Posts by Crystal Patriarche
Publicist.
It’s like a dirty word. In fact, I’m calling it today’s Dirty Word of the Day. Once, I needed help with an author contract and reached out to a woman about hiring her as a consultant. I got an email from her that said, “I don’t like publicists but sure I’ll talk to you.” Uh, no thank you. I wouldn’t want you to slum it with little old dirty me. And I wouldn’t want to disappoint her and her preconceived notion of a “publicist” either. After all, I’ve been told I’m quite likeable (usually).
This woman, she’s not alone in her prejudice. There is this love-hate relationship that exists between authors and publicists, between publishers and outside publicists – now there is a really dirty word and occupation: outside publicist. Like… porta-potty cleaner, fishmonger, used car salesman or …porn star. (In fact, for fun, here are a few other really disgusting words, perhaps far more disgusting than publicist. And some really disgusting jobs, perhaps far worse than publicist.)
But, in all seriousness, and back to the Dirty Word of the Day: At some point as an author, you are going to have to make a decision about hiring a publicist. And at some point you might not be happy with that publicist, you might not know what to do or you might be considering firing that publicist, or perhaps looking for another porn star…err publicist to take their place. Here are some tips on how to fire – and not to fire- your publicist.
#1 Share some pie
If you are on the fence about the relationship with your publicist and whether you want to extend it or terminate it, sit down and talk. My grandfather (a true Midwesterner) liked to say that there’s nothing that a good pie can’t fix. If you live in the same area, sit down over coffee (and pie) and have a face-to-face, heart-to-heart with your publicist. They are (usually) people too. I’ve been doing this awhile and I know that sometimes it’s a matter of neither party understanding the feelings, needs, expectations, hard work and situation on both sides. If you don’t live in the same area, try Skype or Face Time. Relying on email or texts is not a great way to communicate, especially over big matters. And if you have hired the kind of publicist that would never even consider sitting down over coffee, let alone pie, with you, then you should probably fire them (just kidding…sort of).
#2 Be Patient
I often have clients say, “Why haven’t you heard back yet?”, “Well, you would think local media would be very interested in my story”, or “What’s taking so long? It’s been over a month now…”. Media relations is tough and it takes time and a good publicist is aggressive and persistent without being annoying. Sometimes who you know can help, sometimes not. Sometimes an editor is busy or out or just not interested or has other things they are focused on. Sometimes they are still reading your book. Sometimes they read it and didn’t choose it. Sometimes they didn’t like it. Sometimes they loved it […]
Read MoreIt (finally) appears the stigmas once associated with self and indie-publishing are disappearing, or at least waning – though in some cases there are new ones arising and there will always be naysayers. Let me clarify that while I think there are pros and cons to traditional publishing, self publishing and Indie publishing alike, I have always been a supporter of each and never agreed with those stigmas. As a PR and marketing professional having helped launch several successful self and Indie published books, I knew there were high quality stories out there by talented authors that needed to be told that didn’t have a publisher for various reasons. It’s been great to see some of the national media open up and begin writing about these books and authors more. For me, it’s been great to see these authors and books find readers and success – sometimes as much so, or even more so, than books I’ve worked on that have a big publisher.
More authors, agents, and readers are embracing Indie of self-publishing. It’s even becoming a viable option for several of my very successful traditionally published authors who are seeing that success and now considering making the leap.
But thus far the media has covered the breakout stories of self-publishing that are not the norm – often leading to unrealistic expectations. The purpose of this post is to share well thought-out tips from several self-published authors who have been successful on many different levels and in their own right – not just those that have sold millions of copies. (Note: most of these authors are clients of mine. Through years of innovation and creativity working on Indie and self-published books on a case by case basis – along with our traditionally published clients – we’ve helped these authors become award-winning, bestselling – or both – and many have gone on to sign with agents, publishers and even sell film rights. Or they have continued to successfully self-publish). But hiring professional PR and marketing is only one piece of it – they have each done their own things to make their success unique. I tapped them to share the tips direct from their experiences and mouths.
Read MoreRecently here on Writer Unboxed, the lovely Sharon Bially wrote about The Bad PR Hangover (and how to avoid it). A fabulous post – if you have not read it, read it too. You see, I’ve also had a handful of authors recently who have found me and relayed terrible and unfavorable stories of working with a book publicist or publicity firm (or other outside/freelance help) with an unhappy or very unfavorable outcome, similar to what Sharon wrote about. I hear these stories from time to time, but lately the number is on the rise and now that I know other publicity and marketing pros are also hearing these situations too, I think it’s even more important to equip authors with as much info as possible to avoid these situations. The tips Sharon shared in her post, and mine below, can also be applied toward any help an author hires – from a publicist to a website designer, from an editor to a cover designer and so on.
Perhaps it’s just another side effect of a crazy publishing market where things are being shaken up. When things are shaken up, growing and changing so quickly, well, there are things that are “unknown”, that is when some people take advantage. I have heard some mind-blowing, heart-wrenching stories just like the two Sharon mentioned. Whatever the reason for the increased instances of bad experiences or being taken advantage of, it should not happen that way, does not have to happen that way and there are things you can do to prevent – or recover – from a situation like that.
One author who called me even called it PTPD – Post-traumatic publicity disorder. Sharon’s author called it a bad PR hangover.
Regardless, here are 5 Additional Tips to Avoid a Bad PR Hangover/Experience/ PTPD (or whatever you want to call it!). Sharon’s great advice included things like setting reasonable expectations up front, getting a detailed work plan in place, having a publicist who is accessible and communicative on a regular basis and who offers you general guidance – all great tips!
To take this a few steps further, authors should:
#1 Get referrals
Do your research and make sure you get referrals – past and present clients – who have worked with the publicist. Ask for their favorite clients/campaigns but also ask for referrals for their most challenging (even if they don’t want to give those out, ask and make sure it’s not just the ones they know will rave). Ask those referrals as many questions about your potential new publicist as you can. Questions like: what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses, how often did they communicate/update, what were their biggest wins and biggest challenges. Also, ask for non-author referrals – like an internal publicist at a publisher they worked with. It’s always good to know how your potential outside publicist will be received and interact with your publisher (if you have one). Do not ever hire a person without talking to multiple referrals and asking the tough questions. And they should not be afraid to talk about those challenging clients or projects they might not be as proud of. I had a client once who signed up with me and, within […]
On a weekly basis, I field emails and phone calls from authors who are tackling the world of publishing alone. They have decided to self-publish their book or go with a small press and are looking for guidance to promote it. They often ask – can you help make my book a bestseller? How can publicity help sales? What are typical sales numbers for books you represent that have no publisher?
I start off by telling them these three things: every book is different, PR doesn’t guarantee sales and it will be an uphill battle. I am very selective with self-published books that come my way. Not because I have anything against self-publishing; but, because I won’t take a book on if I don’t think I can succeed on some level. I won’t take any book on unless I feel like I can succeed – it’s not about the number of clients for me, it’s about the work itself and if I’m a good fit for that book and author. So that I can successfully help on that uphill battle.
Most of the news about self-publishing is daunting and still very gloomy. The stigma still exists. I try not to be discouraging, but I know I need to be realistic. I had a self-published author come to me and say she wanted to sell 30,000 copies of her book. I told her she’d be lucky to sell 300. I wanted to be honest and up front. Yes, we would do all we can, but I wanted her to have realistic expectations.
But today I don’t want to be gloomy or discouraging when it comes to self or indie publishing. I want to tell you that IT CAN BE DONE! You can do it! And I want to share with you some success stories and tips – real stories of self-published authors who are not Amanda Hocking or John Locke or E.L. James.
Read MoreSummer vacation – is there anything better? I’ve just had the most amazing summer vacation. This year, we skipped the beach, we skipped the long lines at Disneyland and we headed to the mountains of Colorado and Montana. We didn’t just have a summer vacation – we had a summer adventure.
I now know why so many writers retreat to the mountains – to cabins, to lakes, to nature – to write their books. I was inspired by the views, the sounds, the smells so much that I wanted to write a book! But rather than channel my inner-Hemingway, I channeled my inner-adventurer. We went hiking, we went geocaching, we went exploring to the tops of 14,000-feet-above-sea-level mountains –by jeep, by train, by tram, by foot. My family zip-lined over the tops of trees and down the Big Sky’s Lone Mountain. I watched and took pictures that day – and couldn’t help but think that book publicity has a lot in common with zip lining.
3 Ways Book Publicity is Like a Zip Line
#1 It’s in the (personal) approach
Watching several of the zip-liners, including my husband and two of my kids, I realized their personalities were all different and they were each approaching the adventure a different way – just like my clients. Some authors are timid and unsure if they want to invest in publicity and never really gain their footing until things starting happening and they slowly get a smile on their face (just like my 12-year-old daughter who had to warm up to the zip line); some are scared the whole way and need constant reassurance and even when they get off at the end, they are not sure they would do it again (like my business partner Kim whose family joined us in Montana); some are aggressive and bold and take charge, wanting as much detail and fun as possible, who enjoy every moment and are up for any crazy out-of-the-box or spontaneous idea (like my husband who zip-lined upside down!); others enjoy it but want it to be safe, straight, predictable and planned out well in advance.
It seems like as soon as we tackle one hot “it” tool and capture ways to use it for publicity (first Facebook, then Twitter), something new and even cooler comes along and grabs everyone’s attention. Right now that “it” tool is Pinterest and I’ll admit – I’m hooked.
If you’re not familiar, Pinterest is like an online scrapbook or a place to create an online inspiration board. Basically, you find images and videos you like and “pin” them to your online boards. Others can see your boards, see what’s inspiring you and be inspired too.
For instance, I used Pinterest to help create a story board for a client photo shoot I recently did – we found some amazing images of the look and style we were trying to achieve in the photo shoot and shared the board with our models and photographers. It was a great way for all of us to see the vision and get inspired for the photo shoot.
I’ve seen others use Pinterest for dinner ideas (a “must make” board), for gift ideas, for room makeover ideas and even one recently called “books worth reading”, where the creator had pinned up book covers of books she recently read and loved. This inspired me and starting feeding my creativity as a book publicist – as I’m always trying to find new and exciting ways to help authors promote their books online. I thought, how can I counsel my clients to add Pinterest to their social media strategy in smart and creative ways? Would it work?
After doing some research and talking with some Pinterest fanatics as well as book lovers, here are a few ways authors can engage potential new readers on Pinterest and help spread awareness and interest in their books.
#1 Add the “Pin it” widget to your site
Read MoreWhether you’re a debut author about to launch a book (congrats!) or a writer trying to get published (good luck! I hope you do!) or a sophomore or seasoned author who’s thinking of biting the publicity bullet (yes, you should!), there are things to know about publicity in advance.
I love the phone calls and emails I get from authors and writers who are thinking about publicity. I love that they are taking initiative and getting answers, they are preparing to give their book the best chance and they are eager and full of questions about publicity – what is a publicist? what do you do? will it sell books? can you make me a bestseller?
Inevitably, there are similar questions that pop up – and I’ve addressed those here – in case these help you understand what publicity is, what it isn’t and what it can and can’t do for you as an author.
5 Things You Should Know About Publicity Before You’re Published or Before You Hire a Publicist
#1 Publicity is Awareness but not Sales & Marketing
Many authors admit they know nothing, or almost nothing, about publicity – except that they know they need to do it. More often than not, publicity is confused with sales and marketing. Publicity is not sales. Publicity is not marketing. Yes, they go hand in hand. Yes, they can (and should) be synergetic. But publicity (also known as PR) does not guarantee sales. Is there a correlation between when a media hit (book reveiw/feature/blog mention) happens and sales? Yes. Usually. Almost always. But, publicity is about creating awareness and chatter about your book. Sales and marketing is about moving that sales needle. Everything from the book cover design, language on the book, colors on the cover, genre, endorsements – and much more – are well researched by sales and marketing teams to motivate people to buy that book. Publicity is about getting the media and audiences talking about a book, creating visibility for a book – and thus will generate awareness of the book and the author, and also traffic to find more out about the book either to bookstores, the author’s website, or booksellers online. And, hopefully, once there, the sales and marketing of the book (the cover, the colors, the language, the endoresements!) and what the consumer sees when they arrive at that site, will make them purchase it. So…. publicity is not sales and marketing. They are completely different animals – but both very necessary.
#2 Publicity doesn’t happen overnight
Read MorePhoto by Aftab Uzzaman
You’ve done the hard part and written the book(s) – okay, well maybe you’re procrastinating a tad bit by being online reading Writer Unboxed when really you should be polishing off that manuscript. All is forgiven, however, because you’re here, getting a leg up by reading about your book’s publicity – something that, far too often, is thought about late in the game.
Or maybe you have a book that’s currently out (congrats!) making its way in the world and you’re feeling ho-hum about the publicity it’s getting or that your publicist in general is not doing enough (or is she?). It’s a competitive, changing market, after all, and it’s just so darn hard to get the word out about a book these days. I mean, we can’t all give away a new car on Facebook (and readers are becoming blasé about Facebook contests anyway) nor can we all be so lucky to have Jennifer Weiner sit on national TV and say our book is the book to read this summer now can we? (side note: congrats to Tayari Jones, fellow Arizona State grad – go Devils! – her novel Silver Sparrow is really breathtaking!).
Regardless of your situation, you’re here reading about book publicity and instead of relying on my expertise alone (I’m always up for learning from the masses!), I’ve tapped some other fabulous outside publicists to help give you (or your publicist) a leg up.
Here are 5 MUST-DO tips for book publicity in today’s market:
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