What's tougher than book promotion? In my humble opinion, it's working on the production side of things. I just read in this MSNBC article that Katie Couric's evening news producer was fired because of low ratings.
Yes, I know everyone wants to grow up to be a TV producer. (I did, and so did about 75% of my classmates in Emerson College's mass communication department, back in the 1980's.) But imagine the stress of knowing that your job is in jeopardy every second of every day because of low ratings, changes in format, morphing management, and show cancellations?
And think about this: every time there's a change in personnel at a TV station or a radio station, book publicists must know about it. Book publicists can't only buy media lists and then happily embark upon yet another book promotion campaign. Book publicists have to keep up with changes -- not only at television and radio stations, but at newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, too -- as they happen.
I find it amusing that many authors believe that good publicists have good friends in the media. Well, that would be key if good friends in the media had good jobs in the media from week to week, and from month to month.
The truth is that good publicists are those who know how to make friends with new producers and editors and writers and hosts who are hired to replace departing producers and editors and writers and hosts -- every minute of every day, every week of the year, every year of every book promotion campaign that you launch.
Welcome to my world.
