What's tougher than book promotion?

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.

When book publicists can't win.

I've always taken the position that book publicists can have private opinions, but not public ones. (Which makes it sort of strange that I blog, but I digress.) I tell anyone who will listen that the authors I represent do not necessarily share my opinions, nor do I share theirs. Even so, journalists and producers sometimes reacts negatively to a particular pitch. For example, I recently promoted a book that was endorsed by Rudy Giuliani, and a reporter who was categorically not a Rudy Giuliani fan sent me a furious, "never contact me again under any circumnstances, you horrible Rudy Giuliani supporter!" email.

Well, okay.

So now I'm beginning a book promotion camaign for a book which has a claim to controversy that is a lot stronger than who endorses it. This book is about one of those big topics that people have fought and died for, and even committed homicide over. That's the type of book that will cause tempers to flare, and could be at the center of a very rocky book promotion campaign.

I, therefore, sent out a mass email with the disclaimer that the author's opinion did not necessarily reflect my own. And wouldn't you know it: an editor at one of the top daily mewspapers in the country fired me back an email accusing me of -- well, in short, of being a weenie.

Well, okay.

This is not the start I was hoping for to this book promotion campaign. But I still have hopes that the book promotion campaign will go well, and that the author's voice will be heard, and that he or she sells some books as a result of the book promotion campaign.

Are we having fun yet?

The type of book promotion story that isn't.

When I discuss book promotion, I'm talking about working with authors, and sometimes publishers, to disseminate messages to the media. I'm talking about the reward for writing, and publishing, a book. Book promotion is supposed to be fun and creative, and it's supposed to be the payoff you receive for all your hard work. It's supposed to be a time when you're treated as the expert you are, and afforded the respect you deserve.

So I don't want to hear about book promotion ripoffs. I don't want to hear about book promotion campaigns that aren't. I don't want to hear about book promotion coaches who don't. I don't want to hear about authors who experience a nightmare with someone who calls him- or herself a book publicist.

I don't want that.

But I sometimes do hear book promotion nightmares, like this one. I don't know anymore about the situation than what the author tells us, and I don't know what the other party's position is. Perhaps there are two sides to this story, as there are to most.

But I do know that I have a hard-and-fast rule: I will consider representing only authors whose work I feel connected to, and whose books will help my credibility. That means that all prospective clients must have a completed manuscript that I can see, and must have publication plans in place. I will never agree to represent a manuscript that's in process, or a manuscript that's making the rounds of publishers.

Book promotion campaigns work only when book publicists can get behind the book. That doesn't mean that book publicists agree with the messages in every book we promote. Sometimes, we strongly disagree with them. But book publicists agree to make the authors' case during book promoton campaigns, and we agree to help find venues for the authors to give voice to their visions. Book promotion campaigns obviously cannot work when a book publicist has agreed to promote a book, sight unseen. And, even more obviously, a book promotion campaign cannot succeed when there is no published book to promote.

It's not tough these days to publish a book. It requires doing your homework to find the best publication method, and then moving forward with the information you've gleaned from books on publishing and self publishing.

And it's also not tough these days to have a successful book promotion campaign. Again, it requires doing your homework to find a book promotion specialist who is excited about representing your book and you. It means checking references. It means choosing a book publicist based on the rapport you develop with that individual.

Book promotion campaigns require an investment, and I urge potential clients to stay within their comfort zones financially whether they hire my book promotion firm or another. Book publicity is a crapshoot. You never know what book promotion opportunities you'll garner when you embark on a book promotion campaign and, presuming you garner a great number of media opportunities, you never know how well those media opportunities will translate into book sales.

Yes, book promotion is expensive, and yes, book promotion is a risk. But book promotion is supposed to be a fun gamble and an informed risk, and it's supposed to be your reward for all the hard work you've done as an author and, perhaps, as a publisher.

It is not supposed to be a nightmare, and it pains me to think that, in some cases, it can be.

Book publishing exchange, including book promotion tips

I've just found a great place online for authors to exchange ideas, learn about book publicity, and discuss their questions with colleagues from around the world. It's an email group called TWLAuthorTalks (to subscribe, email: TWLAuthorTalks-subscribe@yahoogroups.com), and the moderator is Dorothy Thompson, author of the wonderful ebook on how to promote ebooks (I'm a proud owner of a copy), A Complete Guide to Promoting and Selling Your Self-Published eBook. You can find the book online at http://www.dorothythompson.homestead.com/books.html. Dorothy knows her stuff about all of the latest methods of book promotion. Don't believe me? Google her. You'll see her name everywhere, not because she's lucky, but because she puts a lot of time and energy into book publicity and self promotion -- and it's paying off for her.

I'm delighted to be a guest speaker on book promotion and book publicity this week at TWLAuthorTalks. Imagine being in such refined company...Dorothy's light is sure to shine on me, and I'm sure I'll learn at least as much as I share with her subscribers.

Every book publicity campaign begins with...

It's Sunday, and what does this book publicist find herself doing? Reading two books. Are they two books that this book publicist bought "for the beach" or because they were on her reading list or because they're in the news or to "improve her mind?"

Nope. They're books she's going to promote.

Which brings me back to my point. Every book publicity campaign begins with reading the book. To create a media kit that will get a book promotion campaign off to a healthy start, you have to know the big messages in the book and be able to turn them into media hooks now, or when breaking news invites a tie into the big messages.

For example, let's say your book is a novel whose main character with a quirk that's mentioned a few times in the book -- she eats bananas day and night. The bananas-eating represents .00009 of the plot, but still, it's in the book. Then there's a real-life news story about how eating 12 servings of bananas a day can extend your lifespan by 5 years. What a great media hook, and what a great way to make your book publicity campaign soar! But you'll only be able to make the connection if you've read the book from cover to cover -- if, in effect, you know your bananas.

So, with two book publicity campaigns starting, I am reading both books now. I'm eager to be impressed, educated, and inspired to launch two successful book promotion campaigns.

And, even if you're not a book promotion specialist -- even if you're an author or a publisher who's conducting a do-it-yourself book publicity campaign -- I'd urge you to spend some time today reading the book that you're promoting. Look for media hooks that you can immediately tie into breaking news stories. Find some gems that people will want to know about, now, and you'll give new life to your book publicity campaign tomorrow.

Book promotion or pizza plugging?

As a book publicist who loves homemade pizza -- don't even get me started on how much I love to bake sourdough, whole wheat, flaxseed-encrusted pizza crusts with all-vegetable toppings, because it would truly scare you -- I am mulling over Pizza Hut’s Book It program. Pizza Hut is giving kids who read books free pizzas to promote ... well, either to promote pizza, or to promote books.

The cynic in me says that Pizza Hut is more interested in Pizza Hut promotion than in book promotion, but that's just the cynic in me.

The pizza lover in me has this to say.

Pizza Hut, I'm sure your corporate heart is in the right place. But do me a favor, please. Let kids discover books. They will. Trust me.

Let them fall in love with reading. Then, once we have them reading ... you can sell them all the pizza you want. Deal?

Let's get our priorities in order. And let's try to let food be food ... and let kids just be kids.

Book Promotion: A Second Opinion

One of the great things about book promotion is there's no single "right" way to do it. Different book publicists have different strategies that have worked for them, and that wouldn't be of any value to me -- and vice versa. So I like to read interviews with other book publicists, or with authors and publishers who are conducting book promotion campaigns, to compare styles and successes.

I just came across an interview at Authorlink with Alan Gratz, author of a children's book called Samurai Shortstop (Dial, 2006). Please read the interview for yourself. The author is promoting his children's book, and -- because he's promoting a children's book -- his experiences are different from mine would be. (I've promoted several children's book, but my focus is on books for adults.)

Perhaps because his genre is different from the ones with which I'm most familiar as a book publicist, Gratz's strategies involve spending far more money on a print media kit than I would. For ecample, Gratz uses folders for his media kits. I would never do that because it's far more labor-intensive, and expensive, to include folders with media kits in all media mailings. Also, for me, it would be far too limiting. I'd be far more interested in sending out more media kits, and spending far less money on each of them, than in sending out fewer media kits that cost too much to be "wasted" on secondary media outlets. Also, I use ekits quite a bit. Gratz says this strategy hasn't worked for him. Again, I suspect he knows what he's talking about. Since he's promoting a children's book, his press releases may read like advertising copy for the book -- and, yes, that would be considered spam by many media outlets.

One-size-fits-all book promotion tactics do not exist. Book promotion strategies do need to be adjusted to suit the project, the stage of the project, and the preferences/proclivities/talents/schedules/budgets of those conducting the book promotion campaign.

Next time I promote a children's book, I will go back to this Authorlink interview and see how many of the tips in it might apply to the project. In the meantime...the world of adult book promotion awaits.

When Book Promotion Takes Guts

All authors want media attention, and a successful book promotion campaign is the way to get media attention. But few authors want all that media attention to cause them problems.

For Elie Wiesel, there are three pieces of good news: one, he's alive and well; two, his book, Night, was an Oprah's Book Club Selection; and three, his message of "never again" is being heard loudly and clearly by his target audience -- all of us.

Wiesel nearly didn't survive World War II because of his religion.

And he nearly didn't survive an encounter several weeks ago with one of those lunatics who claim the Holocaust never happened, and that Wiesel (and other survivors) are lying.

Wiesel's always out there in the media, and he's always pursuing book publicity as part of his mission to educate people. In fact, what made me think of it is that I just stumbled on an article that talks about another stop Wiesel is making on his never-ending book promotion tour.

At this point in his life, I'd guess that Wiesel's book promotion campaign isn't about selling books, nor is it about making money. I'd say that Wiesel's book promotion efforts are about disseminating his messages with audiences, and that he uses his books as reasons to be part of author events and author interviews.

Mr. Wiesel is my hero, because he's a reminder that book promotion sometimes isn't about "wanting to be on the Oprah show." Sometimes, book promotion is about survival, courage, and humanity.

Book promotion for academic and professional titles

Most authors believe in the value of book promotion. Not all authors can invest their time and resources in robust book promotion campaigns, but nearly every author I've run into over the years wishes he or she could do some book promotion. It's simply very unsual for an author to care enough to write a book, and publish a book, but to not care enough to back it with a book promotion campaign.

The only exception to the rule would seem to be professional book authors and academic book authors. Their target audiences can be so specific that it would be difficult to reach them through the usual channels. Book promotion campaigns that revolve around the mass media just don't always work for these very specifically aimed books.

But even authors of professional books and academic books need to do more than publish their work and hope their intended readers find it. They need to proactively make sure their intended readers find it.

Some sort of book promotion campaign is in order. Even if those book promotion efforts don't include pitching national television shows, book review editors, and so forth, those book promotion strategies might well include writing articles for niche publications, maintaining a blog, and -- of course -- creating a book Web site that's rich with information and resources.

Book promotion campaigns do make sense for professional and academic books. Those book promotion campaigns might take a different form than book promotion campaigns for trade books, but make no mistake about it. If you want to get the word out about your book, you have to actively take all the right steps to make it happen. That's what book promotion is all about.

"The Secret" to Book Promotion

One of the secrets to book promotion is to, well, write the book, "The Secret." That's what Rhonda Byrne did, and look at the result. According to a Newsweek article titled "Decoding 'The Secret,'" Byrne's book's will have an estimated 1.75 million copies projected to be in print by March 2, which will be slightly more than three months after its publicaton. Plus, Oprah Winfrey is all over it; she's already devoted two of her shows to the author and her book.

That's some secret.

What delighted me about the Newsweek article was that I saw many familiar names in it -- among them, Joe Vitale, who is a long-time client of this book publicist (and I'll be promoting his upcoming book, Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace and More (Wiley and Sons).

So perhaps Byrne's secret to book promotion is that she shares the media spotlight with other authors -- and, perhaps, competing authors whom she doesn't see as competition at all but rather as others who can reinforce her perspective and help spread it to others. However Byrne is doing it, her book seems to be this decade's shining example of book promotion at its best. You go, Rhonda!

Book Promotion Arena Gets More Crowded

Your book promotion campaign just got tougher. Acording to an article in the New York Times, "Time to Throw Their Books Into the Ring," every presidential candidate has written a book and is using his or her book promotion tour to test the political waters. A presidential candidate whose book scores a lot of media attention, the reasoning goes, will get a lot of support for his or her presidential campaign. Conversely, a presidential candidate who can't kick-start a book publicity campaign might as well through in the towel politically, too.

A book promotion campaign really is rough. Authors and book publicists are not only competing with peers for interviews, book reviews, and attention from the Web. But we're also competing with Senator Barack Obama (his book is called "The Audacity of Hope," and his book "Dreams of My Father" has just been reissued), Governor Bill Richardson (author of "Between Worlds,"), Senator Hillary Rodham (her book, "It Takes a Village," is ten years old now, but still, it's getting media attention), and others.

So if you're goal isn't as lofty as, say, becoming president of the United States, and you're willing to settle for an appearance or two on a major television show, you might just succeed. But realize that you just might be competing for those coveted media interview slots against the next U.S. president. May the best candidate win.

Book Promotion Gets Complicated

When this book publicist reads a news story that relates to book publicity twice, and feels the beginnings of a headache during her second pass through the article, one of two things is happening. Either the book publicist had too much coffee this morning, or book promotion has become more complicated.

I think it's the latter. And I hope it's the latter, because I really don't want to give up my one daily cup of coffee -- particularly, during wintertime in New England.

Here's the article that caused my head to spin. Read it along with me, and see what you make of it. Here's what I'm seeing:

One of National Public Radio's programs, "Tech Nation," will be broadcast with podcasts airing before the actual program. Each podcast will feature an interview with someone who has used a service called Blurb (Blurb.com) to publish his or her book.

But here's the thing. People who use Blurb.com to publish their books -- if I'm reading the story correctly -- aren't full-time authors or even aspiring full-time authors. They're people who might want to turn their poetry or cookbook into a handsome bound manuscript, or who might want to turn the story of their success into bound manuscripts that look good enough to present to clients and prospects.

By the way, this sent me flying to the Blurb.com site. What is it? Why haven't I heard about it? Perhaps the answer can be found in the fact that -- again, if I'm getting an accurate reading of the pricing at a quick glance -- a 201-page trade paperback would cost $44.95, before shipping. Okay, I haven't comparison shopped. Perhaps iUniverse's prices are similarly difficult to swallow, so I'm not in a position to judge Blurb.com. But I would need to see whether Blurb's books come equipped with an ISBN number, and can be posted on Amazon.com and BN.com and listed with Ingram, before I got excited enough about the service to recommend it.

Anyway, back to book publicity. NPR's "Tech Nation" seems to be saying, yes, we endorse Blurb. And we'll be glad to interview Blurb's customers. But we'll be glad to interview only Blurb's customers.

In other words, NPR is offering a new book promotion opportunity (Author interviews via podcasts aired nationally! How cool!). But NPR is offering that book publicity opportunity only to a small segment of authors. (And, unless I get an epiphany of some sort during a complete reading of the Blurb Website when I have some downtime, I'm not so sure that I would go so far as to call Blurb's customer base "authors.")

Hmm. Is this what book promotion will be, in the future? Will "Oprah" interview only Random House authors? Will "Today" offer a forum only to Penguin's writers? Will Larry King only talk with McGraw Hill people?

I guess it's possible that, one day, book publicity will become the process of matching authors who publish in specific ways with media outlets that promote only works by those particular authors. But for now, this book publicist needs a second cup of coffee. It's okay, just this once.

The Easy Path to Promoting a Children's Book

Book promotion requires creativity, enthusiasm, persistance, and elbow grease -- ordinarily. For authors who are interested in book publicity but don't feel like rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on a book promotion campaign, there's an alternative -- particularly, if you are a children's book author.

Plant the "s-word" in your children's book, and book promotion will follow.

That's not the course I'd recommend, because I happen to think children should be sheltered from clinical terms that refer to body parts during reading time. (Don't get me wrong. I'm not against sharing clinical terms that refer to body parts during other times of the day. Just, please, let's apare small children who are settling down for their naps.)

To see all the fuss that the "s-word" can create in a children's book, and all the book promotion potential of using such a word, click here.

Sort of makes you want to kick yourself, doesn't it? Here you are, actually working for your book publicity opportunities. And along comes a children's book author, Susan Patron, who happens onto the idea of using the word "scrotum" in her children's book, and -- wham! -- she creates instead book promotion and buzz for her title.

I'll bet you wish you had thought of it.

Domains: the Latest Book Promotion Problem.

As you may know, I'm always preaching the value of book Web sites. My mantra is: grab the URL as soon as you come up with your book title. In fact, grab the .net while you're at it (you won't need it, but it would be a lousy feeling to watch someone else grabbed "your" .net while you weren't looking).

That said, I own a lot of domain names. I probably own too many domain names, most of which I'll never use and many of which I don't even recall buying. I have a few URLS that I use, and they mean something to my business, and I need them. And I need for there to be no confusion about them.

But here's a new problem. Did you know that it's possible for someone to buy a URL, own it for a few days, and then just drop that URL and evaporate into thin air? I've just read an article about the possibilities for abuse at MSNBC ("Entrepreneurs profit from free Web names: Five-day grace period allows for ‘tasting’ before buying URLs").

The legitimate reason for the service was this. Let's say you meant to buy "bookpr.com," but a typo caused you to buy "bookspr.com" instead. With the five-day grace period, you can undo your purchase of "bookspr.com" and buy "bookpr.com" instead, as you had intended.

As with most things related to the Net, every offering seems to bring ill-intentioned people out of the woodwork. The five-day grace period for URLs seems to have inspired a whole crop of cybersquatters who buy as many misspellings as they can think of, put up a site that damages the original site, and then vanishes into thin air before anyone can be sued for damages. The example the article sites is "NeimuMarcus.com," which someone bought and used to advertise Neiman Marcus's competitors (Target, Nordstrom, and so forth). Neiman Marcus could have chosen to place an ad on that site back to its own Web site, but the company didn't think it should have to ... and I agree.

If you have a book that's selling very well, and your book promotion campaign is in full swing -- and you're lucky enough to have secured the book's title as your URL -- why should you let a URL speculator grab a misspelling of that domain and, perhaps, profit by it?

So here's my new recommendation. When you're buying your domain, be sure to grab any misspellings you can think of at the same time. It's not a huge monetary investment, and what you're buying is peace of mind. At least you'll know that your book's Web site won't fall prey to this new breed of cybersquatters -- or, at least, they'll have to work a whole lot harder at tricking your readers to go to their sites instead.

Book Promotion Can Be Fun--Even for the Reluctant

Would anyone like to switch places with "Pip," whose February 18, 2007 Type M for Murder blog entry cites this response to the publisher's book promotion efforts: "...varying degrees of terror/success – but mostly terror...."

Book promotion doesn't have to incite terror. Book publicity can, in fact, be the reward for having written and published your book.

Well, I can understand that not everyone enjoys the "media frenzy" that comes along with a successful book promotion campaign. The limelight is not necessarily what writers have in mind when they spend 50 weeks a year writing, alone, and enjoying the solitude as much as the creative process.

I know that everyone says "I want to jump-start my book promotion campaign. Tell me how I can do that." But, when it comes down to it, some authors find book promotion to be rather terrifying. Pip is just one example of an author who's honest about it.

Pip writes, "Any suggestions about how to deal with all this with grace, charm and the minimum of terror would be gratefully accepted." Okay, Pip. Here are a couple of suggestions to get you started.

First, tell your book publicist that your telephone is in perfect working order, and that you're interested in using it. You do not need to be "wheeled out" to appear on radio shows. Your book publicist can arrange telephone interviews instead that you can do from your home or office (just be sure to have a land line and a quiet place for your interview, and use a telephone line that does not have call waiting on it). Think of how much more relaxed you'll be when you're in a "safe space" wearing comfortable clothes, and all you have to focus on is the voice on the other end of the telephone.

Second, expect the worst from interviewers (although you're free to hope for the best). Expect them to be too tired to be lucid. (Or expect them to be too revved up on, um, coffee, to hold a decent conversation.) Expect them to be incapable of listening to you. Expect them to know nothing about your background or your book or your Web site. Shoot -- expect them to know nothing about any author, or any book, or any Web site. And expect them to think that the confrontational interview is hugely entertaining, whether your book is about politics, abortion, gun control, or how bake fat-free cookies.

Seriously, don't expect your interviews to go well because the interviewers know what they're doing. Expect your interviews to go well because you know what you're doing. Prepare questions ahead of time, and ask your book publicist to add them to the media kit. These suggested interview questions will serve as guidelines for well-meaning interviewers. And even when interviewers aren't well-intentioned, your suggested interview questions will at least help you remember what it is that you want to talk about. Then, when the interview's questions or comments start to get silly, you can respond to the silly question or comments by bridging back to one of the questions on your list. "Indeed, there are a lot of tractors on the road around here. And, just as importantly, why do you suppose this candidate has the upper hand right now? I'll tell you, it's because...."

In other words, be prepared to guide all of your interviews into the areas that matter to you. If the interviewer helps you do that, great. If not, then take control of the interview without being obnoxious or belligerent, and take the conversation where you need for it to go.

And about that feeling of terror...see whether you can turn that rush of adrenaline into something positive. It's always a good thing to be pumped up for interviews, and to be humble enough to prepare for every interview. Remember that book promotion has a purpose. Every interview provides you with an opportunity to showcase your expertise, disseminate your messages, and win new friends and admirers.

Your book publicist wants to hear some excitement from you when he or she schedules interviews, so see whether you can feel some of that. Try it. Book Promotion can be fun, if you'll let it.

Book Reviews Are Only One Book Promotion Possibility.

Book reviews are only one book promotion possibility, and they're the book promotion strategy least likely to be successful.

It always confuses authors when I tell them that, to get their book into the print media, they must think beyond book reviews. For so many people, book reviews are the only worthwhile reason to approach the print media. Sometimes, authors feel that book reviews are the only reason to even approach the media. No book reviews, no happiness. It's even tougher when authors have their hearts set on a particular publication's book review editor and, even after garnering other book reviews, come back and say, "I simply don't understand why publication A didn't review my book. Did you remember to contact the book editor there, or did you drop the ball? Would it be worthwhile if I contact the book editor myself?"

And it's hard to convince these authors that book reviewers usually say "no" to books. They have to. They have a lot of books on their desks, and it's their job to select a handful of books to review or to assign for review. It is not their job to review every book that is sent to them.

There are tricks to finding book promotion opportunities in the print media beyond trying to garner book reviews. You can pitch yourself as an expert to beat editors. You can write an article and pitch it to the editor, and ask that the attribution include your book title. You can also write an op-ed piece and submit it with the same request.

And, certainly, do approach book review editors while bearing in mind that many of them cannot review books that have already been published. If you have the lead time that the larger publications require, and perhaps if you have available advance reader copies or galleys, then sure -- send them off to book review editors, and hope for the best.

But expect to continue your book promotion efforts long after the window of opportunity to get book reviews has closed. There are so many ways to go after book promotion in newspapers and magazines ... keep an open mind to all of them, and don't focus all of your energies on book reviewers who might just be the most overwhelmed employees at the publications that matter most to you.

A book publicist's perspective on getting published.

Sometimes, during a book promotion campaign, I run across an editor with a couple of manuscripts in the closet who takes a deep breath for courage and then asks, "are you by any chance a literary agent as well as a book publicist?"

I always take the time to offer my thoughts to anyone who wants advice on how to get published. In a nutshell, my advice is: don't.

Maybe my point of view will be clearer if I offer part of the emailed response I sent to an editor this morning:

Although I'm not a literary agent, I can refer you to the Association of Authors' Representatives. You can find them online at http://www.aar-online.org/. An agent would certainly be interested in working with your titles, particularly, if you emphasize your credentials (someone with a 35-year background in journalism would have to taken seriously by an agent).

However, my particular bias is against waiting to "be published" and to self publish. I encounter a stigma from the media not toward self-published books in general but specifically toward books that are published by a print-on-demand press (that is, iUniverse, xlibris, PublishAmerica, and so on). When authors set up their own imprint, and create their own track records in terms of quality and content -- and if they get distribution, which is easy to do when they sign up with online bookstores in addition to using a printer that is part of Ingram and which is called Lightning Source (they're based in Tennessee, and you can find them online at http://www.lightningsource.com) -- then their works are on a level playing field with those published by major houses. In fact, their books are perhaps in an even better position because self-published authors don't get tired of their books in a month or two, and they stick with them, and promote them, and that effort can pay off over the long term. There are gazillions of self-published books out there, and it's a competitive arena -- but, from where I'm sitting, it surely beats passively waiting for a literary agent to sell the book to a publishing company. Self-publishing sounds difficult and overwhelming, and it brings to mind the world of vanity publishing, but that is not what it is at all, and that's not how it's perceived. The new technologies that are available to us all have changed the landscape of publishing, for the better, I believe.

Anyway, I hope this information helps a bit. Do check out the resources I've mentioned, and let me know what you decide to do...

Agree or disagree, that's my position on "waiting to get published." As you can tell, this book publicist doesn't appreciate having to "wait" for anything. She's committed to being proactive, whenever possible, and to getting results!

Confessions of a book publicist.

When you're conducting a book promotion campaign, be professional at all times. I forgot that today with an editor, and I regret it.

The editor emailed me to let me know he'd be using one of my clients' bylined articles in his publication and to request a copy of the book cover. That was good news for my client. Every published article by my clients leads back to my clients' book websites and, potentially, brings them more readers.

What was my complaint? Unfortunately, he addressed the email to "Dear sir," and I got huffy. So I hit the reply button, and I attached the book cover .jpg to an email in which I brusquely pointed out that I wasn't a "sir," and never had been a "sir," and never expected to be a "sir," and that I prefer to be addressed as "Stacey."

There's no excuse for that. Book promotion comes first, and the fact that it was a Friday afternoon and that I'd had a long week shouldn't matter. You know the old expression, "the customer is always right?" Well, a book publicity specialist's mantra should be "the media is always right." Period.

I was wrong, and I'm confessing only so that you handle your interactions with the media -- whether they address you as "he," "she," or "it," with professionalism and a smile at all times. Even if it is the beginning of a weekend.

(My interaction with the editor was salvaged by an apology from me, by the way. He took it with good humor, and I think we'll be friends from now on. And this serves as a reminder, I hope, to be nice to everyone -- but especially to members of the media when you're in the middle of a book promotion campaign.)

I'm a proud book promotion specialist.

I'm proud to be a book publicist. I flatter myself that I come up with creative, attention-getting book publicity campaigns. I'm eager to execute my ideas and watch book promotion campaigns take off.

Promotion is whatI do for a living, and I've always been very pleased about that.

Yesterday, some jerks spoiled it for me. Here's the story, in case you missed it. In planting devices that looked a lot like bombs throughout Boston, Massachusetts, these marketers terrorized everyone in, and around, the Boston area (and beyond); caused a highway to be shut down and a hospital to be partially evacuated; cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars; and created panic in the streets, in office buildings, and in the subway system.

The judgment of these marketing gurus was in the toilet. As far as I'm concerned, the only message they've spread clear and strong is that they belong in jail, and if they ever get out, all the rest of their lives should be devoted to making up for the harm they caused.

Today, I am ashamed to belong to the same profession that these marketers belong to. But something good may come from this experience. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder to all promoters as a reminder that, no matter what you're publicizing, the key to success is to always put integrity, common decency, and empathy first. Treat the Golden Rule as though your business -- and your freedom -- depend on it.

As we'll see (I fervently hope and expect), those promoters who lose sight of what's important lose their businesses and their freedom faster than you can say, "I'm not watching that cartoon -- ever."

Answers to Your Questions About Book Marketing, Book Selling, Book Distribution, and Book Promotion

I've always said that every book worth writing and publishing is worth promoting. I know other book publicists feel that way, too. We'd love to be able to help every author and publisher who comes our way, and many of us, on the sly, spend hours we don't have fielding phone calls from authors and publishers who have just finished publishing a book and don't have a clue what to do next.

I'll admit it. Sometimes, I hear the frustration in the voice of a caller whom I've never met, and who doesn't have the budget to hire me or any other publicist. These callers need information, but they don't know where to begin. They don't even know the questions to ask. They just sound helpless and hopeful, and at times like that -- if I haven't taken my lunch break yet -- I often sigh deeply and start talking.

During what should be my lunch hour, I start explaining the business of book selling, book distribution, and book promotion. Usually, I begin by saying: "Please be online, because I'm about to give you all of the critical links for publishers. I'll explain what they are, but you need to bookmark them." The interesting thing is that, through the years, I've found myself giving callers the same links over and over again. Sure, the URLs change, but I've kept up how to find those URLs.

And I've finally put the information together in one place, and I've turned it into an affordable e-book. It's called: How to Market, Sell, Distribute, and Promote Your Book: Critical, Hard-to-Find Information for Authors and Publishers, and the introductory price is only $24.99. It contains all the information I've passed on during those borrowed lunch hours, and then some. The e-book contains information that I don't always think of on the fly, and it's relayed in a logical sequence -- which is a progression that I'll admit I can't promise to provide by phone with my stomach growling and my phone lines ringing off the hook.

It's a win/win situation. I save my time for clients, and I still get to help other authors and publishers with their marketing, selling, distribution, and distribution questions.

If you're interested in getting answers to such questions as:

* How can you let Oprah Winfrey's producers know about your book?

* How can you pitch your book to the buyers at major chain bookstores?

* How can you establish a business relationship with Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com so you can sell your book online?

* How can you find a book distributor to get your work into other book-selling channels?

* How can you create media lists, and how can you contact book review editors?

* And more.

Visit my Web page for How to Market, Sell, Distribute, and Promote Your Book: Critical, Hard-to-Find Information for Authors and Publishers, and discover all of the information you've been looking for -- finally!

What we mean by book promotion opportunities for novels.

When novelists seek book publicity opportunities for their books, they run up against a reality: unless they are already a household name, or unless their work has a nonfiction news hook, it's probably going to be tough to find media outlets that are interested in book reviews or author interviews.

What's a nonfiction news hook for a novel? I know. It does sound like a contradiction in terms. But if your novel can make news (look at Frey's novel which grabbed the headlines, although for the wrong reasons), or if your novel is news, then the book promotion opportunities will be there.

Here's an example of how it works. Massachusetts-based author Michael Lowenthal wrote a based-on-fact novel titled Charity Girl (it's just been published by Houghton Mifflin and, no, I'm not Michael's book publicist). The novel reveals something that I didn't know about, and I'll bet most of us had never heard before: during World War I, many American women were locked up for the sin of having then-unmentionable diseases on the theory that they might jeopardize the health of military men.

Let that story out to the media, and you've got something: a novel with a strong news angle that's worthy of all the book publicity it gets because the story behind it is so important. Michael Lowenthal may not be a household name (yet), but that didn't stop the Boston Globe from reviewing his book. Click here to read the Globe's story.

I'm not suggesting that every novelist has to spend time in the library trying to uncover opportunities to shock people. But I am saying that, when you're pitching your novel to the media, you have to find a news hook somewhere in your material or background or experience. Perhaps you are a doctor by day who has written a medical thriller, or you were a witness to a real-life crime.

It's not enough to say to the media, "I'm a nice person. Please review my book." Or, "I've watched your show for years, and I know I'd be a wonderful and exciting guest." Or: "Here's some news for you. I've done something few people have ever done. I've self-published a novel. And, my, was it ever challenging! I'm sure your readers/listeners/viewers will want to learn all about it."

Those non-news pitches are likely to stall your book promotion campaign before it even gets off the ground. But if you find a news hook for your novel -- or, better still, if you build a media hook into your novel, the way that Michael Lowenthal did -- you have a novel that really is worthy of a no-holds-barred book publicity campaign.

You still have to do the work to let the media know about your novel, even if it does have a strong news hook. Book promotion opportunities seldom come to the author unless he or she seeks them. But, once your novel is newsworthy, and once you know how to let the media know that your novel is newsworthy, you have the makings of a successful book publicity campaign.

You Have to Love Oprah

You have to love Oprah Winfrey and her book club picks. You have to. Either that, or -- if you are promoting a book and interested in book publicity opportunities of your own -- you will drive yourself crazy at the injustice of it all.

John Steinbeck. Pearl S. Buck. Leo Tolstoy. All of these authors, wonderful and worthy (and yet deceased and beyond reaping the benefits of book promotion opportunities), have had their books selected by the most famous book club of them all.

And who is the latest author to join the ranks of the Chosen Ones? You guessed it: Sidney Poitier. According to CNN.com, Oprah has just selected Poitier's autobiography, "The Measure of a Man, for her book club.

Look: a bigger Poitier fan than this book publicist you will not find. I love Sidney Poitier. Always have. Always will. I will certainly buy a copy of his book.

But is Sidney Poitier a poor, struggling writer in need of the career boost that admittance to the Book Club would provide? Hardly. Sidney Poitier needs more prestige and adulation the way Jay Leno needs another automobile.

Does Oprah have a right to choose the books for her club? Sure.

I just wish she'd get back to choosing authors whose lives would change because of Oprah's Book Club ... and who could be given the opportunity to change others' lives because of it, as well.

Blogger Claims There's No Book Promotion. Hmmm.

A Simply Audiobooks Blog entry by Sanjay took me by surprise. Sanjay asks why book publishers "don't really promote anything at all." Sanjay cites the lack of advertising as proof that book promotion doesn't happen.

Apparently, Sanjay is confusing ads for books with other types of book promotion.

Apart from the fact that you do see ads for books (in book review sections of newspapers, in trade magazines, on banner ads, all over search engines, and so forth), you certainly see authors interviewed as experts in all the media. And each of those interviews is a book promotion opportunity for the author.

Try watching television, or listening to the radio, for an hour without hearing an author mention his or her book. And try reading anything without seeing the phrase "...is the author of..." or "...his/her book is called..."

Doesn't happen. The media is hungry for experts, and experts answer the calls for interviews because they have something to sell: their services, their goods, or their books.

Sanjay is right about one thing. You don't hear a whole lot of radio or television commercials for books. Then again, you don't have to. Authors -- because they are authors -- have opportunities to promote their books on radio and television for free all the time. Why, then, would they pay for book promotion opportunities that they can get for free (or for the price of hiring a book publicist)?

Book Promotion Reminder: Controversy Sells

Yes, he's an ex-president. But I probably wouldn't have heard a word about Jimmy Carter's new book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, if Carter hadn't refused to debate an ever-controversial (and headlines-grabbing) figure: Alan Dershowitz.

As I understand it, Brandeis University invited Carter to speak about his book.
Dershowitz found out about the invitation and insisted the speaking engagement be changed to a debate. He, helpfully, offered to serve as Carter's sparring partner. Ultimately, Brandeis University declined Dershowitz's generous offer. Carter then faced the stage by himself -- and enjoyed more media coverage (including this Boston Globe article) than he ever could have imagined.

So here's a book promotion reminder for today: if you want people to find out about your book, find a controversial news hook, and hang your book publicity campaign on that peg. Or, if you don't have time for all that, then just find a way to get Alan Dershowitz's dander up. Or find another opponent whose wrath can buy you instant access to the limelight.

If you can manage that, then the media will follow you everywhere. Then your book publicity campaign will take care of itself.

Book Promotion Advice from Another Pro

In her blog, Fern Reiss offers book promotion tips that are worth checking out. I have a comment to offer about one of her book promotion tips, though. While Fern suggests that you include other sources in your story pitch to the media, I have experienced some unexpected consequences with taking that approach. I've even taken heat when I've implied that more than one expert is part of the "package" I'm pitching.

Here's a very recent example. Last week, I mentioned in a media pitch that a client's book had been endorsed by Rudy Giuliani. A producer sent me an email requesting an interview with -- not my author, but Giuliani. That wasn't unreasonable, since I had established a connection between my client and Giuliani, but still ... I had my client to offer, and that was all. When I told the producer that in my emailed response, I didn't hear back from him.

Many of my clients hire a publicist because they aren't yet famous. Therefore, I try to position them as the sole experts in my pitches. If I were to tie their names into other, more famous personalities ... it would be easy for the media to make a decision about which person is more newsworthy and deserving of an interview.

So, while I agree with Fern -- it's great to offer journalists a package when pitching story ideas -- I take a slightly different approach in creating that package. I always bear in mind that the goal is book promotion, and the strategy is to feature my client as the expert. Instead of offering other experts to the media, I suggest non-experts to round out a panel. These are lay people who might potentially be on "Oprah's" panel, and who can benefit from the advice of an expert -- and, hopefully, my client will be that expert.

And, hopefully, the media outlet in question will give the expert more than 10 seconds at the end of the last segment to speak as the credits are rolling.

Is TV really dead?

We're hearing so much about the "sexy" media these days: YouTube, iPods, MySpace ... and the question here is: is book promotion about focusing exclusively on the latest, emerging media venues, or is it still about scoring traditional media hits?

In other words, is TV dead? Or does book promotion mean proceeding as though nothing has changed, and pitching your story idea to book review editors, and television and radio producers, and seeing what book publicity opportunities you can shake loose?

So many authors are coming to me these days with great trepidation about the death of TV, and they're nervous because, no, they're not watching YouTube and they're not glued to their iPods -- but they're convinced their potential readers are. I can hear the panic in their voices as they postulate that the media outlets they know and understand are dead or dying, and they must find another book promotion avenue instead.

Well, I'm not buying it, and neither is Geoff Colvin, editor-at-large of Fortune Magazine. In his article, "TV Is Dying? Long Live TV!," Colvin explains that the Web is actually increasing television's audience. "Despite (or because of) the Web, we watch more television than ever," he puts forth. Although we have a staggering number of alternatives to television, most potential book buyers -- and most media consumers in general -- are still watching more television than ever before.

That means, while a smart book promotion campaign (and an effective book publicist) will include online tactics, the traditional approaches to the tried-and-true media outlets must be part of the equation. You can publish your press release online, but you still have to pitch the producers of "Oprah" and "Good Morning America." You can upload your book trailer to YouTube, but you still have to let the editors at USA Today and The Wall Street Journal see the value in your story. You can join the social networking sites, but you still have to tell National Public Radio and Westwood One Broadcasting that they'd be remiss if they didn't invite you on to share your perspective, and your expertise, with their listeners.

New book promotion opportunities arise every day, and it's critical that we follow the changes and eagerly approach the next "big thing" in the media as it reveals itself. But a book publicity campaign that assumes television, radio, newspapers, and magazines are irrelevant isn't a book publicity campaign at all -- at least, in 2007, and for the forseeable future.

Here's how to get some decent book promotion opportunities.

Here's how to get some decent book promotion opportunities: be six years old, be altruistic, be smart, and be articulate. And have an authentic fondness for teddy bears and the infirm.

You will find the media beating a path to your door.

Yes, Caitlin Ede Holmes of Ashburn, Georgia is an amazing little girl. And, yes, she does make for an interesting feature story (read about Caitlin here).

I'm just wondering. What can we learn from the media attention Caitlin has been scoring? Be kind. Be caring. Be cute.

And be six years old.

Ah, if only you could bottle it and sell it as a book promotion toolkit.

Book Promotion via Social Networking Sites

Are social networking sites part of a 2007 book promotion campaign? Sounds reasonable. Everyone who's anyone has a MySpace account.

I say that with the confidence and glee of someone who has just set up a MySpace account. Visit it at by clicking here.

Granted, I'm not so hot at HTML manipulation, but I figure that I'm educable. More importantly, I do understand the concept of real-world networking and am starting to see how it might carry over into the avenue of real-world book publicity.

Okay, so everyone who's launching a book promotion campaign still wants to be a guest on "Oprah." But isn't it reasonable for every author to want to find readers online? And if joining social networks such as MySpace are going to make the book promotion task easier, than isn't it reasonable to start making social networking part of every book publicity campaign?

I think so. But, then again, I'm still learning.

A Book Promotion Tip

Here's my book promotion tip of the day (with apologies to Robert Herrick): Gather ye interviews while ye may.

If a producer or a reporter wants to set up an interview, be there and be quick to close the deal. Any hesitation on your part ("My calendar isn't in front of me; I'll have to call you back when I get to my office" or "I promised to pick my daughter and her friends up from the movie at that time; can we schedule an interview for another time?"), and the opportunity could go south.

Sure, you can try to get in touch with producers and reporters afterwards. They have email accounts and phone numbers. The problem is that, when you don't catch them at the right moment -- when their interest is the hottest -- then you may not be able to rekindle that interest later on. They may have moved onto the next appealing guest suggestion, or they may have categorized you as someone who would be too time-consuming to work with to make it worth their while.

Persistence may help you score an interview opportunity even if you've hesitated. However, far better than participating in games of phone tag is the ability to provide an instant "yes" when the phone rings, or when an email arrives, with an interview invitation for you. To the extent that book promotion can be your priority -- at least, for a particular block of time -- your campaign will be more successful than if you're spreading yourself thinly and moving in various directions at the same time.

Say yes, and you'll score the interview. Say maybe, and you probably won't. More and more, I'm finding that it's just that simple.

Book Promotion for P.O.D. Titles

As a book publicist, I would say that nearly every book -- whether it's published through a mainstream publisher, self-published, or via a print-on-demand company -- has media potential. But if you've used a P.O.D. company to publish your book, you're probably on a tighter budget than if you chose to self-publish your book instead. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the free, or nearly free, book promotion ideas that Yvonne Perry cites in her Writers in the Sky blog.

Is it possible to interest a book promotion specialist in representing, say, an iUniverse book? Certainly. We have lower-cost book promotion campaigns that are tailored to authors who are on a tighter budget. But book promotion specialists can't work for free. If you're looking for a low-cost alternative to hiring a book publicist, you might want to check out my affiliate site, Book Promotion Tools, for a product that will let you pitch your books to the media without using a book promotion specialist as a go-between.

I would join Yvonne Perry in suggesting that, however you pitch your story idea to the media, you pitch it as often as you can afford. Book promotion is a numbers game. The greater number of pitches you throw out there, the greater the number of positive responses you will receive.

Your P.O.D. title might never make the New York Times bestseller list because, for it to do that, it would have to be available on the shelves of bookstores that report to the list. But that's not to say that your book can't sell a respectable number of copies. Adjust your goals to fit the style of publishing you've chosen, and adapt your book promotion plans to fit your budget, and your project can be a success.

Book Promotion Question and Answer

Here's a request that I frequently hear, and -- in the interest of saving time (mine and, potentially, yours) -- I'll share it here, along with my response.

Q. I'm in the process of writing a book. Someone suggested that I look into hiring a book publicist before I bring my manuscript to publishers. Having a publicist lined up and ready to go will make my book more appealing to publishers, or at least that's what I've been told. So ... okay. I'm not sure what book promotion is, but if your proposal might help me sell my book, then please send it to me as soon as possible. I'll need for you to explain what book promotion is and what book publicists charge. Thank you.

A. I do appreciate your interest in my services, and I wish you well with your project. Unfortunately, I can't provide you with a proposal for book promotion until you're a lot closer to needing a book publicist. I simply can't commit to promoting a book that I haven't seen, and you wouldn't want to work with any book publicist who would. Also, since neither you nor I know when your book will be published, I have no way to know whether or not I'll have a slot in my schedule to take on another client when the time comes.

Second of all, my proposals do not serve as primers for those who don't know anything about book promotion but rather to help you compare how my approach, and my fees, compare with those of other book publicists. In order for my book promotion proposal to have any value to you, you'll need a solid understanding of what book promotion is and, of course, what it isn't (book promotion is very specific and does not include book sales, book marketing, or book distribution). You'll have to glean that knowledge the old-fashioned way -- through research.

Finally, I think you've been getting bad advice about the timing of approaching book publicists. It would be a very bad idea to hire a book publicist at this stage of your book project. Let's say that I did create a book promotion plan for you, and that you integrated my plan into your book proposal -- and your book were accepted by a publishing house. That could be an expensive mistake. I understand that you're tempted to think that commiting to a book publicist now might entice a publisher to buy your book. However, that approach could backfire. Few publishers would turn down the opportunity to have their authors pay for their own book promotion -- but book promotion is something that many publishers ordinarily do pay for, to a greater or lesser extent. Some publishers have been known to provide their authors with very generous and effective book promotion campaigns. Other publishers at least contribute something to the cost of promoting the books they publish -- but only if you haven't already promised to pay instead.

In short, I'd truly like to be considered as your book publicist once you have a manuscript, and once you have a publisher (or have a self-publishing plan in place). I'd be happy to hear from you at that time and to provide you with a book promotion plan. Thank you, and again, best of luck.

Book Promotion Focus at Libraries?

Maybe your book publicity efforts should focus on libraries. If your instinct is that your book belongs on library shelves, you could be right. Lisa Rein, who writes for the Washington Post, points out in a recent article called "Hello, Grisham -- So Long, Hemingway?" that libraries are casting aside classic books to make room for more popular, and more modern, titles. With limited shelf space (yes, libraries apparently do have the same shelf-space issues as bookstores) and tight budgets, it's only fair to focus on what taxpayers and readers want.

That could be your book.

Therefore, that could be good news.

And, besides, this book publicist was never a huge Hemingway fan, anyway. Well, okay, maybe I enjoyed two or three of his novels, but ....

Okay, I would rather see snow in New England this weekend than see my local library -- or any library -- toss out the classics. Still, from a book publicity standpoint, the trend toward buying and retaining what sells does raise some interesting possibilities. If Hemingway's books go in the landfill, there will be some extra space on the shelf. And, hey, some books will have to fill in the gap. Maybe those books will be yours.

Book Promotion During the Holidays

Can you conduct an effective book promotion campaign during the holiday season? Maybe -- but it will take far more work to get book publicity during the last couple of weeks of December, and the first week of January, than it would during the rest of the year. You'll receive fewer responses from the media decision makers now than you typically would expect.

But does that mean that you shouldn't try? It depends on your tolerance for hard work, which is what book publicity campaigns require. If you don't mind making more phone calls, sending out more emails, and filling out more online forms to garner fewer book promotion opportunities, than go for it. You have the advantage of competing against fewer people than usual who are pitching producers and editors. Also, you have producers and editors with last-minute cancellations who might be inclined to cover your story, or grant you an interview, when ordinarily they wouldn't. On the other hand, the reason fewer people than usual are pitching during the holiday season is because fewer media decision makers than usual are at their posts, so it's a double-edged sword.

For those with a book to promote, think of the holidays as an opportunity to bond with people in the media who have the bad luck to be working now. Or, to those of us who work hard all year long pitching stories to the media, think of this as a good time to be working out a plan for approaching the media after the first of the year -- when newspapers, magazines, radio studios, and television studios are once again fully staffed and ready to go.

Book Promotion -- a 2006 Retrospective

Scandals. That's what book promotion was all about in 2006: scandals in the publishing industry. Check out the Newsweek article, "The Book Scandals: Can't We All Get a Life?, " by clicking here

Most of the publishing industry scandals cited in the article were free book promotion opportunities for the publishers and the authors. How many people had heard of Running with Scissors until everyone started buzzing about whether the autobiography were true or the bizarre (yet entertaining) imaginings of an advertising executive's mind?

But the scandals didn't result in book sales across the board. For example, the cancellation of O. J. Simpson's book didn't result in book sales because, of course, there wasn't any book to sell. It did result in the most media attention I've seen for any book in quite some time, but the book promotion didn't help anyone. Similarly, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life received way more than its fair share of book promotion opportunities, but where is the book now? Not in stores, unfortunately for its author and publisher.

The bottom line, I think, is that 2006 has taught us that scandal may be one way to garner book promotion opportunities. But book promotion opportunities are no guarantee of book sales. And, more importantly, those who participate -- willingly or unwillingly -- in book scandals rarely come away with their reputations and dignity intact.

Which would you rather have: a slot on a national TV show, or your soul? For me, that's a no-brainer. (Besides, there are other ways to get booked on a nation

Worst book promotion idea ever - part 2.

Well, have you ever seen the author of a cancelled book get so many opportunities to promote himself? Okay, so Fox News is off the table now. But how many times have you seen O.J. Simpson's face, and heard his voice, in the past 24 hours?

Hey, let's make a deal. Let's promise to not tell Simpson about iUniverse. The last thing we want is for that person to publish the book himself.

We know that opportunities for O.J. Simpson to promote this particular book, even if it doesn't carry its intended imprint, would be limitless. And, somehow, I don't believe his children would be the beneficiaries of book sales . . . nor do I think Ron or Nicole's other relatives would get a penny of the proceeds.

Yuck.

Worst book promotion idea ever.

Here's the worst way ever to get a publisher interested in your book and to get an unlimited amount of publicity to go along with it: murder a couple of people. We've just read a story that makes us feel even worse about the Simpson story. Click here to read about why a publisher decided to publish, and help promote, Simpson's new book.

On a personal note, I just scheduled an interview for a client on Fox News Channel for this weekend. I checked with my client first to see whether he wanted to appear on the network that's helping promote Simpson's new book. He's perfectly comfortable with it. I wish I could say the same.

Buying Book Promotion

Q. I am a self-published novelist. How can I buy the media's attention to increase book sales?

A. You can buy advertising in the various media, and that might help book sales if your self-published novel has a very targeted readership. You can also buy a small number of book reviews. The book reviews you pay for can help publishers in limited ways (for example, the small press buyer for one of the national bookstore chains insists on seeing book reviews), but they're not going to convince other media decisionmakers that they have to cover your book. Your book has to do that on its own.

Can you pay a national television or radio show host to interview you? No. Can you bribe a reviewer to review your book, or an editor to assign your book to a beat editor? Sorry.

If there's a news story behind your novel, then let the media know about it, and you'll get book promotion opportunities the old-fashioned way: by earning them. Pitch, persuade, and work, and you'll see book promotion opportunities come your way -- if your book is newsworthy. But, no, you can't "buy" book promotion opportunities. No book publicist can buy media placements, nor are book promotion specialists connected enough to cooerce major media outlets to provide media coverage of their clients' work. Books have to stand on their own and, unfortunately, there's no way to buy a guarantee of book promotion opportunities...at any price.

Wondering About Writing.

This book promotion specialist has wondered and worried about the future of writing -- handwriting, that is.

Since I learned to touch-type, when I was eight years old, I have been slowly forgetting how to use a pen. My muscle memory is getting less and less reliable when it comes to cursive writing. I don't even feel comfortable signing a check in public for fear that I won't be able to write my name legibly (or even accurately) under pressure.

I used to think that it was just me, but an article from MSNBC.com makes me wonder if cursive writing is becoming difficult for all of us -- and, maybe, besides the point for the young 'uns. According to the MSBNC.com article, children with poor handwriting skills frequently have poor composition skills. Their sentences may be shorter than they would be if whatever cognitive skills were involved with handwriting were more highly developed, according to some academics, and the scary thing is that I tend to believe them.

The demise of cursive doesn't only mean that today's great writers won't leave behind handwritten manuscripts for future generations. It also means that the whole process of writing has changed, and I'm wondering whether we're progressing -- or not.

Sure, handwriting is only tangentally relate to book promotion. Still, the consequences of the demise of handwriting are interesting for this book publicist to ponder.

Keeping Up WIth Media Changes

When you're promoting your book, or when you're a book promotion specialist, it's important to keep up with media changes. For example, if there's a national television show that's launching this fall, you need to know about it so you can add the producer to your media contact list. If a major television show is folding, you need to know about that, too.

So I keep my eyes and ears open for such changes in the media, and I learned about one this morning. WLVI-TV, one of Boston's independent television stations, has just been bought by the company that already owns WHDH-TV in Boston. Here's the Boston Globe's story.

Regardless of what decisions are made about the future of WLVI-TV's original programming and staff, I say this news can't be good. A diversity of media ownership was supposed to keep our media honest. One of the things you had to love about Boston-area media was that it was local. Boston radio personalities (Jess Cain, Dave Maynard, Dale Dorman, et al.) were the narrators of our lives; it boasted two newspapers; and independent television stations provided their own treasures (WSBK-TV's "Movie Loft," WLVI-TV's "Creature Double Feature," and so on). Now, the times they are a-changin', and I think that's Boston's loss.

It also represents a loss of book promotion opportunities. Think about it: whereas, once, you could pitch a story idea to both WHDH-TV and WLVI-TV, now you'll pitch that story idea to one entity, with one perspective, and one agenda. Dissenting voices probably need not apply.

And, yes, on a personal note I'm just plain grumpy at the loss of WLVI-TV. As every Massachusetts-based adult who was ever a kid can tell you, WLVI-TV was the go-to station for the after-school programming that really mattered. I won't list the 1976 after-school television lineup on WLVI-TV here (although I could).

Suffice it to say that media changes seem to be happening with greater frequency these days, and it behooves everyone to follow those changes whether you're in the middle of a book promotion campaign or whether you're just trying to find a wonderful old movie to watch this a Sunday -- for free, with commercial interruptions, and without having to deal with a real-world or online video store.

Key Book Promotion Rule

Here's the key thing to remember about book promotion: no matter what happens, the journalist is always right.

That means that if you're not happy with something a radio host says on the air, or something a journalist forgets to include in his/her article, or the direction in which a television host takes an interview, then you'll just have to live with it. It's not your show, nor is it your newspaper or magazine. And it's not your Web site. It's theirs, and -- as someone on a book promotion tour -- you're an invited guest on their turf. You're the Kato Kalin to their O. J. Simpson.

You're the author who's asking for air time or space in a print (or digital) medium. If you get that time or space, then you're a winner. If your book is mentioned, then that's a plus. Otherwise, then chalk up that one radio interview as an opportunity to at least have gotten your name (and expertise) out there. Don't try to shout out your book title over the interviewer's "goodbye, thank you for being here." It won't work. The host or the producer has control over the audio controls. You don't.

I've had clients be disappointed that a radio show host didn't include a link to the author's site on the host's Web page. I've also had clients be disappointed that a newspaper's Web site that reprinted a client's article contained only the author's byline, but not a hyperlink to the author's Web site.

It's okay to feel disappointed. It's not okay to ask the radio show host or Webmaster or journlist or whomever you're dealing with to "fix the problem." There is no problem. The journalist is always right.

Just as you don't complain about the accomodations when you're staying overnight at a relative's home, you don't start making requests for special attention or editorial changes when you're an author who's on a book promotion tour. It's inappropriate, it's unprofessional, and it's not going to get you anywhere. And it's going to get your book publicist's dander up if you request that he or she do it for you. Your book publicist will have a relationship with those journalists long after you've moved onto your next project, and he or she will honor the key rule of book promotion -- the journalist is always right -- at all times.

Every media hit will not change your life, although some may. Just remember that, cummulatively, interviews work to promote your book even if there are individual disappointments along the way. There's never any excuse for telling a journalist how to do his or her job, or to insist on special treatment, during a book promotion campaign. Enjoy the ride, and know that -- if you follow the key rule about book promotion -- you will come away with friends in the media. Otherwise, you're on your own.

More News Features Mean More Book Promotion Opportunities.

I'm not going to take sides on the Katie "is she serious and worthy enough to be a news anchor" Couric controversy. But I will say that my spirits were lifted by MSNBC and other news sources' criticism of her, which was largely that the features she is adding are out of place on the "CBS Evening News."

More features on national television mean more opportunities for authors to promote their books, and more opportunities for authors to promote their books mean more chances for book promotion specialists, like me, to create good news (no pun intended) for our clients.

So, Katie, keep up the good work. We want to see you continuing to emphasize features over hard news on the "CBS Evening News" -- just as long as the "Today Show" that you left behind doesn't jettison the feature stories in favor of more hard news.

A New Year in Book Promotion

Why does the first day back at work after Labor Day Weekend always seem like a new year -- in book promotion and beyond? Maybe because the kids are back at school, the weather is changing, the white cotton clothes have been packed away, and a new lunar year will soon begin. Besides all that, a long holiday weekend clears our minds and we all (book publicists , authors, publishers, and the media) come back to our tasks with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm.

So, to everyone who's in the middle of a book promotion campaign, I propose that we all start a new year -- with a fresh slate -- today. And, to everyone who's about to embark on a book promotion campaign, this will be a new project and a new adventure.

Let's make it a great one.

Book Promotion Without Alienating the Media

I enjoyed the movie, "Little Miss Sunshine," but there was one scene that made me squirm. It was when Greg Kinnear's character, Richard, confronts his literary agent about the agent's failure to sell his self-help book to a publisher. The agent explains that all the publishers had turned down the book.

"What's the next step?" Richard asks the agent.

Richard is counting on the advance that the book's sale will bring, because -- apparently -- he's quit his day job. The agent is left with the thankless task of explaining to Richard that there is no next step. No is no. No doesn't mean keep trying. No means try again with a new book idea, but drop the old idea. It was pitched. It was rejected. Finis.

That isn't what Richard wants to hear, and it's not what you want to hear when you're in the middle of a book promotion campaign and you've pitched an idea to the media that doesn't fly, but -- sometimes -- that's the way that it is.

When your pitch falls flat, and the media says no, you can change the pitch. You can reformulate the pitch, based on the feedback you've received, and try again with an angle that's better suited to the media's needs.

But what you can't do is tell the media decisionmakers that they have to do the story. You can't tell them they're being shortsighted or ignorant for turning it down, and they'd better reconsider if they know what's good for them.

If you try to force the media to promote your book, or you try to bully them, or you badger them in any way, you won't get them to change their mind. All you'll succeed in doing is alienating the media and burning bridges.

No isn't always an opportunity to close on the rejection. No is sometimes an opportunity to listen to why.

No is often a chance to go back out to the media with something far better and score a yes.

So what is the next step? The next step is to keep the faith that your book promotion campaign will be highly effective -- but learn when to take no for an answer and when to change strategies.

Book Promotion by Podcasting

Are you having a hard time launching your book promotion campaign through conventional media channels? Then try podcasting.

By podcasting, you can host your own radio program and talk about your book. Then, through the magic of the Internet, you can post your podcasts on the appropriate Websites and, using your email list (or purchased email lists), invite people to listen to it.

Boost your book promotion campaign by reading about the benefits of podcasting -- and how to set up a podcast -- here. And then, once you've built a fan base, try approaching the conventional media again. Being a recognized figure who is a proven fan favorite can make a big difference in your book promotion success.

Book Promotion by Podcasting

Are you having a hard time launching your book promotion campaign through conventional media channels? Then try podcasting.

By podcasting, you can host your own radio program and talk about your book. Then, through the magic of the Internet, you can post your podcasts on the appropriate Websites and, using your email list (or purchased email lists), invite people to listen to it.

Boost your book promotion campaign by reading about the benefits of podcasting -- and how to set up a podcast -- here. And then, once you've built a fan base, try approaching the conventional media again. Being a recognized figure who is a proven fan favorite can make a big difference in your book promotion success.

Book Promotion Firms Don't Work for Free

And neither do book publicists. Forgive me for venting, but I'm frustrated.

A few years ago, I promoted a novel for a small publishing company (the author and the publisher were two different individuals, but I worked with both of them during the course of the book promotion campaign).

About a year after the campaign was finished, I began to get media calls asking about books published by this small company. At first, I thought nothing of it except that someone was confused, and it would work itself out. But today I received another phone call from a reporter who told me that I was designatd on the publisher's Web site as the media contact for the publishing company and for all of their books.

Here's a snippet from the email I sent to the publisher:

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I don't want your authors or you to miss media opportunities when those media inquiries come my way (obviously, the books/authors about whom the media is asking will not "ring a bell" with me), nor do I want to have my valuable time taken with media inquiries that are not meant for my clients. It's also not fair to those who are paying me for my time, and paying -- in part -- for the privilege of having their projects associated with professional media representation.

Please update your site at your earliest convenience, and let me know when you've taken care of the matter. Thank you in advance.]

Yes, I was annoyed, and I am hoping that the publisher hasn't known about his error for all this time that he was using my contact information as the go-to place for the media. As I said in my email to him, one of the things authors/publishers buy from me and other book publicists is the association of their work with a book promotion firm -- it's proof that they're taking their book seriously, and promoting it seriously.

I would no sooner lend my name and reputation to book promotion projects without fair compensation than I would expect my real estate agent to sell me a house without taking her commission.

It strikes me as a bad day when I feel cheated. And today, I felt cheated.

Starbucks Perks Up Book Promotion Campaign

Starbucks, in affiliation with Hyperion Books, will feature Mitch Albom's latest novel, "For One More Day," in its coffee shops beginning in October (the book's publication date is September). Of course, the visibility in Starbucks' coffee shops will perk up the visibility of Albom's book. But here's the question: does Albom's book promotion campaign really need the boost?

I'm an Albom fan, and I would have found my way to his latest novel even without the efforts put forth by Hyperion and Starbucks. His new novel will get reviews and shelf space in bookstores.

But what about all the novelists whose works will never enjoy the visibility that Albom's books receive? Why doesn't a major force such as Starbucks step forward and offer to give a boost to the book promotion campaigns -- where that boosts could do the most good?

Yes, you can pitch your book to Starbucks even if you don't have a Hyperion Books behind you. But good luck getting Starbucks' attention. If you're an unknown author, you'll need luck.

A Book Promotion Opportunity for Marketing Books

MarketingSherpa has a book promotion opportunity for new books that relate to marketing, advertising, or publicity. You can read about it here.

If your new book relates to any of those areas -- and it's relevant to marketng professionals and a "good read" -- then you can send one copy of the book to Book Contest, MarketingSherpa Inc 499 Main Street Warren RI 02871 US. Include your contact information and the book's publication date.

If your book is chosen by MarketingSherpa's editors for their weekly Giveaway, then they'll request four more copies of your book. Marketing professionals can click here to register to win one of the books chosen for the Giveaway.

Your book competes with other books related to marketing for a book publicity opportunity, and marketing professionals compete with each other to win a free copy of winning marketing books. Sounds like a great idea to me, and a terrific book promotion opportunity for the right book.

A Book Promotion Don't-Do

Did you see the news item on MSBNC.com today, "Marie Osmond did not attempt suicide?" Ouch.

A tabloid ran a news story that, evidently, Marie's publicity camp disputed. The result was that MSNBC.com story that offered Marie's rebuttal to the tabloid's story.

Unfortunately, MSNBC.com ran that rebuttal in the most cringe-worthy way imaginable. They stated a memorable negative in a way that brings back memories of Nixon's "I am not a crook" and (to paraphrase Clinton) "I did not have intimate relations with that woman."

When you're in the midst of a book promotion campaign, you never want to answer a confrontational question (such as, "Did you try to commit suicide?") with a negative, "I didn't try to commit suicide." That would be repeating a negative, and if you do that, you can almost guarantee that the negative is the quotation people will remember.

Instead, you always want to state a positive. You might say, "I was very healthy and feeling quite positive, thank you for asking." Or, "I briefly experienced a bad reaction to my medication, but thank goodness, the doctors handled the whole affair beautifully and I'm fully recovered now."

For the sake of your book publicity campaign, steer clear of the trap the confrontational interviewers might be setting for you. Yes, some interviewers may want to be Howard Stern and infuse your book promotion campaign with questions that will make you squirm and want to walk off in a huff.

The best response is to stay calm and friendly in all interview situations that you find yourself in during a book promotion campaign. Don't take the interviewer's hostility personally; it's not meant personally. It's an act, and now that you know how to respond to it, you'll quickly take the wind out of the interviewer's sails and put an end to the negativity.

Just remember that headline about Marie Osmond, and be sure that doesn't happen to you. (And, for the record, I do believe Marie's publicity camp. She has a strong support system, and I have every confidence that it's working for her and will continue to do so in the future. But...please. No more feeding into a reporter's negativity, because I don't want to read anymore headlines like this one about Marie Osmond or anybody else.)

Book Promotion by Novel Giveaway

Something very cool is happening in Australia. according to an article in the Courier Mail, here's what's going on.

To promote book sales, and for the sake of encouraging people to read, an organization called Books Alive paid Monica McInerney to write a novel. Her book, which is called Odd One Out, will be given for free to consumers who buy any of fifty books that are featured in the Books Alive Great Read Guide.

What a great book promotion opportunity for McInerney! And the fifty other lucky authors benefit from book publicity, too.

And I'm thinking: this isn't such a bad deal for consumers.

Okay. So we're not doing something like this to promote book sales and to support authors and publishers in the States ... why?

Blogging Her Way to Book Promotion

How does novelist MJ Rose use the Internet to create a book publicity campaign that could only happen now? She blogs.

According to the Huffington Post, MJ Rose wants to link to 500 blogs as the main thrust of her book promotion campaign. To get out the word about her lastest book, The Venus Fix, Rose is asking bloggers to link to her multimedia book show and link to an interview about her book. In exchange for the "free" book promotion, Rose will donate five dollars to the blogger's choice of three charities. And, to sweeten the deal, a lucky blogger will win a signed copy of Rose's book.

Of course, by that time, the lucky blogger will presumably have already read Rose's book, but still ... it's the thought -- and the book publicity -- that counts.

Self-Esteem Aids Book Promotion Effort

Typically, shy or modest authors are under-promoted authors. I like to tell authors to get excited about their work, and to convey that enthusiasm to the media, or to their in-house book publicist or independent book promotion specialist. Wax eloquent about your topic, and get let everyone know about how important it is and all that you can add to the public's understanding about it.

And now I have another piece of self-promotional advice for authors: call yourself a genius, and let the media know how similar your work is to that of Pulitzer Prize winners. It can only help your book promotion campaign.

That's what novelist Omar Tyree ("What They Want," published by Simon & Schuster) decided. According to an Associated Press article, Tyree is a literary genius whose work would be similar to that of Toni Morrison -- if only the public would buy such impressive books. As it is, he has to slum it as a novelist who produces sexy, gritty tales instead of the work that would Morrison herself would envy.

As excited as he is about his own potential greatness, Tyree certainly toots his self-promotional horn loudly enough to get the attention of the media, his book publicist, and his publishing company. Now the question is: would you buy Tyree's books?

I think I'll put them on my "look-see" list for next time I'm in a bookstore. Maybe -- just maybe -- they have potential.

Book Publicity by ... John Irving and Stephen King?

Apparently, when you're J.K. Rowling, and you're in need of serious book promotion services, you call upon the world's strangest book publicists: John Irving and Stephen King.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not calling John Irving and Stephen King strange (although, surely, they wouldn't mind if I did). I'm just saying that it was a surprise to read this MSNBC.com story about a charity lovefest involving Rowling, Irving, and King.

It's interesting that three of today's top authors got together to talk about their books. But, from the perspective of this book publicist, what was most interesting was that the focus appears to have been on Rowling's work -- specifically, the upcoming final book in the Harry Potter series. Irving and King gave Rowling their editorial suggestions ("Let Harry live!"), and Rowling made no promises, one way or the other.

Sure, a couple of titles by Irving and King -- "The World According to Garp" and "The Dead Zone" -- received a token bit of book promotion in the article. But these plugs were eclipsed by the ostentatious plug Rowling received for her upcoming book.

I mean, who would not read an article about book promotion that contained the names Rowlings, Irving, and King? Irving and King probably aren't out to sell more copies of "Garp" or "The Dead Zone" right now. But Rowling's newest "Harry Potter" stands to benefit appreciably from this kind of book publicity.

So, if you're looking for endorsements from literary luminaries for your latest children's book, maybe you could ring up John Irving and Stephen King. Just tell them you're looking for some unusual book publicists ... and remind them that it's for a good cause.

She Whined for Book Publicity.

She whined about the fact that her local newspaper hadn't reviewed her books in a decade. And it worked. She landed a book review.

"She" is Joni Rodgers, and she has a blog right here called BookWoman. In her July 30 entry, "Good grief, I finally get it," Rodgers explains how a "snarky comment" to the Houston Chronicle finally resulted in a book review.

Yes, Rodgers got to enjoy the Chronicle's review of her novel, The Secret Sisters. But I'd argue that she got that review despite the fact that she complained, rather than because of her complaining.

Reviewers don't owe authors book publicity. They are not obligated to provide book promotion to an author, local or not. They're not remiss when they overlook your book. They're making a choice about which authors to support and which books to promote -- and, whether we like it or not, that's their right.

The rule of thumb is this: if your book isn't reviewed by the publication that "should" review it, don't complain. Try a different beat editor, and pitch a story idea. Pitching different ideas to different editors, and to different media outlets, is a better idea than complaining about the lack of book publicity opportunitities 99.99 percent of the time.

Joni Rodgers' situation is the .01 percent of the time when whining worked. Congratulations to Joni, but as this book publicist likes to say, "Don't try it at home."

...And Book Publicity for All

It's nice to know that self-published novelists can grab their share of the book promotion limelight...at least, sometimes. An Asheville Citizen-Times article about the second annual Haywood Book Mania book fair focuses on about half a dozen of the more than fifty authors (a combination of mainstream and self-published novelists and nonfiction writers) who participated in the event.

Sure, the Citizen-Times is a local newspaper, but then again, the article is about local authors. Maybe the self-published novelists the article mentions won't turn up in the New York Times or on the bestseller lists just because a few thousand local newspaper subscribers learn about Asheville-area residents whose books sound fairly interesting. Or maybe they will. You never know . . . and it's just good to see self-published novelists mentioned in the same book promotion space as authors from the large publishing houses.

Paper Clip Beats Book Publicist

So this book publicist gets excited when she arranges to get an author on a single national television show. And yet a guy with a paper clip has gotten himself worldwide attention, and scored a book deal with Random House and a movie deal with DreamWorks.

Kyle MacDonald has me beaten.

As I watch Kyle MacDonald's pre-book promotion campaign, I wonder how many off-the-wall ideas there are out there in the world that can still get the attention of the media -- through wars, Mel Gibson's arrest and drunken tirade, tsunamis, heat waves, Big Dig fiascos, and so forth. How many offbeat ideas and stories are there, like Kyle MacDonald's, that are just waiting to be turned into the next publicity sensation and turn someone into an overnight celebrity? (If you missed Kyle MacDonald's story, click here. This book promotion expert learned a lot from him!)

I'm not sure, but I hope every single author out there finds one of them.

Book Promotion for Older Titles

If your book has been available for awhile, book reviewers will probably not be beating a path to your door to get a copy. (A notable exceptiron would be Midwest Book Review. Its editor-in-chief, James A. Cox, gives special consideration to books from small presses and goes out of his way to have his team of volunteers select self-published books to review. As a bonus, he also posts his reviews on Amazon.)

So book reviews may not best book promotion path for your title. What else can you do?

If your book has a media hook, then use it. Can you tie your topic, or your expertise, into a breaking news story; an upcoming holiday or season; or current events? If so, then pitch your story idea instead of your book to the media. Focus on beat editors rather than book reviewers at newspaper. Position yourself as an expert rather than as an author. Deemphasize your book's publication date on media materials. Highlight the subject matter, instead.

Book promotion is available for all titles, if you're a clever enough book publicist to see past book reviewers to bigger and better possible boo promotion channels for your book.