Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Book Promotion in 2008

This book publicist hopes that all authors and publishers can garner the book promotion opportunities they're seeking in 2008. That includes authors and publishers who can afford to hire a book publicist, and those who cannot.

For those who can afford to outsource their book promotion campaigns, I'm glad to consider taking on your project. Take a look at my client list to see the types of projects I've represented recently and, if your book fits into those genres, let me know. I've written about how to find a book promotion firm that's best-suited for your book project, but the concise advice on hiring a book publicist is this. Check out book publicity-related Web sites; contact book publicists; describe your project; narrow down the prospects based on book publicists' interest in your project; do a "chemistry check" with prospective book publicists; request book promotion proposals (these book publicity plans and associated costs should be free); and then make your choice.

But, each day, book publicists receive far more queries from prosective clients than we can handle. Sometimes, we even receive more queries than we can respond to. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate every inquiry I receive from an author or publisher, and I get in touch with each as quickly as possible -- whenever possible. But paying clients' needs and projects must take precedence over incoming emails and phone calls from authors and publishers, and sometimes my good intentions exceed my ability to help out all the book projects that deserve media attention.

There just aren't enough hours in the day to offer book promotion advice to every author and publisher whom I cannot represent, but as a next-best offering, I've put together some book promotion offerings -- some low-cost, and some free -- that all authors and publishers can use.

First, we've relaunched BookPromotionTools.com, a site where you can find more than 200 book promotion tips that have been tested in the field by book publicists and their clients. These tips are free. You'll also find The Online Pitch Kit, a book promotion tool that lets you contact national media online to pitch your story idea -- instantly and effectively.

And, for those who are interested in book promotion, publicity, and marketing, but who cannot afford to hire a book publicist and have the time to invest in a do-it-yourself compaign, I offer an affordable eBook called How to Market, Sell, Distribute, and Promote Your Book: Critical, Hard-to-Find Information for Authors and Publishers. It's available only online at my Web site -- click here for more information.

So, whether you can afford to hire a book publicist in 2008, or whether you're interested in garnering as much book promotion information as possible, there are book promotion tools available for you to start the new year off right. Happy 2008, and I wish you every book promotion success in the months to come.