We try all sorts of techniques in book promotion, but here is an idea for getting some book publicity that you probably would never think of: avoid the limelight, become a semi-recluse, and refuse to do interviews.
Sounds like a formula for killing a book rather than promoting it, right? And yet that is the book promotion tactic employed by Harper Lee, the genius behind "To Kill a Mockingbird." Read about her, and about a new biography about her, at the Christian Science Monitor Web site.
As a book publicist, I'm not sure I can endorse the avoidance of media attention as the best possible way of promotion your book. But if all else fails -- maybe Harper Lee is onto something after all. Perhaps the best book promotion campaign is to actively avoid a book promotion campaign, and to let the media and fans and biographers swarm around you and beg you to give them some time and attention.
Hmmm. Maybe that's not crazy at all.
