Live From NY
Welcome to the guest blog at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. We're pleased to host this column offering insights on a wide range of topics for professional authors. Columns come from publishers, booksellers, bestselling authors, publicists, top industry buyers, journalists, trade magazine editors, self-promotion experts, editors, and anyone else who can enlighten, inspire, or entertain authors. Please check back as new offerings are added periodically.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Ten Questions That Can Help You Get Better Publicity by Leslee Borger
Every author knows that good publicity can be a key ingredient in making a book successful. But the members of the Fourth Estate are not easy marks.
Ever wonder why one author's books stand out, get press attention and another's don't? Of course, the book needs to be good, but every good book doesn't get good publicity. In reality, the answer probably comes down to a well-planned media campaign.
Here are some questions a publicist might ask when planning a campaign for a new book:
- Is the book topical? There's a reason why 'ripped from today's headlines' is a cliché. If the book strikes a chord with newsmen and women, half the battle is won.
- Why should an interviewer want to talk to the author? It may have nothing to do with the book. Did she just climb Mt. Everest? Did he overcome great odds to become a writer? Is she also a rocket scientist, gourmet chef, ex- police chief, medical doctor, former news anchor? You get the idea - an intriguing bio is another big part of the publicity battle.
- What did he/she do to research the book? Climb every mountain in New England, learn to ocean kayak, become a professional ballroom dancer? There could be a story in how the book was written.
- Is the book part of a current, "hot" literary trend? Whatever is "new" is "news." From cowboys to paranormal characters, super-heroines to working girls, there's always a hot trend in the hopper when it comes to romance.
- How did the author start writing and how successful is he/she? As a kid in an Indianhead notebook or while she was having her first child - now she has 10 million books in print? After a long career in a different field - or did it take him 18 years to become an overnight success?
- What inspired this particular book? Did the author grow up in a carriage house and decide it would make a great setting for a mystery? Is she inspired by a figure in history? Did he come upon a news story that that set him thinking "What if…"
- Where is the book set? Does the locale become an integral part of the story? Is it highly atmospheric: Central Park in New York, the Vieux Carre in New Orleans or a island in the Florida Keys?
- Where does the author live? Has he/she done her local press? If he lives in a good media city, this can often be the best place to start. Just being a published local author can be a news hook in medium to small markets. (Don't try this in New York, LA, Chicago or the like. It probably won't work.)
- What's the publisher doing to support the book? Will the company send advance reading copies to reviewers? Are they planning a tour or any special appearances?
- Does the author understand the process? Is she willing to invest the time, money and effort that it takes to make a PR campaign work - traveling, hours in bookstores where no readers may show up, putting up with interviewers who haven't read a book since college? All this, knowing that it's a slow build, not an overnight miracle - a little like writing a book itself.
Of course, a good publicist will not only ask all these questions, but will
also prepare the press materials, write the pitch letter and get out and doggedly go after the media. It's all part of a successful publicity campaign - and it might just make the difference between just another novel and one that gets attention.
----------------------------------------------
Leslee Borger of Truth Be Told Public Relations has conceived and conducted publicity campaigns for authors from MIRA Books, HQN Books, Harlequin and Silhouette books for over 25 years.
----------------------------------------------
