Publicists?

Ultimate Cheapskate said:

Hi Jeff ("filmnut") -

I'm a traditionally published author (print, electronic, and audio), but I've looked at the possibility of hiring a publicist and, at least for me, it doesn't make sense. I’ve always had outstanding support from the publicity and marketing staff at my publishing house, which is a big plus for going the traditional route.

Costs for outside publicists vary greatly - as do services provided and performance - but for a decent publicist to put his/her all into promoting your book (ebook and/or print), it's probably a $10,000-$20,000 investment.

IMO, it's only worth the cost if a publicist has a truly "golden Rolodex" (I realize that's horribly outdated terminology, but then again, so am I). In other words, publicists are very, very valuable if they can actually pick up the phone and get you booked for major national interviews, book reviews, features, etc. Very few of them have those types of professional or personal connections, and even $20K won't buy you much of their time if they do.

Now, if you're terribly uncomfortable, disinterested, or you don't have the time or skills to do at least some promotional work on your own behalf, then maybe one of those cut-rate "I'll-write-press-releases-and-send-them-out-for-you" outfits might be worthwhile, but 99.99% of the time that'll result in you getting exactly zero publicity for your book.

Good luck.

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James D. Macdonald said:

Will you sell enough extra copies to make a profit? Enough to break even? That's the big question.

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alexalex said:

Hello Ultimate cheapstake,


some questions and thoughts...

These are all great questions alexalex--- I don't claim to have all the answers, but here's what I do know:

1. some of the traditionally published friends of mine are opting to hire publicists on their own, in addition to the alloted funds by the marketing staff of major publishing houses to enhance visibility and sales. Is this becoming more common place?

According to my agent, it's always been fairly common, particularly for first-time authors. The thinking has been that first-time authors might not get as much marketing support from their publishers as established authors (although that was definitely not my experience), plus they're at a disadvantage because they're usually not well known when their first book comes out and they haven't been through the process of launching and promoting a book before.

2. Some well-known publicists( ones with the golden rolodex, perhaps,) will not take on self-published work to promote. And even if they do, you need to sell your prinicipal home to pay their fee.

I'm not familiar enough with publicists to know if some won't work with self-published authors or not, but I do know that self-published authors have a very hard time tapping traditional, mainstream media, whether they have a publicist or not. As for the cost, yes, as I said before, a really well connected publicist who can deliver the goods is probably going to cost you $10,000-$20,000 to help you launch a book.

3. Legitamacy being the big issue with
self publishing, can the publicists help overcome this by accessing well-known writers to blurb for you, getting interviews etc? And how will you go about ferreting these folks who can make the difference from the run-of-the-mill publicists, who will do, what you and I can do, on our own, given some time and a steel-trap mind?

I think you hit the nail on the head when is comes to "legitamacy," real or perceived. Whether you think it's fair or not, I can tell you from personal experience that self-published authors are at a real disadvantage when it comes to getting exposure through national media outlets, major book reviews, etc. Traditional publishers (at least the big houses) have longstanding working relationships with the major media outlets. They know with a fair degree of certainty that they can get a couple of their authors on the Today Show every month, for example, or get a good percentage of their books reviewed in the NY Times. That's not say that if you're published by one of those houses that *your* book will necessarily get that exposure, but the traditional publishers definitely have both feet inside the door when it comes to major media outlets. With so many books being published every day, the major madia outlets can't even cover all of the traditionally published books being released, so it's a tough sell for a self-published author.

As for which publicists can actually deliver, the best thing to do is to talk directly to the authors they've represented (past and present) and ask them. Authors have no reason to not tell you the truth. Authors don't like paying publicists, so they tend to be very fast to criticize them if they didn't earn their keep.

4. Any personal or hear-say tales of folks who have used publicists and have seen results?

Yes, enough that I continue to contemplate the possibility of hiring a publicist myself, even though I've have had excellent promotional support from my publisher on my first two and have enjoyed significant national media exposure over the past five years. Keep in mind that I write nonficition, and so my "platform" is not only essential for selling my books, but it's also my biggest bankable assets (i.e. it generates speaking gigs, broadcast work, etc.).

That said, I've spoken enough with some of my fellow nonfiction authors to know that their publicists have in fact "earned their keep," at least on occasion. And while their fees are significant, at that level even one or two of the right national media hits (e.g. an interview on NPR, or a feature in a major daily paper that gets picked up by the wire service, or an appearance on one of the network morning shows, etc.), could literally cover the cost of the publicist in increased book royalties and/or increased future advances, not to mention ancillary income like speaking fees and freelance assignments.

5. There are places to go to research and learn about literary agents. Where are the publicists hiding and what kinds of resources, if any, are there to find them?

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K. Victoria Chase said:

Bumping this thread.

My epublisher has hired a publicist. No details about experience and/or forthcoming plans on how my book specifically (because this epub has over 100 authors and probably twice--if not more--as many books. Someone is bound to fall through the cracks) will be promoted.

Anyone have experience on how your epublishers utilized their publicists to generate more publicity for you?

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