Publicity
It’s so good to be back here on Writer Unboxed after a year’s sabbatical hunkering down and focusing solely on my work helping authors build buzz and visibility at BookSavvy PR. I’ve missed being an active part of this wonderful community (though I’ve still been stalking), and have been bursting with thoughts to share from the frontlines of promotion.
Many of those thoughts suddenly feel less relevant, though, as we all stand paralyzed with shock before the Coronavirus crisis. People across the planet are being forced to adjust in ways we never imagined, and the writing community—despite a penchant for solitude that might suggest we’re relatively “safe”—is no exception. On top of losses ranging from jobs and livelihoods to favorite writing spots in coffee shops and libraries, the cancellation of launch events has come as an especially painful blow. Gratitude to Teri for the initiative to support those whose launches are suddenly un-scheduled.
Yes, it’s an immense disappointment. And yes, it is crushing to imagine not having that well-deserved, long-anticipated celebration and the bond of community it brings. This is a huge, painful loss. But if you are also biting your nails about the impact on your book’s success, my advice from the promo trenches here is: breathe. None of this is as gloomy as it might feel. Need convincing? Here is my reasoning, based on many years on the frontlines:
You Can Reschedule – and There’s a Silver Lining
This is quickly becoming the year of cancellations—and resilience. In the spirit of resilience, the show must go on. Take steps now to reschedule your launch. Your local bookstore may be shut at the moment but you can be in touch with the owner. If they are struggling as sadly, many independent bookstores are right now, and don’t know what the future holds, make a backup plan: a library, or somebody’s home. Invite the bookstore staff and owner too. It might help boost their morale.
And in the meantime, take comfort in knowing that postoning your launch event means you can look forward to it for that much longer, can build buzz in the lead-up to it that much longer, and that you have the support of many amazing communities as Allison Hammer mentioned last week here on WU.
It’s Okay if Your Launch Event and Publication Date Don’t Align
Maybe the idea of rescheduling your launch event worries you because you’ve heard that a launch must happen around the time of publication. Don’t let it. Perhaps because traditional publishers prefer to see as much buzz and as many sales as possible around a publication date, there is a huge amount of pressure on authors to do everything in their power to create that initial bang. But trust me: the bang can happen at other times, too. Books have a long shelf life. (Pun intended) I’ve known and worked with dozens of authors who for various reasons don’t hold a launch event or even begin promotion of any sort until months after a publication date at earliest, and their books have gone on to […]
Read More
Photo by Stokpic
I intended to write about new marketing communications strategies I’ve seen in the book world these days, but given the current pandemic and it’s impact on our industry, I’m going to pivot slightly and go back to a topic I’ve written about before: community.
I write now having just come from picking up books from my children’s public school, a school of 1,300 in the borough of Queens, NY. The parents lingered a little longer to see a friend, to stand in the sunlight, to just be around a place that gives our children encouragement, knowledge, friendship.
In the PR world, (hopefully) most of us are doing what we’ve been trained to do—(I’ll use the word again) pivot, monitor, heed with caution, give back, educate and jump when the moment is right. Author tours have been cancelled as have appearances, signings, speaking engagements, and festivals. Bookstores have closed their doors to browsing. Media has shifted focus. Social media messaging plans are being retooled and new messaging crafted with considerable care.
With all this in mind, I’ve been monitoring people’s actions—not so much their use of hand sanitizer, toilet paper hoarding and social distancing, but 1) how are they changing gears, giving back, and jumping in to mobilize, educate and protect.
Here’s a round up of all the light and love I’ve seen:
Author interviews
Journal writing prompts
Cool writerly kid stuff
Read More
image by Georgali/Kappa/Regoukou
It’s no secret that regardless of how you publish, a huge part of publicizing and marketing a book now falls on the author’s shoulders. The downside is, of course, that there are already so many demands on our time, it feels like we just don’t have a minute to spare. But there’s an upside too. Being able to connect directly with readers through social channels and other means gives you an exciting, sometimes inspiring, degree of control. When someone else is making and executing on decisions about how your book gets promoted, you’re distanced. In the best scenarios, you and your publisher are both investing in getting your book into the hands of readers. That is truly the best! But regardless of your publisher’s level of engagement and/or investment, you still have the power — and the opportunity — to connect with potential readers yourself.
But it’s exhausting, right? Telling people about your book in short form and long form or with links or without, promoting and describing that book, writing essays about yourself and your book and trying to get them published, organizing giveaways, holding Facebook launch parties, Tweeting and Instagramming about yourself and your book over and over? It can feel like screaming into the void.
So if you don’t want to do that, don’t do that. Problem solved!
For the paperback launch of my novel WOMAN 99, I’m doing some local events, but most of the time I’d usually spend on promotion is going to another project. It’s only tangentially related to my own book, and it may or may not have any impact on sales, but it makes me happy, and that’s a pretty good goal too.
For Women’s History Month the last two years running, I interviewed women writers on my blog with the hashtag #womenshistoryreads. I’m not even sure how many interviews I ended up with, but it was well north of 75, and it took a whooooole lot of my time those Marches. Three questions and an answer for each post. Invitations and followups and editing, oh sigh. (There was, thank goodness, a spreadsheet.) This year I decided to do something simpler and just ask authors I knew for one book recommendation each — one book by and/or about a woman — for a series tagged #read99women.
Spoiler alert: it still takes a huge amount of my time. (Headshots! Bios! Intros! Links! Another spreadsheet!) But since I’m just about officially done with my next novel THE ARCTIC FURY and have no other writing projects on the immediate horizon, it’s time that I actually have, for a change.
And it’s been great. Not only am I reaching out to authors I know across genres (not just historical fiction and nonfiction), I’m making connections with new authors I didn’t know before. I’m seeing reminders of books I loved and recommendations for books I’ve never heard of, old and new. It reminds me what a supportive and wonderful community fellow writers can be.
Participation. Not promotion.
Read More
I started off 2020 completely and utterly exhausted. And because I’m a Type-A tiny business-owning mom of two children under the age of 7, the exhaustion, while expected, is also partly my own doing. I didn’t really need to be out until 2:00 a.m. last Friday singing karaoke … or did I?
In these exhausting early weeks of 2020, I’ve learned and been reminded of these four things:
The Basics of Good Communication
I was asked to speak to fourth grade Girl Scouts last week as they work hard on selling those delicious cookies. Here’s what I said about speaking to customers:
I left those lovely young ladies with a notebook to document their customer’s likes and dislikes, and locations and social media platforms that worked and didn’t for sales.
I also told them not to take rejection personally. We might not always know why someone says no, but that’s their right and there’s a good chance it has nothing to do with us.
The Benefits of Finding a Release
I don’t have a passion, a hobby, anything that I can’t live without. There are lots of activities I like and enjoy, but I can’t say there is much that I love. At some point in my life this really bothered me. But, after some soul-searching and therapy sessions, I let that shit go. What I realized is that my passion is usually towards people. Rather than spending so much time trying to figure out if I want cheese-making to be my thing, I’m going to do what I can to spend more time with those I’m passionate about, and I’m going to do what makes me feel mentally cleansed. Welcome karaoke.
Cluttered brain be gone.
Tense muscles released.
Arched shoulders relaxed.
Stiff legs loose.
Voice…The publicist can’t talk anymore…She’s hoarse…She’s sung too much Pat Benatar.
I’ve unburdened myself for a small window of time.
Does it really help me think better/feel better/be better? Oh gosh, yes.
Do I love Karaoke? Ok, I do. Especially, when I’ve got awesome women by my side.
What’s your release?
Why Every Author Needs to Find Community
Read More
“Okay, I’m a little, teeny bit jealous of a few writers,” I admitted to another debut author via the anonymity of Facebook Messenger.
“I am SOOOO jealous,” she typed back.
Behind the confessional curtain of social media, we could whisper that ugly truth. We even conceded we’d been jealous of each other from time to time. Once I began opening up to more of my writer friends, many revealed mild annoyances, burning secret resentments, and even crippling envy. Still, everyone stressed they were extremely happy, thrilled, and overjoyed (substitute other convincing superlatives) for the success of other authors.
One of the most insidious sources of this madness has to be the list, which is lauded as the holy grail of success by enough writers for it to be stressful. Well, all the lists. This time of year, almost every publication from O, The Oprah Magazine to The New York Times and PopSugar releases its list of the most anticipated books for the new year. The timing couldn’t be worse because those lists come on the heels of year-end wraps of the best books from the previous year. Every time a new list emerges, a collective, congratulatory whoop rises in my author communities and I believe it’s genuine. Still, amid all the fanfare, I know authors scan those lists, starry-eyed, looking for their own names.
Lists are not an immediate consideration for me right now. I’m in the early stages of the publication process completing a second round of structural edits for my novel, which doesn’t release until early 2021. But anticipatory angst is real, if a bit irrational, and I sometimes envy authors who make lists I’m not even eligible for, wondering if my own trajectory will be on par with theirs.
One winter afternoon I spent hours poring over a website called Edelweiss (totally unrelated to The Sound of Music), where you can request advance reader copies of books and browse publishers’ catalogs. It’s still early so my book doesn’t appear in the database yet. Still, Edelweiss offers a preview of what’s happening for other authors. I try to manage my expectations.
Be cool. Just be cool.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice the publicity and marketing plans for the most buzzed about authors, which include branded influencer packages, national author tours, New York media lunches, and pre-pub cocktail parties. Some authors whose publishers are committing few if any resources to boost their books often look at those plans with envy. For me, there’s this bubble of hope, cautious optimism coursing through my veins, as I imagine all that hoopla for my novel someday.
Read More
L to R: Amy Poeppel, Rochelle Weinstein, Lauren Margolin, Elyssa Friedland, Lisa Barr
I spend a lot of time on social media, particularly Facebook. I am an unashamed voyeur (you’ll rarely see me post), and I very much enjoy the ads, the memes, the intel, and just about anything with animals. Every now and again someone will spew something particularly nasty and I will spend time reviewing their other posts to determine if I need to run the opposite way or if I can agree to disagree with this human.
As a social media and PR practitioner, I study behavior and trends. I pay attention to the message, to the word count of that message, to the image associated with that message.
And puppies aside, more than anything, as both a voyeur and someone who provides counsel, I very much enjoy seeing relationships forged. The moms with their words of encouragement. The entrepreneurs with their insights. The shoppers with their savvy. The authors who rally behind other authors’ book babies.
Recently, I flew to Miami to attend Bloomingdale’s inaugural book club at Aventura Mall featuring authors Rochelle Weinstein, Lisa Barr, Amy Poeppel, Elyssa Friedland, and book influencer at the Good Book Fairy, Lauren Margolin.
These women who live in different parts of the country were brought together by social media. Over time their relationships evolved. For a few, this inaugural Bloomie’s event was a first time, face-to-face meet.
What I witnessed in my time with them was genuine camaraderie. There was warmth and laughter. There was mutual respect for their work. What I see when I view them through my iPhone or computer screen is the same.
My fingers are crossed that this group of women appear together again at a city near you.
Why am I saying all of this?
Because the business of social media is important, and good business relationships are sacred. And if you’re not spending your time on Facebook or Instagram genuinely sharing, supporting, and encouraging, you’re just not using the platforms to your benefit.
When Chicago-based Barr (who has written for WU) launched her book in New York City this past June, a few handfuls of writers, bookstagrammers, and bloggers she had only met online walked through the door to show their support. It was a moment that she’ll remember forever.
So what’s a good online relationship?
Next week, do any and all of the following:
Read More
In 2010, when I first dipped my toe into the publishing world, the biggest mystery to me was—besides figuring out the difference between a query and a synopsis—this thing called a “platform.”
At the time, I was writing about killer mermaids. I didn’t know how I was going to go about becoming enough of an expert on the subject that a potential editor would take me seriously. Imagine my utter relief when I learned that it was only the non-fiction writers who required a platform. All we fiction writers had to prove was that we had an imagination, a way with words, and that we understood the shape of a story.
That blissful world is no more.
These days, even debut fiction writers are being asked by would-be editors about their platforms. What they’re really asking is:
Read More
For aspiring fiction writers, the typical model of professional practice is to write the whole thing then shop it around, whether to agents, publishers, or directly to readers through self-publishing and self-promotion. Payment (if any) happens long after the work is done. This means not only that income is almost always a gamble, but that critical work time is financially unsupported and often hard to come by. I work as a research administrator for scientists, who also have to do a lot of work before any payoff. The ones I know support their work largely through grants and fellowships. While grants for writers aren’t as numerous (or as lucrative) as grants for scientists, they are out there. This post is a mini-introduction to strategies for finding, selecting, and applying for money to write by. Grants for writing won’t make you rich or give you a cushy life, but they might give you the quiet time you need to finish the critical work.
Types of Funding. There are two basic types of funding available for writers—grants and residential fellowships.
To successfully apply for a grant of any variety requires three steps: A. finding grant opportunities, B. selecting among all those enticing options the opportunities that are worth your time and effort, and C. writing a killer proposal. [This post covers items A. and B.; a later blog will discuss item C.]
A. Finding Grants/Fellowships to Apply For. The internet has made searching for grants easier than ever. You can use google—try typing in ‘best writer’s retreat in x” or “grants for writers with families” and see what shows up. But there are some websites that have done some of your searching for you already. The following is a list of some useful web resources. [Readers–If you’re aware of other resources that should go on this list, please add it to the comments and I will add to this list]
Read More
There are plenty of great things about writing and publishing novels. But today, I’m not here to discuss any of them.
No, today it’s time to talk about three of the necessary evils a novelist deals with along the way. While these aren’t the only three tough tasks we have to tackle, they’re the ones I’ve heard writers decry most often as they work on their journey toward publication.
You need to write a query letter (ugh). You need to write a synopsis (ouch). And you need to be able to sum up your entire novel in one simple sentence (how?!).
So since each of these is a necessary evil, I thought I’d address a) just how necessary and b) just how evil each one is for the average writer. Let’s begin!
The Query Letter. How necessary? 9 out of 10 if you’re seeking traditional publishing; if you’re going the indie route, make that a 0 of 10. How evil? Mmm, let’s say 7 or 8 out of 10 for most of us.
Look, query letters are tough. But the job of the query letter isn’t to describe your entire novel. It’s just to whet the appetite of the agent to ask for more. If you can frame out what makes your novel especially intriguing, include any special credentials that show why you’re the right person to write it, and leave the agent wanting more, you’ve pretty much got it covered. Easier said than done? Absolutely. A necessary part of the process for hooking an agent? Pretty much totally, unless you happen to hook someone in a pitch session at a conference, and even then, you’ll probably want some kind of query/cover letter to re-introduce yourself when you send your materials along.
The Synopsis. How necessary? Maybe 7 out of 10. How evil? Yeah, that’s a 10. It’s the most.
Read More
I appreciate advice, and I especially like tips. I may not use a specific tip in my own life, but I’ll store it my head and pull it out when someone else might need it. And you writers, you always have great advice to give about lessons learned. Much of what I’ve done as a public relations pro has been to guide clients on what they can do to educate and persuade their audience.
When I first spoke with playwright and debut novelist Frank Strausser back in August, I was intrigued. He had advice I hadn’t heard before:
“Writers should take acting classes.”
“More authors should gather their friends to read their books aloud.”
And Strausser’s book, entitled PLASTIC, had an outrageous cover. It was so shocking, so dramatic, so FX Network. And given my profession, it’s no big surprise that I particularly like drama. I use it. Often.
In my earlier PR years, I would script my pitches to the media. I did so much cold calling, and I had such a range of clientele, it was an absolute to get the messaging out, but to also not sound like a moron. I would practice my pitches aloud at home while cooking or cleaning. What’s the hook? How do I personalize this pitch for said journalist? Why does she want to hear this?
As a mom of two younger children, I read stories to them each night. And I spent a year reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to them. Reading only a few pages at a time aloud, I connected to the book in a way that was different. So, in many ways, Strausser was speaking my language during that August call.
Here’s a Q&A with this intriguing writer. Perhaps he’s speaking your language too.
1) A literary agent once said to you “Your writing needs to be not true to life, but bigger than life.” What was your initial reaction to this? And what did you understand it to mean.
The problem with a big note like this is that it is so sweeping. It’s not something that is so simple to address either. Some of the problem is that most of what we write is deeply felt, but does it engage? Does it excite? Does it shock? A simple reading of this note is that my writing needed more drama. I guess what was hardest about this note is that I didn’t have the tools to fully understand how to get there. And I wouldn’t until I studied story structure with Robert McKee and acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
The problem with being too true to life is that life doesn’t have a dramatic arc. Things feel dramatic at the time but they’re random and drama requires an artificial structure. Beats. And they need to build.
Further, as I would subsequently learn in studying with the late Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. There’s an awful lot to creating drama. But the fundamental mechanism is conflict. If it isn’t there, you don’t have drama. You are instead simply recording life, which was my problem originally.
2) Today, as an acclaimed playwright and a debut novelist, what […]
Read More
Hands up, authors who enjoy the publicity and marketing effort that attends the release of a new book. I’m talking about everything from public appearances, less common in this digital age, to heightened visibility on social media, to interviews on radio, podcast, by phone or email. There are guest blogs, giveaways, and a host of other things about which I know less than I probably should. Some writers thrive on all this activity, or at least give a very convincing show of doing so. They’re relaxed and confident public speakers and seem able to juggle a vast number of events while remaining impressively productive. Some, like me, are always aware that giving time to publicity lessens time available to write. Some of us are happier sitting quietly at our desks working, in the company of the faithful dog/cat/other emotional support animal. If we write somewhere public – in a library or cafe, for instance – we’re expert at shutting out our surroundings while we work.
When we’re not used to it, the glare of the (virtual) spotlight can be uncomfortable, not only because our quiet lives are suddenly full of social interaction, but because we know that while Project A is being released into the wild with much fanfare, the clock is ticking down to the deadline for Project B, and even if it isn’t, we’d still rather be getting on with the next book. New release time requires high energy; it is demanding. But it can also revitalise us. It can help refill the creative well. Besides, it’s good for us introverts to put on a smiling face and engage with our readers in the real world from time to time. They’re nice people, and we need them.
Like me, you probably have memories (or nightmares) of not-so-great public appearances in your role as a writer. There’s the book launch or reading to which only six people turned up. The talk you gave where you misjudged the nature of the audience or stuffed up the timing or left your notes at home and went blank. The convention panel at which one person talked over everyone else, or the one at which an audience member took the opportunity to deliver a furious harangue about a pet topic, and the moderator failed to shut them up so you never got the opportunity to say what you wanted to say. The phone interview where you thought of perfect answers just after you hung up. Those experiences tend to be the ones we remember, even if they’re far outweighed by the times when we did well and the times when we did OK. We writers tend to set high standards for ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with that. We should keep challenging ourselves and trying to improve, no matter how successful we are. But there’s no point in flagellating ourselves over what went wrong. We should do as well as we can, learn from the experience and move on. For me, interviews by email are always the easiest because I have time to think about the questions, to answer in well-structured sentences, and above all to edit before I press send. I wish I could speak as fluently as I write.
I’m in the middle of all […]
Read More
I’ve invited Zoe Quinton to join me for this month’s post. She’s not just the brilliant daughter of New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King, she’s also Laurie’s agent and publicist. In her “spare time,” Zoe is an editor and a consultant on the publishing business, including concept development and marketing.
For this post, I wanted to focus on developmental editing, a service both Zoe and I provide. It’s distinguished from copy editing in several significant ways. Whereas the latter deals with issues such as grammar, usage, syntax, punctuation, and fact-checking, developmental editing deals with more global story issues: characterization, theme, plot, pacing, continuity, and so on.
David: Why not tell our readers a little bit about your background and how you got into developmental editing.
Zoe: Well, for me that’s a little like saying how did you get into breathing. I can’t honestly remember a time that books weren’t a large part of my life, a constant companion, a source of escape and wonder. I remember even as a child narrating the mundane events of my daily life as if they were written down in a book. I have always eaten, breathed, drank words.
I can’t honestly remember a time that books weren’t a large part of my life
It helped that my parents also both lived a life of the mind, my dad as a religious studies professor at our local university and my mom first as an academic and then as an author. I’ve been accompanying her to publishing events since I was thirteen years old, so words and reading are literally part of my blood.
I myself am a recovering academic, as I got a master’s degree in international history from the London School of Economics when I was 25. I loved the research and the—no surprise—storytelling of history, and the training I received was priceless: I learned to think and write and argue, how to shape words into a weapon or a salve, how to choose just the right fact to prove my point and let the others fall by the wayside.
A few years later, I started working as my mother’s publicist and later agent, and I soon leveraged my decades of experience by her side into a consulting business helping authors write, edit, and sell their books. My favorite part of my work is truly the editing, where I can get lost in the words and the flow of the story for hours at a time. In a way my life has come full circle—I’m still the girl with her nose stuck in a book, but now I’m getting paid for it.
David, I’d like to know what your favorite part of editing is. Do you, like me, stare into space while working on a project trying to figure out how to make that tricky plot point work? Or is it when a client really gets it and runs with your advice in just the right way?
David: Since I came to developmental editing by way of teaching, I can readily say that the best part of editing is when a client gets back to me saying they understand what I was trying to convey about their work and have launched […]
Read More
Here’s your homework…
Next time you’re at your local gift shop or office supply store, pick up a little notebook (and a super awesome pen).
Begin paying very close attention to your physical and emotional reactions during your workday or any time you’re doing something for your career.
Rethink the phrase, “Go big or go home.”
Reflect on the phrase, “Success is a series of small victories.”
Now, jot down daily or weekly (all work-related):
So why should we do this?
Because there is no need to risk everything.
Because you can build slowly, intentionally.
Because what sparks, excites, and invigorates you matters, a lot.
Because being on top is terrific but knowing who you are and what you have is something.
Read More
Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody.
Most writers dream of making it big. But what does “making it” mean, exactly? The answer is different for everyone. There are lots of resources about how writers can make money and improve their craft, but today I want to focus on every writer’s purest motivation: to gain the validation, attention, and admiration of important and attractive people. That’s right, Famous Author Bill Ferris is talking about your level of famousness, which is a healthy and totally controllable thing for you to fixate on.
[Note that I’m differentiating between fame and success here. While a small handful of folks like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have both, many writers have one without the other. Financial success is outside the scope of this column, but to find out more information on how to get rich as a writer, just Google “writing” and click on literally any search result.]
Writing is a never-ending and non-lucrative job, and if we can’t get paid in money, then we should expect to sign a few books for readers, to get recognized when going through the Drive Thru, or at the very least get some “likes” on social media (which is the true coin of the realm in the influencer economy or whatever).
To find your ideal level of fame, we need to identify what type of writer you are.
Type Zero: Fame? What’s That?
Motivation: You write what you write, and people can like it or not. You’re just doing this for you.
Ideal fame level: Your boss knows you write during your lunch breaks, but doesn’t take that as an indication that you’re slacking off on the job.
How you’ll know you’ve achieved it: You’re either a wild success or unpublished, and in either case, you’re already at your ideal level of famousness. So take your emotional maturity and well-adjusted priorities elsewhere, because the rest of us divas are trying to make a breakthrough here, okay?
Type 1: The Bestseller
Motivation: You want to get booked on every morning show, and go on months-long publicity tours so you can get laid in every time zone. You have an insatiable hunger for praise and validation, for someone, anyone to notice me. Er, I mean you.
Ideal fame level: You can’t leave the house without someone approaching, photographing, or cursing at you.
How you’ll know you’ve achieved it: 1. You’re a guest on a book podcast, and the host has actually read your book. 2. The subject(s) of your infamous tell-all book will no longer speak to you.
Read More
