Warning About National Television Shows

I'm using this space to vent. This relates to book promotion, but it's about more than book promotion. It's also about having a bad day.

Okay. More than a week ago, I scheduled an interview with a client (let's call the client "Amy") on a national television show for this Saturday morning (let's call the national television show "Early Talk about Today's America"). It was exciting.

This morning, Amy was on a plane from the west coast to New York. I called the producer at the "Early Talk About Today's America" program to confirm the interview. The producer confirmed the interview but explained that the segment had been handed off to another producer. That producer would call me back.

When that producer (let's call her "Beth") called me back, she said she first wanted to confirm that Amy was bringing her dog onto the show. I said, no, Amy was not bringing her dog onto the show. Beth then asked whether I could just call Amy and let her know they needed her dog to be on the show with her. I told her -- three times, before the message sank in -- that Amy was currently on an airplane to New York without her dog, and therefore, no, there'd be no way to ask Amy to bring her dog with her to the show.

Whereupon Beth asked me to ask Amy to find them another dog who could be on tomorrow morning's live TV segment. I called Amy's husband, who didn't go along with Amy, and Amy's husband told me that he knew of no dog. Then Beth told me to find a dog. I'll quote her here, pretty exactly: "Find us a dog. We need a dog. Call shelters. Get us a dog."

I was nice. I simply told her that, with fewer than 24 hours' notice, it was unlikely that I could find a dog (and its obliging human) in New York who could come to the studio first thing in the morning. I also reminded her that we'd booked the interview more than a week ago, and no mention had been made of a dog then. I concluded with the sad message that I wasn't getting her a dog, and my client wasn't getting her a dog.

Then I hung up the phone, put my head down on my desk, and did the right thing: I started networking with every dog person I could think of. I'm a cat person, but yes, I know dog people, too. While I was calling everyone on the planet, Beth checked in to let me know that they'd found a shelter in the area that would lend them two dogs.

The host of the show will mention, at the end of the segment, that both dogs are available for adoption. That eases my conscience a little bit (the thought of "borrowing" two dogs from a shelter, stressing them out, and then returning them to the shelter to live out their final days was a highly uncool one to me, and I'm sure it would have been to Amy, too, if she'd been in the loop for any of this).

So the segment is on for tomorrow. Despite everything, the show will go on.

But I want to reinforce something that I told Amy when we booked the interview. The segment isn't confirmed, for real, until it airs. That's true of any interview you schedule, with any medium, but it's particularly true of national television show interviews.

National television show producers mean well. They're bright. They're fun. They're talented. They're creative.

But, oh! They can be flakes.

And us? We are left, staring at the cereal bowls, hoping to find a quart of milk.

Or something like that.

It's been a long, hard day.

Mayor McBook Promotion

Here's another book promotion idea: challenge a major company, such as McDonald's, and reap the benefit in media coverage. Here's a book that was designed to do just that: "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want To Know About Fast Food", to be published by Houghton Mifflin. And what you really have to love about the book -- other than the fact that it's so "in your face" that the cheeseburger pundits simply have to respond to it -- is that it's aimed at young children whose lifelong dietary choices really can be changed.

For more on the story of "Chew on This," check out this Chicago Tribune article. And then, next time you're choosing a topic for a book, think about which company you'd like to mix it up with in public. And then, if your lawyers are willing, go for it.

It Must Be Nice...

It must be nice to have your own newspaper column when you're promoting a book. Here's what you can do with it.

Scott E. Williams, a Galveston Daily News reporter, uses his April 9, 2006 article to plug an upcoming book signing and the aforementioned book itself, as well as two books he's previously penned. Check this out.

Reporters who use their columns to plug their books are no different from, say, psychic/medium John Edward who once used an episode of his television show, "Crossing Over," to promote one of his books (sorry, John, but I've since forgotten the title).

Media personalities should take advantage of their access to the public to promote their books, but subtlety is the key here. I don't want to know you're selling me your book, necessarily, during each of the moments I spend reading your newspaper column or watching your television show.

Plug your book once, I'll consider buying it. Make me WEAR your book, and I'm not so sure that I'm a prospective book buyer any longer.

The Borg Said It Best.

Resistance is futile (or fyoo-tile, as Captain Picard put it). So why is Barnes and Noble resisting the Sony Reader?

According to a Marketwatch article, Borders is getting ready to sell the e-book reader at 200 of its U.S. stores. Barnes and Noble, however, is underwhelmed by the potential of the Reader and doesn't see it as a major breakthrough for e-books.

Sounds to me as though Barnes and Noble has seen too many promises, from too many people, about e-book readers that will revolutionize how we read books. And yet, when you see what people are bringing to the beach, it always turns out to be a plain, old-fashioned book.

So many predictions. So many devices. So many hopes for e-book publishers.

Who's right: Barnes and Noble, or Borders? Will the future be books, or will it be bytes?

Stay tuned.

Blogs as Book Promotion Tools.

If you can't get the New York Times to do a story about your book, perhaps you can get them to cpver your blog. Bogging is the book promotion technique that blogcritics.org recommends in this post titled, "New York Times Lists Blog Entries For Hugh Hewitt's Blog."

I haven't had extensive experience with blogging as it relates to book publicity -- yet -- but I will say that blogging is a good idea for authors. Why not give search engines another reason to pick up your name and the title of your book? And why not provide potential readers with additional reasons to buy your book? And, of course, why not let the media and bookstores find you (and your work) online as easily as possible?

If you're Hugh Hewitt, and you have millions of visitors to each of your blog entries, even better. But, for ordinary mortals, blogging still is a grear addition to having a book Web site. And the price (even when you include the time commitment involved) is right.

Books for CEOs

What's a CEO supposed to do if he or she wants a book to use as a calling card but lacks a book? At least one "turnkey solution" publisher says that having a book isn't a huge stumbling block. Milli Brown of Brown Book Publishing Group in Dallas heads of team of freelancers who, according to an article in the Houston Daily Business News, produce books for CEOs. All the necessary services are included: ghostwriting, editing, printing, warehousing, distribution, and more. Brown calls this "relationship publishing." I call it clever.

I've yet to see any of Brown Book Publishing Group's books, so I can't endorse the company. But I think their model is a good one, and if you're a CEO or entrepreneur who's in need of a book . . . you could do worse than take a look at Brown Book Publishing Group and see what they offer.

No promotion at all.

I've just read a Newsweek article about one of my favorite children's book novelists, Beverly Cleary (author of the Henry Huggins books, the Ramona and Beezus books, and more). Ms. Cleary, a Newbery Award-winning author, has sold more than 91 million copies of her books. By comparison, J. K. Rowling as sold 120 million copies of "Harry Potter." That's not a huge numerical difference, is it?

So what's the major difference between Cleary and Rowling? Visibility. Cleary has chosen to keep a low profile while Rowling has not.

Has her failure to appear in media outlets around the world hurt the sales of Cleary's books? Somehow, I doubt it.

But does reading the Newsweek article make me want to go to a bookstore right now, in the middle of the workday, to pick up a few "Ramona" books to add to my collection? Yes, it does. (I'll resist the temptation for now, but I make no promises about what I'll do after six o'clock tonight.)

If you're a fellow Cleary fan, you'll be interested to know that Ms. Cleary is about to turn 90 years old. Good for her.

Good for us.

Many Happy Returns?

According to a recent New York Times article, between one-half and three-quarters of the hardcover literary novels that mainstream houses sell to bookstores are returned to the publisher. Even the most prestigious houses, such as Random House, aren't exempt from the rule. Literary novels are a tough sell. They're tough to promote. And if that's the case for the best-known authors, can you imagine what it's like for unestablished (or even self-published or print-on-demand) novelists?

One way to solve the problem, according to the NYT's article, is to publish original trade paperback editions of literary novels. Trade paperback editions sell better than do hardcover novels because they're less expensive.

And yet ... will book reviewers even consider trade paperback editions as they wade through the stacks of worthy candidates? To be determined . . .

It Takes Books to Promote Books

There are times when authors send out review copies of their books to media decision makers, and those books wind up on an auction Web site or in an online second-hand bookstore. That's unfortunate. I wish all producers and journalists -- and all people -- were honest. I wish they'd donate the extra review copies of books to library book sales, hospitals, and prisons.

Then again, I wish I were Irish today so that I could fully get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day.

In other words, don't check the search engines incessantly to track the final dispensation of the books you've sent to the media. Some will wind up being re-sold. Some will end up donated to charities. Some will become gifts for talk show callers who guess the right answers to trivia questions. And some will become part of the personal libraries of book reviewers.

Yes, I know that books cost you money, and when you send out books in good faith to producers and journalists, you'd like to 1) score an interview or review an 2) see the books end up somewhere other than on eBay or American Book Exchange's Web site.

Unfortunately, you can't control the destiny of review copies of books -- nor can you get media visibility for your book without sending out books to the media. So consider those mailings as part of the cost of doing business, and don't dwell on the obvious fact that some people are using your book to make a couple of undeserved dollars.

If you spend your time positively, and let the books go once they're out of your hands, you'll enjoy your book promotion campaign far more than if you dwell on whether your books might be falling into the wrong hands. Do find qualified media decision makers who are supposed to receive review copies of your books (they're available from commercial media lists, via phone calls to media outlets, and on their Web sites). But, if you've been diligent about choosing the right producers and journalists to pitch your book to, then just remember it takes books to promote books . . . and don't sweat the small ripoffs. It just isn't worth it.

Autographs--Sort Of

Well, look at what one of my favorite novelists is up to. Margaret Atwood doesn't want to disappoint her legions of fans, so she's transformed book signings (which would only please handfuls of her fans) into electronic exchanges (which, she presumably thinks, would please the rest of us).

Not so, Margaret. I love your work, but not enough to accept a digital signature fron you (or anyone) instead of a real one. Come to think of it, I wasn't all that interested in getting your autograph, anyway, but I do take the old-fashioned stance that one's signature should written rather than beamed across the planet through whatever technology might be available.

However, I do admire Margaret's creative spirit enough to share CNN.com's article about her LongPen. Read all about it, and see what you think.

Book Promotion in Reverse

Is there such a thing as a reverse book promotion campaign? That is, does it ever make sense for some authors to strive to not get publicity for a book, and to turn away any book promotion that you might get?

An article in The American Daily asserts that John Kerry turned down publicity for his book, The Winter Soldiers Investigations, when he ran for president. The article also puts forth that Kerry refused permission for his book to be reprinted -- presumably, so potential voters wouldn't read it and, on the basis of doing so, decide not to vote for him.

I'd have to do some independent research into the article's claim to see whether or not it holds water. In the meantime, I'm left to ponder the question of how book publicity -- and book sales -- could be of harm. Well, okay. I guess my clients should have such problems. . . . .

Did You Cut-and-Paste Your Novel's Plot?

If the storyline of your novel bears an unhealthy resemblance to another author's work, then a book promotion campaign could land you in court for plagarism. That's what this article suggests.

Call me skeptical, but I doubt that anyone is purposely ripping off anyone else's work. You know the old saw about all those monkeys and all those typewriters . . . well, that's probably the way two writers's works wind up with the same plot points once in awhile.

Does that warrant a lawsuit? No, I don't think so. It would be a shame to miss such thought-provoking reads as "The Da Vinci Code" just because some other author/researcher had developed a similar theory about something that happened two thousand years ago to the one Dan Brown came up with.

Writers, writers. Can't you all just try to get along with each other?

Banning as Book Promotion?

At first, I was a bit chagrined to see that the Vista San Gabriel Elementary School library in Southern California had banned Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Actually, they've banned three bilingual versions of the book. Which might be a good thing. After all, who knows what dangerous concepts an evil translator might have slipped into the plot. Maybe, in the banned versions, Clifford refuses to become housebroken. Or maybe he barks at cats without provocation. Dastardly, but who knows? It could be true.

Okay. Clifford is probably innocent of wrongdoing, as is Harry Potter, who -- as you might have guessed -- was also banned from the Vista San Gabriel Elementary School library.

But perhaps there's a mitigating factor here. A banned book scores instant visibility. So maybe having your book banned is one of the best book promotion strategies you can employ. At least, that's what I'm telling myself this morning after reading this.

Is This Book on Your Reading List?

I've just added it to mine. It's "How to Write & Publish Your Own Book: From Conception to Book Store in 90 Days" by self-published author Kathleen Mailer. I'm not Kathleen's book promotion specialist and, in fact, we've never met. Nor do I get a cut of her book sales. However, according to this article, she pre-sold 80,000 copies of her book. Yes, I'm impressed. If you are, too, you can read about the book here. Just thought it was worth passing along.

Digital Books -- Again.

Maybe, one day, we'll get digital books figured out. There's an MSNBC story today that suggests we may already have done so. Maybe.

But the challenge for a book publicist is this: how would you promote a digital book? Would you send a hyperlink to producers and editors, and suggest that they click on the book -- and that will be their review copy? Or do you burn the book onto a CD and then distribute review copies of the CD? Or do you produce a short-run of "real" books, send them off to the media as review copies, and then go on to sell only the digital books?

Maybe publishers have figured out everything they need to know about digital books, and maybe readers are onto the truth about digital books, too.

But book promotion specialists -- or this one, anyway -- is still pondering the perplexities of publicizing digital books. It's a challenge I'll looking forward to meeting, eagerly and with a bit of trepidation.

You Still Have to Tell the Truth

You might be a famous researcher and celebrated author, and you might be in the middle of a high-profile book promotion campaign, but you still have to tell the truth. That's the lesson David Irving is about to learn. Irving has been sentenced to three years in jail for denying the Holocaust and, perhaps indirectly, inciting people to commit violence against Israelis. Read the story at www.infoisrael.net.

The lesson here isn't that, if you lie during a book promotion campaign, you'll serve jail time. Rather, the take-away is that it's always best to sell books from a position of integrity. People know the difference, and people do care.

Is It a Book or a Film?

Or is it both a book and a film? Random House and Focus Features (part of NBC Universal)are teaming up to develop two new projects. The creative team that produces the books also will produce the movies. You can read about it here. So will the films be a vehicle for book promotion, or will the books be a way to publicize the films? Stay tuned.

Technorati tags: book promotion

Is Manga the Next Big Thing in Book Publishing?

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times seems to think so. Graphic novels, he says in this article, is one of the few fast-growing area of book publishing right now, and major publishers are vying for the opportunity to distribute these comic books.

Coincidentally, I just took on my first manga book promotion project: the work of Jim Balent and his wife, Holly Golightly, of Jim Balent's Studio. You can visit their Web site here.

I've been reading and seeing the popularity of manga. Now we'll see whether the media appreciates the opportunity to feature American manga creators in the months to come.

A Sunday Blizzard Paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard.

But today is Monday, and fortunately, New Yorkers (and others who live and work in the Northeast) are working again. The subway is running, planes are flying, roads are plowed, and producers, editors, hosts, and reporters are back at their desks. Publicists are, too. Book promotion campaigns: full steam ahead!

The Truth About Book Clubs

Given the chance, would you make in-person visits to book clubs as part of your book promotion campaign? Before you decide, read Curtis Sittenfeld's essay in the New York Times called "You Hate Me, You Really Hate Me."

Curtis talks about visiting book clubs where the primary topic is, well, let's just say more physiological than literary. Yes, we'll all do a lot to promote books. But will we listen to discussions about how irritating a specific hero (or heroine) might be? Or will we be a fly on the wall while book club members discuss bodily functions, diet, and other issues that have nothing at all to do with books?

Probably not. Book clubs can be an integral part of book promotion campaigns -- but only for very brave, and very thick-skinned -- authors who can let criticism roll off of them.

Technorati tags: book promotion, book publicity, book clubs

Book Promotion by Book Giveaways

Every time I read an article like this one about Bookcrossing.com, it strikes me that giving books away is a great book promotion idea. Why doesn't everyone get involved in Bookcrossing.com? Everyone wins: readers get free books, people get to pass along enjoyable books they've finished reading and don't know what else to do with, and bookstore owners get more foot traffic. What could be a more perfect way to create buzz about a book than to watch it travel all around the country, passing from hand to hand, creating small ripples of visibility and interest wherever it goes?

This isn't about Bookcrossing.com, though. Any time you give away a book, you're creating book promotion potential. A radio station that gives away three copies of your book will have to mention your book on the radio, and the winners will have to mention your book to friends, coworkers, and relatives. Even if you stand outside your local library and hand out copies of your book, you'll be promoting your book.

So why don't all authors get excited about book giveaways as part of their book promotion campaigns? Well, when one national radio interview can get thousands, or tens of thousands, of people talking about a book, perhaps it's less exciting to think about three or five or seven people at a time finding out about your book via giveaways.

Still, if each of those three or five or seven people tell their friends about your book, and they tell their friends, and so on . . . how many book sales might that generate? Book giveaways can be a smart (and inexpensive part) of an effective book promotion campaign. Why not give it a try?

Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

What Do Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern Have in Common?

Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern now both enjoy lucrative contracts with XM Satellite Radio, although Howard's deal is worth a lot more than Oprah's. Stern inked a $600 million five-year contract with XM Satellite Radio. Oprah will earn $55 million dollars for a three-year commitment to a new radio "channel" called Oprah & Friends.

Will Oprah be hungry for guests to fill that radio time? Is this a book promotion opportunity made in heaven (or, at least, on the XM Satellite airwaves)? Not so much. The MSNBC news story implies that she'll be recycling personalities who have already appeared on her TV show and in her magazine.

At least, that's what the MSNBC news story says. But who knows? Oprah & Friends. Okay. It's on my A-list now. Everyone who's currently promoting a book ought to take heart that now, finally, it may be possible to appear on Oprah's show.

Technorati Tags: book promotion book promotion, book publicity book publicity, Oprah Winfrey oprah winfrey, Howard Stern howard stern, XM Satellite Radio xm satellite radio

For the Love of Books?

Is a library patron who "borrows" 402 volumes and never returns them (and scores a three-year prison sentence) a book lover? Here's the story. It's not as though this type of thing has never happened before, but it does leave me wondering what kind of thief steals books instead of, say, jewelry or laptop computers. Is this a book-loving thief? Or is the inverse true -- do you have to really hate books to drain them from a library? One way or another, I'm glad the Baltimore County Library is prosecuting this book thief. Maybe three years of jail time will deter another "book lover" from ripping off all of us.

Where Has Publishing Gone? To France.

Maybe now is a good time to brush up on my fourth-grade French. Lagardere SCA of France is acquiring Time Warner Book Group to create the third largest book publishing company in the world. Here's the story.

Who would have thought that the France, the country that has not been the biggest fan of the United States of late, would resort to this type of behavior to make its point. Okay, we get it, France. You're not happy with us. We understand that.

But did you have to go and steal our publishing company?

Who's Blogging Now?

Who's blogging now? Just about any author who's interested in book promotion -- or that soon will be the case. Amazon has implemented a new feature called Author Connect (read about it here) to host authors' blogs. Amazon has found that proving content (such as readers' reviews and previews of books) encourages people to buy.

Good for Amazon. Good for book buyers. Good for us all.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Book Promotion Campaigns Only Work If. . .

Book promotion campaigns only work if . . . you have a book. If you're still in the process of writing your book, then pay special attention to today's news about the latest computer virus. The virus, say all the news reports (including this cnn.com story), will activate itself on the third of every month, if your computer becomes infected. This virus is bad in that it can destroy all the data on your computer.

That means: practice safe computing. Click on only such email attachments as you are expecting -- otherwise, use the telephone to find out from the sender what the files are before you open them. Also, zealously back up the manuscript you're working on. The back up the back up, and back up the back up of the backup up. Make sure you store your (minumum of) three back ups of your manuscript in different places -- and, preferably, on three different media. Who among us hasn't had the experience of discovering that a CD or floppy disk no longer works, or that you used the wrong settings for your offline backup system, or that (and this is the ugliest of all) you only thought you were backing up your data when, in fact, something went wrong during the process so you have no backed-up data to restore when you need it. Once you've backed up the files, be sure they are what they are supposed to be, and be sure you know where they'll be if and when you need to restore them.

If you take the proper precauthions, then you'll know that, when it comes time to launch your book publicity campaign, you'll have a book to promote.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Punxsutawney Phil Is in the News This Morning

Why aren't you? Well, for one thing, you're not a groundhog, and he is. Secondly, you can't predict the weather, and he can. (Well, okay, he can't predict the weather, either, but he's conned a lot of otherwise clever humans into believing he can.)

Also, another reason that Punxsutawney Phil in the news this morning is because his schtick ties directly into a holiday: Groundhog Day. Now, if you'd written a book about Groundhog Day, or if you could find a Groundhog Day angle to your book, then you'd undoubtedly be in the news this morning, too.

Groundhog Day books are scarce, and tie-ins to Groundhog Day are tough to conjure up. So perhaps you'd best look ahead to Valentine's Day. (It isn't too late to pitch producers and editors on your Valentine's Day angle.)

And next year, who knows? Perhaps you'll figure out how to turn Groundhog Day into a boon for your book promotion campaign.

Happy Groundhog Day, and don't blame Punxsutawney Phil too much if we have to endure another six weeks of winter weather. He knows not what he does when he sees his shadow and burrows back into his hole to hide.

Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Book Promotion Opportunities Are Handed to Some Journalists -- But So What?

The Book Standard has published an article about another new trend: journalists who write books and then have book promotion opportunities handed to them on a silver platter via "serious" news venues that may well ignore other authors who are not as well connected. The article cites, as an example, Fox News Channel's John Gibson who wrote The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought and then received automatic invitations to promote his book from his colleagues, FNC hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.

Well, yes. Isn't that the way it's always been? If a celebrity has a book or movie or television show to plug, doesn't he or she score any and all opportunities to promote that project just for the asking? I remember looking at my local newspaper's TV listings one recent morning to find that John Travolta would appear on no fewer than three television shows that day. Three! And who knows how many newspapers and radio shows would also have the pleasure of promoting whichever movie Travolta was promoting at the time.

I'm not sure why a journalist is any less entitled than a movie star, sports personality, or musical legend to embark upon a serious book promotion campaign. If it's an issue of credibility, then that begs the question: Is someone less credible if the name of his or her book is on everyone's lips? I doubt it. Of course, I'm biased, but I just don't see how a book promotion campaign can hurt the reputation of a trusted and skilled journalist -- or anybody else, for that matter. I just don't see it.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Race, Creed, and Interviews

Yesterday, I conducted a mass email campaign for one of my clients. She's a novelist, and we had written a Valentine's Day pitch. We scored several interviews, and received even more interest from producers who wanted to receive the book and media kit. But one response just made me cringe.

"Is your author a [fill in the religion]," asked this particular producer. "I'd love to schedule an interview with her if she is, but I'll have to pass on the opportunity if she isn't." The producer went on to explain that her show incorporated a particular system of beliefs into all interviews, and if the author did not live according to that belief set, he or she wouldn't fit into the program.

This type of response from producers and editors is not unusual, but I'll never get used to it. Participating in a dialogue with a media decisionmaker who wants to know what religion my client subscribes to (or how tall she is, or what her skintone is, and so forth) is one of the ugliest parts of my job, and it's taken me years to know how to respond.

I think, yesterday, I hit on the solution. First, I checked in with my client and asked whether she might want me to respond in the affirmative ("Yes, my client is a fill-in-the-blank"). The client wisely (I think) wanted no part of it. Therefore, I emailed the producer and told her that, while I appreciated her interest, few of my clients fit her requirements, and it would therefore probably be best for all concerned if I removed her from my mailing list. I carbon copied my client on that email, and then I removed the producer from my media database. In doing so, I ensured that no future clients will ever be in the position of being screened by this producer on the basis of their religions. Ideally, I'll be able to use this technique in the future to create a media database free of those who would discriminate on the basis of someone's race, creed, and the like.

Don't get me wrong. I understand why there has to be a match between the media outlet and an author. I'm probably not going to book a client who wants to talk about a potential bird flu epidemic on an entertainment program. And I don't blame producers for wanting to know something about an author's background before they offer to schedule an interview. And, hey, I don't even mind when a woman's radio program insists on receiving only pitches about women authors.

But that's different from declining an interview with an author on the basis of race, creed, height, weight, hair length, eye color, or shoe size. My thinking is this: Any media decisionmaker who screens experts for reasons such as these is the gatekeeper for a media outlet I wouldn't want to deal with. Would you?

Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Memoir, Fiction, Confusion . . . Pat Conroy

His name isn't James Frey. It's Pat Conroy, and he's a novelist, but what's going on with "The Water Is Wide?" I missed that particular novel, or memoir, or whatever it might be, but I didn't miss Hallmark's rendition of "The Water Is Wide" last night. As always, I was transfixed by Hallmark's production, but my, was I confused. The main character's name was "Pat Conroy," and I recognized the military father from several Pat Conroy novels I'd read, so I made the connection. All right, then, the movie (and book, I presumed) must have been autobiographical -- a memoir, if you will.

Fine, but then, what was up with the final disclaimer at the end of the movie that said (I'm paraphrasing): "The preceding was a work of fiction, and any resemblance to people living or dead is a mere coincidence."

Did I miss something here? Back in the days B.F. (Before Frey), I probably wouldn't have given it a thought. But now I'm wondering why we're all so squirrelish about using the phrase "semi-autobiographical" to describe a based-on-fact story about our lives. Is it because of the legal implications? Or is it because we're no longer sure what's true and what isn't, so we want to keep our options open just in case we're ever asked to prove that personal histories are what we say they are.

All I can say is, thanks for the movie, Hallmark. I love your work. But, Pat, could you please clarify for me what we just saw? Was it real, or was it Memorex? Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this matter.

Book Promotion: Because You're Entitled.

It always amazes me to hear popular misconceptions about book promotion. One of the most frequent statements is that everyone who writes a book is entitled to media exposure. Here's a quote I found in The Miami Herald from author/wrestler Shawn Michaels: "...it was sort of ironic that every other book gets a ton of publicity when it comes out, and this one didn't, but I really didn't have the time to publicize it."

Shawn, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but maybe you need a reality check about book promotion. Some books enjoy visibility in the media because their authors (and/or their book publicists) work their socks off letting book reviewers, beat editors, assignment editors, and producers know about a story opportunity. They give the media something of value -- a news hook -- and keep on plugging away at it until they find what works. Then, having launched their book in the media, they build on what works until, finally, they've created a successful book promotion campaign.

They don't have publicity handed to them because they wrote a book. They're not entitled to the media's attention. They earn it the old-fashioned way: through creativity and hard work.

So, Shawn, I'm glad to see your book was mentioned in at least one major media outlet. That's a good beginning. Now keep going and see whether you can interest other feature editors in your story. And then move on to radio show producers. And so on. Your book deserves the effort. But it's not entitled to the results. You have to earn that yourself.

Technorati tags: book promotion, book publicity

How Sex Can Help You Promote Books

How can you prepare for interviews related to book promotion? Try deep breathing and stretches, indulge in some exercise, do a vocal warmup -- and have sex. A story on Reuters wire service suggests that pre-interview sex can have a calming effect on you. The more relaxed you are, in theory, the more credibility you'll convey on the air and the better you'll be able to articulate your messages during the interview.

What if the timing of your interview is less than perfect with relation to your partner's availability? Not to worry. Stuart Brody, the clever psychologist who thought up this study (thank you, Stu!), said -- and I'm paraphrasing -- that the benefits of intercourse should last at least a week. So if you have a phone interview at five o'clock in the morning, there's no need to wake up your partner in the middle of the night. Just tune into the memory of what you shared, and know that you're in fine form for your performance.

Sex and book promotion. They go together like, well, Amazon and dotcom.

Technorati tags: book promotion, book publicity, media training

Will Your Book Be a New York Times Bestseller?

That may depend on its title.

So, if you want to predict whether or not your book will make it to the New York Times bestseller list, use the Titlescorer tool on Lulu.com to check on how likely it is that your book will make the New York Times bestseller list.

The people who developed the Titlescorer relied on 50 years worth of statistics to do so. Worth a click? Maybe. Check out the Star Tribune story to find out more.

Technorati tags: new york times bestseller, book title, bestseller

Beyond Castle Rock

Well, what do we have here? The first two chapters of Stephen King's latest novel, "Cell," available online here.

I couldn't wait to dive in, but I wish someone had forewarned me. Stephen King seems to be done blowing up his fictional locale of Castle Rock, Maine, and now he's moved onto my neck of the woods: the Back Bay of Boston. By the end of chapter two, there's already been at least one murder on Boylston Street, a blood-curdling scream in the Boston Common, and a crash of one kind or another on Newbury Street.

Hey, Stephen, this time you're hitting a little bit too close to home. Okay, I'm still planning to buy your book and indulge in reading it from cover to cover at my earliest opportunity. But please, promise me you've left the Boston Public Library alone. Stephen, the BPL is just about a mile away from where the "incident" that launches the action in the rest of your novel takes place. Tell me that the BPL remains intact in your new novel. Please! Tell me. Some things are supposed to be sacred.

When a Library Rebuffs the FBI

Which is greater: the privacy that we enjoy at public libraries or the might of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? The former, if the latter fails to get a search warrant.

Here's the story, which you can read in full at the Boston Herald's Website. A "terrorist" threat was emailed to Brandeis University (in Waltham, Massachusetts) from a computer at the Newton Free Library (Newton, too, is a suburb of Boston).

So the FBI burst into the Newton Free Library and demanded access to the computers, and wanted to lock down the library. The library's director sent them packing until the FBI had obtained a search warrant. By that time, the library was closed for the day and, presumably, all the terrorists had long since gone home.

I'm not sure the library I frequented in my childhood would have dared to turn away a member of the local police department, let alone a Federal agent, for any reason. Then again, when I was a kid, most of the library's patrons were there to read books or periodicals. Computers, as far as I knew, hadn't been invented then, and neither had terrorists.

At least, that's the way it seemed to me.

A Bad Book Idea

Are you an author or a publisher who's in need of a book idea? Here's a topic to not choose: Donald Trump.

Businesswire is running tells the tale of a lawsuit that Donald Trump just filed against the author and publisher of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald.

And lest you think Mr. Trump is picking on some poor clueless slobs, here's a bit more information you might want. The author is New York Times reporter Timothy L. O'Brien, and the publisher is Warner Books, Inc.

File under: Defamation lawsuits can happen to anyone -- anyone who's misguided enough to mess with The Donald, that is. Name recognition of your own and credibility up the kazoo may not help you when it comes time to face Mr. Trump's wrath in that boardroom more commonly known as civil court.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Here's Another Way to Get the Media's Attention.

A 19-year-old youg man, formerly called Chris Garnett, had his name legally changed to KentuckyFriedCrueltyDotCom. As a member of PETA, he wanted to get some attention for what he believes to be the plight of chickens who encounter the Colonel's organization and wind up on a plate with a side of mashed potatoes, gravy, and probably some cole slaw. You can read about it here.

So how does Ken's bid (yes, some people really do call him Ken) for media attention relate to your book promotion campaign? Granted, Ken isn't promoting a book, but he does know an awful lot about promotion, and the strategies he's used to get the media's attention are certainly worthy of your consideration:

* Get passionate about something.
* Act on your conviction -- in other words, "walk the walk" -- in an unconventional way.
* Let the media know.
* Be prepared to defend your position intelligently when the media calls.

You don't have to be a PETA member, or a KFC detractor, to appreciate the fact that KentuckyFriedCrueltyDotCom is smart about self-promotion. His PR campaign probably hasn't cost him more than the price of legally changing his name and a few postage stamps (unless he's conducting strictly an email media campaign). But look at the results of his promotion campaign, and think about why he's achieving those results. If you were the producer of a national TV show, would you be able to resist the story of 19-year-old Chris Garnett who changed his name to KentuckyFriedCrueltyDotCom?


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Off-the-Wall, Fun Books Promote Themselves

If your book is silly, off-beat, or just plain goofy, it may very well attract all the media coverage you can handle. In my experience, media hooks that can serve as foils for tragic, fightening news stories always seem to have a place in newspapers and magazines, and on radio and TV, and online.

For example, check out this Mississippi Press article about a neat book called "How to Meditate with your Dog" by James Jacobson.

I don't live with a dog, and I'm not sure I'd invite one to meditate with me if I did, but still -- I wouldn't mind reading a copy of that book. (And, no, I'm not in the market to meditate with my cats, either.) The book looks clever, and it looks light-hearted, and that's often enough for me, as a book buyer. Apparently, editors and producers feel the same attraction to "cute" topics as the rest of us do enough of the time so that you'll nearly always spot a "fluffy" (no pun intended) news feature or two somewhere on a broadcast or in a publication.

With that in mind, I often try to find an offbeat news angle for a serious (and sometimes even an academic) book that seems to be underwhelming media decisionmakers. If you can figure out how to pitch your book in a just-for-fun or even outrageous way, you might find some media takers who resisted your more straight-on story ideas.

It's worth a try, anyway, if you have a sense of humor and are willing to laugh at yourself. You might find media decisionmakers -- and book buyers -- are willing to laugh with you, too.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Riddle: What's the Worst Way to Promote Your Book?

Answer: The worst way to promote your book is to have Osama bin Laden endorse it.

This story from Salon.com nearly made me lose my Saturday morning breakfast. It seems that, in his latest tape, Osama bin Laden plugged William Blum's book, "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower."

Now, I have to tell you, Osama bin Laden's book recommendations wouldn't send me scurrying to my favorite bookseller. But apparently, his reading list does hold weight with a whole host of other people, because Blum's book, which ranked No. 205,763 B.O. (Before Osama), stands at #20 as I blog.

Who's buying this book, is what I'd like to know? Second of all, if you can think of a dirtier, more offensive way to promote your book and increase your visibility than to get a terrorist's endorsement, let me know.

On second thought...yuck.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

An Unlikely Response to a Story Pitch

I never know what to expect when I pitch a book to the media, so I'm seldom shocked by any individual's responses. But yesterday I received some static for a story pitch that did, indeed, surprise me.

I'd asked the author of a novel that was published by a mainstream New York house for her reaction to the James Frey controversy. Her book, after all, is semi-autobiographical, and she might have chosen to call it a memoir, too -- but she didn't. The author said that she supported Frey and, indeed, if she'd been braver, she might have chosen to call her novel a memoir as well. I included her quotation in a pitch that went out via email to a couple of thousand major book review editors, feature editors, producers, and so forth.

Well, that will teach me.

Almost as soon as I began the email campaign, I received an email from the book editor at one of the top daily U.S. newspapers. The email reads something like this:

"I think you and [the novelist] should pitch this trash to those people Frey has hurt for his own mercenary reasons. Shame on you."

Which leads me to the conclusion that the book editor at this top daily U.S. newspaper disagreed with my client's position. (By the way, I'm paraphrasing the email. When I emailed the reporter this morning to ask for her permission to quote her in this space, she declined to respond. Oh, well.)

Anyway, the reporter's email also has me pondering two questions.

When did it became a shame for one writer to support the right of another writer? And when did I, as a book publicist, become an advocate for my client's position? Last time I checked, I promoted books and disseminated press materials. I did not necessarily endorse the ideas expressed in those books or press materials.

As it happens, I would choose to not represent a book or an author whose work violated my moral code, but that's just my personal style, and I would never inflict that choice on a fellow book promotion specialist. If a liberally-oriented colleague chose to promote a book written by a conservative author, for example, that wouldn't trouble me.

I get troubled when promoting somebody's work or disseminating somebody's message can cause harm to authors. Otherwise, I'm fine about putting ideas out there, for the media's consideration, because that's what my clients engage me to do. I'm not a partner in any of my clients' business ventures or their legal representative. I'm their liason to the media, and with that, I agree with some of their opinions, and I disagree with others -- but I put them all out there for others to judge which, I think, is what a book publicist is supposed to do.

To that anonymous book review editor, I'd like to say this. Thank you for a thought-provoking email. I'm continually amazed by how comfortable media decisionmakers feel clicking the "reply" button on their email software to provide instant feedback -- both positive and negative.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Go, Amazon!

How will Stephen King promote his latest novel (the first in way too long, according to this long-time rabid fan)? On Amazon.com's new TV show!

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bill Maher host a new online TV show (yes, I'm still trying to figure out what that means, too) called -- what else? -- "Amazon Fishbowl With Bill Maher."

King will be among the guests of the first episode of "Fishbowl," and twelve more shows (so far) will follow. He will appear on no other TV shows to promote his book. And UPS will sponser the commercial-free show.

As far as I'm concerned, this is awesome. Amazon's new online TV show may change book promotion forever. I'm so excited that we're along for the ride!

Technorati tags: amazon, amazon.com, stephen king, book promotion, book publicity, online television show, online tv show

Elie Wiesel Needs Oprah's Book Club Like...

Elie Wiesel needs Oprah's book club as much as Leo Tolstoy needs it. Maybe less. I strongly suspect that Mr. Wiesel's memoir about his experiences during World War II would have garnered worldwide interest without Oprah's endorsement, just as Anna Karenina would have maintained its healthy book sales without Oprah's help.

At this point, I'm wondering whether Oprah's book club logo might actually hurt Mr. Wiesel's book, Night, which has supplanted James Frey's A Million Little Pieces as Amazon's number one bestseller.

We all know that the veracity of Frey's book has been called into question. Will Mr. Wiesel's book, which is also a memoir, be similarly scrutinized? Reuters suggests that Oprah has already offered a disclaimer on her Web site that says, essentially, the book might not accurately represent every small detail of Mr. Wiesel's family history, but that it's true enough to be called an autobiography.

Well, then, the book has Oprah's endorsement. Sort of.

But will that endorsement, and the associated disclaimer, just fuel the nonsense of those who demand proof of that which is true? Will Oprah's endorsement of Night delight Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and people of his ilk?

Is this one time when it really would have made sense for an author to turn down Oprah's invitation to join her book club? Perhaps.

Novelists: Beware

If you're a novelist, perhaps this isn't the blog to read today. This is not the good news or encouragement you're probably hoping to find.

Nonetheless, it still may be worth knowing.

According to Fairfax Digital's The Age, novelists might want to focus more on achieving fame than on the quality of their work. According to that publication, The British Sunday Times recently tried an experiment in which they sent off the first chapter of a prize-winning novel penned by the 2001 Nobel prize winner for literature -- changing only the author's name and the names of the characters -- to 20 literary agents and publishing companies. All of them passed on the opportunity to publish the novel.

If the work of a Nobel prize winner isn't good enough to make the cut, then what chance does your novel have of taking New York publishing companies by storm?

Still, novelists write, and still, they submit their manuscripts to major publishing houses, and it's a good thing they do. We need to read great novels the way we need to see great paintings.

And, by great novels, I'm afraid I don't mean the work of a few famous romance or crime authors whose names are far larger than their gifts for creating prose. I mean novels that are created by fresh voices and talented people whose perceptions, ideas, and life experiences beg to be shared with the rest of us.

So novelists: keep writing, and keep submitting, and keep hoping. But please don't take rejection personally, and don't ever succumb to the temptation to believe you're unworthy just because the movers and shakers in the publishing community told you so. Their feedback is unhelpful because their credibility is suspect, as the British Sunday Times has proved.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity, fiction, novels, novelists

For Some, Words Don't Count

I was born in 1963. Everything I know about World War II, and about the Holocaust, I learned from other people's words.

Now Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requires more than people's words to prove that the Holocaust happened. (In case you've missed the story, you can read it here.)

One has to assume that, if books aren't sufficient proof of the horror that occurred, and if the testimony of survivors is untrustworthy, and if films and photos are inadmissible, then nothing short of a lightning bolt -- or perhaps a trip via a time machine back to 1930's Europe -- will constitute evidence of the holocaust for Mr. Ahmadinejad.

For some people, words just don't count.

Besides words, though, what do we have?

For Some, Words Don't Count

I was born in 1963. Everything I know about World War II, and about the Holocaust, I learned from other people's words.

Now Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requires more than people's words to prove that the Holocaust happened. (In case you've missed the story, you can read it here.)

One has to assume that, if books aren't sufficient proof of the horror that occurred, and if the testimony of survivors is untrustworthy, and if films and photos are inadmissible, then nothing short of a lightning bolt -- or perhaps a trip via a time machine back to 1930's Europe -- will constitute evidence of the holocaust for Mr. Ahmadinejad.

For some people, words just don't count.

Besides words, though, what do we have?

For Some, Words Don't Count

I was born in 1963. Everything I know about World War II, and about the Holocaust, I learned from other people's words.

Now Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requires more than people's words to prove that the Holocaust happened. (In case you've missed the story, you can read it here.)

One has to assume that, if books aren't sufficient proof of the horror that occurred, and if the testimony of survivors is untrustworthy, and if films and photos are inadmissible, then nothing short of a lightning bolt -- or perhaps a trip via a time machine back to 1930's Europe -- will constitute evidence of the holocaust for Mr. Ahmadinejad.

For some people, words just don't count.

Besides words, though, what do we have?

For Some, Words Don't Count

I was born in 1963. Everything I know about World War II, and about the Holocaust, I learned from other people's words.

Now Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requires more than people's words to prove that the Holocaust happened. (In case you've missed the story, you can read it here.)

One has to assume that, if books aren't sufficient proof of the horror that occurred, and if the testimony of survivors is untrustworthy, and if films and photos are inadmissible, then nothing short of a lightning bolt -- or perhaps a trip via a time machine back to 1930's Europe -- will constitute evidence of the holocaust for Mr. Ahmadinejad.

For some people, words just don't count.

Besides words, though, what do we have?

Online Newspapers vs. Real Newspapers

Some would say that a newspaper story isn't an actual newspaper story unless it appears in the "real" version of the newspaper. I disagree.

So would Adam Palmer, author of a 2001 book called Something About Nothing. You can read the story here.

A Wisconsin-based newspaper ran a story about Palmer. Someone posted a link to the story on fark.com, a Web site with a cult following. That link stayed active for two days, and 12,000 visitors clicked on it which was a book promotion coup for Palmer and his five-year-old book.

Now Something About Nothing is poised to receive even more publicity from other media outlets, and Palmer is hoping to see some good news on his next royalty statement -- and all because of some online book promotion that has no real-world counterpart.

I'm sold on the value of online-only newspaper articles. Are you?

Technorati tags: online publicity, online promotion, book promotion, book publicity

Coffee, Tea, or Books?

There are three kinds of people in this world: those who love Starbucks, those who do not love Starbucks, and those who may or may not love Starbucks . . . but still hope to sell their books there. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Starbucks is moving beyond musical CDs (Dylan, anyone?) to promote books and movies.

Is anyone buying books these days?

Yes, it would seem so. According to the same article, Borders' book sales rose by 6 percent in the fourth quarter.

Did someone postulate that ebooks would one day render "real" books -- the kind you had to kill some trees to produce -- obsolete? Or that most Americans are just too busy, or too stupid, to open up a book these days? Not so fast. Apparently, some people are still looking for a good read in a clean, well-lighted place. And soon, I'm glad to report, they'll be able to find some possibilities at their local coffee shop.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

To Refund or Not to Refund. That Is the Question.

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm becoming gleeful over the "A Million Little Pieces" saga. Update: contrary to recent reports, Random House will not offer refunds to customers who have bought copies of James Frey’s memoir directly from the publisher. Plus, if they were offering refunds (which, once again, they are not), those refunds would be given only to nonexistent customers -- or at least, I have to assume the customers are nonexistent since I've never met an actual person who bought a book directly from Random House or any other major publishing house.

For anyone who's similarly enjoying the story of the memoir that isn't, do check out Jackie Michard's blog entry, called "MISS WINFREY REGRETS" where the "MISS WINFREY" in queston is the Oprah Winfrey who phoned into the Larry King Live television show on CNN last night to defend her book club pick. Here's the story on that.

I strongly suspect someone will get another book out of this whole thing before the "A Million Little Pieces" concludes.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Bad Book Reviews -- Bad PR

In keeping with yesterday's theme (about whether any book promotion is bad book promotion), I'd offer up two bad book reviews from today's Boston Herald. If you'd rather not read the entire article, I'll offer up the title, anyway: These words of wisdom are more likely to make you laugh. I think you get the point. In the event you want to see the reviews for yourself, click here.

Talk about a roller coaster for authors. First you get the good news from the Boston Herald's book review editor ("your book is slated for review on Wednesday"), and then you click on the review and -- wham! The reality may be that not many readers will rush out to buy a self-help book at which everyone is snickering. Or, if they do, they won't be excited about reading it in public for awhile.

Which brings us back to the question of whether any PR is bad PR. In the case of book reviews, I'd have to believe the answer is: yes. A book review can go a long way toward convincing readers that someone, somewhere, is taking your book seriously. That's a good thing.

On the other hand, a scathing book review can have the same effect on book sales that you'd expect an awful movie review would have on ticket sales. Have you run into anyone, besides a long-suffering movie reviewer who had no choice in the matter, who actually caught Ben Affleck's flick, "Gigli?" Me either.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Is Any PR Bad PR?

I've been pondering the question since I read the New York Times article about how "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey -- yes, the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed James Frey -- may not be as factual as we were led to believe it was.

Now, I don't have to believe every word of a memoir in order to enjoy it. The jury is still out on whether Augusten Burrough's depiction of his childhood in "Running With Scissors" was one hundred percent accurate, and I wasn't too disturbed by the pending lawsuit against Burrough (by some of the people depicted in his book) as I chomped my way through his tantalizing narrative.

But I do wonder whether Frey's publisher, Doubleday, feels as good about their investment in Frey as they did before the New York Times article. And I have to wonder whether Doubleday feels good enough about Frey to treat his next two books as royally as they did "A Million Little Pieces."

Book promotion is what all authors hope for. But sometimes, authors should be careful what they wish for, because they might get it -- and who knows what will happen then?


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Promoting Children's Books

If you want some visibility for your children's book, here's my suggestion: be a celebrity. Otherwise, you'll have to compete with celebrities.

Here's the bad news: Senator Edward Kennedy's new children's book, "My Senator and Me," will be published by Scholastic Inc. in May of 2006. (And you were wondering why Scholastic Inc. didn't offer to publish your book?) Now, don't get me wrong. I'm from Massachusetts, and I worship the Kennedy family despite everything, and so on and so forth (it's a regional issue I can't seem to do a whole lot about, similar to saying "pizzer" when I mean "pizza"). But it does strike me as unfortunate that Kennedy's book will receive instant publicity because, well, it's Kennedy's book, whereas you'll have to work hard at it to get attention for your children's book.

You can read all about Kennedy's book on MSNBC.com, by the way. Your challenge: to get MSNBC.com to feature your children's book. You can do it, potentially, by attaching your book to a news hook or trend. It just pains me to think that it would be so much easier to do if your name were, say, Kennedy.

Technorati tags: promoting books, children's books, book promotion, book publicity, Ted Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, Scholastic Inc., MSNBC

A Book Promotion Riddle

Here's a book promotion riddle. You're Andy Rooney of "Sixty Minutes" fame. You're on the Larry King Show to promote your latest book. The interview begins, and a few minutes into the interview, Larry notes, for the benefit of his viewers, "You can get his book, "Years of Minutes."

Okay, now remember. You're Andy Rooney, and this is your book that Larry King has just plugged to his international audience of thousands upon thousands of potential book buyers -- all of whom have tuned in to see this interview. Do you:

A. Thank Larry for mentioning your book and graciously continue the interview.
B. Chastise Larry for wearing suspenders instead of a suit jacket and diss his mother.
C. Scowl and diss your own book by saying: "You can't get it anymore. That book sold about nine copies."

The answer to the riddle, naturally, is C. No, seriously. Talk the viewers out of buying your book. That's the actual answer to the book promotion riddle.

If you don't believe that Andy Rooney would do such a thing (and I'm convinced his publisher doesn't believe it yet, either), then do click on the transcript for the Friday, January 6 Larry King Live television interview.

Authors often ask me how they should handle themselves during interviews. I provide some tips for successfully negotiating an interview, to which I would now add the following.

Note the mistake that Andy Rooney made last night and never, ever make it. Never, ever do what Andy Rooney did on the Larry King Live show last night. Just never, ever do it.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Authors: Are You Blogging Yet?

You should be blogging, if you're not already. So says the recently converted book promotion specialist -- yours truly. I've been preaching my "blogging for book promotion" mantra for weeks, but now I can cite a couple of influential blogging supporters: The New York Times and Amazon.com. When the New York Times and Amazon.com tout blogging for authors, you know it's something you should look into.

A client of mine, Joe Vitale ("Mr. Fire"), just launched a blog for his latest book, Life’s Missing Instruction Manual. You can view his blog by clicking here.

As the New York Times points out, all authors' blogs are not alike. Authors have a variety of reasons for creating and maintaining blogs. Some authors want to disseminate information beyond what's in their books. Others want to drive traffic to their Web sites or create a dialogue with readers.

Some authors, of course, don't know yet why they're creating blogs for their books. They just have the gut feeling they "should" do it. That's the feeling of this book publicist, as well. You "should" be blogging, if you're an author, and you "should" encourage blogging, if you're a publisher.

I think Joe Vitale's blog serves as a good example of what an author's blog should look like. He's on the cutting edge of author blogging. Will you be the next author to create a blog? It's not rocket science, as they say. Visit any of the blogging sites, including the one I used -- Blogger.com -- to get started quickly and painlessly.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Book Promotion Advice from the Trenches

What can a business consultant teach us about book promotion? Quite a bit, if the business consultant in question is Barry Maher, author of the science fiction novel, “Legend.”

In an Apex Digest article written by Jason Sizemore, Maher suggests treating your book as though it were a small business. Focus on your customer' needs, and promote what you have to offer them.

To paraphrase Maher, the best book promotion is a satisfied reader. If it works for Maher and his book, "Legend," it will probably work for yours.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Start to Promote Your Book Yesterday ... or Sooner.

Most book promotion specialists advise writers and publishers to begin their outreach to the media six months before the book's publication date.

The truth is, the more lead time you have to promote your book, the better off you may be. And it's never too early to start marketing your book ... even if it hasn't been written yet.

Here's a very clever book marketing plan that I came across yesterday. It's slated to begin well before even a word of the book it's supposed to promote has been penned.

The strategy goes like this:

Create a Web site, bring people to it, earn at least a million dollars through the Web site ... and then write a book about how you accomplished it. Not an easy trick in this post dot-com economy, but not impossible, either.

Oh, and these authors-to-be are not lacking in self-confidence (or in credentials). They've already alerted us to the fact that their Web site, Tooxta, will soon be as popular as Google and Ebay. And you know what? I believe them.

Tooxta. Tooxta. Tooxta. Commit that name to long-term memory. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot more about it. Stock tips, anyone?


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

In Changing Publishing Times, Oprah Remains a Constant.

The Canton, Ohio Repository published a must-read article on Monday, December 26, 2005 called ""Publishing Looked to Internet as New Frontier in 2005." It points out that we'll soon be reading books via cell phones, buying books online one page at a time, and using blogs to promote books.

Book publicists: take note. The world of book publishing is changing.

But, in these days when a book promotion campaign might include opt-in emails and videopodcasts, it's nice to know there's one constant: Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, the queen of the televised book club, can still turn any writer into an overnight sensation. So, for every novelist and self-help author on the planet, an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show will continue to be the holy grail no matter what else changes in the world.

The publishing industry may change and grow amid hype and lawsuits, but it's good to know that some things will remain unchanged. Thank you, Oprah, for giving us something to count on in the new year.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Book Promotion Shortcuts: Are They Worth It?

There are trade secrets in all professions, and promoting books is no exception. But, recently, I've discovered the #1 best book publicity shortcut of all: not taking shortcuts.

Here's what happened. I've been submitting articles that were written by authors for years. I offer these articles to weekly newspaper editors around the country. The editors can print the article for free as long as they include the author's attribution -- book title, URL, and so forth.

But, lately, I've become pumped up by the possibilities of submitting articles online. So I did some research and, ultimately, bought a software package that promised magic: I'd cut-and-paste the article into the software, add information about the author, and hit the "go" button. Before I knew it, the article would be submitted to the appropriate Web sites. All I had to do was sit back and watch the software automatically work, and then check my email to find confirmations that the article had been published online.

Easy? Not very. It took me about 7 hours to set up the software so it would work. Then, once I'd taken another hour or so to carefully review the software, I realized that I could not successfully use the software to publish articles by various authors. In other words, I could use the software to submit my own articles online, but not my clients' articles.

I was not feeling good about the software at that point. Still, I conducted a test of the software using one of my articles to see whether the software would be useful to me at all. At least, then, I could recommend it to my clients. Almost immediately, the confirmations did start to come into my email box. This was good, so I checked each one of the sites that claimed to have published my article.

It's a good thing I checked, because here's what I found. In no case (so far) was the article published correctly. The article, as published, was either completely missing the appropriate attribution, or -- in a couple of cases -- it was a blank page that contained only a title (no text and, mercifully, no attribution). I'm assuming the software uploaded my information to the wrong fields, but since I'm not a programming expert, I don't know for certain what went wrong.

I only know that the software test proved one thing: Book promotion shortcuts can be counterproductive. This particular experiment cost me the price of the software and a great deal of embarrassment. I'm certainly not recommending it to my clients.

So, you see, there are valuable book publicity tricks and tools of the trade out there, but the old wisdom applies. If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Avoid the snake oil, and invest your time in money in those book promotion strategies that have been proven to work.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Support Your Local Bookstore

Are you still looking for holiday gifts? It's almost too easy to order a book online these days, or to stop at one of the chain bookstores while you're in the mall.

But here's my thought for the day: if you need another holiday gift, how about buying it at your local bookstore? You'll feel good about supporting an independent bookseller, and your gesture might repay you many times over.

Independent booksellers make independent decisions. Thus, they're more likely to buy your book or set up a signing for you than a chain bookstore would be. Enjoy the holiday, and buy wisely -- and pragmatically.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

The More the Publishing Industry Changes . . . The Fewer Changes We See

Does the world need another literary agent? Well, we have one, thanks to the changing face of the publishing industry. Laurence Kirshbaum, the former chairman and chief executive of the Time Warner Book Group, has walked away from his prestigious position at a mainstream publishing house to pitch book projects to . . . well, other mainstream publishing houses. Here's the story.

I'm just wondering why changes in the publishing industry often seem to lead us back to our starting point -- more literary agents, more submissions to mainstream publishing houses, more waiting for advances and hoping for royalty checks, and more trying to entice publishers to promote books they often don't even care about.

Why do so many unpublished authors ask me to create a book promotion plan that they'll use to impress literary agents who might then agree to pitch their books to mainstream publishing houses wo that maybe, someday, their books will see the light of day? (I'll do that for you, if you insist, but it may not be the best idea because presenting an independent book publicist's promotion plan to a mainstream publisher may discourage that publishing company from conducting its own in-house PR campaign for your book.)

Why can't we see that, since the times are a'changing, we can change, too? We don't have to jump through the same old publishing industry hoops as we did a few years ago.

We don't need a literary agent, and we don't need a publisher.

We can want to work with a literary agent. We can want to work with a publisher. But we're not forced to do so.

We have the choice to self-publish.

I'm not talking about vanity publishing or working with one of the nondiscriminating P.O.D publishing companies.

I'm talking about becoming the publisher of your own book: getting your own ISBN and Library of Congress numbers, hiring your own production team, hooking up with a distributor, marketing and promoting your book, and taking on all the financial risk yourself -- and making all the key decisions about your book. What could make more sense than that?

Okay, I know that not every author wants to be a publisher, and for that reason, not every should be a publisher. Also, I rarely turn down the opportunity to promote an interesting book that's published by a prestigious house, so I fully understand why an author would accept an attractive advance from a renowned New York-based publisher.

But for those who are seeing the changes in the publishing industry and still feel forced to do things in the same old way to avoid the stigma of self-publishing, please get over it. Distributors, the media, and potential book buyers really will take your self-published book seriously if it's worthy of their time and attention. You don't have to have a mainstream publishing company's imprint on your book anymore. There are other, and often more lucrative, options for you. Feel free to explore them.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

There's Nothing Like the Face . . . of a Publisher Eating a Candybar.

You've heard about the candybar company that's suing Simon & Schuster, publisher of Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire and Utopian Dreams. Stories like this make me wonder whether publishers, authors, and even publicists ought to consider their potential legal liability before they commit to book projects. Perhaps they should.

I'll admit that part of me is relieved that I wasn't hired to promote the Hershey book (here I feel compelled to repeat the disclaimer you'll find on the Amazon.com site: "Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams is not authorized by the Hershey Company.") But that's only one small part of me.

The rest of me -- the part of me that gets blissed-out by seeing her clients' books in the national news -- would have found it deeply rewarding to be a part of this particular book project. Imagine: a book that automatically makes headlines courtesy of a high-profile lawsuit. The only thing that even comes close to that type of "free" (well, unless you count the legal fees the publisher will accrue in defending itself) publicity it is when the pope recently asked his faithful followers to avoid buying a bestselling novel (does Dan Brown owe the Vatican a percentage of the royalties on The Da Vinci Code, or doesn't he?).

Of course, those of us who work in and around the publishing industry could refuse to take on any projects, ever, just to keep ourselves safe from lawsuits. But even that would only offer us limited protection from litigious entities who are committed to creating difficulties where there should be none. For example, just imagine what a company like Hershey could do to a publicist who admits in public that she's just not a big fan of chocolate bars? I don't even want to go there.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Book Publicity vs. Book Marketing

People who work in, and around, the publishing industry -- along with professionals of all stripes -- love to make up their own vocabulary and word usages. That's resulted in some confusion about terms related to book promotion.

One of the best pieces I've read recently about the distinction between book publicity and book marketing comes from the Publishing Basics blog by Penny Sanseveiri. All in all, Penny, great job and great information. Penny pointed out the need to use all tools at your disposal to promote books, and she's right about that. What garners publicity for one book may not work for another, and it's important to stay flexible enough to expand the aspects of the campaign that seem to be working best.

I'd clarify one point that Penny made about book reviews. Obviously, reviews can be important for some books, but here's the hitch. Most book review editors require between two and six months' lead time before the publication date to review a book. That effectively means once a book is published, it's too late to approach most book review editors. Some authors/publishers budget to print a small number of books ahead of the publication date and label them "galleys," and then send these galleys out to the most important advance review media. However, many publishers and authors miss that window of opportunity, and that's okay. When it's too late to send a book to the reviewer at, say, Cosmopolitan magazine, there's still plenty of time to send a relevant story pitch to, for example, Cosmopolitan's career editor (or whichever editor covers the beat most related to your story).

Thanks for an excellent article, Penny!


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Can Opt-In Email Programs Sell Books?

I doubt it. There's a new online book marketing company I've just read about that, for $99, will create an email pitch for your book and mail it out to an opt-in email list.

It's "only" $99, so you might be tempted to give it a try. But I'd suggest that you ask yourself this question before you invest: How often have you bought a book, or any other product, on the basis of an unsolicited email? If the answer is "zero," then you have your answer. Why waste your money and demean yourself, and your work, by putting it into the same category as one of those "enhancement" drugs or "free" (read: illegal) software offerings? Not you, I hope.


Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Literary Nonfiction

We learn something new every day (even on Sundays), and "literary nonfiction" is my newly acquired phrase for the day. I was zooming around the blogosphere, and I stumbled upon Robin Rowland's blog entry of Saturday, December 03, 2005 in which he uses the word. For fun, I Googled the phrase and found that Robin hadn't invented it -- he was just tuned in enough to find it. In fact, ads from Amazon.com and ABE.com appeared as part of my search, so that means both of those companies were aware of literary nonfiction as a genre.

Where has literary nonfiction been all my life?

I've been promoting nonfiction books for 15 years. How many of them were "literary nonfiction" titles? How many of them were just plain "nonfiction," and what's the difference, and who decides, and how, and is it possible to disagree? Hmm. If anyone knows what the rules are, give me a holler at bookpromotion@gmail.com.

Technorati Tags: book promotion, book publicity

Where Does Fame Come From? Larry Star Is a Case Study.

Where does fame come from? Creativity, hard work, perseverance, and . . . in at least one case, eBay.

"Did you hear about the guy who's selling his ex-wife's wedding dress on eBay?" About fifty people asked me that during a 48-hour period a year or so ago. Most of them emailed me a link to the eBay auction, and when I finally clicked on the link to see what everyone was talking about, I lost it. I just lost it. Whoever this strange person was, the image of him wearing that wedding dress was about the goofiest thing I'd ever seen, and the coffee I was politely sipping ended up abruptly leaving me through a couple of orifices that I'd rather not discuss in this space. The ad copy struck me as raw, witty, real, and funny beyond belief. Anyway, the image of that eBay character stayed with me.

So, yes, I grinned from ear to ear when I received an email a few months ago from "The Wedding Dress Guy," and I was on the phone with him in about 12 seconds introducing myself to him. It turned out that his name was Larry Star, and he'd written a book -- a very funny one that some lucky book publicist would get to promote.

I turned out to be the lucky book publicist. I also made a new friend, so please indulge me if I insert a commercial for him into this case study of where fame comes from.

Larry Star was recently featured on KING-TV's "Evening Magazine," and you can enjoy the video online, if you're interested. Click here to see "The Wedding Dress Guy" in action. If you enjoy Larry's humor and style as much as I do, please also check out his Web site. It's WeddingDressGuy.com. And feel free to buy the book. (I think that wedding dress is still for sale, too, if the price is right.)

And, next time you ponder the question of where fame comes from, you might come to the same conclusion Larry Star arrived at. Fame can come from just about anywhere if you take risks, do something different with humor and integrity, strike a responsive chord in enough people, expect nothing and hope for everything, and somehow figure out that elusive game they call "viral marketing" . . . and if you happen to be doing all of those things in exactly the right place, at the right time.

Go, Larry! I'm watching you and learning.


book promotion
book publicity

It's Now or Never -- NOT!

This has been a good morning for my clients, past and present. I just received a friendly email from an editor to let me know that an article I'd submitted to him a year ago was running in today's paper. I forwarded that email along to the person who'd written the article; that will be a nice surprise for a past client who undoubtedly didn't expect additional placements from the article submission campaign we conducted 12 months ago.

Similarly, I just scheduled a satellite radio network interview for another author. We'd pitched the story to this producer two months ago, and she just decided that this author would be a great addition to a particular show she's putting together.

The lesson is: never discount the staying-power of pitches (particularly, those that are emailed to editors and producers). Journalists really do file away story ideas in their "future" folders, and authors really do see the rewards of today's pitches . . . if not immediately, then perhaps up to a year later.


book promotion
book publicity

Should Oprah Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

I think Oprah Winfrey should win the Nobel Peace Prize because of her humanitarian efforts. But then again, I'm a book publicist, and I'm supposed to support Oprah Winfrey's endeavors. Whether you're an Oprah fan or an author who hopes to appear on her show one day, please express your support for Oprah Winfrey's Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Click here to do so.


book promotion
book publicity

Are Student Newspapers Worth Pitching?

The readership of a student-run newspaper may be small compared to the potential circulation of a major-market daily newspaper. But advertisers are finding college newspapers, according to this Newsweek article. So if students are potential buyers for your book, and they may be interested in your media messages, why not pitch the appropriate beat editor (or editors) at student newspapers in the same markets as the dailies you're targeting?

You can compile a pretty good starter list of college newspapers by using Yahoo. Begin at Yahoo, then drill down to News and Media, and then to College and University, and then to Newspapers. Or just click here. You'll then be asked to click on "region" (under Top Categories), and then click on "country" and, assuming you've selected the U.S., you'll then be asked to select a "state." You can then click on "Complete List" to find hyperlinks for the college newspapers in that state. You'll then have to go to the college newspapers' Web sites, one at a time, to harvest the contact information. Send off your pitch just the same as you would if you were contacting any other editor, and conduct the same thorough follow-up.

Is it worth the time and energy? It can be, if you have the right information to share with 17- to 21-year-old college students. They're taking their newspapers seriously these days. If you're taking your book seriously, too, then perhaps there's a good match -- and it may be one publicity opportunity that other authors and publishers are overlooking.


book promotion
book publicity

Book Publicity During the Holidays

Everyone in the media is on vacation, so why bother to pitch story ideas during November and December. The day after Thanksgiving is particularly a bad day for making phone calls to producers and editors since they'll all be at the mall scoring those "Black Friday" bargains.

Right?

Well, no. "Everyone" in the media isn't away for the holidays or out shopping. A lot of producers and editors aren't working, but newsrooms don't shut down completely. Those journalists who are working today and during the holiday season actually might have more time to hear your pitch since they're receiving fewer pitches. Publicists and authors, too, are taking vacation days, and that can provide an opportunity for you to have a real conversation with media decision-makers when they're under less pressure than usual. It will take more phone calls to reach someone, but keep trying until you do, if you have some free time around the holidays.

You can, of course, take time off from your publicity efforts and enjoy yourself during the holidays, if you so choose. But don't use the "I won't be able to reach anyone" or "No one else is working today" excuse. That just won't cut it . . . as you'll find out for yourself if you pick up the phone now and start to call the media.


book promotion
book publicity