why they so often regard that working relationship as a partnership and participate in promoting their own books during the course of a book promotion campaign.
As Rein has found, it's never too early to ramp up your book promotion efforts -- and you can never have too many extra helping hands on board.
Since Rein's book will be published by a traditional house, Wiley, it's interesting that he even has to give book promotion and book marketing a thought. Isn't the publisher supposed to take care of book publicity and all things related to selling books?
Well, no. As Rein has discovered, for most authors, traditional book publishers focus their book marketing efforts primarily on their A-list authors, and they leave all of their other authors to implement a book promotion and book publicity plan for themselves. That's not only true of Wiley. It's the case for all of the large traditional publishers that this book publicist has run across.
A small- to mid-sized traditional publisher is driven by economics to care about the sales of the books they publish -- or, at least, to support a greater percentage of the books they publish than larger publishers do. But the truth is that Rein is correct. To ensure that your voice is heard in the media, and your book's title is mentioned in the press, most authors have to proactively take charge of their book promotion and book publicity efforts.
They can ask for (and will often receive) help from a traditional book publisher's in-house publicity department. But they often have to ask for additional support beyond the resources that the traditional publisher can, or will, provide. That's why authors so frequently also engage the services of an independent book promotion specialist, and why they so often regard that working relationship as a partnership and participate in promoting their own books during the course of a book promotion campaign.
As Rein has found, it's never too early to ramp up your book promotion efforts -- and you can never have too many extra helping hands on board.
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