Book promotion or overexposure?

Do book excerpts in newspapers and magazines whet the public's appetite for a book, or does it discourage people from buying the book because they've already heard its message?

That's the question posed by the United Kingdom's Press Gazette. In a recent article called "U.S. newspapers thinking twice about book extracts," the columnist postulates: "There is a growing fear that some readers might feel they have had their fill and never bother to buy the book." Perhaps publishers should turn their attention away from excerpts and toward broadcast media interviews, the article goes on to suggest.

Well, I would agree and disagree with that strategy. I agree that book excerpts might deter people from actually buying the book, but I worry that advance broadcast publicity can do the same.

While it's true that book excerpts (which are amazingly hard to score, by the way, unless you're a known author or writing about a newsworthy topic) may "spill all the secrets" and leave readers with no reason to buy a copy of the book, broadcast media interviews have the same potential drawback. If potential book buyers already know what the author has to say -- and if potential book buyers have already read it or, have heard the author say it -- then perhaps those potential book buyers are going to be investing their book buying dollars elsewhere. Why not buy a book that you haven't already dipped into, rather than get a longer, more drawn-out version of the book you've already had a chance to get a snapshot of? Attention spans being what they are, maybe too many book buyers only skim the book, anyway, or flip through the book to get the gist of it. Why offer readers a snapshot of the book via an excerpt, or a television or radio interview, if a snapshot of the book is likely to satisfy the readers' underwhelming appetite for that topic?

There's also the problem of book buyers' short memories and desire to hold onto hard-earned cash. We all have a lot on our minds. What are the odds that someone who's really, really interested in buying a book in June will remember to buy that book when it's published in September? Slim. What are the chances that someone will preorder a book in June, and pay for it in June, knowing that the book won't ship until September? Slimmer.

So, as a book publicist, I prefer to have my clients hold onto their book's main messages until the book is available. That means holding off on interviews related to the book's core messages until the book is available, and the book promotion campaign can begin in earnest.

However, there are some things an author can do ahead of time that don't present a risk of overexposing a book before it's available. They include creating a Web site for the book, and focusing on creating online buzz for that Web site; building an online community so that people visit that Web site again and again (and stick around on that Web site for a long period of time during each visit); and using promotional techniques such as bylined article placement campaigns that will bring visitors to that Web site. All of that can be done before the book's publication date without taking a chance that you'll "shoot your wad" too soon or turn off potential buyers for your book by giving them all the information they want without asking them to pay for it.

So, if you're on a limited book promotion budget and can't afford to approach the major publications about excerpting your book, don't feel guilty. The book promotion strategy you can't afford may be counterproductive, anyway. Focus on doing what you can to bring visitors -- and potential future book buyers -- to your Web site for now, and begin the book promotion campaign when your book is available and can benefit from media attention.

Breaking news from nowhere.

Imagine this. You're in the middle of a book promotion campaign. You've been lucky enough to score a live national radio interview. You're about to go n the air. And then -- out of nowhere -- there's a breaking news story, and your interview has been bumped to make way for the story that every media outlet needs to cover.

Yes. Paris Hilton has been released from jail -- during your big moment.

Anyone who's in the middle of a book promotion campaign today and has been forced to reschedule an interview has my sympathy. It's one thing to have a disappointment or two along the way when promoting a book. It's another thing to have a celebrity story involving Paris Hilton come out of nowhere and squash your big book promotion moment.

Drunk driving? Yes, that's a good reason to be outraged at Paris Hilton. Getting special treatment? That's still another. And messing up book promotion campaigns? You've got it. That's the perfect cap on the reasons why all of us can be steaming mad about Paris Hilton's early release from prison today.

Does this make you appreciate books?

In 2002, the National Endowment for the Arts found that fewer than half of adults surveyed read for pleasure (presumably, some of those adults still read because they must), and that number had declined since 1987. Quick math check: that was about five years ago. Right?

Okay. So now the owner of a Missouri-based independent bookstore has pondered the problem and come up with a solution. He'll burn his books. That'll teach 'em to love books!

I'm serious. Here's the Associated Press article about Tom Wayne, owner of Prospero's Books who'd rather see books destroyed than wait for a good home.

Here's the thing. I'm a book publicist who conducts book promotion campaigns to encourage people to read books. I love books. I love words. I love the people who write them. I love the companies that publish them. I love the people who read them. I love everything there is to love about books.

But this book publicist's quirk is: I don't love books enough to burn them. And I don't love books enough to understand, or to try to defend, anyone who thinks burning books is a way to pay homage to books.

Forgive me, Tom Wayne, but what you're doing strikes me as destructive. I hope you don't get a permit that would allow you to burn tens of thousands of additional books.

As a matter of fact, I fervently hope that you lose the privilege of being able to legally light a match.

The book promotion dream -- and the book promotion nightmare.

Here's the book promotion dream.

You'll schedule an interview for yourself (or your book publicist will schedule an interview) on a national radio show that reaches tens of thousands -- or maybe even millions -- of people, and many of them will rush out, or click online, to buy your book.

That's the book promotion dream.

Now here's the book promotion nightmare.

That interview will be scheduled on a show that airs exclusively via the XM Satellite Radio network during the time period when, due to a technical glitch of some sort, the network is partially down, and you don't know exactly how many subscribers will still be able to listen to the show, but you know it isn't the number that you were expecting. And there goes that opportunity to sell books -- up in high-tech smoke.

Of course, glitches happen in media outlets that don't rely on satellite technology. So, if your national radio interview is scheduled on a more traditional show, keep up your guard. Anyything can happen and, in the world of book promotion, it often does. Breaking news blows your topic off the host's top shelf and forces the producer to reschedule (or not to reschedule, as the case may be). And, as we approach yet another holiday weekend, remember that, even if the interview proceeds as scheduled, timing matters, too. There are fewer people listening to the radio during long holiday weekends, so bear that in mind as you're scheduling interviews. There's nothing like scheduling that national radio interview and then looking at your calendar and noticing that you've locked yourself in for a time when there just won't be the usual number of listeners.

There you have it. The book promotion dream (scheduling a national radio show) and the book promotion nightmare (having the timing of that national radio show, because of a high-tech failure or just bad timing) dash your hopes of selling thousands of books.

To authors whose interviews have aired on the XM Satellite Radio network in the past couple of days, or will air before the technical issue is resolved, my sympathies. Know that you're not alone. This time, you've lived the book promotion nightmare. Next time, you're entitled to enjoy the book promotion dream.

Dr. Phil for Promotion?

I'll be brutally honest with you. I'm a rabid "Brady Bunch" fan. It's not an intellectual choice. It's a primal problem -- a gene with which I was born that somehow predisposed me to love, love, love anything to do with that show. I've suffered through reruns since the show ended, I've watched all the movies, and -- I swear to you -- I even suffered through that darned variety show of theirs. And, yes, I own a copy of Barry Williams' book, Growing Up Brady, and have read it several times.

Look, we all have our issues.

All of this is to explain why, when I watched a promo for tomorrow's episode of "Dr. Phil" that featured a sobbing Maureen McCormick, I sat up and paid close attention. Three o'clock tomorrow, Eastern Time. Dr. Phil. Maureen McCormick. I'm there (or my DVD recorder is, anyway). I will watch anything that has to do with The Brady Bunch. I won't even try to defend myself. I know. I know! But I can't help it.

To put this into a more professional context, I'm wondering what's going on here. (Yes, I want to know -- I desperately want to know -- what's upsetting Marcia Brady so, but that's a whole other issue.) The little cynical other that resides in me (and who, evidently, didn't watch enough "Brady Bunch" episodes) wonders: what's in this for Maureen? Surely, the woman isn't in such dire financial straits that she can't afford to see a therapist if she needs one. I mean, surely, she could borrow the money from one of her siblings ... but there I go again. Never mind. What I'm trying to say is, what's Maureen McCormick doing on tmorrow's "Dr. Phil?" Is she looking to the big doctor for help the way an actual, you know, person would? Or is she promotin' a project, and perhaps she saw (or her publicist saw) the "Dr. Phil" show as a way to get some quick national media attention for it?

See? This is why all of us, and not just refugees from the planet Seventies, should wish every day of our lives that Mr. Brady were still among us. He, and he alone, could resolve all of our problems in 30 minutes (less, if you subtract the time that the commercials took). Mrs. Brady? Alice? Not even close. Sam the Butcher? Forget about it. Mr. Brady was the original Dr. Phil, and doggone it, his methodology worked. His kids turned out fine. His dog and cat probably turned out fine, too, although we can't be sure since Fluff wasn't seen after the pilot episode and we lost track of Tiger sometimes after Jan realized she wasn't allergic to him but, rather, to the dog shampoo he was using, but...now where was I? Oh, yes.

Robert Reed, we miss you. We really, really miss you. Especially when we consider the fact that, if you were here now, we probably wouldn't have to watch "Dr. Phil" tomorrow. Which we will, for strictly professional reasons. We have to know: are celebrities (and former celebrities) using the "Dr. Phil" show to plug their projects? Is "Dr. Phil" becoming another way to enhance celebrity, and sell more movie tickets? Is it more than just a way for unknown nonfiction authors to get some book promotion? Is "Dr. Phil" becoming...a platform for B-celebrities? Stay tuned....

A few minutes with...book lovers at the New York book fair

If you watched "60 Minutes" last night, then you were treated to an Andy Rooney segment that was unusually poignant -- for those of us who love books, anyway. Rooney's segment was about the New York Antiquarian Book Fair. Where was Rooney's cynicism? He left it at home, for this segment. Instead, he seemed genuinely humbled to be in the presence of books and book-loving people, and he capped with a comment about how -- I'm paraphrasing -- the Book Fair made him believe there's still hope for our civilazation, after all.

Sure, there was a little bit of promotion in the segment -- promotion for an amazing annual event -- but, more importantly, it was a lovefest. Rooney, the crotchedy journalist, has loved books along. And we, who write, publish, and promote books, have loved them all along, too. What's not to love about this "60 Minutes" segment? You can watch it yourself by clicking here.

Does book promotion make a bestselling book?

Does a successful book promotion campaign lead to a bestseller? Sometimes...but, more typically, a book becomes a bestseller by accident. So says a recent New York Times article, "The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller."

We all know that booksellers become bestsellers for a combination of reasons: great distribution, awesome writing, super cover, and terrific word-of-mouth. To this list, the New York Times adds another component: the stars' alignment.

The frustration is that, you can do everything right, and still not earn enough money to pay your expenses/meet your advance -- even with the best book promotion campaign in the world. The flip side of that is, if creating a bestseller is at least partly a matter of luck, then that stroke of luck can happen to anyone.

Yes. It can happen to you.

Blame the publicist, part II.

Paris Hilton doesn't blame her publicist anymore, you'll be glad to know. Okay, I was being polite. You probably don't care. But I offer this article as comic relief and because I brought up the subject of Paris Hilton's woes yesterday. I guess that will teach me, huh?

By the way, I do have some advice for Paris Hilton's publicist: quit. Why would you want to promote this woman when there are so many worthier candidates for media attention -- and yours?

A tough and ugly way to get publicity.

You can get publicity the easy way -- by writing a newsworthy book, for example. Or you can promote yourself the tough way -- by doing something horrible, showing no remorse, and scoring 45 days in prison. I particularly love the way she blames her publicist for "getting her into this mess." And her publicist did that...how? I read Hilton's whining accusation, and I still can't make any sense of her theory about why this whole mess has anything at all to do with her now-former publicist. Maybe you can make sense out of it -- click here if you'd like to try.

I guess, if you're interested in book promotion, either technique would work. But I don't recommend the route that Paris Hilton took. I just don't. (And I wish she could be sentenced to an additional 45 days just on the basis of her reaction -- or the lack thereof -- to the sentence.)

Imagine if there were no book reviewers....

If you're conducting a book promotion campaign, you'll want to read a press release that I received last night and that I reprint here, with the author's permission.

For immediate release

Last week, the Los Angeles Times folded its book review section into an opinion section, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution eliminated its book review position. Not a good week for book criticism, but not a surprising one, either: in the past few years, newspapers from the Chicago Tribune to the Dallas Morning News to the Village Voice have seen book coverage shrink.

The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is not taking these developments lying down. This week, in an effort to support book reviews, book editors, book pages, and book culture, the NBCC is launching a Campaign to Save Book Reviews. During the last week in April and throughout the month of May, the NBCC is asking authors and editors, journalists and publishers—and in fact anyone interested in literary culture—to speak out on the value of books and book reviewing.

The campaign’s launch pad is an effort to save the book review position at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, held until last week by Teresa Weaver. Explains NBCC president John Freeman, “Teresa has the opportunity to apply for a job within the company, but it's not clear what the fate of the book page will be—whether it'll be reassigned to an existing editor, whether it will go entirely to wire copy, or whether it will be removed altogether.” A petition to save Weaver’s job has already secured nearly a thousand signatures, including those from luminaries as varied as Michael Connelly, Richard Powers, and Ian Rankin. Those interested in signing should go to http://www.petitiononline.com/atl2007/petition.html.

Throughout the campaign, Critical Mass, the NBCC’s blog, will feature Q&As, posts by concerned writers, and advice on petitioning the media to assure continued book coverage. Current posts include a lengthy Q&A with David L. Ulin, editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Check out http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/ to join in our efforts and to track developments in this ongoing and important campaign.

The National Book Critics Circle, founded in 1974, is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization consisting of nearly 700 active book reviewers nationwide who are interested in honoring quality writing and communicating with one another about common concerns. It is managed by a 24-member all-volunteer board of directors. For more information, please go to www.bookcritics.org.

For questions, contact Barbara Hoffert, hoffer@reedbusiness.com or 646-746-6806.

Competition for your book promotion efforts.

A mass murderer with a gun in each hand, aiming at the camera lens. A latter-day Marilyn Monroe, striking a variety of provocative poses, sometimes with her handsome young son by her side. Flooded roads, washed-away vehicles, and submerged houses.

These are the images the media is bombarding us with, and this is what the media considers newsworthy.

Well, okay.

But, to authors and publishers, Virginia Tech, Anna Nicole, and catastrophic weather events aren't only something to think about. They're also competition for the media's attention.

Can book promotion go on, as usual, when there's a mass murder at a college, and everyone in the country is seeking answers? Is book publicity to be thought of -- unless you're the half-sister of Anna Nicole with a book of your own -- when it takes an endless number of weeks to work out the parentage and custody arrangements of a deceased pseudo-celebrity's baby? Is your book publicist even supposed to be calling newsrooms around the country when people in multiple, far-flung states have been seeking shelter from devastating floods and are trying to figure out where they'll be living once the water recedes?

Bad news events aren't only riveting. They're also all-consuming happenings that can derail our plans for book promotion.

But you know something? If our book promotion plans have to put on hold, we can still consider ourselves fortunate if our loved ones were not involved in trauma or tabloid stories, and if our family and friends' psyches and homes are intact on this April day.

Book promotion is important. But it ain't everything, says the realistic book publicist.

The Aftermath of the Virginia Tech Massacre

Yesterday, I was in the middle of sending emailing a client's article to weekly newspapers when the first reports of the Virginia Tech Massacre came across the wire. It didn't immediately hit me, but within a few minutes, I realized that book promotion efforts put forth that day would be a waste of time and energy.

My mind wasn't on book promotion. My mind was on what was going on in a school community, and what it meant. My mind was on the students and teachers who were involved, and on their family members, and on their friends. My mind was all over the place, but it wasn't on book promotion.

The media's attention, I knew, wouldn't be on book promotion, either.

In times of national angst, we do a lot of things. We cry, we struggle to understand, and we beg whatever higher powers to whom we subscribe to take it all back. We bargain, we become furious, we argue, and finally -- I hope -- we come to some sort of resolution. We do a lot of things in times like these, but book promotion isn't one of those things. Nor should it be.

There's One Less Book Promotion Venue.

As you've heard by now, Don Imus's radio show is no more. Wow.

Shows come and shows go, and part of a book publicist's job is keeping up with those changes. But this book publicist wishes that radio shows wouldn't leave the airwaves for reasons like this.

There's no excuse for the words Don Imus uttered, and there's no excuse for his failure to convince us that he was seriously sorry.

Well, guess what? He's sorry now.

But, then again, every author who's in the middle of a book promotion campaign should also be sorry that we've lost one more book publicity venue.

Ouch.

Racism: The Newest Self-Promotion Techique?

By now, you've undoubtedly heard that Don Imus has apologized for a racist remark he uttered on the national radio airwaves. It strikes me that this is the first time I've heard people discussing Don Imus in a long, long time.

How many people were talking about Mel Gibson's movie before his drunk driving arrest -- an incident that didn't kill anyone, fortunately, but that revealed (in case we needed further confirmation) Gibson's uncharitable feelings toward Jews? And how many people even remembered Michael Richards except when they were watching "Seinfeld" reruns until his crazy, racist rant in a nightclub?

As a book publicist, I wonder whether these (and other) celebrities are somehow being incented to make hateful, social unacceptable remarks in public. Don Imus, Mel Gibson, and even Michael Richards stand to make a whole lot more money when people are talking about them.

Would the same tactic work for an author who's embarking on a book promotion campaign? Could saying things you know others don't want to hear be your ticket to having the book promotion ride of a lifetime?

Maybe, but I'd say this to any author who's even thinking of traversing that path: count me out. I won't participate in that brand of promotion, and I won't be a part of spreading bad karma. And, thankfully, I don't know of any book publicists who would.

Plagiarism in Book Promotion?

In the old days -- well, up until this morning -- the big question about book promotion was: is it better to receive a mediocre (or even a hostile) reception from media outlets than to receive no book promotion opportunities at all. I could argue both sides of that question, and I often have entered into such a debate. (Although, admittedly, as a book publicist I am biased in favor of the "any book publicity is good publicity" side of the argument.)

But this morning I read a strange story in The Book Standard titled: 'NY Times' Regrets Publishing Book Essay that made me realize there's a new issue. Is it better to have a self-promotional essay published with your byline in one of the nation's top daily newspapers and be accused of plagiarism, or is it better to refrain from having that self-promotional essay not published at all?

The book promotion world is full of oddities, but this story is one of the strange tales I've read about lately. So, if your self-promotional article or essay has failed to capture the attention of a major media outlet such as the New York Times, perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. Who knows?

And the winner is...

On tomorrow's show, Oprah will reveal the newest book she's chosen for her book club and the recipient of all those automatic Oprah's book club sales. And the winner is....

I have no idea, but I hope it's an author who's talented and hungry and worthy of the book promotion opportunity that making Oprah's book club always confers.

If you need any additional incentive to tape Oprah tomorrow, note that Sidney Poitier -- author of Oprah's last book club pick, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography will be a guest on her show. Of course, Mr. Poitier doesn't need the book promotion opportunity, but I'll never turn down the chance to see him perform -- even if it's only as a guest on a talk show.

Will the new book club pick be a classic? A hidden gem?

What will it be?

This is better than the Osars, the Emmys, the Tonys, and the Grammys, combined.

And the envelope please....

Book Marketing Article

This article isn't necessarily about book promotion, but it is about marketing. It's by Dan Tudor who has learned how to market and sell ebooks, and who shares his wisdom here.

There's no marketer like the type of marketer who plants marketing seeds in a project as it's being developed. And there is no self-promoting, PR savvy author like an author who plants news hooks into manuscripts as they're being drafted -- and sets the stage for a successful book promotion campaign even before the manuscript goes to the printer.

Kudos to Dan Tudor for a thought-provoking article. There's information we can use for book promotion or for selling our books...even before we finish writing them!

King of book promotion

He breathes. Therefore, he enjoys publicity for his latest book.

If everyone in the world were Stephen King, then launching a book promotion campaign would be a question of announcing a new project, and the media would flock to cover the story. If you've been hiding out in a cave, you may have missed the fact that Stephen King -- in conjunction with Marvel Entertainment -- has turned is Dark Tower work into a comic book.

Book promotion opportunity? Well, this is Stephen King we're talking about. I'm not into comic books in general, and I'm not a Dark Tower fan specifically, but even I've stumbled upon the news of King's foray into the comic book world about 4,698 times since yesterday morning. Here's just one the articles about it that you'll find online.

Apart from the Dark Tower series, and one or two or three or four of King's more recent work, I am a huge fan of Stephen King. And I certainly don't begrudge him the media's adulation or the book promotion opportunities that come his way. He deserves those book opportunities. He's always trying new artforms, and that's cool. I respected him when he brought back serial book reading with "The Green Mile," and when he stuck a toe into ebook publishing with -- was that project called "The Plant?" Something like that.

King takes risks, and that's always worth the media's time and attention. I only wish that, when struggling authors took similar risks, they were granted the same visibility and accolades for trying out new artforms and interesting business models.

Way to go, King, for celebrating the release of your comic book with all the book promotion that talent and fame and hard work can buy. For the rest of us ... well, back to pitching the media, one day at a time.

Shortsighted governor slashes books budget

Book promotion presumes that all readers -- sighted and vision-impaired -- will have access to books. But if the governor of Massachusetts has his way, several "talking books" programs in the state will be downsized as a way of economizing. As Boston Herald columnist Peter Gelzinis points out in his column today, it can cost twenty-five dollars to buy a book on CD. Therefore, many vision-impaired people depend on free audio books, newspapers, and magazines.

With an overall budget of $26.7 billion budget, does Massachusetts really want to lessen its citizens' access to reading materials just to save a couple hundred thousand dollars?

From his office, Massachusetts' governor Deval Patrick practically can walk to Harvard University, MIT, Tufts, and so many other institutions of higher learning. You can't walk down a Cambridge, Massaschusetts street on any average afternoon without bumping into at least a few authors. Sure, all those authors dream about fabulous distribution and wonderful book promotion campaigns, and publishers, distributors, and book publicists can help them with all of that.

But will their books be available for everybody? If Governor Patrick has his way, perhaps not for much longer.

Book promotion opportunities are enhanced by death.

Book promotion opportunities are enhanced by death. Sounds grim, doesn't it? I guess that's the reason why I don't promote comic books.

Apparently, Captain America is dead. Woe is he. But happy is Marvel, the publisher of the Captain America comic books. Apparently, fans are flocking to the stands to buy volume #25, which is the issue in which the superhero -- or the almost-superhero, if I'm reading the news reports correctly -- meets his maker.

Can anyone doubt that Captain America will be back in some form or another, and that rumors of his death were greatly exploited in the middle to promote the comic book? Well, don't ask this book publicist. She hasn't been a fan of comics since Richie Rich in the seventies, but that may be a bit too much information for you. :)

Just know that, if you do something truly shocking -- such as kill off a main character who is beloved by legions of readers -- then book promotion opportunities will surely come. It's book publicity through murder, which can be seen as a guerilla marketing tactic. Get it? Guerilla warfare? Never mind.

Okay, it's Friday, and I'm punchy. Time to get to work on my latest book promotion campaigns, and then call it a weekend.