How to Get Your Book Published in 7000 Easy Steps – A Practical GuideSTEP 7: HOW TO CHOOSE A PUBLICIST

Having hopefully proven to you how very important it is to secure the services of a publicist, this week I will provide some helpful tips on how to possibly wade through the vast vista of possibility that exists out there.

It may seem that we are spending an inordinate amount of time on the publicist question and that you may be eager to, well, get on with the rest of the publishing process, but you will see that this careful examination is well worth it, as the publicist will occupy much of the next year of your life, so it pays to spend a little bit of time taking a closer look.

Where to start?

Your publisher is the most likely place to inquire first and probably has a handy list of reputable publicity firms that they trust or like to work with, but it is up to you to interview and hire them.  This sounds relatively easy, but being virtually ignorant (sorry) about the publishing industry thus far (after all, we’re only on Step 7) and having only learned about a publicist actually does (sort of) only weeks ago, it’s fair to assume that you haven’t a clue what to even ask them.

In my case, I began by fishing around on various websites offering advice and was only able to gather this meager list of suggestions.

Things like:

“Get a vibe”
“Ask what they’re going to do for you”
“Know what you want”
“Get references”

Okay, but these are all vague enough that they could be applied to hiring someone to repaint my living room, an endeavor I have much more experience with, actually.  In the case of remodeling, I do know what I want from the contractor, and yes, I understand the “vibe” thing.

But what do I really want from a publicist, and what is the “vibe” one should be looking for?  Is that even a real thing?

After making a few tentative calls, I found that there are basically two different camps:  the nurturing type and the bat-out-of-hell type.  Also, they sometimes differ in the services they offer.  Some offer platform and social media help, for example; others don’t.  Almost all prefer you begin earlier than later.  Some offer a media burst right before the book pubs, but most prefer a long, steady campaign to slowly brew interest before the big media explosion.  And almost all will, of course, tell you “no guarantees” – warning you that you can run the most successful, well-strategized, expensive campaign ever and the book might still…well, flop.  Why is this sounding more and more like a game of Risk?

So, not much to go on, then.  Nurturing . . . Bat-out-of-hell.  Hmmm.

I will admit that I’m naturally more inclined to run toward the nurturing camp, but I decided that this was not really what I and my book needed.  I could find nurturing in other places.  If I was going to smack down a small fortune, I decided it should be for some power!

Before signing my name on the dotted line, however, I did pose one interesting question.

Didn’t they want to read the manuscript before taking me on as a client?  “I mean, after all,” I chuckled over the phone, “what if it’s a dog turd?  Then you’d have to sell a dog turd. Wouldn’t that be hard?”

Irritated sigh.  “We trust the publisher,” was the crisp reply.

But should I tell them that the publisher hasn’t really read it either? . . . not all the way through, anyway.  Somehow I tried to squeeze that into the conversation, but they didn’t, or pretended not to, hear me.

“Let’s get on with it shall we?  Are you going to hire us or not?” they asked, in true bat-out-of-hell fashion.  Needless to say, I did.

Which type you prefer, however, dear reader, is of course up to you.  Take some of the pressure off knowing that either way, the publicist will open doors that would normally be closed to you, an unknown author.  And by hiring them, more of your time will be freed up for writing, or so you tell yourself in the beginning, anyway.  You don’t need to know the truth just yet.

And so darlings, make your choice, buckle up, and let’s go!

 

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STEP 7: HOW TO CHOOSE A PUBLICIST appeared first on Michelle Cox.