Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Does book promotion take a break the last week of December?

Does book promotion take a break the last week of December?

It's tempting to think that everyone -- authors, publishers, producers, editors, reporters, book publicists, and even people who don't work in the publishing industry or the media -- has the last week of the year off, and that everyone who's in the office is playing computer games. But that's not the way it is.

Book promotion never takes a holiday.

I've booked two radio interviews, so far, this morning, and I've had a book request from an editor at a major newspaper -- so I'm headed to the post office later this afternoon. Even though one might be tempted to argue it's a holiday. And even though, here in Massachusetts, the temperature is about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. And even though it's easy to believe that nothing important will be done, by way of book promotion or a whole lot else, until the first of the year.

If I subscribed to the theory that book promotion takes a holiday, my clients would have missed two radio interviews, and possibly a newspaper hit. I'm therefore grateful to be in the office today, and I'm glad to be working on book promotion campaigns.

But on January 1, I do think book promotion might take a few hours off -- at least, for this book publicist. Not that I have any hot and heavy plans for New Year's Eve, but you do have to stay up until midnight to ring in the new decade. It's a tradition!