Publicity
I have some homework for you.
For 2025, I want you to really think about two things: connection and purpose.
Try to…
Consider how you will…
Describe yourself…
Describe your writing…
What influences your work…
What do you want readers…
Answer this question honestly…
If you have questions, you can always email me – am@getredpr.com – or drop a comment below. Wishing Writer Unboxed readers a very happy and healthy holiday season.
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By Ann-Marie Nieves with Randy Susan Meyers
Today’s post by Ann-Marie Nieves of Get Red PR features her perspective on marketing and the opinions of Randy Susan Meyers, her friend and client.
Will it be dueling points of view or simpatico? Read on to find out.
We are all marketers.
I know you don’t believe me. I know it feels safer to say, I can’t do this because I’m not a marketer.
You can continue to say…
I can’t.
I won’t.
I’m not.
It’s my publicist/marketer/publisher’s job.
But it’s your story. It’s your brand. So it’s your job too.
And letting the value of marketing rest solely on someone else’s shoulders is not enough to sustain you.
This advice isn’t exclusively about accepting that you need to get involved with spreading the word; I’m not saying get over it.
I’m asking you to open your arms wide and embrace your compelling story.
A few weeks ago, author Randy Susan Meyers wrote about choosing joy in marketing. Here’s how she fully embraced her story:
From Randy:
Years ago, I heard the words that guided my career regarding (for me) the most vexing and challenging part of publishing a book—marketing and publicity:
Wisdom from literary agent Sorche Fairbank, speaking at a writer’s conference, became my mantra when facing the after-the-writing part.
Nobody will care about your book as much as you—not your agent, editor, husband, wife, mother, or father.
Nobody.
My literary agent, Stephanie Abou, became my other source of wisdom on taking responsibility for spreading the word—how to do what my publicist and marketing folks could not.
She urged me to, starting that day, move beyond relying on my writer circle and spread the word among friends (from past and present), family, alumni from any school I’d ever attended, camps, and houses of worship. Please do not rely solely on folks you are on contact with on social media.
I pretended I was throwing the largest giant wedding, bar mitzvah, and christening and prepared the most extensive guest list in history.
I even included old boyfriends. Hey, everyone’s curious about their exes, right?
Trusting my agent, I moved beyond my natural inclination towards quiet privacy and tracked down email and physical addresses. I designed postcards, wrote emails, and crafted a message that (I hope!) shared my news with a ‘letting you know’ tone that I might use to share any fun, good news. (I’m getting married! I became a grandma! I joined Habitat for Humanity!).
People responded with warm excitement. Nobody scolded me.
Okay, that’s a lie. One FB alumni group member scolded, “This isn’t the place for selling things.”
But he was always a jerk.
There are miraculous things only publicists can manage and things they can never do—and vice versa.
Now, with my sixth novel releasing (The Many Mothers […]
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By Randy Susan Meyers with Ann-Marie Nieves
Today’s post by Randy Susan Meyers features not only her perspective on writers facing promotion, but also the opinions of Ann-Marie Nieves of Get Red PR, her friend and publicist—the person who keeps Randy from repeatedly hitting the wine bottle until the launch is over.
Will it be dueling points of view or simpatico? Read on to find out.
There is a subset of writers for whom promotion and marketing come naturally—men and women who get and enjoy the many sides of promotion. Come launch day, they leap from bed, put on their (bright red!) lipstick, shrug a perfect blazer on their sharp shoulders, flick their perfectly cut hair over their collar, smile wide, and greet the readers of the world with joy.
Then there are the rest of us.
We slouch towards book release day with equal amounts of dread and fear. If we’re lucky (and smartish), we’ve read Naked at the Podium, a must-have guide for readers. (“This practical book of tips, solutions, and exercises was born of a writer’s angst: how to present material in a way that was appealing to bookstore audiences, flexible enough to use in non-traditional venues, and dramatic enough to keep any audience awake and eager to buy.”)
If we’re massively unlucky, we live in the killer zone of denial and decide that winging a launch will be fine. At least our wrinkled shirt is clean!
And hey, didn’t we put our book up on social media? Over and over and over?
Can you choose joy in marketing? Is that even possible?
Sometimes it is possible to find joy in marketing, but I’m using my definition of joy:
noun
She felt the joy watching the cat chase a laser pointer.
Synonyms: absorbing
For instance, writing this piece thoroughly absorbs me, even if I’m not jumping for joy. This work nourishes me. Self-engagement is what I want marketing my novel to bring. Absorption. Interest. Cause if I’m bored with what I’m doing, there’s a good chance so-too will be my potential reader.
What authors do is usually different from the marketing and publicity work done by our publicists and marketing people, whether they be from inside our publisher’s domain or outside professionals. They are professionals and know their business.
The marketing we do—think social media, events, emails, author newsletters, walking the streets with a sandwich board—that’s the part that can destroy our souls if we’re not careful—or can work against our intentions.
We want readers to know we’ve written a book. (Because they’re readers—and books are what they want.) But we don’t want them rolling their eyes (see above me-me-me)—we want to tempt them to hunt down our books. Thus, consider these tips:
You Don’t Have to Do Every Single Kind of Social Media
In truth, unless you do them in an authentic and semi-enjoyable way, you don’t have to participate in any. One could make social media a full-time job between Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X (formerly known as Twitter), BlueSky, and TikTok. How do you choose which to […]
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At Orange Theory Fitness (OTF), where I torture and nurture myself each week, the trainers like to say, “How are you going to show up for yourself today?” Entering the OTF building, walking up the two extremely long flights of stairs, and starting each block of torture exercise, is me showing up for myself. This is my time to sweat, set free the to-do lists forever running through my head, and pretend like I’m a thin, athletic goddess. No phones, laptops, husband, hound, or children. And for the rest of the day, I am a better me.
A few weeks ago, I attended a celebration of life ceremony for a long-time client, Sharon Rowe, the fearless founder of Eco-Bags Products, the first reusable bag company. One of Sharon’s friends talked about the various sayings she lived by, which were chronicled in her book The Magic of Tiny Business. SHOW UP was one of Sharon’s tenets in business and in her personal life. Having worked with Sharon since 2006 or so, I saw her show up time and time again. She asked questions, responded quickly, worked hard towards goals, stated her case, recognized and celebrated achievements, boosted the morale of those around her, joined organizations, gave to charities, mentored, continuously encouraged women in business, counseled entrepreneurs, and understood the importance of pleasure, family time, community, and planet.
So what does this have to do with PR and marketing? Well, everything.
Every time we show up, we feed our creativity, boost morale, gain insight, increase our visibility in the industry, and build community.
When Sharon hired the marketing firm I freelanced for in the early aughts, her goal was to be on The Oprah Winfrey Show, despite never having seen it. What working woman with children watches daytime TV, she asked. (That’s for another post. ) You, we collectively told her. You’re the working woman who will watch this Oprah show, so you understand what it is you want. Well, she showed up…ECOBAGS® were given away to the audience of Oprah’s first Earth Day show, forever solidifying Eco-Bags Products in the zeitgeist. It was a moment so many showed up for and continue to do, carrying those bags to the market each day.
Who or what are you showing up for?
Got PR and marketing questions, drop them in the comments.
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Greetings, WU family! I’m pleased to be back with the latest in my Up Close series—a series designed to provide insight into the publishing industry from various stakeholders, including authors, agents, publishers, and today’s guest, a media strategist. A veteran of the publishing industry, Linda A. Duggins is the former Senior Director of Publicity at Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group where she led successful national campaigns for authors such as Tayari Jones, Jane Goodall, and the late Octavia E. Butler. In her current role as an Independent Media Strategist, Linda helps authors identify their books’ key selling points and teaches them how to leverage media opportunities to build awareness and boost sales. In today’s Q&A, Linda offers valuable insight into crafting a clear and compelling message about your books and your writing.
GW: Thank you for agreeing to this Q&A. First, can you tell us a bit about your career in publishing as it relates to media and publicity?
LD: There has never been a time that I did not enjoy talking about books. Spreading the word about amazing reads that keep me up at night or make me think well beyond the last page has been an ongoing experience for me. Prior to my publicity role at Grand Central Publishing, as co-founder of the Harlem Book Fair, I spent a considerable amount of time pitching various stories about the book fair, the authors and their books, and information about the various organizations that supported the work around what the book fair entailed. I was that person on the subway in NYC passing out upcoming book event postcards and advanced reader copies to just about anyone who dared to look at me. The organic transition to becoming an in-house book publicist was challenging and very exciting. Getting the media and booksellers to pay close enough attention required strategy, effective people skills, perseverance, timing, and luck. There was plenty of reading, book campaign strategizing, meeting media professionals, book tour planning, and engaging with book club members as well as booksellers and librarians. It’s really a blended affair, with collaboration inside the publishing house as well, with editors, marketers, the creative team, sales, audio, and many others.
GW: What exactly is media training and how does it relate to authors, both self-published and traditionally published?
LD: Media training is a form of communication coaching designed to help an author navigate interactions with the media to effectively convey their message, handle interviews, and manage conversations about various topics including: the author’s backstory, writing career, and book details, just to name a few. With media training, the goal is to help authors learn how to keep the title of their books and the key selling points up front and top of mind during interviews.
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This is a brief post because there is so much to think about, and I want to hear what you’re leaning into. Here’s what’s been happening in my marketing mind for the last few weeks.
What’s your superpower?
Last fall, when I was working with the brilliant and lovely writer Anne Gudger, author of the memoir The Fifth Chamber, she told me that grief is her superpower. This statement struck me. How? I’ve read that this is a common question in job interviews to ease the tension that interviews bring and to assess a candidate’s strengths. Makes sense. Anne wrote about the death of her first husband while pregnant with her first child for numerous publications. She won writing contests. She sold her memoir to a publisher. She started a podcast and Facebook community to help others openly discuss their loss and their grief. You might argue that having a superpower is easier if you’re in the thought leadership as a non-fiction author. I think that’s nonsense. I bet you have a superpower. I can almost guarantee it.
Are your goals reasonable?
During a Zoom meeting with a potential new client, I asked her what her goals were for her novel. Her response came quickly and confidently: “I worked incredibly hard on this and am so proud. I’m not looking to hit a bestseller list. I’m looking to reach the readers of my genre (police procedurals) and have them want to read the next book.”
I really like her.
Adults like stickers too.
From Lee Stein’s Substack Attention Economy (may be behind a paywall – totally worth the subscription fee): “I wish authors would stop wishing for that magic bullet (like an Oprah book club sticker on their hardcover) and really get curious about who their specific audience is, where they’re spending time and attention, and then actually connect with them.”
After you read the article on daytime TV, read Stein’s article on the Midlist Pyramid Theory. She asks, “Is your goal right now to build a network? Or to grow an audience?”
I only have eyes for you.
From Kate McKean’s Agents and Books Substack (may be behind a paywall – totally worth the subscription fee) on Why the Bestseller List Should Not Be Your Goal: “…if your sights are only on the list, you’re going to miss a lot of other markers of success and you’re probably going to be disappointed.”
Answer any and all of the following below:
I had Covid for Christmas. First time. I spent the holiday week quarantining in my basement and binge-watching The Morning Show. I was pissed. My husband was overwhelmed. Our kids were sad. Our hound watched over me figuring something was very wrong if we weren’t going out for our daily two-mile walk. January couldn’t come soon enough.
January 2024 has been the most meaningful month I’ve experienced in some time. Don’t get me wrong, Covid has left me with lingering headaches, brain fog (I write down everything and say it out loud), and an almost desperate need to drink Diet Coke at 3pm daily (not a custom habit for me). Ironically, Covid also gave me a chance to reset after an obnoxiously busy autumn.
So here’s what’s on my mind for 2024.
Consider your asks (I’m saying this nicely)
Many of you likely heard the news about author J.D. Barker’s booktok campaign to get influencers – mostly young females – to cover their private parts with his new book. There were other sexually charged asks, but this is the gist. As a publicist whose client came forward about Bill Cosby, I don’t take this behavior lightly.
Are marketers, publicists, and authors getting so desperate for a leg up that we’re pushing out predatory campaigns that objectify the very people who breathe life into our book community?
Shout-out to the influencers who came forward about this and publicly shamed this author and his campaign. Continue to lift our community as you do.
When I worked for PR firms in my twenties and early thirties, no campaign was implemented without the heads and the clients signing off. Our pitches were vetted and vetted again. Our bosses sometimes stood over our shoulders as we smiled and dialed to hear what we were selling to the media. As anxiety-inducing as those days were, I’m thankful for those lessons of strategy, preparation, control, and protection.
When they go low, we go high
I like Goodreads for what it could be. And thank goodness the company is finally addressing its review-bombing issue. We also need to address our behaviors on platforms like Goodreads. Aspiring writer Cait Corrain upended her career after she admitted to writing fake reviews that praised her forthcoming novel and blasted fellow authors in her genre. Please remember there is power in your review. And please remember that bullies never win.
How do you measure success?
Greer Macallister said the following in her recent WU post, “Whatever stage of your publishing career you’re in and whatever path you’re taking, I urge you to figure out your own definition of success.”
I think of standing still quotes… be afraid of standing still…if you’re not moving, you’re standing still.
One of the things I’ve experienced with clients in the past is this belief that they should get the same press, retailer promotions, signings, book clubs for every single book.
But the story is not the same. The month or year is different. The landscape has changed. Not only do you need to figure out your definition of success, but you also need to get comfortable with the fact that the definition should change.
Be a student
There are […]
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When I first met today’s featured author, I had just started writing (very bad) fiction and was looking for other writers who were less bad at it than I was. I created a Meetup group, set up a meeting date, and waited. On that first day, only one person showed up: Terra Weiss. We’ve been friends ever since. In the almost ten years that have followed, Terra’s paid close attention to the publishing industry and adapted to its changes, all while honing her craft. Now she’s a successful indie author of six full-length novels that have received hundreds of glowing reviews across Amazon and other platforms. (Her novel Wingmom has over 500 reviews to date!) Whether your goal is traditional publishing, indie publishing, or something in between, if you’re interested in writing as a career, Terra’s interview provides a wealth of knowledge, and I’m beyond delighted to introduce her to the WU community today.
GW: Thanks for agreeing to share your writing and publishing experiences with the Writer Unboxed community. Can you tell us what genre you write in and when and why you started writing?
TW: Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest here at Writer Unboxed. I’ve been reading and learning from your articles for years, and I’m honored to be able to share some of my experiences and hopefully give back. I write romcoms and romantic mysteries, which I started tinkering around with in 2013 when my daughter was a year and a half old. I needed somewhere to channel the creativity that was bottling up inside me because I had no time to pursue creative outlets like I did before my baby was born. Writing during her naps and playtime with Nana not only made me a better mom but also helped me realize that I have a passion for storytelling. I never stopped writing fiction, and now, my daughter is eleven and a half and becoming quite the author herself, despite facing dyslexia.
GW: You have self-published six full-length books to date, with a seventh currently up for preorder. Why did you choose the self-publishing route?
TW: I chose self-publishing for several reasons, the most important one being that I wanted creative control of my books, covers, and marketing. I have an entrepreneurial spirit, and after being in the trenches for two years now, I see firsthand that successful indie authors are hardcore businesspeople. On top of constantly bettering their craft and delivering new books, they’re also hustling on everything else running a business entails, from the endless marketing and social media to the administrative work and the finances. It’s long hours where you sink or swim, and in my case, doggie paddle for an eternally long stretch while learning to become the jack-of-all-trades. Because I thrive in that kind of environment, being an indie author is extremely rewarding to me, but it’s certainly not for everyone.
GW: What are the three most important lessons you’ve learned about publishing in today’s landscape?
TW: It’s a jungle out there.
For real. The old adages that used to be told about self-publishing no longer apply. A popular one was, “You don’t have to follow the rules […]
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Like many writers, I’m an introvert. I’m perfectly content sitting in my office alone, in complete silence, for hours on end doing nothing but reading and writing. Crowds make me anxious. Having to make small talk with strangers at parties and business events exhausts me beyond words. If given a choice between talking to someone on the phone and sending them an email, I always choose the latter.
For the most part, this isn’t a problem. Or at least I didn’t think it was until recently.
At the end of December, my publisher emailed me a report detailing my book sales for the previous quarter. I noticed that every time I attended an in-person event or did an author talk, there was a bump in sales. This is great news, and very useful information. The only problem is that I’d rather get a cavity filled than speak in front of group of people. I don’t do it nearly as often as I should.
About a week after I received the report from my publisher, I was thumbing through a self-help book while waiting for my husband to check out at a local book store. Opening the book to a random page, I stumbled upon this: If you want to grow personally and/or professionally you first have to expand your comfort zone.
The author went on to say that our comfort zones are often cozy traps that prevent us from challenging ourselves in ways that allow us to learn new skills, expand our social circles, and grow our careers.
According to the book, the best way to increase the number and variety of things you feel confident about is to do things that make you feel prickly and awkward—like public speaking—often enough that they begin to feel normal. If you keep it up, the thinking goes, activities that make you anxious will eventually become part of a new, more inclusive comfort zone.
This makes sense if you think about things you’ve likely done in the past, such as learning how to ride a bike or drive a car. With repetition and practice, even the most intimidating activities begin to feel like second nature. Your worldview expands, making it possible to see situations and people from different perspectives. Having an expanded view of the world, or at least a small part of it, can also help foster creativity, help make your writing more engaging, and perhaps even motivate you to give other difficult things a try.
I have experienced this firsthand in my personal life. When I started hiking five years ago, I couldn’t imagine climbing a mountain. The thought terrified me: steep ledges, unpredictable weather above tree line, slippery roots and rocks, dangerous water crossings, bears. What would I do if I got lost? Eventually, though, I made it to the summit of a small peak. The experience wasn’t that bad, so a week later I went for a bigger mountain. Less than two years after I stepped onto to that first mountaintop, I hiked to the summit of Mount Washington—the highest peak in the northeastern United States—in winter conditions.
The fact is, you can only do what you think you […]
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Three years ago, in mid-August, my first historical novel debuted in the summer of lockdown. The launch situation was far from ideal, and those of us who were published that summer did the best we could with bookshops closed and no in-person events. When August 2021 rolled around and my second novel was released along with the paperback version of the first, my expectations weren’t high. Another eerily quiet summer, another novel comes out into the world with a whisper.
The summers of 2020, ‘21, and ‘22 were all about book release and promotion, so there was some structure to my writing/author life. It’s late August 2023 as I write this. Things are better now for publishing authors, and though I don’t have a novel in the pipeline, through two launches I’ve developed a community of fellow writers and supportive readers. I’m celebrating friends’ book launches and live events, and sometimes speaking, mentoring, and teaching.
While my first two novels were coming out into the world, I found it tough to begin a new draft. Here, I should qualify that when my manuscript sold in a two-book deal, I had a completed draft of the second and it was a stand-alone sequel. I have real admiration for authors who crank out a book a year. While promoting a recently published book, I needed to keep that set of characters fresh in my head so I could talk about them when questions were asked (even though all authors answer the same questions multiple times). We hone our sound bites, quips, our interjections of humor, and (especially with historical fiction) we can recall historical dates and events at the drop of a hat. It’s tricky, when you’re interviewed for 45 seconds on live radio and the DJ poses questions like: So, who stars in the movie? The clock is ticking while you hem and haw, trying to remember the names of any under-thirty actors. So I was reluctant to try to bring a new set of characters to life. Plus, the pandemic sucked the creativity from my soul for a while.
For the past year, I’ve been working on a third manuscript on and off. The most recent (fifth) draft is, at present, with an editor. So there’s that waiting-to-hear-comments time, which I am now really good at enduring, as well as the sense of relief that comes with completing specific goals. The fine-tuning of this novel has been slow going, and that’s fine. There’s no deadline. I’m surprised by how nice I’ve been about it—to myself, I mean. I’ve felt fortunate that I’ve been able to move at my own pace with this project. While I work well under the pressure of a deadline, I know now that I couldn’t have written this book in one year. The story needed time to germinate and develop. I like to leave room for historical research to shape my plot, and for my characters to surprise me. Don’t get me wrong, I do still feel a strong drive to get this novel to the finish line. I’ve learned—with no deadline—what my own writing process is, and also, that I need to trust it. That’s worth something, isn’t it?
When asked to choose, I’ve considered myself a hybrid Plotter/Pantser. […]
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I’ve heard many blanket statements from clients and those shopping for PR and marketing services in the past 25 years:
One that sticks out more recently, is that radio provides no value. The medium is dead they declare; only podcasts really matter.
After having lunch last week with my colleague and friend Terry Cater, co-owner of Playback Producers, a publicity production company for authors, publicists & podcasters, it seemed a good time to address the truth about radio and podcasts with someone in the trenches.
I’ve heard many a time from clients that radio is dead and podcasts are it. In the same breath, clients ask to be on NPR and a good number believe they are a perfect fit for Glennon Doyle’s podcast We Can Do Hard Things? Unpack this for us, Terry.
Radio is alive and kicking! In fact, 8 in 10 Americans ages 12 and older listen to radio – that’s according to recent data released by Nielson Media Research. Your question comes in a timely fashion – August 20th is National Radio Day. There’s a reason this medium gets an entire day of awareness. Radio has survived the test of time and is often considered a trustworthy source of information. While podcasts seem to be all the rage, there are varying degrees of the quality and listenership of the shows. A podcast can be less established with a modest listenership, less regulated, and harder to find stats (especially when it comes time to figuring out your ROI).
With that said, podcasts are great when targeting a certain audience including fiction readers. Podcasts listeners also tend to be book buyers. In general, for a successful PR campaign, I recommend securing both radio and podcasts interviews to promote your book. Radio interviews will get you conversations with hosts who have a reliable audience and established metrics. Podcast interviews are great if you have a target market. Don’t underestimate the power of radio and be specific when going after podcasts.
Who is your ideal client?
Playback Producers’ ideal client is an author who is open to an honest discussion about the interviews we can score and the PR campaign we can produce for you. While we know everyone would like to be on a top show like NPR All Things Considered or Glennon’s podcast, we want a client who will listen to our candid advice on the number and type of shows we can book. This is because not everyone will get interviewed on those coveted shows. It’s always our goal to get you the most exposure possible, but we want to manage your expectations. Playback’s been doing this for almost 20 years, so we can help steer you in the right and fruitful direction.
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My book has been out in the world for a few months, and they’ve been a whirlwind of signings, panels, interviews and blog posts. Parts of it were absolutely amazing, and at times overwhelming. I haven’t had much time to reflect on any of it until now. I was warned about what to expect, but other lessons still surprised me.
Here are 8 things I learned as a debut author:
If you ever have a marketing and PR question, feel free to email me – am@getredpr.com – or drop a comment in the Writer Unboxed Facebook Group and tag me @Ann-Marie Nieves. I’ll do my best to answer in future posts. This question was posed by Leslie Budewitz last week and it’s a great one. Let’s unpack.
When this article, The Ten Awful Truths About Publishing by Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, landed in my inbox, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Warning: It’s a positively frightening read that will make you want to hide underneath your covers… or hurl a glass across the room. If there is bourbon in that glass, down it quickly, read the article, and then throw the glass across the room.
So why did I breathe a sigh of relief?
Because someone else far more important than me said it – all the things I’ve been thinking, saying, that have made me change the way I work. A publisher said the things. The things about the many, many books on the market; how they sell or don’t; and the constant change due to disruptors (TikTok) and disruptions (supply chain issues).
So now we know about The 10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing. And now we understand that we have to think differently, reset expectations, and get to work. But first, we take inventory:
What’s the key takeaway for you in Steve Piersanti’s article? Are you ready to take inventory? What are […]
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