Some honest thoughts on publicity for authors
I haven’t done an ‘honest thoughts’ post in a while, but this topic has been niggling at me lately, so today’s the day! Let’s talk about publicity.
For those that don’t know, I was a journalist for a long time. After I left uni, I did a post-grad in magazine journalism (or ‘periodicals’ as they were called back then!) and I worked in magazines for about ten years afterwards. Mostly interiors magazines but some women’s magazines too.
I then left journalism to set up a digital marketing agency, and we offered online PR, social media and content marketing services to businesses in the interiors industry.
I also used to host workshops to teach people how to do their own PR, as well as training small business owners on a one-to-one basis.
A lot of people I worked with appreciated the fact I had been on ‘the other side’ of it and understood what journalists were looking for and how to make their jobs easier by providing them with content and ideas that they could use in their publications.
Suffice to say, when I got my debut book deal, I already knew a lot about journalism and PR.
I was super excited at the thought of working with the publicist that my publisher had assigned me.
So excited that I created spreadsheets of all the different articles that I could write that related in some way to my novel, and all the different angles we could pitch, and all the different outlets we could pitch them to.
There were two spreadsheets: one for long-lead mags, another for short-lead.
Here’s a picture of the long-lead one, because it’s just so cute:
So yeah: I was SUPER keen.
I was expecting a PR meeting, a strategy plan, weekly check-ins, lots of follow ups… I expected my book to be reviewed in all the main places where books are reviewed: the newspapers, the women’s magazines etc etc.
I thought we’d be working about six months out from publication.
But… I don’t think we ever even had a meeting…
In the end, my debut did get a review in the Guardian and mentions in a couple of women’s magazines, which was super exciting, but - LIKE MOST BOOKS - not much else.
The truth is, it’s really really hard to get your book featured in a publication. Especially if it’s a novel.
Yeah, I know, just like everything else in publishing - it’s really really hard!
Because there are simply TOO MANY books fighting for TOO LITTLE space.
And publicists are working on multiple books at the same time, and they have to prioritise the ‘super-lead titles’ so if you’re not one of them, you’re going to get the bog-standard basic PR treatment, my friends, and that’s just how it is.
Writing first-person pieces
One of the ways that publicists try to get novels featured is by offering up ‘first-person pieces’ (much like the ones in my spreadsheets) written by the author talking about something in their life that’s either traumatic or interesting or noteworthy in some way.
The hope is that you can shoe-horn in a mention of your novel somehow, and that this will help raise awareness of it, and ultimately, sales.
Before my debut was released, I had a request from an editor at the Daily Mail to write a piece about my experience of becoming a mother.
I think the headline they wanted was ‘I’m not a natural mother’. 🥴
It was basically a soul-baring piece about how difficult I found the adjustment to motherhood after running my own business and not being a particularly maternal person up to that point.
It broadly echoed the themes of my debut, The Rival, a psychological suspense in which a woman loses her job to a younger woman while pregnant, and eventually loses her sanity and her baby too.
This felt like a groundbreakingly original theme to me at the time, but now, of course, I know better.
Anyway, I wrote the piece. I felt very conflicted about it. I’m not a particular fan of the Mail, and it felt SO personal.
But I was keen and I wanted to show willing. I believed it was a bigger opportunity than it actually was. I wanted my book to succeed, I was prepared to do whatever it took. So I wrote it.
In the end, they never published it.
Not because there was anything wrong with it, per se, but because the Daily Mail over-commission and often just don’t run pieces.
Now I look back and I am so, so relieved that that article never made it to print.
The thought of that headline following me around the internet for the rest of my days sends shivers down my spine.
Luckily, as I was a journalist, I had negotiated a fee, and even though they didn’t publish the piece, they did actually pay me a ‘kill fee’ (which is usually half the original fee) so I got some cash out of it at least.
Since then, I have learnt that many authors write these kind of articles for free.
And I would just like to say here, very loudly, please don’t do that.
Do not write for a mainstream national publication for free!
They have a budget for this kind of thing, you are writing in a professional capacity and you deserve to be paid for your work.
Since I was first published I have heard countless stories of authors writing extremely exposing and personal pieces for mainstream outlets.
And the outcome is usually:
They didn’t get paid any money for the piece
They bitterly regret writing it
The piece made zero tangible difference to their book sales
Now, I would advise debut authors to think very carefully about this kind of thing.
As a former journo, it feels quite exploitative - especially if you don’t even get paid for your article.
The truth is, no one I have spoken to has ever said that writing one of these pieces helped sell books.
So what does it do?
One piece of coverage like this helps raise your profile, a little, temporarily.
So it can help build your author brand. But it’s a tiny piece of a monumental effort that must be sustained for any long-term results.
You need to be in ALL the magazines, in ALL the newspapers and across all online media to really have that huge impact you hope for.
Publicity for non-fiction authors
I’d like to add a caveat to this: I suspect that writing articles for mainstream press works better if you write non-fiction.
It’s certainly easier to come up with topics to write about if you write non-fiction - your book will undoubtedly be full of ideas that lend themselves to feature articles.
And if a newspaper reader reads the article and identifies with your book, I think there’s a higher chance that they’ll pick up your book and think of buying it if they see it next time they’re at the train station.
Fiction is just so much more subjective - it’s almost as though the barriers-to-purchase are higher.
Someone might have resonated with my piece about not feeling like a natural mother, but they might not even read novels, or they might hate psych suspense, so what are the chances of them actually going out and buying my book after closing their Sunday paper?
Really slim, and ESPECIALLY if my book is nowhere to be found.
The ONE thing I wish I had known before I got my book deal →
Short stories
You might also be offered the ‘opportunity’ to write a short story for a Sunday magazine.
I’ve done this twice now, and wasn’t paid for either (there was just a blanket refusal when I enquired about payment).
While that felt a bit galling, I decided to do it anyway because I’d hardly written any short stories and I thought it would be a good challenge.
I also went on to use one of them as the free download for my author mailing list on my website, so I got some leverage out of it.
So, this one is up to you. I don’t think it likely sells books, but it’s also a fun thing to do, and it’s always nice to see your writing in print.
Reviews
So, what about reviews?
I’ve been reviewed in a few mainstream newspapers over my time. I don’t honestly know if they helped shift books.
And I think this is part of the issue with PR in general - it’s so hard to track. It’s really difficult to know what makes people pick up a book.
There’s a saying that you need to encounter something SEVEN times before making a purchasing decision.
So one review in one newspaper is probably not going to carry much weight.
BUT four or five reviews, plus an advert on the Underground, plus your best friend telling you the book is great, plus a first-person piece in a women’s magazine plus a few online adverts… that may well encourage someone to buy your book.
Sidenote: it’s been proven that word-of-mouth is the most powerful book marketing method.
And what does that mean?
It means that writing the best book you possibly can is the most powerful thing you can do to help shift it.
I love getting reviews though, and what they ARE really useful for is ‘social proof’, which can be used on your books and on your own online platforms and website, almost as a stamp of legitimacy.
TV and radio
Over the years, I’ve also done a handful of radio slots. Which were a bit nervewracking, but actually really lovely.
I am not convinced that they sold any books but again - it’s impossible to track!
However, I do think that taking up these opportunities is really important because, if nothing else, it gets you used to talking about your book, which can really help when you come to do events.
I only have one experience of my book (not me!) appearing on TV, and that was when my book was recommended on the Today Show in the US.
This was a pretty big deal. Obviously.
Here’s a line from my publicist’s email about it:
This truly a dream come true placement. Charlotte, congratulations!!! Last week, the Today Show had 2.568 million viewers with 594k in the A25-54 demo.
And I believe it did lead to a handful of orders. So that was great (also because it required absolutely no input from me!)
So yeah, get your book on TV if you can. Easy. 😛
Paying an external PR firm to publicise your book
Another thing I considered when I was a debut (and have since heard a lot of other authors consider) is paying an external PR firm to run a campaign in the lead-up to the publication of your book.
I think if you write non-fiction this can be a really good idea. This is an instinct-based comment, not based on any evidence, but I can see from my experience as a journo and as a PR that this could work well, ESPECIALLY if the subject of your book is particularly topical or even a little controversial.
Also, if you’re trying to build your own brand in a wider sense (not just your book) and position yourself as a thought leader in your area of expertise, it makes a lot of sense to have a PR on board.
However, if you write fiction, I really don’t advise you do this.
For one, if you’re traditionally published, it’s your publisher’s job and they should be doing everything an external PR firm can do for you, so you’ll just be doubling up.
Also, it’s super expensive. When I looked into it, I was quoted around £10k for a three-month campaign.
I’m not saying that it’s overpriced because I think that’s fairly reasonable given the work involved, but it IS a big investment and I just don’t think novelists will see the ROI they’re hoping for.
I think using an external PR can be helpful if you’re keen on building your personal brand, but not if you’re just looking to promote your debut novel.
Writing for blogs and online publications
I actually feel a little more encouraged by this aspect of PR.
I’ve done quite a few interviews with blogs and smaller publications and I think these can often be more effective than writing those aforementioned first-person pieces for large mainstream papers and magazines.
Why?
1) because the readership of these publications is often small but highly targeted (you would hope that the people reading book blogs like to read!)
and
2) because online outlets offer a direct click-through to your book on Amazon etc, meaning impulse purchasing is more likely.
It’s also nice to support smaller blogs and publications who might not even be making a profit, but simply running to share their love of books.
So when it comes to book PR, what does work?
Don’t get me wrong, I do think PR is important.
However, I think it’s simply one part of the huge puzzle of sales, marketing and publicity (SMP) in books, and it can become extremely distracting if you let it.
If you’re traditionally published, it’s your publisher’s job to secure media coverage. Of course, be helpful and collaborative, but please don’t feel pressured or obliged to write articles for free, or to share more personal information than you are comfortable with.
And don’t feel bad if your book doesn’t get any mainstream coverage.
My third book The Perfect Father (my bestseller) didn’t get reviewed in any mainstream publications at all. And yet it’s sold more than 100,000 copies to date.
Publicity really isn’t the be-all and end-all of a book’s success.
That book took off because of the marketing and visibility it had - and these really are the crucial factors that impact a book’s success.
Remember: the best marketing a writer can do is to write their next book. So don’t allow all the SMP stuff to pull your focus away from your actual job.
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