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[Promotion] Kelley & Hall

ss06470

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I used Kelly and Hall book publicists. In their marketing material there was a story of how they were able to get Publishers Weekly to review an already self published work. That led to a publisher. Here is what I got for $7150. Nada, nothing. No radio or TV interviews even on small stations, no newspaper articles, no reviews other than a person that posted on the book's Amazon site. A skype interview with a teacher at a jr college who will post it on his rarely visited Blog where I am one of 150 + interviews (presumably to be posted in the future 4 months after the interview), a ludicrous top 5 listing by someone name Jenny (also a rarely visited site) where her one comment was "Go Vanderbilt." And another interview at an obscure site. The book was purchased 2 times during this time, and the kindle sales were similar. Visits to my site showed no increase. $7150 wasted money
 

ss06470

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$7150 wasted on Kelly and Hall publicists

I paid $7150 to Kelly and Hall book publicists. They were very pleasant and told me they had read and loved my book. In their own promotional material there is the story of a self published author for whom they were able to get a Publisher's Weekly review and from there, a major publisher picked up the work. What was my result?

Nothing. Nada. No radio or TV interviews even on small stations, no newspaper articles, no reviews other than one person who posted on my book's kindle Amazon site. A skype interview by a teacher at a junior college posted on his rarely visited Blog where I am one of 150 + interviews (presumably to be posted in the future 4 months after the interview), a ludicrous top 5 listing by someone name Jenny (also a rarely visited site) where her one comment was "Go Vanderbilt." And another interview at an obscure site. The book was purchased 2 times during this time, and the kindle sales were similar. Visits to my site showed no increase. The $7150 was thrown out money
 

KTC

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This is tragic. I'm sorry this happened to you.

A little Google investigation would have gone a LONG way. Money flows TO the writer, not AWAY from the writer.
 

Old Hack

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I'll move this from our Book Promotion room to BR&BC, where it's a better fit.
 

Terie

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A little Google investigation would have gone a LONG way. Money flows TO the writer, not AWAY from the writer.

When one is self-publishing, some money must flow from the publisher. The fact that the publisher is also the writer doesn't change that dynamic.

Which is not to excuse or justify what happened to the OP. Just sayin' that it's not helpful to fail to acknowledge that when in business for oneself (which is what self-publishing is), one is going to have to spend some money to make money.
 

Becca C.

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On their website news section, it seems like all the news is several years old, 2008 being the most recent year I can see mentioned. There's a mention of J.D. Salinger trying to shut down publication of a work examining Catcher in the Rye, and hasn't Salinger been dead for a while, now?

Also, the Jacquelyn Mitchard testimonial rang a bell. Could Kelley & Hall be the PR site The Albee Agency/Sandpiper Publicity were ripping off?
 

Debeucci

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Publicists are rarely worth it, especially to a self publisher. Trade publishers will often have in-house publicists who have built relationships over time with their contacts through media outlets. It's one of the many hidden jobs a publisher will do that most people don't realize, and it's very difficult for a self pub to replicate that result through an outside contractor.

There is no way a publicist will have a contract that guarantees anything. (At least, that would be dumb of them to).
 

popgun62

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I used Kelly and Hall book publicists. In their marketing material there was a story of how they were able to get Publishers Weekly to review an already self published work. That led to a publisher. Here is what I got for $7150. Nada, nothing. No radio or TV interviews even on small stations, no newspaper articles, no reviews other than a person that posted on the book's Amazon site. A skype interview with a teacher at a jr college who will post it on his rarely visited Blog where I am one of 150 + interviews (presumably to be posted in the future 4 months after the interview), a ludicrous top 5 listing by someone name Jenny (also a rarely visited site) where her one comment was "Go Vanderbilt." And another interview at an obscure site. The book was purchased 2 times during this time, and the kindle sales were similar. Visits to my site showed no increase. $7150 wasted money

Ouch. Sorry you had to go through that. Hope it didn't break you financially.
 

JudasFm

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I used Kelly and Hall book publicists. In their marketing material there was a story of how they were able to get Publishers Weekly to review an already self published work. That led to a publisher. Here is what I got for $7150. Nada, nothing. No radio or TV interviews even on small stations, no newspaper articles, no reviews other than a person that posted on the book's Amazon site. A skype interview with a teacher at a jr college who will post it on his rarely visited Blog where I am one of 150 + interviews (presumably to be posted in the future 4 months after the interview), a ludicrous top 5 listing by someone name Jenny (also a rarely visited site) where her one comment was "Go Vanderbilt." And another interview at an obscure site. The book was purchased 2 times during this time, and the kindle sales were similar. Visits to my site showed no increase. $7150 wasted money

I'm sorry to hear that :(
 

ss06470

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Thanks to everyone for their sympathy. I just hope no one is using them. Unfortunately, the contract does not promise anything. Believe it or not I'd spend another $7000 if anyone knows of a really excellent publicist.
 

Torgo

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Thanks to everyone for their sympathy. I just hope no one is using them. Unfortunately, the contract does not promise anything. Believe it or not I'd spend another $7000 if anyone knows of a really excellent publicist.

I would really advise you not to spend another $7K on publicity. You are very unlikely to see that money again.
 

JournoWriter

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I found five blog reviews of your novel and 10 Amazon reviews, all at 4 or 5 stars.

Can I ask why you signed a contract with no deliverables?

ETA: A good PR agency can never guarantee X placements or Y reviews. There are simply too many variables in play. But the OP described a contract that apparently has no accountability for the agency.
 
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