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What Does a Publicist Do for an Author?
by Yvonne Perry Times have changed and gone are the days when marketing was part of the package offered to authors by the publishing house. While a commercial or university press may help the author some, most publishers these days do not promote their authors the way they once did. With self-publishing and vanity publishing being commonplace, more and more people are becoming authors. And because publishers still get thousands of query letters from new authors seeking publication with a huge advance and royalties, they are able to be more selective and will only choose authors they know can make money for them. That is usually a celebrity or someone who already enjoys a good bit of notoriety. What does a publicist do for an author? Publicists do everything publishers once did for their authors. More and more authors are hiring a publicist to help them find radio and TV spots, arrange press coverage, write press releases, obtain reviews, line up book signings, and place strategic ads in newspapers and magazines. As a freelance writer who ghostwrites many books each year, I feel compelled to help my clients find contacts in the publishing world. I try to connect my clients with publishers and agents I know personally and link them with a good publicist. Thankfully, I do have contact with a variety of publishers and publicists. I have interviewed two publicists on my podcast Writers in the Sky: Maryglenn McCombs in November 2006 and recently Pam Lontos of PR/PR. Her show will be uploaded this month. Both are very experienced and wonderful to work with. There are a lot of marketing activities you can and need to be doing while your book is still forthcoming. If you would like first-hand information about revving your book sales and obtaining affordable publicity, these podcast shows are offered as streaming audio at no cost through my blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/WritersInTheSky.
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