FAQs

You’ve poured your time, creativity, and soul into your new book; now you want to ensure it has the best chance at success and the widest possible readership. That’s where we come in: we use our industry expertise and resources to do the heavy lifting for you, and cheer you on every step of the way!

Here are three reasons why you should work with a book publicist:

• Insider expertise: We have already established connections with the reviewers, media outlets, tastemakers, and bookstores you need to reach. We cut through the media “vetting” process for you, and use our industry knowledge to position you in the best possible way. We can also guide you in new promotional directions that you might not have considered or be able to access on your own.


• Time and resources: We focus our time, energy and resources on arranging the PR for you, so you can spend your time doing what you do best (such as writing the next book, interviewing with media, working on a guest article, or participating in an event).


• Partnership and support: Being an author can be a lonely job, but it doesn’t have to be! We are your book’s champion, and your biggest fan. We give you the support, enthusiasm, and encouragement you need so you don’t have to go it alone.

Absolutely! With millions of books being published each year in the U.S. alone, we know it can be daunting for indie authors to cut through the competition and the noise. In the past, self-publishing had a poor reputation in the industry for being “amateurish.” Thankfully, now there are endless possibilities for authors to independently publish high-quality, professionally-produced books that equal or exceed industry standards.

To succeed, your book must be edited by an experienced book editor, have a professionally-designed cover and interior, and have an industry-savvy distribution plan. We can arrange a personalized consultation with you to ensure your book excels in today’s marketplace. We can even help you beautifully publish your book through our sister company Books Fluent, so that it rivals the competition. With the right team behind you, your self-publishing journey can be liberating, fun, and successful.

No matter how much your publicist at your traditional publisher may love you and your book, they are only allotted so much time to promote your work amid the dozens of other titles they may be promoting. By hiring a dedicated publicity team, you ensure that you’re getting the personalized PR support you need. Meanwhile, your publisher’s sales teams and marketing reps can continue to push your book to bookstores, trade publications and online retailers. With your own publicity team working alongside you and your publisher, you’ll enjoy the advantages of a traditional publishing house’s efforts while also reaping the benefits of a customized, effective campaign that treats your book like a “lead title.”

The truth is no one can know for sure what serendipity is going to make one book take off among the rest. Have we had those extraordinary successes? Yes. But with 4,000 books launching daily, it’s not realistic in most cases. Our team will make every effort to personally pitch and tenaciously follow up with a targeted media list unique to and appropriate for you and your book. Sometimes, going after large media goals such as these will make sense, and sometimes it may be best to concentrate efforts on more attainable goals.

Success looks different for each book and author. We had an author appear on The Today Show three times, and it didn’t really “move” her book; but when she hosted intimate events, she saw a huge spike in sales. One of our authors has anxiety about doing interviews and event appearances, but has brilliantly cultivated an online presence and has sold very well.

Any company promising you coverage on media like Oprah is not being honest. Publicity and marketing campaigns are not one size fits all, which is why we tailor our campaigns to fit your goals, budget and publishing path. We won’t represent a book that we do not believe has a shot at success, and we work tirelessly to help you reach the best success for you!

Promotional efforts can range from $1,500 for DIY guidance, to six-figure campaigns that include reaching thousands of tastemakers, librarians, teachers and readers. The cost is based on how comprehensive your goals are. We customize every campaign specifically to you, so think carefully about your personal budget and publicity goals. It’s true that you get what you pay for, whether you want a massive media spread or very targeted online outreach, travel for events or the perfect giveaway swag. But if you’re thinking of mortgaging your house, don’t! A modest budget will afford you a modest and reliable campaign. We treat your budget like our own, and we take your lifestyle and goals into account so that we promote your book in a way that works best for you. For a full breakdown, see our guide on how much book publicity costs.

Most of our campaigns run initially for 5-6 months, and then we evaluate with you what makes sense from there - we can move to the next phase of promotion that doesn’t take so much of your time and energy (digital marketing that heralds the success your book has had to date), take a break until your next book release, or maybe there are other promotional areas to explore.

At least 6 months prior to your release date, we request that you fill out our Author Q&A and send us a chapter of your book; then we start working on your campaign proposal. At 3-4 months prior to release, we read your entire book, finalize your campaign strategy, and build your press materials and media list. For the remainder of the campaign, we send out copies of your book for review and coordinate other promotional features. In the final month of the campaign, we follow up on / finalize any outstanding events or coverage, submit for literary awards, and assess how the campaign might be able to continue.

In a word - personalization. From the planning stages of your campaign, to the individual pitches we send to media, everything we do is tailored. And we bring a personal element to our work--we care greatly about our authors and their success, and we represent books we believe in. Our authors are not only our rockstars, but our expanding family. From promoting each other on social media, doing events together and providing blurbs for one another, the bonds are strong. We cultivate this culture by being a team that works hard together and genuinely respects and supports each other.

We measure success by working with you to identify attainable publicity goals for you and your book, and then working together to get those things done.

Publicity is exposure for you and your work. We want you to sell as many books as possible; however, publicity and sales do not always have a direct correlation. There are other factors that go into the success of a book, including the distribution, timeliness of the story or message, pricing, current competition, etc. We will be transparent with you about successes gained and challenges faced, every step of the way.

The best way to be successful iis to think carefully and realistically about what you want to accomplish. Is it getting your message out to the readers who will benefit most? Is it building your brand or platform as an expert in your field? Is it establishing yourself as an author in a certain genre, to pave the way for future books? There are many goals to attain beyond strict sales. We’ll guide you through what’s possible, and partner with you to reach your goals.

We ultimately decide to represent an author based on 1) our experience and what we can offer to do a job well, and 2) our genuine interest. Our campaigns are as eclectic and varied as our team; we represent most genres, with a small team of people who have diverse interests.

We have to believe in the book and message, and feel like the author will make a good partner and work hard alongside us. We don't work with every author who comes to us. We don’t represent books whose messages are inherently harmful (racially or sexually prejudiced, etc). If we think a book will be commercially problematic due to timing, content, etc, it’s our responsibility to be honest about the challenges ahead.

We enjoy and are responsible for helping authors understand what is realistic--this is one of the first steps to successful publicity. And then we work strategically and creatively to help the author achieve what is possible.

You are a critical part of your book’s success. The more involved you are in your book promotion, the better chance of a positive outcome. We think of our campaigns as a partnership: we can do the heavy lifting to arrange your PR, but only you can put your personal touch on guest articles, sparkle on radio and television interviews, and genuinely connect with fans and book influencers at events and on social media. You should be friendly with fellow authors in the industry, available and willing to do the promotions we plan for you, and ready to connect personally with readers and supporters.

Because of our team approach, you are integrated into our process immediately. You will approve your press materials (news release, etc.) prior to it being sent out to media and booksellers, and you will have input on your media target list. You will have 24/7 access to our online communication tool that allows you to see what is happening in real time on your campaign and to track progress online whenever you choose.

Of course we read the book! Common sense tells you that you can't promote what you haven’t experienced. We are appalled at the number of publicists who don't read the book!

We do run some very extensive campaigns that naturally result in us communicating almost daily. In most cases, you’re at least hearing from us weekly through email and other tools we will share with you. The amount of communication will vary based on what’s going on in the campaign. Sometimes we’re really focused on pitching or developing materials, and some weeks we have responses coming back from media that we need to coordinate with you. You will also have real-time access to a publicity report detailing our progress on your campaign!

This is a challenging aspect of publicity, but there are things we can do! If you want to have a more traditional publicity campaign, we can help you plan a professional relaunch to give the book a fresh release date. Or we can time promotions around another book you may be planning to release, with the idea that your new book and your backlist would get exposure. We can also manage paid online advertising, or focus promotional efforts in areas where outlets don’t have as strict of regulations around launch dates. We would need to discuss the strategic promotional opportunities still available for branding you as an author and raising exposure of your book.

We are a comprehensive book publicity and marketing firm, with team members who specialize in both areas. Publicity is more about branding, growing your fanbase and building up an online presence. Digital marketing is more focused on trying to achieve direct return on investment - advertising to your specific target audience in an effort to boost sales, email list subscribers, social media followers, etc.

There are no guarantees in either area, but we believe that good publicity can strengthen digital marketing. We think long term with our authors, planning not only for the upcoming book release but for in between releases and also ways to promote your backlist. Let’s have a conversation about what would work best for you!