Marketing
This past Friday, I co-moderated a Clubhouse chat with novelist and creative coach Nicole Meier and marketing pro Sarah Bean of Booklaunchers on “How to plan your path to publication.” This is maybe the third or fourth chat the three of us have had about publishing and marketing a book, and with each, I always find new inspiration and feel greater confidence in my own work. One of my favorite takeaways from Friday’s chat was Sarah’s advice to authors on marketing and PR: check your ego at the door.
Here’s a little homework for authors and soon-to-be authors. Think about the various marketing and publicity efforts you’ve considered or are doing for your book and write what you think that effort means and what its possible outcome will be. Here’s a few examples (and my true responses):
This year for Writer Unboxed, I’m trying to answer the most common PR and marketing questions I get asked so that authors have a better understanding of their wants, needs, and expectations. In February’s column, we addressed some seven questions on the competition for media coverage, earned media and book sales, responding to negative reviews, and an author’s and publicist’s relationship with book influencers. In this post, we’ll focus on client disappointment about lack of coverage, why #bookstagram, media and “needle-moving”, and ugly crying on TikTok.
As per usual, I had a little help from friends and trusted colleagues in answering these questions.
Let’s talk expectation. What do you say to a client who says, “You’ve done a great job, but I’m disappointed that I didn’t get any magazine coverage?”
I’m always honest and transparent with my clients. My commitment to each author runs deep and I only want the very best for my authors. […]
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No matter who publishes your book, your obligation to promote it is inescapable. Every author would rather be writing than promoting so it’s important to make your time flogging your book count. Also, if you’re like me, you try hard not to lose money writing, and that means outsourcing as little as possible. Because social media platforms are the predominant cost-free methods available to us, creating eye-catching graphics is a skill we’d all be wise to optimize.
Luckily, I truly enjoy making graphics, and when I have time or am procrastinating writing, I volunteer my services to friends. Over the years, I have learned a thing or two about promoting books using images, and I’m here to share them with you.
Keep it simple. Eye-catching graphics are not complicated; they are clean. How do you make a clean graphic? Someone who has studied graphic design could explicate the principles, but since that’s not me, I can only tell you what I try to do: create a mood and showcase the cover. If you’re lucky, your cover and title already convey genre and mood. The job of the graphic is to amplify that or to suggest what reading the book would be like. It’s spin, it’s fantasy, it’s advertising. For two friends, I used Canva (https://www.canva.com/) to create two distinct moods. For Jessica Strawser’s upcoming release I echoed the water motif on the cover; it didn’t need more.
For Amy Sue Nathan’s book, I picked up the beach motif and used a less stuffy font appropriate to the tone of the story.
Limit the text. The primary purpose of a graphic is to get attention. The secondary purpose is to convey information. If you try to convey too much, however, you’ll muddy the waters and fall short of both goals. People are scrolling, they are distracted, they are eating lunch and will swipe past a wordy graphic. If you are promoting a giveaway, say “giveaway” and not “enter the first giveaway for my new release.” A brief quote, even a single word (“Extraordinary!”), gets the message across better than two-sentences. If you want to include a link to your website or the book’s page, make it small and stick it in a corner. Links are already in your post, right?
Make your cover the star. Whatever background you choose, ensure it does not compete with your cover.
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Like firstborn children, debut novels get a lot of attention. I’m a firstborn myself, as well as the first grandchild in a cohort of twelve, and I’ve always liked the role.
But what about second novels? I’d heard about the “sophomore slump”—the letdown and diminished interest, from friends as well as the media, in a second book. I’d also heard that a second book is easier because the process isn’t quite so unknown; experience can bring clarity, confidence, and manageable emotions.
Both descriptions of the sophomore novel made sense to me. Since I was about to launch my own second novel, I was curious to know what others had to say—writers who had “gone before” and could reflect back on what it was like. I reached out—on writers’ groups I belong to, and also privately to authors I knew—and asked three questions:
I ended up talking with twenty people, some on the phone and some through email. I didn’t explicitly try to find people representing all the paths to publishing, but it turned out that I did. The authors who talked to me included those who were self-published; those who had published through small, hybrid, and mid-size houses; and those who were published under an imprint of one of the Big Five. All were women, and all were novelists—not because I refused to talk with men, but because these were the people in my networks who responded to my query.
I wish I had space to quote everyone in detail! Since I don’t, I’ve tried to identify common themes, with examples, that may be useful to others who will follow in their footsteps. We all want to know: Is my experience similar to what others have experienced? Is what I’m feeling “normal?”
“Normal” is never one thing, of course; it’s always a range. My hope is that other sophomore novelists, including me, will take heart and find direction in the experience of those who’ve been through this already. Because I collected so much data, I will be sharing it over two posts, with the second post to follow next month. Today’s post will focus on the first question—how the authors’ external choices and experiences differed in the second book. Next month’s post will focus on the second question—the internal experience—as well as the similarities.
I’ve summarized what these twenty respondents (named at the end of this post) told me about their experience into five broad themes.
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Earlier this month, Greer Macallister wrote a post for WU entitled, All the Things I Don’t Know, which struck a chord. In this day and age of double-masking, remote learning, and where should I get my COVID test today, I often wake up less with the Carrie Bradshaw “I couldn’t help but wonder” mindset, and more of a “how in the [insert expletive] am I going to answer that?”
You see, I spend a good portion of each day answering questions. There are the mom questions…”what did you pack me for snack?” There are the wife questions … “do I have 10 minutes to finish up this deck before dinner?” While the dog can’t speak, his eyes, tail wags, and door scratches are just loaded with questions. And since almost everything is about food, my answers don’t require much thought or even complete sentences. But then I’ll get a client question, which might go something like this: “My publisher got me something called a BookBub deal that’s running early next week in the historical fiction category, and my first question is, what’s BookBub? My second question is what else is it that I should be doing to support that deal? My third question is what will you be doing to support that deal?
These questions require greater thought, a review of the calendar, a discussion with my team, and a strategic plan. Sometimes still a client is having trouble understanding it all and then we make arrangements for a call where I lead him or her to various websites and social media platforms to get a clearer picture.
And I genuinely enjoy all of this.
With this pandemic year, where we question everything and everyone, the unknown about the book world feels a little deeper and darker. I think more about all the things I don’t know. I question more of what I do know. And I wouldn’t be surprised if everything changed completely tomorrow.
But for now, here are some of the more common questions I’ve been asked this pandemic year. I had a little help from friends in answering them.
1. [Insert Author Name] is on [Insert National Morning Show like Good Morning America] talking about the same thing my book is about. Why didn’t they choose me and can you go back to them?
We don’t usually get feedback about why a producer went with one author over another, but the reasons can be many including: that particular author may have an already established relationship with the network/show and is called on to be their expert on that topic whenever it is in the news; the author may be more well-known and have a larger following on social media, which is definitely a factor when producers are considering guests; that author may have an affiliation with an organization that can help amplify the segment that others do not; and that author may have clips to past TV interviews that show they would be engaging and have experience on TV. Those are just some possible reasons and publicists rarely, if ever, get feedback as to why a specific author was not booked. The producers do not have the time or bandwidth to report back with that level of feedback. I […]
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My latest book, a YA speculative fiction novel titled The Ghost Squad, is out this week. I’m delighted, of course–and thank you so much to WU for helping me celebrate its release with a Take Five interview!
That also got me thinking about new releases, how we go about celebrating them, and the different things authors do to highlight their book to readers, so this what I want to look at, in my first WU post for this new year. In the age of COVID, many of us are trying to come up with ingeniously new ways of celebrating new releases…
In my own case, both in the past and more recently, I’ve done a selection of many things over and above what my publishers have done, and all planned well ahead of release time. For example, in 2020 I did all of the following, to help to highlight my five new releases–it was a big year for new books for me and I had to work pretty hard to try and showcase them! Of course I didn’t do all of these things for each book, just a selection, as appropriate:
These all had varying degrees of success, but most worked quite well. Some were more time-consuming than others, of course. And one of the things I found in 2020 when it came to publicizing my new releases was that though reviews were really hard to come by–harder even than usual–people seemed much more interested in doing author interviews. I was invited to do several over the year, both in video and podcast, as well as being included in video series—readings, talks–initiated by children’s literature organizations specifically for the purpose of supporting authors and illustrators.
In the case of other authors, here are some things that I’ve seen people do:
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I should not be writing this post right now.
I should be working on my second novel, which is due to my editor, in three days.
I should be promoting my first book, which just launched three weeks ago.
I should be doing laundry or cleaning the bathroom.
Is my son due for a Covid test tomorrow? Wait, where are my kids? Did anyone feed the dogs today?
I should not be writing this post right now.
I will look back on January 2021 with a lot of emotions. My debut novel, Waiting for the Night Song was released on Jan 12, marking the achievement of a dream thirteen years in the making. I didn’t have the in-person launch party I had always envisioned, but my virtual launch was incredible. Friends, family, and strangers from around the world tuned in – including my middle school science and English teachers. I had cake, flowers, and an outpouring of love that I will treasure forever. It was perfect.
At least that’s what you saw if you followed my social media posts: love, joy, pride, celebration.
What you didn’t see was that my second novel, The Last Beekeeper, is hanging over my head, so I’m trying to juggle celebrating the first book while madly revising the second book for a deadline I’ve already pushed back twice. For every celebratory post I write, there is a stress bomb hovering over my shoulder.
You might remember a few other things that happened in January 2021. The pandemic reached its most deadly point, domestic terrorists attacked our nation’s capital, we inaugurated a new president under tenuous circumstances, and we initiated a historic second impeachment of a former president – all of which make my book launch feel a bit inconsequential.
Oh, and I have four kids, three of whom have been home doing online school since March. Two of them moved out in mid-January – the same week as my book launch. As my launch day approached, the stress bomb got bigger.
Did I mention my husband had ankle reconstruction surgery in November and hadn’t been able to walk, even with crutches, until a couple of weeks ago?
I really should not be writing this post right now.
As I write this, I’m contemplating whether or not I have time to squeeze in a shower before a book event this evening. (My hair looks fine. No one will notice on Zoom will they?)
Before you all start overnighting me bottles of scotch to calm me down, I need you to understand something important: I’m fine.
I’m great, actually.
As the pandemic worsened and it became obvious that my book launch would take place under tightened lockdown and in the middle of political turmoil, I had an epiphany: This is my moment. This is my debut that I have worked toward for more than a decade.
I can give in to fear, stress, and anger, or I can rise up and claim the joy I’ve worked hard for.
I choose joy, dammit!
As I write this, it is snowing, that quiet, soft New England snow that makes you want to curl up with a book and a cup of tea. I have a fire roaring in my fireplace and, despite the deadline stress and the fact that I cannot […]
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“My publisher told me that sales numbers the week of publication will make or break my book’s future. Let’s hurry and make sure as much news as possible goes live that week!”
“With my publication date in 3 weeks, I’d like to start PR right away to make a huge splash that day and boost my book’s chances of success.”
Nearly every day I hear comments like this from authors hoping that PR and marketing aimed at their publication date will catapult their new books to overnight success. Here’s the formula they’ve been taught:
“Get the word out ASAP = pique potential readers’ interest right away + drive sales.”
If only it were accurate.
As it turns out, reality is starkly different. Let’s unpack it.
First, getting the word out in and of itself takes time. If you have a publicist, they’ll need to develop a thoughtful strategy and messaging plan. They’ll need to build press lists and prepare marketing materials and press releases. When done well, this is a lengthy process filled with myriad gnarly details that slow things down.
Once communications do start rolling out, recipients need time to process them. Reporters, editors and reviewers get many hundreds of pitches a day sent directly to their inbox. They may not spot your pitch or press release right away. When they do finally see the news about your book (if they do!) they might not be able to focus on it for a while.
Then—if and when they do see the news about your book, and if and when they decide to follow up—lots of things need to happen before a review or interview can go live. Media contacts may need to:
Sure, there are times when things happen much more quickly. But those are rare. I’ve described this process in detail before here on Writer Unboxed.
Once the coverage is out in the world your potential readers need to see it and focus on it. That, too, takes time. At any given nanosecond, your audience, like the rest of us, are all in the midst of a thousand different things.
All of this adds up not to instant interest and sales, but to the beginning of a long, slow trek. Which is why I always say that BOOK PROMOTION IS A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT.
In the sprint scenario, you race to do everything imaginable—PR, social media, newsletter marketing, signings, etc—over the course of a few months leading up to your publication date, then come to an abrupt halt […]
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Publishing a book is the scariest, most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done. It’s hard to believe that my debut novel, The Kindest Lie, will enter the world in less than a month. One of the best parts of this journey has been sharing it with Julie Carrick Dalton and Sarah Penner, writers who are also debuting this year. Three different publishing imprints. Three very different books. Yet one shared obsession when we meet every Sunday afternoon on Zoom: Will my book be successful? Have I done enough to give my novel the best shot at success? What is success?
I turned to a few authors I admire (many who debuted in 2020) to hear what they’ve learned along the way. These writers, like most, were incredibly generous with their wisdom. Whether you have a book coming out this year or someday (and you will), save these nuggets of insight and pull them out when you need them.
What I wish I had known…
“I wish I’d known how overwhelming marketing and promotion can be, immediately after your book is released. Readings, panel discussions, interviews, book clubs, social media posts—all of these take up an amazing amount of time, and it’s important to keep your writing going. So, the best piece of advice I can give is to set aside at least an hour a day to devote to your next project. You won’t be sorry!”
-David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of Winter Counts
“I had such a great debut year and learned so much as a result. What I wish I’d known going into my debut year is to not be ashamed to ask for help. As Black women, we’re so used to carrying everything on our shoulders. This mind frame bleeds into everything we do. With publishing, you have a whole team behind you with years of experience in navigating the difficult terrain of editing, marketing, publicity, etc. That doesn’t mean you won’t have an opportunity to educate them on how to improve upon this in our evolving landscape between publishing and social justice; it does mean you can use their assistance to grow your platform and give voice to you and your art.”
-Catherine Adel West, author of Saving Ruby King
“As a decades-long career coach to lawyers, I pretty much “coached” the heck out of myself as my debut month approached. But the one thing that most surprised me was how quickly the satisfaction, for me, of a good review dissipated compared to the malingering of a bad one. For every author affected by bad reviews, there is one for whom negative criticism remains instructive and constructive. Sadly, I am not that author! So, having a handle on how criticism would resonate with me, and how to handle or even avoid it, was one thing I wish I’d known.”
-Natalie Jenner, international bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society
“I wish I had known how kind, generous and compassionate readers are. I have received many letters since the publication of The Mountains Sing and I count them among my precious gifts. I also wish I had known how busy the year could be. I have done more than 100 virtual events during the last nine months since my novel’s […]
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In this strange stay-at-home year, publicity and marketing for authors has been more difficult than ever. It’s not just that physical in-person launches, events, school visits and festivals have had to be cancelled, postponed or streamlined to be shifted online. It’s also harder to get publicity materials into the usual outlets, and social media has also seemed less receptive to the usual kind of book news. Book people generally have had to invent new ways of connecting with readers and spreading the word about new books whilst providing an entertaining and engaging distraction from the general news.
In my case, as I described in a previous post, I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of online presentations, but what I want to discuss is a form of online presentation which I’ve really enjoyed creating. I call it an illustrated video talk for want of a better, more elegant phrase (any suggestions as to that gratefully accepted!). It’s a mix of PowerPoint slides and audio commentary, turned into a simple video which is easy to make and upload to You Tube or other video channels. The primary focus of these videos is not straight-out book promotion per se–though hopefully they will arouse interest in the book or books discussed in the video. Instead, I intend them to be intriguing, informative and maybe even useful–glimpses into my creative process, inspirations and the writing life generally. Thus they would fit within an overall author strategy, rather than just single-book promotion or even multi-book promotion.
The beauty of these illustrated video talks is that you do not need to be a professional video-maker to create them, or to have access to expensive high-quality equipment. Of course you won’t have the ‘live’ feel of the ‘talking head’ video, but you also avoid issues like mediocre web-cam quality, umpteen takes, large file sizes, etc. And in my opinion you get the ‘storytelling voice’ across more strongly, as there’s less to distract you. Don’t expect them to get you lots of ‘hits’ unless you are very lucky, but do expect that you will be creating some very useful and practical resources, not only to put on your sites and social media, but to give out as links to people who might consider booking you for other kinds of presentations, as well as for school visits, for publishers’ marketing, etc. And they are fun to make!
The basics of it are easy: You write a simple script, use Power Point to create the original series of slides based on important pointers in your script, with illustrations, then record your commentary with the Audio function in PowerPoint (you can also add music if you want). After saving the file in PP, export it to an MP4 format, then upload to YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Of course there’s more to it it you mean to make something that goes beyond a simple ‘hey, look at this book’ notion. So far I’ve made three of these illustrated video talks: one which looks at the inspiration and process behind the creation of several of my picture books; one about the inspirations and sources behind my new retellings of French fairy tales; and one in a great […]
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John Cunningham, my longtime client, called during the height of COVID, when many of us were either crying daily or making sourdough, to say he had dusted off an old manuscript, re-wrote much of it and was sending it to his editor. It was my cue to be prepared for a PR and marketing campaign. There was a catch. It wasn’t his usual Caribbean action adventure featuring hard on his luck protagonist Buck Reilly that I had worked on for the last eight years. This novel was historical…political…biographical…had an alternate ending…female protagonists.
Whoa.
John had genre jumped.
OK, I thought, I’m up for the challenge.
When I sat back and absorbed it all, this jump came as no real surprise because, a writer’s gonna write and the pandemic seemed to lead to either total paralysis or a complete overflow in creativity. Also, John having grown up in the Capital Beltway with an FBI father, a degree in International Relations with the goal of working for the Foreign Service, and a passion for travel seemed destined to write something political.
But as I always do, in my head, I thought about what it meant for his brand; what marketing communications tactics would I pursue; and could it help the sales of his Buck Reilly series?
Months passed as John went through edit, cover design and proofreading. The final edited PDF of The Last Raft sat in my Kindle waiting for me to read it on my annual end of summer trip to Maine. Through the years I read a total of eight Buck Reilly books on York Beach in a sitting. The books are fast, funny, transporting and just ever so entertaining.
It took me a full week to read The Last Raft. (Yes, I was still at the beach.)
It’s smart, detailed, contemplative, and entirely different than what I thought it to be.
And it totally stumped me.
And so I walked away from it… read Jamie Brenner’s manuscript in a sitting…watched Cobra Kai on Netflix with the kids…shopped a little too much with my daughter… and when I had finally distracted myself enough and that last kernel of doubt in my belly was gone, I picked up my laptop and fleshed out my strategy thinking about the following:
I work my campaigns in three parts for my clients—PR, advertising and social media. With indie books my goal is to maximize sales as press coverage is a harder get.
Where would I find the readers I wanted for this smart, political novel with hot button issues?
Could I bring new readers to John’s brand?
Could I market a completely different book to John’s existing fanbase?
It’s time to chat with John and learn more.
How long was The Last Raft collecting dust in your writing barn, and what made you go back to it?
I wrote The Last Raft before I ever dreamed-up Buck Reilly. I had gone to Cuba in the Summer of 2001 just a few months before 9/11 to research the story. I was able to get a license to visit there through the Department of Treasury and spent a couple weeks touring and soaking up the culture. I had lived in Key […]
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Image Credit: Unsplash Julio Rionaldo
In my final 2020 installment of the Author Up Close series, I’m interviewing Alexia Gordon. Alexia is repped by Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary Services and published by Henery Press. She’s been nominated for an Agatha Award, was a finalist for a Silver Falchion Award, and was chosen as one of Suspense Magazine’s best debuts of 2016. She’s also the host of the Cozy Corner podcast. As if all that weren’t enough, Alexia is also a medical doctor.
I first met Alexia in 2019 at the Killer Nashville Conference. Despite its name, the annual conference isn’t some weird meetup of aspiring murderers; it’s an event held by and for very friendly, welcoming, and non-killy mystery, crime, and thriller writers. It was there that I learned that Alexia is the author behind the Gethsemane Brown Mysteries, paranormal cozies featuring an African American classical musician living in southwestern Ireland. I recently had the opportunity to ask her about the series, the challenges of balancing two demanding careers, and why she advises writers never to miss an opportunity to pitch their work.
GW: I’ve been starting my author Q&As by asking about writer origin stories. The term is usually only used to describe superheroes, but I think creatives all have origin stories. What’s yours?
AG: I write mysteries with ghosts because I grew up reading mysteries and reading (and watching) horror and ghost stories. Write what you love, right? The thing missing from what I read growing up were characters who looked like me. I wondered why a Black woman couldn’t catch a murderer or vanquish a demon or survive the night in a haunted house. One day, I realized a Black woman could do those things. So, I decided to write about a Black woman catching murderers while living in a haunted house.
GW: What was your path to getting published? If you pitched and queried, what was it about your manuscript and query that stood out? What advice can you give to writers who are currently querying?
AG: I didn’t have much (any) luck with querying. I got my contract by pitching. I went to DFWCon, the Dallas Fort Worth Writers Conference, and signed up for pitch sessions. I attended the practice pitch sessions beforehand. The feedback I got proved invaluable in helping me hone my pitch. I can’t give any advice about querying, I’m afraid. As for pitching, I recommend not passing up any chance to pitch and I recommend practicing so you sound your best in the short time you have to impress an agent or editor.
GW: In this industry, it can be difficult for authors to get additional books published in a planned series. You’ve got five in your Gethsemane Brown Mysteries series, which is amazing. Can you tell us a little about the series: how you got started with it and share some insight into how to try to obtain longevity in this business?
AG: The Gethsemane Brown Mysteries feature an African American classical musician who, through misadventure, ends up accepting a job teaching music at an Irish boys’ school and a caretaking gig at […]
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image by Visionello
Yesterday, I spent most of the day working. In the end, I wrote 40 words. And it was a successful working day, not a failed one; those 40 words will make someone very happy.
A poet, I suppose, might be able to make the same statement, but I haven’t written poetry in years; what I’m talking about here is writing a blurb for a less-established novelist. A lot of time goes into reading an entire book and thinking through how to phrase your praise. Though it’s time-consuming, it’s also one of my favorite things.
If you’re looking for wisdom on requesting a blurb, let me point you to Barbara Lynn Probst’s recent post on the subject: lots of great guidelines and thoughts here. I figured I’d focus instead on what to do once a blurb request comes in. Maybe it’s from an editor or agent through your e-mail; maybe it’s a Twitter or Facebook message from an unknown writer; maybe it’s a verbal request from an acquaintance or friend (remember when we used to see people at conferences? good times). There are four potential responses, each of which I use with different frequency. Let’s walk through them one by one:
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Spoiler alert: this post is not going to talk about COVID-19 or the state of our world and the ways in which we’ve all needed to adjust. But it is going to look at the pandemic as an example of something I’m asked about all the time. You guessed it: spoilers.
Rarely does a week go by when an author does not ask me whether posting a particular snippet with plot information to Facebook, or sharing a description of their main character’s conflicts or fate with a reporter will “give away too much.” In other words, whether it’ll be a spoiler.
Every single time—regardless of the amount of detail being shared—my answer is no.
Though it might sound surprising, in the world of book promotion, more information is…more. And less is…flat. In order to engage people who have not yet picked up your book, there needs to be enough powerful, detailed information to pique their curiosity. Far too often I see authors very carefully opting to give away little more than a publication date, a cover image, the sources of their inspiration and the content of the back cover copy. But in holding back juicy detail, you’re missing opportunities to engage.
Think about it. Details in and of themselves don’t tell the story. To anybody who has not read the book, details are like bait. As the author, you know your own book intimately. You instantaneously connect the dots from each tiny detail to the bigger picture. But that’s only because you know the bigger picture. Future readers have no way to do this.
Here’s how you can artfully weave the right spoilers into shout-outs and other communications about your book:
Be specific
Share juicy details abundantly. In and of themselves, they give little away. Instead, they give a flavor for what makes the characters, the setting, the conflicts and your voice unique. These little tidbits will create intrigue and make people want to know more, not less.
For example, buried in one book we recently promoted is the author’s story of having been fired from her dream job due to sexual discrimination but deciding not to file a claim about it. (You might be wondering why. You can read about that here.) Most authors would want to hold back from sharing the details of a story like this and its outcome in the promotion process for fear that readers will get enough satisfaction from that stand-alone anecdote that they won’t want to read the entire book. But in fact, this tidbit is an intriguing inroad to the book itself, serving to pique curiosity. Doesn’t it make you want to know more?
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The first half of this year has been a monumental test in flexibility and resilience for authors and everyone in publishing. My debut novel, The Kindest Lie, will release on February 9, and that publishing date has changed several times as the William Morrow team attempted to position my book and others in their catalog for optimal success during these uncertain times.
Recently, I joined the team of A Mighty Blaze, a new organization that formed to help authors and books find their readers during this global pandemic. That’s how I met Laura Rossi who leads publicity for A Mighty Blaze. She worked in-house at top publishers, including Random House, Viking Penguin, and W.W. Norton before founding Laura Rossi Public Relations.
Laura was incredibly generous sharing with me nuggets of wisdom about promoting books during a pandemic, buying the right equipment for all the Zooming and Skyping, making publishing more diverse and inclusive, as well as pulling back the curtain on how some books get on those elusive, coveted “most anticipated” lists. I’ve edited our interview for brevity, but it was seriously so good that I wish all of you could’ve been on the phone with us.
Nancy Johnson: How has the pandemic impacted our ability to get our books out there into the world?
Laura Rossi: The first thing that happened to many books is their publication dates changed. That was a huge pivot for lots of authors, seeing their early summer pub dates move to fall or in some cases 2021. Summers work well for commercial fiction and beach reads, but it’s often not the best time for bigger books. That was a big trend I noticed. Authors had to give up control and let their publishers do what they thought was best in a very different world. Some books published and didn’t live up to expectations the authors had. Lots of books with March, April and May pub dates—copies were already printed and warehouses were still able to mail books—pubbed during a pandemic. But before May there wasn’t a lot of space for book coverage and some of those books that weren’t able to move didn’t get a lot of media or sales. However, if your book came out in hardcover during the pandemic, you still have a shot at pushing that paperback a year or more later. That second chance is encouraging.
NJ: How has publishing had to adjust now that we don’t have hand-sales in bookstores and in-person author events?
LR: All real-life events were paused or canceled, and many went online. Conferences, workshops, big in-person events like BookExpo and the intimate author lunch with someone from a magazine went away. Those schmoozing opportunities to hand-sell your book were gone. Some authors in the past would get pre-sales visits to New York to meet with booksellers. That personal touch has had to go virtual. People are not going on tours visiting 25 bookstores anymore.
NJ: This all sounds terrible. What do you tell your authors about how to pivot in this new environment?
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