Market My Novel

Authors often wonder how their publisher does publicity. How do they determine who gets what, and what do they do – exactly? How does what an in-house publicist accomplishes dovetail with author marketing efforts.

After some failed attempts via e-mail, I put a shout out on Twitter for publishers willing to chat. Woodley Auguste of Christian publisher Strang Communications picked up the challenge. While some of the information I asked him about is proprietary, he was able to to answer others, which are below.

What types of media do you incorporate into promotion plans? Are you concentrated heavily in traditional media? Are you increasing a focus in online promotions? Does it depend on the author?

Typically, we incorporate print, radio and television in our promotion plans or a mixture of the three. We’ve included the addition of online promotion on all of titles due to the burgeoning growth of social networking and the digital media explosion. Obviously, some books may warrant more attention on the web than in traditional media, but our goal is to find a happy medium.

Is it ever difficult to find just the right combination of media for a certain author?

No, as part of our acquisition process, we speak with the author and find out if they’ve done media in the past. If they have, we ask them for the name of the medium that publicized them or their product. As we get closer towards street date, we already have a sense of where and what type of media is best suited for the author and book.


Virtual Book Tours are an inexpensive, yet time-consuming, way for authors to generate their own publicity. Many use it when they don't get a publicity budget from their publisher. Have these worked for your authors?

Yes, a number of our fiction and first time authors do virtual book tours. It’s a good way for an author to interact with an audience and allows them to hear from (hopefully) their future book buyers.

What is the author/publicist relationship like? What should it be like?

The ideal author/publicist relationship is symbiotic. As an in-house publicist, our job is to not only secure media bookings for an author, but it’s also to communicate what’s happening in the marketplace to the sales, editorial and marketing departments. That said, the author should be informing the publicist of their marketing efforts before the fact not after. Too many times authors inform their editor or another department instead giving it to the frontline person representing the book—the publicist. If an author wins over his/her publicist, they now have someone that will champion their cause/product whether the book is a current release or back list. 


What is an author's responsibility in the publicist/author relationship?

Authors need to get actively involved in the process of publicizing their books. The traditional publishing model has changed and publishers no longer can do all the “heavy lifting” to ensure that a book is successful. Author’s should not view their books as a passive income stream, but realize that the same amount of time and discipline it took to write a book also is required to market or publicize a book effectively. If the author has a mailing list, blog, etc. they need to let everyone they come in contact with know that the book is available. Also, if they have relationships with the media e.g. bloggers, producers, show hosts etc. they need to leverage those relationships to garner publicity. 


You are a Christian-based company. Is your publicity formula different from a traditionally secular publisher?

Yes. Because our books are faith based, our publicity formula needs to include media that targets a Christian audience. General market media is wonderful, but it’s a necessity to also include our core audience in the publicity mix. The faith based audience may not read US Weekly or People magazine, but they more than likely read print or online versions of Christian based magazines like Charisma.


There is a lot of discontent among authors who feel like their publishers just aren't pulling their weight. What should authors know before they start to get angry or frustrated with the publicity process?

The average publicist is working with multiple authors in three phases of time—past, present and the future. It’s important that the author understands that their assigned publicist is pulled in a number of directions. Everyone is jockeying for your publicist’s attention including corporate deadlines, media, etc.  

What are the top five things authors should know when dealing with their in house publicist?

• Be Proactive-Don’t wait for the publicist to pitch media. Get involved and read the papers, blogs, etc. and look for different media hooks.
• Communicate with your publicist. There is no such thing as too much information. The more informed your publicist is about you, your book, etc. the better equipped they are in finding media opportunities
• Get involved in social networking. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are invaluable. You never know who is reading or watching.
• Be available for media. If you’re not available to do media inform you publicist ahead of time. If they are pitching media and secure a booking its counterproductive when the “expert” being pitched can’t do the interview.
• Despise not humble beginnings.  Everyone has to start somewhere, so don’t get upset if you doing interviews in a small market. Eventually, you may end up on a national program.

What are top ways authors can generate their own publicity – ideas that work and don't cost a lot of money?

Blog tours, social networking, speaking engagements, and book signings.


Copyright 2009 Angela Wilson
Partial reprints with permission