An author emailed me today to ask a very reasonable question:

How many books will I sell if I invest $10,000 in a book promotion campaign?

I wish I had a reasonable, pithy response. Unfortunately, the best that I could do was to send him the following reply:

It's very hard to equate dollars spent on book promotion with book sales. Here are the challenges inherent in even taking a guess.

First, the results of PR efforts are, to some extent (although not wholly) unpredictable. I can make predictions (based on my twenty years of experience as a book publicist) about how the media might respond to my pitches (note, though, that I take on only book promotion projects that I feel show a great deal of promise). However, I can't know for certain how the media will respond until the media does (or doesn't) respond. While I work with the media and know have a very respectful sense of how they think and what they want -- the producers/hosts and editors/writers with whom I'm in touch make their own decisions about which books and authors to feature. I can nudge them, and I can influence them, but I can't control them. The fact that I've booked other clients on media outlet A is no guarantee that I can book any other particular client on media outlet A. My media contacts make their booking/featuring decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Second, as a book publicist, it's my job to conceptualize and execute creative, professional book promotion campaigns. Simply put, I pitch stories and articles to the media, and I communicate the results of my efforts to authors, and sometimes, to their publishers. Neither authors nor publishers (nor self-published authors) would have any reason to report their book sales to me. As that's sensitive information, I never ask for it. And I haven't yet had a client who has volunteered it. Frankly, I consider that private business, and I don't want to know it.

Even if I did know how many books a client sold, I'd be unable to take credit for those sales, much as I might want to (particularly if the book were a bestseller). Some successful authors I've represented have had more irons in the fire than a book promotion campaign, and those other activities have helped the cause of book sales. Also, to be fair, nearly all of my clients have received -- and count on receiving -- benefits from their book promotion campaign that transcend book sales. A successful book promotion campaign gives authors an opportunity to build their brand, gain credibility for themselves as experts, disseminate their messages, find speaking engagement opportunities that will pay (or reasons to increase their fees for speaking engagements based on their high media visibility), and so forth.

In short, I can't offer you a scientific formula for deciding how much money to spend on a book promotion campaign. I can, and will, offer up two thoughts, though. First, if you invest nothing in promoting your book, readers are unlikely to find it. There's just too much competition out there for shrinking book-buying budgets to fail to promote a book and expect positive results. To give your book a fighting chance to succeed, you must gain media visibility for it. Second, book publicity is a risky investment. Sometimes, an author's investment pays off in book sales (etc.), and sometimes, it does not. Never invest more money in book promotion than you can afford to lose.

Finally, I've had the great fun recently of promoting my own self-published novelty cookbook, "101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes." While I will not divulge sale figures, I can tell you that -- with an appearance on Harpo Productions' "The Rachael Ray Show," a mention on CNET and on About.com, and a steady stream of placements and interviews and reviews on radio, in newspapers, on blogs, and elsewhere on the Net (you can click here, http://microwavemugcakes.com/microwavemugcakes-news.htm, to see an overview of my book promotion campaign to date), I've been delighted with the results of my book promotion and self promotion efforts. I've been tickled to find proof of concept. Book promotion can work very well, and help you achieve your goals (of selling books and beyond) if your efforts are meaningful and creative and sustained.

If I were willing to give you a ballpark guess in answer to your question of "how many book sales would a $10,000 investment in book promotion buy me," I'd feel disingenuous, and I just can't compromise my integrity to give you less-than-honest response. Therefore, as counterintuitive as it may seem, I think I help you best by declining to "fudge" an answer to your question.

Best,
Stacey

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Book web sites are key components of book publicity campaigns. That's why they have to be done well.

Designing a book web site well does not mean integrating as many Flash components and as much eye candy as possible. On the contrary: anything that distracts the web site's visitors will ensure that visitors keep their visits short. Just as importantly, the very bad design elements that turn off visitors are also likely to turn off search engines. So keep it simple, and do your visitors (and would-be book buyers and media decision-makers) and search engine a favor.

I came across an example of a bad web design choice this morning while scanning the news online (which is the first of my book promotion tasks every day as I seek ways to tie clients' books and expertise into what's happening in the world). While I was checking out MSNBC.com's headlines, I was faced with a choice between reading about the CIA's certainty that Al-Qaida will attack the U.S. within a few months or checking out why a Newsweek writer believes Meryl Streep is overrated as an actress.

I chose to read the latter -- or, at least, I tried to read the latter. Unfortunately, the web page featured a black background with a white typeface. Really bad idea. Now, as I look at a white background with a black typeface, I'm seeing horizontal black stripes across the page.

That's unnecessary, and the web site designer should have known better than to create something cute rather than functional. The takeaway? Make sure your book web site designer focuses on readability and search engine optimization. That will work, and you'll have a web site that's an asset to your book promotion campaign. Anything else is just indefensible.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Are book trailers a silly waste of time for those who want to promote books? Laura Miller, writing for Salon, says they are and cites examples of badly-produced (and ill-conceived) book trailers that detract from, rather than enhance, book promotion efforts.

But concluding that all book trailers are a silly approach to book promotion doesn't make any more sense than deciding that blogging for book publicity is a bad idea after you've seen a badly-written book blog, or reasoning that media releases don't work after you've seen an incompetently-handled press release (most likely, one that reads as if it were an ad for a book, which won't accomplish anything, rather than an actual news release, which most likely will help you achieve your book promotion goals).

A good book trailer, on a professionally designed web site (and on You Tube and other video-sharing sites), can be a part of a highly effective, and perhaps even a viral, book marketing campaign. And, of course, a book trailer can enhance your online footprint which means it will improve your search engine rankings. You'll also vastly expand your potential online audience with your book trailer. These are all good reasons to consider hiring someone to create a book trailer for you.

A bad book trailer isn't likely to enhance your online credibility, so avoid the temptation to create a book trailer on the cheap just to have a book trailer. But don't be shy about considering a book trailer as a potential asset to your book publicity campaign. There's nothing silly about them. Book trailers can be an important part of your book promotion strategy. Just hire the right firm to help you get it right. Most book promotion firms would be glad to give you some recommendations (and, no, an honest book publicist will not accept a commission for the referral).

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Is your book promotion campaign on the rocks? If your book is with a major publishing house, and your book publicity campaign has stalled before it started, then it might be because your in-house book publicist has James Patterson Syndrome.

Check out the New York Times's article about the attention a James Patterson books gets from its publisher. Because Patterson's vast number of books reliably bring in a tremendous sum of money for his publisher, Little, Brown & Co. gives Patterson's books all of the attention and nurturing they need -- possibly to the detriment of other books that haven't yet proven themselves as moneymakers.

Every major publisher has its James Patterson, and that phenomenon of highlighting one author to the detriment of all other authors is what I call James Patterson Syndrome. It's when your publisher's in-house book marketing team doesn't know that your book exists.

Is there a news story you could speak about? Could you shed some light on a study, or does your novel tie into a trend? Could you lend your expertise to a season or an event? Maybe, but your phone isn't ringing, and your inbox is empty, and it's because your in-house book promotion team's energies are tied up elsewhere.

So, if your book promotion campaign is on the rocks, and you're hearing "sorry, we're just getting no media response" from your publisher's book marketing people (or, worse still, if you're hearing only silence from your publisher's book publicity team), then it's time to take your book promotion campaign into your own hands.

It's time to conduct your own book promotion campaign, which you can do with, or without, help from an independent book publicist, depending on your time, resources, and goals. You don't have to miss major media opportunities because James Patterson Syndrome has eaten up the lion's share of your publisher's time and energy. You can believe in your own book, and you can use the traditional media as well as the online media and social networking to direct your book's destiny.

We can't all enjoy James Patterson's status, skill, and good fortune. But we can make sure that our book promotion campaigns don't get left in the dust before they even get off the ground.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For book publicists, authors, and publishers who conduct book promotion campaigns, it seems that there are changes on the horizon. The zenith of every book publicity campaign is, of course, a national television show appearance. Almost every author wants to appear on national TV; a select few are lucky enough to have that opportunity.

For years, it seemed that the Holy Grail was an invitation to appear on the nationally-syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show. But, as we all know, Oprah Winfrey has announced that her show is ending, and if we want to see Oprah on the air, we'll have to watch her new television show on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), which is affiliated with Discovery Communications. Who knows whether Oprah's new OWN show will still be a haven for authors?

And now another national television talk show host, Martha Stewart, is following in Oprah's footsteps. Martha's television show is moving from syndication to the Hallmark Channel, according to this Associated Press (via MSNBC) story. Never mind the fact that fewer homes receive the Hallmark Channel than receive the broadcast channels on which Martha's show now airs. Martha's programming will be available for three hours every day. That's a trade-off that works for Martha.

The question is, how will the changes in the national television shows work for those who are conducting book promotion campaigns? If moving from broadcast TV to cable TV is a trend for national television shows, and the cable-aired television shows have fewer potential viewers, will these national TV shows continue to be the high point of a book promotion campaign?

We'll see whether other national TV shows on broadcast channels will follow Oprah and Winfrey to cable television. If so, we'll see whether that changes the landscape of book promotion campaigns. It seems to me it could ... and it seems to me it probably will.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's an off-the-wall promotion campaign by Amazon: order a Kindle, and if you don't like it, Amazon will refund your money. In other words, if you buy the Amazon Kindle and then hate it, you may have it for free. Huh.

You might have received this odd offer, but then again, you might not have. (This book publicist and frequent Amazon book buyer did not receive the offer.)

I heard about the Kindle promotion campaign that Amazon is apparently running at TechCrunch. I wonder whether anyone else thinks the offer to refund a dissatisfied Kindle buyer's money is as odd as I do. (TechCrunch points out that Amazon isn't making it easy for a dissatisfied Kindle buyer to get that refund, which doesn't surprise me.)

As someone who hopes to buy an ebook reader as soon as the format wars end (or, at least, come to a natural pause), I was hoping to see a different Kindle promotion -- say, agree to buy X number of books through Amazon and receive a free (or vastly discounted) Kindle. It was a promotional offer of that nature that finally pushed me over the edge when I considered buying a DVD player, so I'm confident that a Kindle promotion that's tied into a book-buying obligation would be a solid promotional ploy for Amazon to consider.

But who am I telling? I'm sure Amazon has already considered that idea, and uncomfortable with it, for now.

Well, okay. While Amazon is waiting, we'll see what other types of ebook readers are brought to the table...and we'll (or, at least, I will) spend the time considering which type of ebook reader I'd actually prefer.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's some good news for those of us who engage in book promotion and book publicity campaigns: there's a new book review outlet in town.

MediaBistro is launching GalleyCat Reviews, a new source of book reviews, on January 25, 2010. Although the editorial guidelines haven't yet been set in stone, the editors are providing contact information for authors, publishers, and book publicists who are interested in getting a foot in the door early. You can find the contact information for GalleyCat Reviews here.

With so many book review opportunities either drying up or in danger of shutting down, it's wonderful to see the online media world step up to the plate with its own book review possibilities. Book promotion and book publicity campaigns always involve the online media, of course, but new book review opportunities from major online media outlets such as MediaBistro gives book publicists an excuse to incorporate an online book promotion component into every book publicity campaign.

See? Book reviews aren't dead. They've simply relocated to online media outlets.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, Kirkus is back. Kirkus, as you know, announced in December 2009 that it would cease publication, but now both the New York Times and Publishers Weekly have announced that Kirkus is still seeking galleys -- so maybe it's not dead after all (or, at least, not yet). According to Managing Editor Eric Liebetrau, another company is in the process of acquiring Kirkus -- perhaps in time for your book promotion campaign.

No one wants to see a magazine fold, and news that Kirkus's demise was especially troubling to authors, publishers, book publicists, and other publishing industry professionals because book review outlets (if you discount online book review outlets such as blogs and online bookstores) have seriously contracted during the past few years. No one who cares about book promotion wanted to lose yet another venue for potential media exposure.

So it looks as though Kirkus may be with us for awhile longer, if we're lucky. Cross your fingers, everyone, and hope that the news is a good omen for 2010.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Editors, producers, hosts, bloggers, and (staff and freelance) writers receive press releases from everyone who is embarking on a book promotion campaign. It's tempting to use buzzwords to get the attention of the media, but I've just read an article that reminded me of a key book publicity concept: "cool" can backfire.

A Time Magazine online article revealed a list of words that Lake Superior State University (which has been releasing such lists for 35 years) recommends we ban because of their over-use. Among those words, unfortunately, are many that you might want to use in your press releases because they're so "in" right now. But "in" words can quickly become tiring, so -- for example -- using "friend" as a verb in your next press release probably isn't going to score you points with the recipient. Using the phrase "shovel-ready" likely won't work any better for you.

So remember that, to get the media's attention and to keep your press release from getting tossed (or deleted, depending on how your delivery mechanism), avoid using the words you hear everywhere -- at least until, once again, the words become "uncool" enough to take their place in our communal vocabularies once again.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Does book promotion take a break the last week of December?

It's tempting to think that everyone -- authors, publishers, producers, editors, reporters, book publicists, and even people who don't work in the publishing industry or the media -- has the last week of the year off, and that everyone who's in the office is playing computer games. But that's not the way it is.

Book promotion never takes a holiday.

I've booked two radio interviews, so far, this morning, and I've had a book request from an editor at a major newspaper -- so I'm headed to the post office later this afternoon. Even though one might be tempted to argue it's a holiday. And even though, here in Massachusetts, the temperature is about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. And even though it's easy to believe that nothing important will be done, by way of book promotion or a whole lot else, until the first of the year.

If I subscribed to the theory that book promotion takes a holiday, my clients would have missed two radio interviews, and possibly a newspaper hit. I'm therefore grateful to be in the office today, and I'm glad to be working on book promotion campaigns.

But on January 1, I do think book promotion might take a few hours off -- at least, for this book publicist. Not that I have any hot and heavy plans for New Year's Eve, but you do have to stay up until midnight to ring in the new decade. It's a tradition!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've just read an Associated Press article via MSNBC.com saying that, because of declining advertising dollars, free broadcast television could disappear in favor of pay-only services. In other words, in the not-so-distant future, if we don't subscribe to television networks, we might not be able to view their programming.

What does that mean to those of us who are seeking book publicity opportunities? Well, getting an opportunity to appear on a nationally-aired television show has been the Holy Grail for most book publicists, publishers, and authors for as long as I've been a book promotion specialist. That was because national television shows usually drew larger audiences than, say, a nationally-syndicated radio show, and it garnered "more eyeballs" (an ugly, but apt, phrase) than, for example, a daily newspaper.

But the reason so many of us watch the same television shows is, at least in part, because those television shows are free. A show that's aired on a cable network -- for instance, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- couldn't capture the audience that a show aired on a broadcast network -- say, "Seinfeld" -- could.

The smart book marketing decision has always been to target media venues so that the greatest possible number of the "right" people. Before, national television shows that aired on broadcast stations had the greatest potential for doing that. Now, who knows where the greatest number of viewers (or listeners, or readers, or surfers) will gather?

Perhaps broadcast television fans have such a strong allegiance to their favorite shows that they won't be persuaded to switch to other media outlets even when they have to pay for their old one. Or, more realistically, perhaps we have to be honest about the fact that broadcast television's potential new business model may change the way all of us conduct book promotion campaigns.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some books deserve as many book promotion opportunities as they can garner. Other books -- classics, for the most part -- need no further book publicity. They are an integral part of our culture, and they will always be part of our lives.

Exodus, by Leon Uris, is an example of a book that stands on its own. It's an example of a book that spawned a successful movie but, far more than that, it's an example of a book that changed lives -- and maybe the world -- for the better. I know that Exodus influenced me and changed the way I view the world.

Which is the long way around saying that I came across a sad news item just now. The Associated Press (via MSNBC.com) has reported that Yitzhak "Ike" Ahronovitch, the captain of the real-life ship that inspired the book, Exodus, passed away at the age of 86.

Ahronovitch was, and always will be, a hero. His courage, I hope, inspired people around the world to do what's right.

And, in his passing, I hope Ahronovitch inspires people to go back and read Leon Uris's amazing book and, perhaps, take another look at the movie, "Exodus."

Yitzhak Ahronovitch's death isn't a book promotion opportunity. It's a poignant event and a chance for everyone to reflect upon the meaning of "Exodus" and the message of all people (of all races, creeds, religions, genders, shapes, and sizes), the world over, who need refuge, safety, hope, and acceptance.

Isn't that, finally, the real Christmas message?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Authors sometimes ask me, "Cay you create a viral book promotion campaign?" I wish I could but, by definition, a viral marketing campaign isn't something you create. It's something that happens.

Viral marketing campaigns, however unpredictable, often do share certain elements. For book promotion campaigns, some of the elements that help a campaign "go viral" are:

1. The book is good to begin with.
2. The author and his/her message is compelling, in some way.
3. There's a timeliness to the book.
4. Multimedia (a book trailer or some other type of video that can be uploaded to video-sharing sites, with YouTube chief among them) are an integral part of the campaign.

For a look at what makes a multimedia show "go viral," check out Pete Cashmore's article -- "YouTube: Why do we watch?" -- on CNNTech. Cashmore has isolated some of the reasons why we love to watch Susan Boyle's performance or even Tay Zonday's, um, singing of "Chocolate Rain." It's worth noting that Cashmore's takeaway is that it's impossible to predict when a video will go viral until we see it and decide to pass the link along to everybody we know.

And the same is true for a book promotion campaign that goes viral. Many authors would like to hire someone to create a viral book promotion campaign for them.

I wish it were possible.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jason Pinter, writing for the Huffington Post, asks whether social networking helps, or hinders, a book promotion campaign. Can too much visibility, Pinter wonders, diminish an author's mystique and make it less likely that readers will buy his or her book?

Pinter presents both sides of the argument. He reasons that, if Steven Spielberg rejects the possibility of providing commentaries for his DVDs, perhaps literary icons should consider sharing less of themselves via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social networking venues.

Perhaps the public prefers Greta Garbo's cloak of privacy to, say, Paris Hilton's public strutting. However, media consumers -- and that includes readers -- have become accustomed to public figures' revealing their inner lives. We no longer accept the talented sportsmanship of a Tiger Woods; we want an explanation of his 14 liaisons (and we're just spoiling to know how quickly Elin will divorce him, how much money she'll get in the deal, the dispensation of their home, the custody arrangement of their children, and so on).

Of course, you can argue that Tiger Woods' publicity and new infamy isn't helping him sell his brand. On the other hand, perhaps if Woods will find his redemption and repair his image through social networking.

And most authors, I hope and trust, can afford a bit more transparency than the erstwhile golfing hero. So does Pinter have a point about how too much online networking can threaten book sales? Perhaps ... but, from what I've seen, social networking -- when employed with common sense and integrity -- can be a healthy part of most successful book promotion campaigns. The bottom line: connect with your readers, and they may well decide to connect with you by reading your books. That's what so many authors are finding. And it seems as if, every day, a new author joins the world of social networking. It's evidently working.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've just come across a TechH2o.com blog entry titled "The Power of Book Reviewers in Book Marketing" The article calls book reviews an "investment" that authors can make in their books.

Since TechH2o.com is a technical blog, I wouldn't expect its writer to know that which should be obvious to authors, publishers, book publicists, and other book publishing professionals: one doesn't pay for legitimate book reviews.

Unpaid book reviews can be part of a successful book promotion campaign (although it's true that book reviews are becoming increasingly difficult to get, even for well-known authors and publishers). That is why so many authors and publishers are switching to blog tours and Amazon book review campaigns as part of their book promotion efforts.

But to buy a book review isn't going to help an author's (or a publisher's) credibility. In fact, in the opinion of this book publicist, buying a book review (and, worse, boasting about it by incorporating into a media kit) marks the buyer as an amateur.

The money you may be tempted to spend on buying book reviews can be either saved or spent in other aspects of your book promotion campaign. In any case, book reviews aren't an investment. They're simply reflect a failure to understand how book promotion works.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've taken on a new book promotion client. That's usually something I don't blog about (although, these days, I sometimes Twitter about it or make note of it in a Facebook update). But, then again, this is an unusual situation. My new book promotion client is -- well, me.

I've written and self-published (using my own imprint, BPT Press, through LightningSource, a P.O.D. printer that is affiliated with Ingram) a book called 101 Microwave Mug Cakes: Single-Serving Snacks in Less Than 10 Minutes. The publication date was October 15, 2009. I've had all the help in the world with web site design (I'm in the rarified company of authors who have been lucky enough, and smart enough, to engage a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm called AuthorBytes), but the book promotion campaign has been entirely my own.

Here's where it's interesting to be a book publicist who is promoting her own book.

On the one hand, it's a luxury to promote your own book, because your budget and the time you put into garnering book publicity opportunities are determined by -- and only limited by -- you. So far, I haven't declined anything my book publicist has recommended. :)

I've been trying all sorts of new and cutting-edge book publicity tricks and techniques that I strongly suspected would work but, until now, hadn't had the opportunity to attempt. Also, on the traditional book promotion side of things, I've done it all: online publicity, radio interviews, print, bylined article placement, blogging, and national TV.

I'll say it now: I am in love with Rachael Ray and "The Rachael Ray Show" producers and "The Rachael Ray Show" viewers. "The Rachael Ray Show" producers were kind enough to invite me to appear on their show, and they were gracious enough to air the taped segment on December 4, 2009.

If ever a book publicist (or her potential clients) needed validation that a robust book promotion campaign that included outreach to as many media outlets as possible -- even "long-shot" national television shows, was worthwhile and could result in phenomenal exposure, my experience in promoting 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes is it. I now have "proof of concept," and I'd like to share it with you.

First, you might want to take a look at the clip of my appearance on "The Rachael Ray Show" that the show's webmaster was kind enough to include on "The Rachael Ray Show" web site. This short segment (most of which was taped in Massachusetts, before I was brought into New York to do an in-studio shoot), combined with the New York segment in which I appeared, was nationally syndicated by Harpo Productions from coast to coast at various times of the day on Friday, October 4.

Naturally, during that day, I "watched the numbers" very closely. Of course, I'm referring here to the book's rankings on Barnes and Noble online and Amazon. The book peaked at number 3 on BN.com (and has been holding steadily at number 4 as of this writing, which means that the book cover has been featured since Friday on Barnes and Noble's home page).

On Amazon, I had similar luck. My book reached a ranking of 126 and then (and this is the only sour note in my otherwise completely upbeat story) an apparent computer glitch occurred. Amazon (beginning on Friday) began to erroneously warn book buyers that the book would take between 1 and 2 months to ship. Of course, that's not the case. LightningSource supplies books to Amazon as fast as Amazon's buyers order them...but that's an issue that, I trust, I will resolve one way or another on Monday. Surprisingly, that hasn't even affected the book's ranking all that much. As of this writing, the Amazon ranking is still 351.

Traffic to the 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes web site has been phenomenal. Again, my appreciation goes out to AuthorBytes for making the site as appealing as it has and keeping up with the changes that I've requested, in real time -- along with keeping the server working even through an incredible surge of traffic!

To say that I'm awestruck by the success of my book promotion campaign for 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes would be the understatement of the year. To say that I'm humbled by it, and that it's taken my breath away, would be on target ... but neither statement would go far enough.

Although I've been a book publicist for 20 years, and I've been involved in some incredibly successful book promotion campaigns, it always takes my breath away to see a book rise from obscurity to national prominence. And, since this particular book promotion campaign involves my book -- which I wrote to amuse and challenge myself, and I self-published and have been promoting as an experiment -- it has been particularly gratifying.

I wanted to share my story now because I'm hoping you will take something away from it: if I can do it, so can you! With the right book, and the right book promotion campaign, your dream of having a successful book can come true.

I've made it happen for myself. It's been (and continues to be) a delight and a wonderful learning experience.

Now let's make it happen for you.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Usually, my blog focuses on book promotion. For the next few minutes, it will focus on promotion for a site that promotes and sells independent book. That site is IndieReader.com, and its owner, author Amy Edleman, just sent me an email that I'm delighted to share here:

Dear Friends and Family,

I asked for your help when I was looking for a husband...and look at how well that turned out! I'm hoping this time we can help each other.

IndieReader.com is a venue for discriminating readers to find and purchase books published and produced by the people who wrote them. In other words...GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS!!! Llike Sundance for writers--the books you'll find at IR are special and unique....just like the people on your holiday gift list.

We're also eco-friendly. Because most IR books are Print On Demand, no trees are killed until after the books are sold. So...you're not just supporting some fine indie writers, you're helping the environment too.

If you find something that you like at IR, PLEASE BUY IT...and forward this email to a friend (we're offering free, first-class shipping through December 1st!).

Thanks as always for your support. And remember...
everytime you buy a book from IR, an indie writer gets their wings!

Happy Holidays!

xoxo
Amy Edelman
Founder, IndieReader
amy@indiereader.com

PS Check out December's The Indie Reader, our monthly, online magazine, featuring iconic designer Isaac Mizrahi dishing on "The Book That Changed My Life".

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:56 AM | Permalink

The publishing industry can still surprise me. After all this time, I can still read an item (in Publishers Weekly or elsewhere) that floors me.

Here's a very odd development that I just found in PublishersWeekly.com: BookSurge and CreateSpace are merging. (Remember that old joke, or maybe it's just a New England joke, about how Stop & Shop and the A & P are merging? Well, never mind.)

Anyway, I'm actually a CreateSpace author. My book is How To Market, Sell, Distribute, And Promote Your Book: Critical, Hard-To-Find Information For Authors And Publishers , and it represents my first foray into self publishing. I chose to use CreateSpace because the price was right, although the distribution was limited to my site (or selling back-of-the-room copies) and Amazon. I chose to avoid BookSurge because, although it offered better distribution than CreateSpace (was my impression, although I didn't look into it too closely, at the time), that distribution came with a cost. Besides which, I didn't need the publishing services that BookSurge offered because I was able to handle page design, editing, book cover design, and so forth in house.

So here's what amazes me. BookSurge and CreateSpace are merging, but instead of creating the obvious merger (a new BookSurge that has CreateSpace folded into it), the far more unlikely choice has been made (there will be a new-and-improved CreateSpace that now will have BookSurge folded into it).

So what does that mean? CreateSpace will no longer be free? Or BookSurge will be free (or it will lower its fees for its various offerings)? The PW.com article doesn't say, so I guess the only way to find out is to wait and see.

In the meantime, I'm puzzled. I have conducted a couple of book promotion campaigns for BookSurge projects and, unless you count the very limited book promotion campaign (limited because, again, the distribution was so limited) I conducted for my book, I've never engaged in a book publicity campaign for a CreateSpace book. I suppose that will change now ... maybe. We'll just have to see whether the new-and-improved CreateSpace offers new distribution channels for book. (As a book publicist who wants her clients to get their money's worth, I do need to see that a book enjoys some distribution beyond Amazon before I take on a book promotion project.)

So, yes, I'm surprised ... yet again ... by a choice that some publishing industry leaders have made. Surprised, but not exactly chagrined. Let's just say I'm curious to see what happens next.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:21 AM | Permalink

Which would you prefer to own (or to buy as a gift): a Kindle or a Nook? As you most likely know (if you've logged onto Amazon and BN.com to buy gifts this holiday season), both Amazon and BN.com are hyping their ereaders with all their virtual might. Both the Kindle and the Nook are featured on Amazon and BN.com's home pages, respectively. And both boast the same selling price ($259 and free shipping).

For those of us who haven't compared the Kindle and the Nook for ourselves (and I believe you'd have to "live" with both for awhile to really be able to do that), the Kindle and the Nook would appear similarly attractive to shoppers except for one key difference. The Kindle is currently available (in fact, Amazon is apparently claiming that the Kindle is outselling any of its books), and the Nook is not. A quick click from BN.com's home page to the Nook page itself indicates that the Nook, which it calls the "hottest holiday gift," is out of stock.

As someone who has spent an hour or three hunting down a Zhu Zhu Pet (don't ask), I can tell you that an item isn't much of a hot holiday gift if it's out of stock.

So I think the "Kindle vs. Nook" dilemma is solved, for now. Next up: are book lovers really ready to trade in their anytime, anywhere, no-batteries-needed hard copies for an ebook reader experience?

Maybe, but this book publicist isn't quite ready to go there yet. And, for my book promotion campaigns, I'm still sending out hard copies of books instead of presuming that TV and radio producers, and newspaper and magazine editors, have ebook readers and would except a digital book from my clients.

So I'm not morally convinced that the ebook reader's time is at hand quite yet. But talk to me next year when everything might be different ... and, most likely, will be.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's a question that I've been pondering lately. After Oprah Winfrey's show, what will be the next hot venue for authors? An Associated Press (via MSNBC.com) article throws out a handful of possibilities: Dr. Phil, Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, and Tyra Banks. But, as the article says, one of the other national talk show hosts have the drawing power of an Oprah Winfrey. Therefore, none of the other national talk show hosts will have the same effect on a book promotion campaign as Oprah Winfrey has had.

Oprah's show doesn't end until 2012. That gives us all two more years to get Oprah Winfrey to boost our media visibility by giving us a slot on her show. Two more years ... and what happens next for book promotion campaign miracles? That remains to be seen.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:45 PM | Permalink

According to an article in the business section of today's Miami Herald, many authors at mainstream publishing houses have become responsible for creating their own book publicity opportunities. Many traditional publishing houses, the article points out, have trimmed down their publicity and marketing departments. That means they have little time to spend on book promotion campaigns, and authors who want media opportunities frequently have to find those opportunities themselves.

And that's if authors are lucky enough to have a traditional publishing house behind their books. Most authors, of course, self publish, and those authors expect to manage their own book promotion campaigns.

As the article points out, it can be tough for authors to wear so many hats: writer, book marketer, book publicist and, perhaps, book publisher. In addition, many authors have day jobs and full-time professions (doctor, lawyer, speaker, educator, and the like). Obviously, authors also have (or are trying to have!) personal lives and to make time for their families and friends.

That's what keeps book publicists like me in business. We provide book promotion support for authors who simply can't find enough hours in the day to do it all. Book publicists are glad to help make authors' lives easier. And I'm sure authors will be glad, upon reading that Miami Herald article, to discover their book publishers aren't picking on them or purposely ignoring their book promotion needs. Economic hard times have hit the book publishing industry, and in-house book publicists are doing the best they can. Many of them are thrilled to have the support of authors and any independent book publicity help they might have. Teamwork is what book promotion is all about!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:28 AM | Permalink

The New York Times has called Glenn Beck the new Oprah for thriller writers. There's a revelation for Oprah fans!

As a book publicist, I'm always eager to keep on top of changes in the book promotion landscape. So I'm grateful to know that, when I'm promoting a thriller, Glenn Beck's endorsement is the Holy Grail.

I haven't been this excited since I found out that Don Imus could create a bestseller -- apparently, Imus's fan base reads when it isn't listening to Don Imus (or maybe it reads at the same time as it's listening to Don Imus, but I digress).

Glenn Beck. Who would have though it. Glenn Beck.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:05 AM | Permalink

A few weeks ago, MacKenzie Phillips and her memoir, High on Arrival, were everywhere. If there was a news-related television show, or a television talk show, that didn't have MacKenzie Phillips on as a guest at least once, then I can't imagine what that television show might be. So how did MacKenzie score an appearance on "Larry King Live," "Oprah," "The Today Show," and other national TV outlets? MacKenzie wrote -- and subsequently, talked -- about an unimaginable scandal in her own life (in case you haven't heard what that scandal is, I'd suggest you check it out here, because I don't want to be the one to break the news to you). That was all it took: MacKenzie's big revelation as well as "filler" about stardom, living in the fast lane, drug addiction, and redemption.

I'll confess to reading MacKenzie's autobiography - and then grabbing a copy of Valerie Bertinelli's memoir, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time (you get the pun on "One Day at a Time," the television show in which MacKenzie and Valerie co-starred as teenagers, don't you?). Ahem. Anyway, to round things off (and all in the same weekend), I bought and read a copy of Melissa Gilbert's autobiography, Prairie Tale: A Memoir. Yes, the three books had a lot in common: childhood stardom, drug-related issues, unhappiness, adult angst, and scandal. And, yes, all three of those authors had appeared all over the media to promote their respective memoirs. And, yes, I chomped my way through each and every word of them, and I found myself fascinated by every sordid word.

Which is pretty much the point made by Ben Yagoda, a journalism professor from the University of Delaware and author of his own book, Memoir: A History. In a Reuter's article, Yagoda talks about why people like MacKenzie, Valerie, and Melissa choose to write memoirs, and why those memoirs sell so well. He attributes the memoirs' popularity to two issues: first, that we love scandal (as long as the scandals in question don't involve us, personally), and second, that talk shows love to feature celebrities who write tell-all books.

So if you're a celebrity, and you write a memoir full of scandal (we can't all be lucky enough to boast about drug addiction and wasted childhoods, but surely, if you're a celebrity, you can come up with something shocking), you'll have as many book promotion opportunities as you can handle. If you're an ordinary person, then you can still shock the world with your memoir -- provided your scandal-ridden autobiography is either true or you can convince us that it's true. (You don't want to be the next James Frey, and incur the wrath of Oprah as well as your commiserating public, so do keep your scandals above board, if you can.)

In short, if you write a pain-filled memoir, and you have a shot at book promotion heaven. Not bad for sharing your innermost secrets and baring your soul to strangers. It's all for a good cause -- invitations from national media outlets and, ultimately, book sales. It's a book publicity dream come true. Think about it. And let me know when your autobiography is published. Clearly, I'll read anything of that genre. Yes, I'm an addict, too ... but, fortunately for me, my addictive tendencies are limited to reading books.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:59 AM | Permalink

Can Skype be part of a successful book promotion campaign? Yes, it can, from what I've been reading. Webwire has an account of Cecelia Ahern's virtual book tour that represented a coordinated book publicity effort by the author, HarperCollins (her publisher), Skype, and several intrepid, forward-thinking bookstores in various countries.

The Skype virtual book tour gives Ahem a chance to connect with fans in Singapore, South Africa, German, Australia, and the UK, which is great for Ahern, and terrific for her fans, and stupendous for book sales (one would imagine).

However, note that Ahem is an internationally bestselling author.

Would a Skype virtual book tour work for a midlist author or, for example, a self-published author who's just beginning to build his or her brand? Maybe it would, but name the bookstore that would be willing to take a chance on setting up a Skype virtual book tour (it's tough enough to arrange a book signing for self-published -- or even lesser known mainstream published -- authors!).

I'm sure that Skype, and similar technologies, will strongly influence the way people connect with each other. It already has changed the way that this book publicist makes overseas phone calls.

But, although it's interesting to see how Skype virtual book tours can be integrated into book promotion campaigns, I'm guessing that world-famous authors will be in a far better position to take advantage of the book publicity opportunity than the rest of us ... now, and for a long, long time to come.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:17 AM | Permalink

Online networking is part of your book promotion campaign, and the blogosphere is the hub of your online book publicity efforts.

Having said that, I've only recently begun to learn just how powerful a networking tool a blog can be. I always knew a blog was a powerful networking tool, and I saw very quickly that blogs can be an important part of a book promotion campaign. But it's been hard to sell authors on blogging if they aren't blogging already because I didn't understand the mechanics of why blogging was such a powerful way of networking.

I could tell authors that, if they blogged, potential readers would find their blogs and read their messages. I could tell authors that blogs would drive traffic to their Web sites. But I couldn't tell them how it happened.

And, while I'm still a book publicist and not a blogging expert, I am learning more about how blogs fit into book promotion campaigns every day. I've been lately reading about how trackbacks and pinging work. You can check out the explanations here and here.

In a nutshell, trackbacks and pinging (but especially trackbacks) allow you to have an actual exchange of communication with other bloggers. With trackbacks, you can add your comments to others' blogs on your blog, and your comments will show up on the other bloggers' blogs as comments. So your comment is seen on two blogs: yours and theirs. That provides you with twice the visibility as you'd receive if you'd only made your comment on your own blog. Pinging doesn't double your visibility, because when you ping, your comment is posted only on your own blog. Still, when you ping about someone else's blog, that other blogger is made aware that you've referenced his or her blog in your blog -- so you've still initiated a communication with another person.

In other words, you can use trackbacks or pinging to communicate with other bloggers. That means trackbacks and pinging increase your capacity to network, and networking is the name of the game when it comes to online book promotion.

I hope you'll give it a try and see how it works. Blog about it. You can then use trackbacks and pinging on your own blog to let me know .... and I can root for your book's success with you!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:37 AM | Permalink

As part of a book promotion campaign, you can write bylined articles and op-eds, disseminate them, and gain visibility through your byline (which can include your name, the name of your book, and your URL). I've had great luck in placing bylined articles and op-eds for authors, but it's far easier for me to get mileage out of a bylined article. There are so many ways to leverage bylined articles. They work as filler in weekly (and even daily) newspapers, magazines, ezines, authors' Web sites, sites that revolve around the articles' topics (for example, a parenting article might fit in on iVillage.com), and web sites for articles and even news stories.

The trick to conducting a successful bylined article campaign is to choose a topic that's general enough to fit in almost anywhere but somehow relates back to your book. That's an art, not a science, by the way, but it gets easier with practice. The second trick is to use a proven format for writing bylined article. My clients (and, the book publicist shamelessly says, I have many who are taking advantage of my $495 bylined article campaigns and am open to taking on more, if the topic is right) receive my writing guidelines as well as sample articles.

Bylined articles are something that works for nearly all authors who, of course, are great (and often prolific) writers and can adapt to a variety of writing styles. Because getting pickup for a bylined article is relatively easy (compared to, say, arranging an interview with a media outlet), I tout bylined article placement campaigns as an integral part of book promotion campaigns. In addition, I can begin bylined article placement campaigns even before a book's publication. A bylined article placement campaign opens the window of book promotion potential before the publication date, and keeps it open once the publication date is long past (sometimes, even many years afterwards).

Once you sign on as a client, I make my writing guidelines and sample articles immediately available to you, and I typically schedule a byline article placement campaign within two weeks of receiving (and approving) your article. Clients' articles recently have landed in the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor. Where could your article land? Better still, who should know about your book ... and who should be clicking on the link to visit your Web site? Click here to find out more.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:58 AM | Permalink

Can you have too much information about television talk show hosts? Those who are involved in book publicity efforts wouldn't think so. Getting book promotion hits requires knowing your venues -- listening to the radio show, reading the newspaper column, watching the television show, and knowing the preferences and, yes, the eccentricities of each host or editor or journalist so that you can play to them.

But from MSNBC comes an interview Rosie O'Donnell that, if you ask this book publicist, provides just way too much information about Rosie and Oprah. Way too much.

I always look for tidbits about the media that will help me in my book promotion campaigns. But do I need information about hosts' relationships? Not so much, is my personal opinion.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:32 AM | Permalink

Even in this scary time for those of us who work in the book publishing industry (and for those of us who handle book promotion), the Boston Book Festival is alive and well. Or so say the organizers of the event. Check out the piece about how the Walmart.com and Amazon price wars, and other oddities, have affected the Boston Book Festival -- or not -- at the Boston Globe's site.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's an odd story, and it comes from the Huffington Post. In an article called "Bound and Gagged: Publishers Remain Silent," the Huffington Post reveals that it asked publishing professionals to contribute to a new Books section, and most turned down the opportunity.

As a book publicist who'd probably give up several of her favorite limbs (or, at least, we could negotiate) for the opportunity to contribute to the Huffington Post's new Books section, let me just say this: any publisher who turns away the opportunity to become a Huffington Post blogger is snubbing a chance to reside in book promotion nirvana. I don't get it.

Can it be that there are still book publishers out there who don't see the relationship between blogging and book promotion? If that's the case, I can't imagine what it will take to make book publishers see the light. To say they're behind the curve is an understatement. I think it's far more accurate to just use the adjective "clueless."

Oh, well. Huffington Post editors, if you ever need another blogger, here I am. I understand and appreciate the value of your venue. And I'd be the last book publicist in the world to turn away the world's most perfect opportunity for promotion.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rumors of newspapers' death have been greatly exaggerated. Daniel Lyons penned a Newsweek column, "Techtonic Shifts," in which he gloats about the demise of newspapers. Lyons would like to see newspapers die quickly so that we can all get our information online, and he boasts that he's already cancelled two of his newspaper subscriptions.

Well, Lyons may be right about one thing. Newspapers do appear to be on a downward spiral. More of us seem to be catching breaking news through the broadcast or online media, and an increasing number of people are using handheld devices to carry around with them all the information they'll need throughout the day. The role of newspapers is changing, and it would be impossible to deny that.

But a changing role doesn't necessarily mean death. The emergence of television didn't mean the death of radio. The coming of television didn't mean the death of film. Media find different niches as new media emerge, but that doesn't mean they become irrelevant or inconsequential. It just means their roles change, and we rely on them for different reasons.

I'm a huge fan of slowly reading the Sunday newspapers over a cup of coffee and breakfast. And, when I say "Sunday newspapers," I do mean the paper goods. I want to turn the physical pages, and I want to pull out the actual sections, and I want to clip actual articles. I've incorporated Sunday newspaper-reading into my Sunday ritual, and I would be bereft without that ritual. Sorry, but hauling my breakfast in front of a computer monitor, or laying my food out beside a hand-held gadget, just won't fill that void. This book publicist wants her newspapers!

I'll get some type of e-reader, eventually, and I do look forward to reading certain types of information on this gadget. But I don't think my e-reader, whatever type it turns out to be, will threaten my newspaper subscriptions. The price of my newspaper subscriptions might threaten my newspaper subscriptions -- that's a whole separate issue -- but, as long as newspaper subscriptions are affordable, I can justify them. And want them. And expect to continue them...and, certainly, do not expect to see the opportunity to enjoy them die just because pundits such as Lyons say they must.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:26 AM | Permalink

They say that all book promotion is good book promotion, and I used to believe that, but here's a story that's changed my mind. Raise your hand if you wanted to know that John Phillips (founder of the Mamas and the Papas, who sang so lightheartedly and harmoniously about how "California dreamin' was becoming a reality" back in the sixties) raped his drug-addled daughter, Mackenzie Phillips, and that rape eventually devolved into a "consensual relationship."

Mackenzie is all over the media -- Oprah, People, CNN, and much more -- airing unspeakably horrible stories about her father, her own arrest for possession of heroin at an airport, and the like. All of those media appearances are the Holy Grail for authors, publishers, and book publicists. I mean, who doesn't see an appearance on "Oprah" as the greatest book promotion opportunity of all time?

But my original question was: do you really want to know that John Phillips daughter, who played the elder fictional daughter on a Norman Lear sit-com called "One Day at a Time," has lived a nightmarish life? Do you honestly want to see the details of that nightmare?

I suspect that, for many of us, some nightmares are best left unexamined, and Mackenzie's media blitz may be an example of wasted book promotion opportunities. I'm a huge fan of the Mamas and the Papas, and I don't think I missed an episode of any series Norman Lear ever produced, but Mackenzie's story (true or not) is not on the list of those I'd want to read. I have to believe I'm not alone.

No one's denying a former child star the right to catharsis, and I hope Mackenzie is on the road to recovery and health. But buy her book? I don't think that's going to happen for me. I don't even feel moved to mention the title of it here.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:49 AM | Permalink

Amazon has recently implemented a policy change that may or may not affect all of us in the publishing industry. I can't quite figure out what policy Amazon is changing, however, and I've been scratching my head over this for two days. I've now read three articles on the subject (here's one article from LibraryThing itself), and I'm no wiser than I was before.

Here's the part that I think I understand. LibraryThing is moving book-buying links to all booksellers besides Amazon from its main pages to subsidiary pages. It's doing that, if I understand correctly, because Amazon will no longer share information with any subsidiaries that have links to booksellers other than Amazon on their home pages.

Here's the part that puzzles me, as a book publicist. All of my clients, it would be fair to say, have web sites (authors and publishers should know, at this point, that book web sites are an integral part of any book promotion campaign). And most of them -- not all of them, but most of them -- work with multiple booksellers and link to them on their web sites. What does Amazon want from these authors? Does Amazon want these authors to only provide book-buying links to Amazon on their sites? Well, yes, I'm sure they want that. But does Amazon's policy change mean that authors will be penalized if they include book-buying links to, say, Borders and BN.com on their sites?

At first blush, I'd say that authors' web sites will not be affected by Amazon's policy change. I say that because an author doesn't have to be an Amazon affiliate in order to have a book-buying link to Amazon on his or her web site. Authors can put generic links to Amazon on the home pages of their web sites (or, for that matter, on subsidiary pages), and then they'll be flying under Amazon's radar -- I think. However, I don't know for sure. I don't know for sure that authors would be penalized by Amazon for having book-buying links to booksellers other than Amazon on their home pages if they catch Amazon's attention -- say, by having a bestselling book.

I can't make sense of Amazon's policy change, and I'm wondering whether anyone can. Is Amazon acting like a toddler who needs to test his/her limits, or is it actually setting sensible policy rules? That probably remains to be seen.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:21 AM | Permalink

When the Wall Street Journal publishes an article called "Booksellers See Savior in 'Symbol,'" that's scary stuff. Why do booksellers need a savior, wonders this book publicist? Have booksellers so hurt by the recession and the evolution to ebooks that they'll only survive if one book sells phenomenally well?

Typically, I'd say that the article's headline is hyperbolic, but typically, the Wall Street Journal is one of the publications that's not guilty of exaggeration.

The WSJ is arguing that, because of all the book publicity that Dan Brown's latest work has already received, and will continue to receive, that it's poised to sell well enough through the holiday season to keep booksellers on track. Really? Dan Brown is that important to the survival of the bookselling industry?

Hmm...that is scary stuff, indeed. No single book (or publisher, by the way) should have life-and-death power over booksellers. Also, it goes without saying that no single book, publisher, or author should have that might control over the future of the publishing industry. The publishing industry is made up of too many authors, publishers, books, book publicists, editors, designers, marketers, distributors, wholesalers, and booksellers -- and readers -- to let one particular project determine the future of the whole world of books. At least, that's what I've always believed and experienced. Perhaps the Wall Street Journal is onto something...but -- with all due respect -- I hope that, just this once, it's wrong.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:39 AM | Permalink

Do you love the results of your book promotion campaigns, but hate stuffing envelopes and working out the logistics of mass mailings to the media to promote your book? Then you'll be delighted to read yet another article that says ebooks are making steady inroads in the industry and predicts that, by the year 2014, 20% of all books will be ebooks.

Book publicists, and those who conduct book publicity campaigns, will be delighted about that evolution to digital books if it actually comes to pass. How cool and easy will it be for book publicists to beam an ebook at a producer, editor, producer, or hosts who requests a copy of the book? How great will be when, instead of spending hours stuffing envelopes and lugging them to the post office, book publicists can send out emails to the media saying "click here to download the book?" Count this book publicist in! If it's quicker and less expensive, and gets great results, every book publicist should be excited about the opportunity to upgrade to ebooks -- at least, for promotional copies.

Sounds to me as though the only losers are postal service employees and those who work for those companies that specialize in overnight delivery of packages. It would be unspeakable to see jobs lost and an industry that's already hurting lose yet another source of revenue.

So I'm sending my good wishes out to workers at the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and Fedex...while sincerely hoping that, somehow, ebooks can do good without doing harm. If that's possible...then this book publicist is on the side of progress.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:36 PM | Permalink

Jessica Seinfeld has been cleared of plagiarism charges leveled against her by Missy Chase Lapine, a cookbook author. Turns out, Seinfeld didn't need anyone's help to figure out how to sneak carrots into spaghetti sauce, or whatever it is that she endorses in her cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.

So Jessica Seinfeld has been vindicated, but her husband, the inimitable Jerry ("Master of the Domain") Seinfeld, sort of wrecked everything by making a comment about Lapine (he figured out how to compare her to Lee Harvey Oswald, apparently) on the Letterman show. Now the family Seinfeld could be in for another lawsuit -- this one, because Jerry turned what could have been a book promotion (for his wife's book, but still) on David Letterman's show into an opportunity to further ruffle the feathers of Ms. Lapine.

Those of us who followed Jerry's sitcom knows how this story is likely to end: four old friends, sitting in a jail cell, bickering with one another while simultaneously figuring out how to sneak some veggies into the prison food.

Ah, Jerry. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. Leave it to you to turn a book promotion opportunity into a potential fiasco. What are we going to do with you, my friend?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:33 PM | Permalink

You want people to know about your book Web site, so you need to drive traffic to your book Web site. It's part of your book promotion strategy.

That's why blogging has been part of your book promotion strategy for so long. You blog, and -- assuming your blog lives on the Web site for your book -- visitors (and potential book buyers) come to your site.

But with the rise of social networking venues such as Twitter and Facebook, has blogging become irrelevant to a publicity campaign? No, according to the pundits at Webpronews. In fact, the writer Chris Crum cited the case of Alice.com which sells household goods directly to consumers and bypasses retailers as an example of a site whose traffic comes primarily through the word-of-mouth created by bloggers.

Granted, Alice.com isn't a book Web site, and household goods don't include books. However, the principle still applies: blogging creates buzz, and creating buzz is the goal of every book publicity campaign.

So if you're tempted to switch from blogging to micro-blogging, wait awhile. The time may come when distilling your messages to 140 characters is the only way to go ... but that time isn't here yet.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:41 PM | Permalink

Death by brain tumor is a lousy way to get book publicity opportunities. But it is one way to do it.

You may have heard by now that the first print run for Senator Ted Kennedy's posthumous memoir is -- are you sitting down? -- 1.5 million copies. That's not a typo. Hachette Book Group actually is printing 1.5 million copies of a memoir.

I found that memoir in the news three times this morning without even trying -- once in the newspaper I was reading with my coffee (the Boston Herald), once in the online version of the Washington Post, and once on MediaBistro. If I'd spent 3 minutes proactively looking for mentions of True Compass, I would probably have found 20 of them.

And do you want to hear the strangest prediction? I'll bet those 1.5 million copies of Ted's memoir will sell. They'll sell not only because of all the book promotion the memoir will receive, but they will sell because of the respect we have for the senator. They will sell because of the grief we feel because of his passing. Finally, they will sell because who in the world doesn't want to know what Ted Kennedy has to say about JFK's assassination, and how it really felt to lose two brothers to those maniacs?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Dying for book promotion opportunities can backfire. Of course, the authors of Brave New World and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe had plenty of book publicity opportunities before they went to meet that fabled Great Publisher in the Sky. However, the demises of Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis faded into the background because of their lousy timing. According to an eerie Newsweek article (that notes the irony of Dominick Dunne's passing occurring at about the same time as the world went into mourning about Senator Edward Kennedy (you remember how hard Dunne lobbied to get justice for the extended Kennedy family member he presumed responsible for the death of young Martha Moxley), Huxley and Lewis plummeted from the earthly bestseller lists (so to speak) by dying on the same day as President Kennedy was assassinated. Plain and simply, that was rotten luck for them if they'd hoped to someday see their obituaries on the front page of the New York Times.

Self promotional opportunities are great. But, as most celebrities have learned, they're not worth dying for. Poor Groucho. Who even remembered that he started entertaining Heavenly audiences at the same time as Elvis made the leap to that performance venue?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:41 PM | Permalink

There's really only one topic in the media this morning -- in Massachusetts, anyway, and probably in all of the United States.

Ted has found peace.

The world (and, naturally, the media) has stopped to mourn and pay its respects to the man and the senator (and, of course, the Kennedy family member).

There's no good news here. There's no good news for Ted, Ted's family, Ted's friends, and Ted's constituents. There's not even any good news for Ted's political opponents. There's no good news for President Obama and his family (who were supposed to be on vacation this week -- oh, well).

And there's certainly no good news for book publicists, or for authors or publishers who are orchestrating book promotion campaigns right now.

When time freezes, the media revolves around one thing and one thing only. Today, and for the rest of this week (at the very minimum), it will be our loss of Senator Edward Kennedy.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:51 AM | Permalink

Are you nakedly seeking book promotion opportunities -- literally? Here's a tale, in MediaBistro, about one author who was.

The author was David Seaman, and his book was called Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz. Seaman's idea of a brilliant book promotion campaign was to vow to run naked through Times Square if he failed to sell a certain number of books.

Since MediaBistro references an interview that Seaman did with CNBC's program, "Funny Business," we know that Seaman's book promotion campaign consisted of outreach to the traditional media (even if it revolved around a promise, or threat, to streak through Times Square). So Seaman's book promotion strategies weren't solely about finding a gimmick and pursuing it until the joke had lost its punch.

Well, this book publicist is pleased to see that some authors are trying some creative book promotion strategies...and, frankly, is even more pleased to see that the success of book publicity gimmicks usually will be eclipsed by the efforts of audacious book promoters who get in front of the media (or work their social networks) to disseminate their messages and share their viewpoints and expertise.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:40 AM | Permalink

Change is good, says this book publicist and self-admitted kids' book fanatic.

I love kids' books and young adult novels. I really, really love them. You know the old question about which three books you'd bring with you to a deserted island? That's a no-brainer for me. I'd choose Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Author's Day by Daniel Pinkwater, and A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. And, if I had any leftover room in my luggage, I'd grab copies of anything by Judy Blume and stuff more Pinkwater inside, too -- as much as I could fit. Then I'd round out the suitcase with E.B. White, Margaret Wise Brown, Beverly Cleary, Dr. Seuss, and all the Curious George books.

And then I'd be depressed that I'd left behind so many of my favorite books, but what can you do? A deserted island is only big enough to hold so many books. An ebook reader, on the other hand, can hold gazillions of books, and that's why I was so tickled to read this Publishers Weekly item about ScrollMotion, a new children's ebook reader application for the iPhone.

Granted, there's nothing like holding a hard copy of The Runaway Bunny or The Cat in the Hat in your hands as you're drifting off to sleep (or trying to put your felines to bed for the night so they won't tear up the place trying to catch Martians, or whatever it is they do). But, as a book promotion specialist and publishing industry professional, I'm eager to see what the next wave of kids' books will be like. Will you be able to play games related to an adventurous monkey when you're finished reading Curious George? Will you be able to help Charlotte the spider decide which words might best be incorporated into her web to help Wilbur the pig? I hope so (it sure beats counting on Templeton the Rat to figure it out).

Anyway, book publicists, authors, editors, and even fortune tellers can't know what the publishing industry will look like in five years. Perhaps we'll all be reading books on Kindles; maybe we'll all be getting our kids' book fix on iPhones; or maybe all the ebook commotion will go away and we'll be back to focusing on plain old, if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it books.

Who knows? But, while the future of book publishing is figuring itself out, I think that all book lovers -- and, yes, that includes book publicists like me -- should feel excited about the potential of doing more with books than simply reading them.

And, of course, doing far more with books than just stuffing as many of them as possible into a suitcase and bringing them to a deserted island.

Although I maintain that a deserted island that's populated with my favorite kids' book authors and YA authors isn't deserted at all.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:30 AM | Permalink

Can't ebook publishers and manufacturers (and resellers) of ebook readers just get along? As a reader (and not only as a book publicist), I want the dust to hurry up and settle so that we can all read (and, yes, promote) ebooks if we'd like. Until we figure out which ebook format will take hold, and which ebook reader or device will "win" the book wars, the ebook publishing revolution will move in slow motion. And I'm too excited about the opportunities for book promotion that revolve around ebooks to wait. So, for now, I'm using workarounds (such as ebook publishers who output content to various ebook formats) to create book promotion opportunities. But that's just a placeholder. Soon, I hope, we'll figure out the best format for ebooks and the best way to deliver them and the best way to read them -- and then this book publicity specialist is going to delight in the biggest development in the book publishing industry since the printing press. Great article about the ebook format wars on BNET.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:01 PM | Permalink

Every author wants to work with a major New York publishing house, and no author I've met would turn down a publishing contract from, say, a Random House or a Penguin. That said, there are so many circumstances under which authors should, and do, self publish their books. The news from Bookseller.com about the fact that John Wiley is laying off 45 employees in the United Kingdom just drives the point home.

According to the article, Wiley hasn't yet disclosed (or perhaps even decided) which of its 45 employees will be out of work. But let's say that you're a Wiley author. One of those 45 employees could be your editor. Another might be your in-house book publicist. You could be editorially "orphaned" and left without a book promotion campaign all in one click of an accountant's mouse (provided the accountant in question isn't the one who would have been signing your royalty checks).

It's discouraging for authors to rely on publishers. When an author/publisher relationship goes swimmingly well, life can be fantastic. But when a publisher is facing economic hardship and making changes that can affect their authors, perhaps it's time for those authors to think about self publishing their next books. And perhaps, whether or not their publishers are downsizing, it's time for many authors to consider hiring their own outside book promotion firm. Publishers all seem to be putting less money into book promotion these days...which is not something that authors want to hear, but unfortunately, it's the truth. For now. Better times are coming, I have to believe.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 6:54 PM | Permalink

Some books will always make it into the New York Times or whatever turns out to be the most important U.S. newspaper in the event that anything happens to the New York Times. The point is that some books will always find book promotion opportunities in the largest and most impressive print publications. And the authors and publishers of those books aren't worried about the future of the top daily U.S. newspapers because, whatever the future is, the name brand authors and the renowned New York publishers have earned their right the be featured in the biggest and the best of them.

So where does that leave the other 99.9% of authors and publishers in the publishing world who seek print book promotion opportunities and who won't be featured in the New York Times unless they do something outrageous (and probably immoral, illegal, or both) or fall victim to something or someone so heinous that it makes the New York Times' radar screen (and who'd wish that on anybody?). It leaves them seeking out book promotion opportunities with smaller newspapers.

According to a recent Associated Press story, smaller newspapers may be in better financial shape than their larger-circulation competitors. Community newspapers apparently aren't facing a bleak future because of media consumers' shift toward the Internet, because smaller newspapers will always (or, at least, for the foreseeable future) fill a need.

Some communities aren't "lucky" enough to be bombarded with media options that the rest of us take for granted. And even those of us who live in (or just outside of) major metropolitan areas have only one reliable way to find out that, for example, yard waste collection has been delayed by one week, the local high school's drama club is selling tickets for their latest performance, or what's open and what's closed on a given holiday the local newspaper.

So if the Boston Globe really does fold (and, as a subscriber, I'm wishing the Boston Globe all the best for years and years to come), that will still leave all of the local weekly newspapers for those of us who want some old-fashioned print coverage for books we're promoting.

Those of us who seek book promotion opportunities will have to learn to add small newspapers to our punch list, if we haven't already. Book publicists who have always included small-circulation newspapers as part of book promotion campaigns can tell you, from experience, that dealing with small newspapers means that you're dealing with small staffs. Therefore, the dynamic of seeking book publicity opportunities changes.

It's hard to sell a small newspaper on the idea of assigning one member of its small editorial team to a story because, frankly, each staff members' time is precious. You have to help by pitching a local news hook and crafting your pitch so that it's enticing -- and then persistently offering other story angles until you've made the editorial staff member an offer that he or she can't refuse.

Plan B is to offer up your own article (again, with a local slant, if possible). That article can't be an ad for your book. It must be informational or entertaining, and ideally, it would fit the newspaper's style and format so the editor can just slip the story right in. You rely on your byline (the article's attribution) to mention that you're the author of your book and to provide the URL for your book's web site. You can also write a letter to the editor in response to a story the newspaper has already published -- again, using your byline to sell your expertise and, ultimately, your book.

If you can score an ongoing column with your local community newspaper, even better. You can also try your luck with small-circulation newspapers beyond your community -- and you can compensate for the lack of a local news hook by having an angle or article so compelling that the editor just can't resist.

So it's good to hear that small newspapers are doing well and can continue to be a part of book promotion campaign for a long, long while. And, as a newspaper reader, it's good to hear that any newspapers are holding their own. If I have my way, that will always be the case.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:37 AM | Permalink

What's new in book promotion strategies? Here's something that's really new, and I wanted to share it with you.

Tate Publishing has created and produced book promotion-oriented I-Phone applications that have just been approved by Apple. Tate Publishing & Enterprises' President Ryan Tate explains that there will be a "GottaKnow" application for each book that Tate publishes, and that application will include book excerpts, blogs, buying links, and more. In effect, each author will have a mini Web site that's been created especially for the I-Phone.

Although I haven't seen the "GottaKnow" I-Phone application -- I've only read about it on Ryan Tate's blog -- I'm sold on the idea and wish a similar product were being made available for all authors (I'm assuming that Tate Publishing is only making "GottaKnow" I-Phone applications available to its own authors) who wanted one.

Way to go, Tate Publishing. You've set an example for everyone who is involved in Web 2.0 book marketing and book promotion. I can't wait to see what you do next. I know it will be something innovative, creative, cutting edge, appealing, and highly effective!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:33 AM | Permalink

Do you need an even greater incentive to launch a successful book promotion campaign? Well, out of the scientific world comes a study proving that we learn more from our successes than we do from our failures. Here's the story.

kidding aside, one of the aspects of recent book promotion campaigns that's been so gratifying for me, as a book publicist, is that we really do learn (and benefit) from successes. Since Web 2.0 book promotion and book marketing campaigns depend on creating content and spreading its seeds widely on the Internet, we have the luxury of seeing which of our efforts are working best for a particular book (and author) and building on those strategies.

Not so long ago, when book promotion campaigns were static, we didn't have the luxury of adapting our book publicity strategies in real-time to provable results and benchmarks. But, thankfully, times have changed, and book publicists -- let's hope -- have changed their strategies, too. Web 2.0 book promotion and book marketing is effective, and if you haven't integrated the latest book promotion and marketing strategies into your efforts, then you can only imagine what I mean. If that doesn't give you the incentive to build successes into your book promotion campaigns, then nothing will!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:44 AM | Permalink

I'll just throw this search engine optimization question out there. Why am I routinely contacted by SEO firms who consider me a prospective client?

As part of my book promotion services, I help authors and publishers drive traffic to their book web sites. Although I'm not an SEO expert, search engine optimization is a hobby of mine, and I've spent a few years creating strategies to help my clients improve their book web sites' search engine rankings. The more content you create for your site, I tell them, the better search engines will like you -- assuming that your content is appropriately tagged with your keywords. Also, the more widely you disseminate your online content, the more backlinks you'll receive back to your book's web site, and -- again -- provided you've tagged the materials with your most important keywords, you'll get on the search engines' radar screens and, hopefully, you'll be able to say there.

I've practiced what I preached and have very much enjoyed terrific search engine placement on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. So it came as a surprise when I receive the usual solicitation from an SEO firm explaining that, with the merger of Bing and Yahoo, I should be very concerned about my placement on search engines besides Google, and all I had to do to get some help with my search engine optimization was to get in touch with this particular company.

Here was my honest response, which I sent to the company that offered me the service:

<
I'm always puzzled when SEO optimization firms such as yours solicit me to sell their services. I mean, you probably found me through Google (or Bing or Yahoo). Does it appear that I have a problem with my search engine visibility? If not, then why do I seem to be a good prospective client for you?>>

I probably won't receive a response from the search engine optimization company that sent me the solicitation. But it still puzzles me. Why is anyone pursuing clients who, demonstrably, don't need their services? Oh, well.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:10 PM | Permalink

So let me get this straight. If, as a book publicist, I use an Associated Press headline in its entirety in a media kit for one of my clients, or I incorporate more than four words from an Associated Press story, I'll have to pay Associated Press for the right to do so.

That sounds fair.

According to a BNET Media story -- even though BNET isn't owned by Associated Press, I'm still a bit frightened to let you know the name of the story, so I'll just link to it here -- Associated Press is working overtime to guard its copyrighted material. They don't want their material to be used in blogs, press releases including, obviously, online press kits), or to be transmitted via cell phones, and they're trying to mandate that we all use technology that will rat us out to AP if we violate its copyright.

Well, all right. I'm perfectly comfortable with defending oneself against plagiarism everyone in the publishing industry is trying to do the same thing, so we can't blame a news organization for feeling the way that we do about protecting what it creates), and if AP feels the need to lock down its copyright material, then fine. I'm behind them.

But what does make me scratch me head is -- four words of an article? A headline? It strikes me as strange to think that so few words, when appropriated (granted, the Associated Press's lawyers would say "misappropriated") by authors and publishers to incorporate into online materials that support a book promotion campaign, would be off limits.

Four words? A headline? Here's a promise. If you ever want to quote me in your blog or on your web site, and four words or a headline is all you want to borrow, feel free to do so. I won't sue you, and I won't think unkindly of you.

Associated Press? I'm not so sure what their intentions are. Would they really sue a teenager who, while blogging, cited the headline of an Associated Press story? I'd be sorry to think so, but I suppose nothing should surprise us anymore. The online world is new, and I suppose we'll all experience a few growing pains as we get used to the new rules.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Sometimes, book promotion efforts provide instant PR opportunities. For example, when I reach out to the media with story pitches via email, I can often snag media interview opportunities within minutes. A radio interview, which can be arranged very simply and easily (given the right topic and the right pitch and, generally, the right set of circumstances) can provide almost instant gratification for authors and publishers. It's quick to arrange, quick to air, and quick to result in book sales.

Now contrast that with, say, a newspaper interview which can be quickly booked but may result in delayed gratification. Gratification is still gratification, and we'll take it, since it's all part of how book promotion works. But sometimes that delay is enough to make a book publicist, who loves instant gratification as much as the next person, wince just a little bit.

Here's what happened. A client of mine, Gerald Kolpan (author of Ballantine's novel, Etta), was fortunate enough to score an interview with a reporter at The Oklahoman, a top newspaper with a daily circulation of 179,703, on June 10. Gerald, who diligently set up a Google Alert so he'd find that article and others, was disappointed to note that his interview (and, in fact, the whole article on the subject of Butch Cassidy and his sidekick, Sundance) had never made it into print.

And then -- how cool is this? -- Gerald found the article online. It quotes Gerald and mentions the title of his novel, Etta. So, finally, the time and effort he put into doing an interview for The Oklahoman has paid off.

Delayed gratification? You bet. But gratification? For certain. This book publicist is tickled to see Gerald Kolpan's interview finally has turned into an article with a major daily newspaper, and that wincing that I mentioned earlier? Well, it was real enough ... but it's turned into an ear-to-ear grin.

The lesson for authors and publishers? Book promotion opportunities are well worth garnering ... even if you have to wait a little while to see your efforts pay off.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:46 AM | Permalink

An author emailed me yesterday with an unconventional book promotion idea that he wanted to run by me. Who knows how many book publicists he contacted besides me? All I could do was give him my opinion, which was based on my experience, and leave it at that.

The news wasn't what he'd hoped. Because that author was curious about his idea, I thought others might share his curiosity. In the spirit of helping others, I'll let you know what we discussed.

The author's book was very narrowly focused, and he was wondering whether it might be a good idea to conduct a radio book promotion campaign that consisted of calling into radio shows that were discussing his book's topic. While on the air, he wondered whether he could promote his book.

Aside from the fact that his book is on such a niche topic that I wondered whether the author would come across even one radio show in which the area was being discussed, I had a few other issues with his unconventional book promotion idea. Here's the text of the email I sent to him in which I raised those issues:

Certainly, calling radio shows as a guest when you hear the topic being discussed is something you can do to proactively promote your book. The benefits are that, obviously, you know listeners are interested in your topic; it's free; and you get air-time and, potentially, could mention your book and Web site. However, you'd be hard-pressed to build an entire marketing campaign around this single strategy. Your topic does, as you say, fall into a niche market. Where would you find a wealth of shows that are discussing your topic and will allow you on the air as a caller? You might find a couple, and if you do, great; call in (presuming the show accepts listeners' calls) and try to get on the air. From that point, good luck mentioning your entire name (radio show callers rarely get to identify themselves beyond "Stacey from Boston" or "Bill from his car phone") and the fact that you're an author. Much more good luck would be needed if you expect to mention your book's title, where people can find it, and your URL. The guest on that show ain't gonna help you because, frankly, you're the competition. The host? Not so much, because you're not part of the agenda, and the host isn't there to plug your book. The exceptionally spontaneous and kind host might be willing to suspend the agenda and the rules "just this once" and allow you to plug your book, or might invite you on the show another time to plug your book, but that would be very unusual. More likely, you'll face either antagonism (at worst) or resistance (at best).

But I'm not suggesting that you avoid calling into radio shows when you hear your topic being discussed. One of my clients* (see note below) got lucky late, late one evening. I'm an avid radio talk show listener, and one night, I heard a national radio talk show host (an ex-host, unfortunately) lament the fact that few academics stepped forward to appear on his show. He said something like "I suppose they're too good to do talk radio shows." It so happened that the host, without a guest, was covering my client's topic. Well, obviously, I called my client (at his home, at night -- it could have gone either way, but my client was grateful) and quickly explained the situation. Then I gave him the radio show's call-in telephone number, hung up, and listened with a big smile as my client got on the air and introduced himself as a professor and someone who had written a book on the topic. The host, cool guy that he was (and is, even though his show is off the air), asked my client to stay on the phone to talk with him while the show took a commercial break. Again, the circumstances in this case were absolutely perfect. I received a hysterical phone call from a producer asking me to fax the media kit over immediately, and of course, I did so. Then the show came back on-air, and the host announced that he was lucky enough to have with him an academic who just happened to be listening and was willing to stay on the air with him for an hour. That felt good, from my perspective, and lucky, from my client's perspective, but I guarantee you that we couldn't do it again without putting in far more time and energy than it would take to just launch a traditional, it's-proven-to-work, why-fix-it-if-it-isn't-broken radio campaign.

If you're not into the concept of launching your own radio campaign, you can always record and attempt to distribute your own podcasts. You can also hook up with a service that offers authors (or any experts) the opportunity to host their own online radio shows.

So there are alternatives to spending the next few months sitting by the radio, going up and down the dial, listening and hoping for an opportunity to interject your sales information on the air without paying for the advertising time. Frankly, given the number of coincidences that would have to occur in order for you to get ANY opportunities to market your book on-air as a radio show listener, I'd say your time and energies would be far better spent focusing on another marketing effort that may or may not involve radio.

* Note: The professor I'm referring to as "my client" actually was an associate's client. He was on vacation for a couple of weeks and had left his clients' contact information, and media kits, with me "just in case" something came up. Since something "came up," I was delighted to pinch-hit as the author's instant publicist, even though we didn't have a formal business relationship.

Thus ends the text of the email I sent back to that author. I have mixed feelings about having sent such a discouraging email to an author. On the one hand, every book promotion strategy was "unconventional" until an author or publisher tried it, found that it worked, and inspired other people to implement the strategy in their own book publicity campaigns. On the other hand, there are only so many hours in the day, and we'd be ill-advised to squander so many of them in the pursuit of a book promotion strategy that is just not going to work. If I saved that author as much time and energy as I believe I did, then I'm glad I was able to help.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:13 AM | Permalink

With this morning's news that Microsoft and Yahoo are officially joining forces to question Google's dominance (shoot -- I'd say "exclusive foothold") as a search engine, I wonder whether there will be changes in book marketing 2.0 strategies.

Obviously, online book promotion is at least 50 percent of any author, publisher, or book publicist's focus these days. Your pool of potential readers is limited if you're still conducting exclusively traditional book promotion campaigns and ignoring social networking; producing articles, podcasts, and book trailers; syndicating your blog; using your Web site to create an online community; distributing newsletters electronically to those on your mailing list; publishing eBooks to offer free peeks at your book's content or to gain readers who might potentially get interested enough in your topic to buy your book (or, perhaps, to hire you); and so forth.

Unless you've been sleeping in a cave (not that there's anything wrong with that), you're aware that much of book marketing 2.0 involves spreading legitimate backlinks to your Web site to get the attention of Google, which has been the best way to reach the other 50 percent of your potential readers because that's the search engine to which they were all going to search for information about your topic.

So the "elevator pitch" for book publicists who wanted to explain to authors and publishers why online book promotion was so important was this: "The more visible you are on Google, the more books you're likely to sell." Now that strategy may be changing.

Once Yahoo and Microsoft have combined their forces, it's just possible that Bing.com or Yahoo.com or -- who knows what it will be called? -- some other search engine will dilute Google's audience, and online book promotion will include strategies that are designed to reach out to that other search engine -- or those other search engines, depending on how this plays out -- too.

A quick vanity search in Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's Bing show me that my company's search engine placement (my most important key phrase is "book promotion") is about the same in each of the three search engines, for now. I work at impressing Google, and I've been lucky with Yahoo and Bing. (Note: I'm throwing salt over my shoulder as I type this to ward off those pesky jealous, evil spirits who want to make it tough on those of us who care about our online visibility.) But I imagine that, as businesses change and combine and grow, the search engine optimization rules will start to change, too. That means there were certainly be new search engine placement algorithms to learn, new book marketing 2.0 techniques to put in place, and new ways to use all of the online book promotion tools we have at our disposal to help our intended readers find us.

It's all good .. and it's all challenging ... and it's all coming soon. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are, too.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Is Twitter worth the time, energy, and aggravation if what you're using it for is to expand your book promotion capabilities? This book publicist's vote: I'm not sure, but I'm growing increasingly frustrated with Twitter.

When I logged onto Twitter this morning, I found about six new followers for my account. Among them were two purveyors of porn, one person who sells a teeth-whitening product, and another individual who sells wallpaper downloads. I suppose I didn't have to "block" them, but I did (and blocking these critters wasn't quick and easy, either -- when Twitter gets cranking, and thousands of users are logged onto its server at the same time, what should take a nanosecond to do can take minutes longer while you're waiting for pages to load).

About the pornography, the tooth person, and the wallpaper guy -- I imagine they found me through some third-party service that lets customers buy (or borrow) followers so that, essentially, they can acquire bulk mailing lists (where Twitter users are the recipients of the bulk mailings). Had I followed the miscreants (believing they were legitimate Twitter followers, then they would have been able to directly send me ads for their products or services, and I'll admit it: I would have found that annoying. I receive plenty of irritating and offensive junk email as it is, but my email filters have been smart enough to block the worst of it. I don't need to start receiving more unwanted and inappropriate solicitations via Twitter (or any other social networking tool, for that matter).

At the same time, I've connected with hundreds of enthusiastic, wise, and upbeat publishing and media professionals via Twitter. Many of these authors, publishers, book reviewers, hosts, producers, editors, other book publicists and book marketers, and so forth have steered me toward worthwhile articles and, in effect, have become a wonderful source of wisdom and grapevine chatter. To the extent that I can now send direct messages to media professionals via Twitter, I believe Twitter has already helped expand my book promotion capabilities and may continue to do so ... if I don't become so frustrated with the dark side of Twitter (which, to be fair, isn't Twitter's fault -- Twitter can't help the fact that a pack of dorks have latched onto Twitter as yet another way of annoying those of us who aren't prospects for whatever it is that they're selling).

So, for authors and publishers who haven't yet committed to expanding their social networks via Twitter, is it worth taking the plunge? I'm not sure -- but, as with so many offerings that can potential expand my book promotion capabilities, Twitter has already snagged me as a guinea pig and tester of the waters.

I'll give you an update after I can point to some specific benefits that I've enjoyed from Twitter ... or once I've become so overwhelmed by disgusting or untargeted advertising that I've decided to bail out on Twitter completely. To be continued ...

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:13 AM | Permalink

If your book hasn't become a New York Times Bestseller yet, or even scored a "number one in its category ranking" on Amazon, don't fret. Your book still has another chance to make it on a prestigious bestseller list -- as long as your book is an ebook that's available for sale on Amazon for the Kindle.

Yes. USA Today has just announced that the USA Today best-selling books list it compiles will now include Kindle's ebook sales.

With that, USA Today Best-Selling Books List becomes the first major book bestseller list to include ebooks in its rankings. So what does that mean for publishers and authors? Well, it's no longer only about book promotion, web 2.0 book marketing, book clubs, and word-of-mouth publicity. It's also about choosing to publish your book in Kindle's proprietary ebook format so that you can get in the game.

Which is going to get a bit tricky, especially now that Barnes and Noble is offering its own ebook reader to compete with its Kindle, while Sony is still out there with its ebook reader, and no one knows exactly how this whole ebook reader competition will shake out, and readers have to be at least somewhat reluctant to invest in either a Kindle or books that are published in Amazon's proprietary format until the dust settles.

So who knows how many readers are buying Kindles or ebooks that are formatted for Kindles? But, while USA Today is including Kindles' ebooks in its rankings, you still have a chance to format your book as an ebook that's formatted for a Kindle and take your best shot at making USA Today's Best-Selling Books List.

It sure beats trying to figure out how to get to be Amazon's number one bestselling book (if only for an hour or two) or how to convince your publisher to push you to the top of another bestseller list the conventional way -- by selling your book to bricks-and-mortar bookstores, and then hoping that book promotion, web 2.0 book marketing, book clubs, social networking, and other book publicity efforts will all combine to drive readers to the bookstores to buy your book.

Today, we're seeing Kindle sales directly effect rankings on a major bestseller list. Tomorrow, who knows? But let's take note of what's happening today...since everything related to the publishing industry seems to change every hour, on the hour these days!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:33 AM | Permalink

Everyone who tweets would love to boast huge numbers of Twitter followers. There are some services that sell Twitter followers, and all you, the tweeter, have to do is sit back and enjoy the thrill of being followed and imagining that your followers are hanging onto your every word -- which, obviously, will largely revolve around your book publicity campaign. So you're probably thinking that it would be a brilliant book publicity strategy to buy a massive number of Twitter followers and enjoy the fruits of your tweeting efforts.

I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but I've just read an MSNBC article that cautions against trusting the purveyors of Twitter marketing lists. You might want to read the article yourself before you sign on the dotted line with any company that can instantly add thousands of followers to your Twitter account. According to the article, so-called bulk following services (which are sometimes free) can actually cause your genuine followers to "unfollow" you because, in their user's agreements, the services obtain the right to use your Twitter account to send out their own self-promotional tweets which can be either annoying or outright offensive.

So it seems that there's no shortcut to gaining Twitter followers. If you're using Twitter as part of your book publicity campaign, you have to win your Twitter followers the old-fashioned way -- through hard work and promotion, promotion, promotion!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:19 PM | Permalink

Online book promotion is how you reach the other 99% of potential book buyers these days. Why are so many book publishers either ignoring it or telling authors to figure it out for themselves? And why are so many book publicists clueless about what online book promotion is and so reluctant to learn?

Yesterday, I heard from yet another frustrated author whose publisher is promoting books in the same way as books were promoted 5 years ago: sending out books and media kits to the conventional media, following up, and trying to persuade journalists, reporters, producers, and hosts to choose their story, review their book, or set up an interview with their author.

"It's not working!" the author shouted at me in despair. I told him he was preaching to the choir. "Why doesn't my publisher do online book promotion? It's such an obvious way to let people know about my books! Do you do online book promotion? Every book publicist I've talked to doesn't do online book promotion! Help me!!!"

Of course I do online book promotion. I'm very excited about the fact that I do online book promotion. I agree: if you're not doing online book promotion these days, then you're not doing everything you can do to promote your book.

And as far as why publishers and book publicists have been so slow to get involved in online book promotion, I understand that. Online book promotion is a moving target. What I would have called online book prmootion two years ago isn't what I would call online book promotion today -- nor is what I call online book promotion today what I will be referring to as online book promotion in six months.

Technology evolves so quickly, and opportunities turn up so quickly (whoever even heard of Twitter two years ago?) that staying current can be a challenge. Also, online book promotion -- which is highly effective and represents a great value -- can be threatening to the old book promotion school that did things the hard way -- and counted on getting paid to lots of high-pain, low-gain grunt work. Online book promotion, which produces results instantly and inexpensively, bears little relationship to the old book promotion model, and I can see why that drives traditional book promotion specialists crazy.

And besides all that, some people don't like change. And some people won't explore new book promotion opportunities because "new" requires energy and enthusiasm and experimentation, and they'd rather rely on what used to work and hope that, one day, we'll all snap out of the Web 2.0 world and go back to stuffing envelopes, bringing them to the post office, making phone calls, and trying to convince 100 media contacts to please, please, please pursue a particular story angle (that may have been relevant when those envelopes were stuffed but, surely, will be have no relationship to anything going on in the news by the time they land on the media's desks).

In short, too many book promotion professionals are too lazy to get involved in the world of online book promotion, and that laziness is costing authors and publishers time, money, and results. It infuriates me, and I'm hearing from an increasing number of authors that it's starting to make them feel short-changed, too.

Okay. That's my rant about online book promotion and about those who are too frightened to explore it. You know where I stand on the subject of online book promotion. And you?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whatever you think of Oprah's literary choices (and, personally, I'm a fan), you must admit that when Oprah Winfrey decides to promote a book, she really promotes a book!

Oprah's latest book promotion choice knocked my socks off today (and, remember, I'm supposed to be a jaded book publicist who cannot be easily impressed). I received an email from Oprah with the subject: "Download an Irresistible Novel for Free!"

When I clicked on the email, I found an invitation to download Jill Ciment's "irresistible novel" (I have to put that in quotes because I haven't read the novel yet), Heroic Measures. I -- along with the bazillion other people who received Oprah's email -- can download the novel for free from 11 a.m. ET Monday (July 20, 2009) until 10:59 a.m. ET Wednesday (July 22, 2009). The Web site where one can download the novel, for the benefit of those of you who aren't lucky enough to be on Oprah's email list, is right here.

Once you've downloaded your free copy of Jill Ciment's novel, I wish you tons of fun in printing it out and binding it so that you can read it, or in reading it on your monitor (always assuming you don't own an ebook reader or some device that will let you use the download as though it were a book -- and always assuming that the download is in a format that one can read on an ebook reader or another device). For the rest of the Jill Ciment-loving reading public, though, I'm afraid that owning a download of her irresistible novel won't be enough -- that you'll actually have to go out and buy (or log onto a bookstore and order) an actual hard copy of the book.

Yes, here is the voice of that jaded book publicist for which you were waiting. It says: If this book promotion strategy works, then Oprah isn't exactly going to help lots of people read Jill Ciment's novel for free. No, Oprah will do better than that (at least, from the author's perspective.) Oprah will inspire lots of people to buy Jill Ciment's novel. Yes, Oprah will inspire lots of people to pay cash -- money -- for Jill Ciment's novel.

Oprah, alas, will not get a cut of the ensuing royalties, nor should see. Oprah has been an integral part of book promotion since, well, since Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was selected to be Oprah's first Book Club pick -- and, undoubtedly, since her show began featuring authors as experts. But her rewards have been spiritual (I presume) rather than financial. She feels good about sharing great books with her fans, and that's all the reward she gets for becoming part of book promotion campaigns.

But, cynical though I can sometimes be, I'm delighted to see Oprah spreading her book promotion wings and expanding the universe of the book promotion possibilities we can shoot for. You go, Oprah! You keep promoting books, even if you have to offer free books to get our attention. Do whatever it takes. You always keep this book publicist guessing, and that's a good thing!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:55 PM | Permalink

Authors and publishers hire book publicists to launch book promotion campaigns so that...their books can disappear from readers' digital lockers on Amazon? Ouch. Disappearing books is what happened to readers who purchased the ebook versions of two of George Orwell's books -- yes, 1984 and Animal Farm (the books we first read back in high school) -- found, much to their surprise (and according to this PC World article) This book publicist is surprised, too. And upset.

Book promotion opportunities are not easy to come by, and book sales are probably even tougher miracles to pull off these days. So now readers who have actually bought ebooks for their Kindles can have them removed from their digital lockers?

Seems sort of Orwellian to me, even though Amazon did refund the purchase price to the former owners of the ebooks. Is this all a plot to make potential purchasers think twice before buying a Kindle?

Well, it's having that effect on this book publicist!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What's online these days? Maybe the radio station that you think is on the radio dial. Ah, changes in the media are afoot! Big changes! And regardless of how you feel about those changes, you'll have to acknowledge them, and explore them, and be willing to exploit them, if you want to maximize your chances of having a successful book promotion campaign.

We know that the Christian Science Monitor, which was one of the largest circulation daily newspapers in the U.S. not so long ago, has become almost exclusively an online publication. Now we're seeing one of Boston, Massachusetts' popular radio stations -- WBCN-FM -- go digital. Click here and here for the story.

WBCN's place on the dial (for those of us who are still using dials) will be taken by CBS-owned WBZ-FM (not to be confused with WBZ-AM, which will still enjoy its coveted, 50,000-watt AM place on the dial), and will broadcast all sports, all the time. The rock 'n' roll of WBCN-FM, on the other hand, will be relegated to a Web site.

If you're promoting your book, then you're naturally keeping up with media changes. But whereas once, all a book publicist had to do to keep up with media changes was find out which producers were leaving jobs, and which producers are taking jobs, and which journalists are moving to which publications, and which shows are launching and which shows are leaving the airwaves -- now, a book publicist has to find out whether a media outlet is still printing or broadcasting in the conventional way, or whether its exclusively (or mostly) digital.

For the time being, it's easy to keep up with the media changes, because changes such as WBCN-FM's conversion to a Web station are grabbing headlines. In a month or two, though, such changes may become old hat.

Perhaps we'll see the day soon when a book promotion campaign can be conducted exclusively online -- not only because online book promotion online can become viral marketing opportunities, but because some of the biggest and most influential media outlets have transitioned into online-only media outlets.

Stay tuned....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:53 AM | Permalink

You're a children's book author, and you're seeking book promotion opportunities by speaking at schools. That's exposure for you and fun for the kids. What could be a better match? Where do you sign up? Wait! Not so fast! If you live in the United Kingdom, and you're seeking speaking opportunities at schools, the Powers That Be might have to run a background check before they allow you into the school auditorium. All those teachers and school administrators can't protect those kids from, potentially, a kids' book author who is in search of book promotion opportunities. No! You have to do a thorough background check on children's book authors to make sure they're fit for book promotion campaigns! This, according to an article in the U.K.'s Guardian.

I'm sorry to be flippant, but all I could think of when I read this article was my absolute favorite book of all time: Daniel Pinkwater's Author's Day. The book is out of print. (Why? Why? Why?) I actually own two copies...one reading copy, and one copy that I'm saving against the sad day when my first copy falls apart. Pinkwater's book brings to life a day in the life of a children's book author who suffers countless indignities during his visit to a school, and every word in the book rings true. From the school administrators who get the title of the author's book wrong to the kindergarten teacher who forces the author to eat pancakes with chunks of crayons in them, Author's Day is utterly perfect -- and serves as a perfect rebuttal to the notion that children's book author should be vetted before they're allowed to speak at schools.

According to Pinkwater's account, we put children's book authors through enough. All they're trying to do is a bit of book publicity. They're not trying to befriend children (and, certainly, they wouldn't want to befriend any of the adults who populate Pinkwater's imaginary school). Why make book promotion for children's book authors tougher than it has to be?

This is one of those times when I say: let Britain serve as a warning. Let's keep an eye on the U.K., and let's make sure that we don't repeat the mistakes they've made...or are about to make.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:07 AM | Permalink

What is full service book promotion? That's a good question. The definition of "full service book promotion" now, in 2009, is not the same as it was in 2005, or even what it was in 2008.

The perplexing thing about book promotion is that it's in a perpetual state of flux. Once upon a time, full service book publicity firms had only to send books and press kits out to the media, wait awhile, follow up with phone calls, and book interviews (or get word about reviews). They passed that information along to authors and publishers, and that was that. The book promotion campaign was at an end once you'd contacted a given number of media outlets, once, and the media decision makers either did, or didn't, express interest in the book. Add book signings, book tours, events, and speaking engagements, and satellite tours, and that was pretty much it -- that was everything that a full service book publicity campaign was, or could be, and that was everything that book publicists imagined it could be.

Then came faxes, and then came emails, and suddenly, book publicists could go back to lukewarm (or just plain uninterested) producers and reporters and pitch different stories during the course of a book publicity campaign.

Then, all at once, nearly every media outlet had a web site, and part of full service book promotion services was to contact journalists via their online "story idea" forms.

Then came web sites for books and web sites for authors and web sites for publishers. Then came podcasts and book trailers, and along with that, along came iTunes and YouTube and other video-sharing sites. On the heels of that came online press release banks and online article banks. That was a paradigm shift for full service book promotion firms. Suddenly, book publicists didn't have to hope the media would pick their story ideas from the slush pile. Sure, book publicists could, and should, still proactively pitch their story ideas to the media. But, while book publicists were waiting for the producers of the Oprah Show to return their call, they could be maximizing their clients' search engine placement. That way, if Oprah's producers were seeking an expert with an author's expertise, an author's web site would come up in a Google search -- and the book publicist would get the call (or the email) from Oprah's producers.

Then came blogs, and then came RSS feeds, and then came mySpace, and then came Facebook, and then came LinkedIn, and then came Twitter, and then came web conferencing and virtual book tours through Skype and other tools...and tomorrow, who knows? Every new medium, and every new channel of communication, is something that book publicists will want to incorporate into their full service book promotion offerings.

All of which helps to explain why no one can have an answer for "What is a full service book promotion campaign" that's valid for longer than a week or so. The definition of full service book publicity campaign is in flux, and that's why book promotion is so much more effective than it was just a year or so ago...and so much more fun for book publicists and, I hope, for authors and publishers.

That's why book promotion is so much more fun than ever for this full service book publicist, anyway.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:25 PM | Permalink

Something's going right for book publishing. How's this for good news? According to Publishers Weekly, Borders Group's stock jumped by 820% between December 31 and June 30. Books-A-Million's stock jumped by 178.8%; Barnes and Noble's by 37.5%; Scholastic's by 45.7%; and McGraw-Hill's by 29.8%.

Not to mention that, according to the Associated Press (as reprinted by Yahoo News and a host of other sources), Amazon has cut the price of its Kindle from $359 to $299. This, combined with the fact that Amazon hasn't announced that it plans to raise the price of its electronic books, offers hope that Amazon's profits will soar even higher (according to that PW article I just referenced, Amazon's stock already climbed by 63.1% in that period from December 31 to June 30.

Have stellar book publicity campaigns orchestrated by brilliant book publicists recently caused book sales to soar, transforming flagging sales into huge profit centers? I don't know, although as a book publicist, I'd like to believe that a whole spate of new, highly effective online book promotion strategies have enabled more publishers to sell more books during recent months.

I'd also like to believe that the economy is improving, and I'd further like to believe that people are reading more than they did before.

But, at this point, I care less about the reasons for the good book publishing industry news than I do about the fact that, finally, everyone in the book publishing industry, and everyone who loves books, finally has something to celebrate.

And did I mention that, after a day of severe thunderstorm warnings and even, believe it or not, tornado warnings in my neck of Massachusetts, the sun has finally peeked through the clouds, and we're looking at the best weather we've had since July 4th weekend?

So this is one book publicist who's in a very good mood this morning, and I hope your day is starting out a good as mine.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:29 AM | Permalink

Stumped about how to maximize your web site to get as much book promotion mileage out of it as possible? Steve Bennett, founder of Authorbytes, offers some advice in his article, What’s on Your Website? That depends. . ., which appears on the Novelists Inc. blog.

As the title suggests, Bennett's theory is that one size does not fit all authors' web site needs. In some cases, sticking with a basic, "vanilla" web site makes the most sense. In other situations, it might be useful to add some multimedia components, Flash, and other extras to a book web site.

In any case, it's the basic site that counts, according to Bennett. If you create a solid site, then you can always add one helpful features such as a blog and a discussion board. But, if the core isn't right, then you can forget about adding to the site, because no one will visit more than once, anyway (and those who do visit once won't stick around long enough to buy your book).

One thing that Bennett's article emphasizes is that, while authors can create great web sites for their books, it's up to them to drive traffic to their site. That traffic, in turn, serves as a book promotion bonanza ... so the web site and a book promotion campaign go hand in hand.

A great article, and great tips. Check it out!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:06 AM | Permalink

It's the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend. That means it's back to book promotion. This book publicist is back in full force, and I'm trusting the media decision makers will be back at their desks, too, and gearing up for new pitches.

Here's one promotion opportunity I wouldn't wish on anyone: finding greatly exaggerated rumors of your death on one of the social networks and then refuting those rumors. It happened, according to a recent article on CNN, to actor Jeff Goldblum who, in a promotional coup, was given the opportunity to read his own obituary on "The Colbert Report."

Well, yes, an appearance on "The Colbert Report" is terrific -- and when was the last time you'd heard Jeff Goldblum's name before he made this TV appearance? Still, as much as my clients all want media attention and a chance to be seen or heard in the national media, I don't think any of them would want Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network to prematurely announce their death.

Social networking has become an integral part of book promotion, and the more frequently authors' names turn up on the social networks, the happier they ought to be . . . unless they turn up in social networks in the wrong context, at the wrong time.

But isn't that always the way?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:39 AM | Permalink

Yes, book publicists can be a superstitious bunch. If it's raining and you've booked a national TV interview...then rainy days are very good days to make overtures to the biggest and most important media outlets. If it's the day before a long holiday weekend and you've booked an interview with National Public Radio, then holidays are the best time to contact NPR. Those superstitions are all part of the Book Promotion 101 course that we book publicists use to educate ourselves and keep the book publicity going.

But there's one superstition that I've never been able to decide upon, and it involves wishing someone well before an interview. It gave me pause this morning. One of my clients has two back-to-back radio interviews (he'll be appearing on both radio shows via telephone). I tried to decide, for seemingly the hundredth time, whether it's appropriate to tell an author who is about to do an interview to "break a leg." Is "break a leg" one of those superstitions that will lead to good things...or does that only work in theater? Does saying "good luck" have just the oppposite of the desired effect and, if so, should I avoid uttering that phrase to authors before their most important interviews? I guess that's something I'll have to ponder a bit longer....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:18 AM | Permalink

CNN makes a book publicist's job tougher (and her day just a little bit rougher) than it has to be sometimes. Okay, other news organizations do it, too, but this time I have evidence that CNN is making this book publicist's job difficult.

One of the things a book publicist must do is convince the media to run a story as newsworthy or entertaining. A highly successful book promotion campaign usually involves a sure-fire news hook located somewhere in the author's life...preferably, somewhere reasonably close to the book he or she is promoting. A good book publicist has a better-than-average ability to predict which news hooks the media might go for.

Which is why one of today's top stories from CNN.com gave this particular book publicist a headache. Strange, puffy clouds were seen over New York City after a thunderstorm? A couple of people spotted Michael Jackson's face in the clouds? A meteorologist, when questioned, didn't deny that someone with a very keen imagination might be able to turn the puffy clouds into Michael Jackson's image? And that's news?

Well, okay. I can sort of see it. I mean, this is the first day in what seems like a month that someone famous, or formerly famous, hasn't unexpectedly met his or her maker. And, now that Michael Jackson's children are in the legal (if temporary) custody of their paternal grandmother, and autopsy results aren't expected back for several weeks, there isn't a front-burner Jackson story available. So I can understand how news organizations might be unable to resist the temptation to fill the glaring gap with -- a story about nothing.

But dang. For a book publicist like me, the world of book promotion gets a little bit harder every time one of our story pitches is brushed aside to make room for a non-story like strange (or not-so-strange, depending on your perspective) cloud formations over New York City.

Why isn't Hollywood Politicos, Then and Now by Greg R. Rabidoux (which talks about celebrities who seriously involve themselves in politics) on the front page of CNN.com today? Well, partly because New York City had a thunderstorm. In the summertime. And then there were clouds.

Gee whiz. This book publicist is getting a headache. And yet...book promotion is a fairly fun game, if you don't mind having one of your great pitches brushed aside, once in awhile, for no apparent reason other than the fact that, strangely, even non-news about recently deceased celebrities tend to trump everything else in a newsroom.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:18 AM | Permalink

Here's why we still need newspapers. Yesterday, I received the news via the Internet. I knew about Farrah Fawcett's death and Michael Jackson's demise (and the rumors of his demise) as soon as the major and minor news outlets broke the story. I got the news alerts. I found the full articles on the Web sites. I received the tweets. I even turned on my actual television set which is a rare feat for the news gatherer in me these days. I listened to the radio coverage (well, actually, to listeners' responses) to the stories all night.

But still...seeing the news and hearing the news and clicking on the news is one thing. Getting this morning's newspapers, and seeing the news on paper, in print, was something else.

It wasn't until I saw this morning's newspapers that I knew, for certain, that Farrah Fawcett had gone to her reward and Michael Jackson had gone to...well, his plastic surgeon in the sky, or whatever it was that he was aiming for (personally, I'm hoping that both Farrah and Michael graced the new-and-improved heavenly "Tonight Show" starring Johnny and Ed with their presence last night, because that would have been an unbeatable lineup, but maybe that would be rushing things just a bit).

Anyway, the news wasn't proven to be news to me until I held it in my hand and saw it in print and turned the pages for myself. Which is why we still need newspapers.

Or, in any case, it's why I still need newspapers. Maybe some media consumers have moved on. Me? Not so much.

Not yet.

I still want my newspapers in the morning, even when the news is as horrible as it was this morning.

And I think -- and trust -- that pitching stories to newspapers will be a part of book promotion campaigns for a long while to come, as long as there are enough people who feel the way that I do.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:04 AM | Permalink

Some days, the Internet overwhelms me. Its offerings become just so much background noise, and I can't wait to click away from Twitter, Facebook, and other Web 2.0 offerings so I can get back to work.

At other times, I appreciate the democracy of the Internet and, particularly, its chief benefit for those of us who care about book promotion opportunities: if the traditional media outlets are finding your book underwhelming, and they're not offering to interview you, then who care? You can broadcast your own interview online directly to your target audience, and given that, who needs an interview opportunity on someone else's traditional media outlet to promote a book?

A Publishers Weekly article of yesterday talks about a three-channel online network called "From the Publisher’s Office" that Penguin has just launched.

It will provide instant book promotion opportunities for Penguin’s authors. Also, because of the Penguin name, the site presumably will attract a huge audience. Penguin won't have to work hard to bring visitors to "From the Publisher's Office."

For the rest of us, developing Web 2.0 book promotion opportunities will be a bit more challenging. First, budget will be a factor. Even now, when publishing companies are feeling the economic (and technological) pinch, I presume it's still easier for Penguin to come up with a couple hundred thousand grand for Web site development than it would be for most of my clients. Second, whereas Penguin as a built-in Web 2.0 audience, most independent publishers and authors will have to work on bringing their targeted readers to their online offerings.

The latter can be done -- that's what book publicists and social networking experts are for (and many book publicists are quickly become social networking experts as well -- those who are behind the curve will quickly have to catch up, or I'm not sure what they'll be doing to earn their keep in the months ahead). The former -- raising the funds to develop Web 2.0 offerings -- can be trickier. But then again, there are already out-of-the-box solutions (BlogRadio comes to mind, and there are many others), and there will likely be many more of those to come. Using someone else's platform and, in essence, tapping into someone else's audience is an imperfect solution, but it is a solution...in the same way that print-on-demand publishing isn't quite going to eclipse getting a publishing contract from Penguin, although it can come close.

The opportunity to use the Internet -- and, specifically, Web 2.0 -- to create book promotion coverage is already there. Down the road, most of the barriers to entry will be lifted, and the benefits of participating in online book promotion campaigns will be evident to us all.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:47 AM | Permalink

Launching a Web site, in advance of a book's publication, is an excellent way to get your book promotion campaign started. The order of play is:

1. Find, and snag, a URL for your book's Web site.
2. Build your Web site. Ideally, you would hire an established Web design firm that specializes in creating authors' book sites instead of your 22-year-old nephew. AuthorBytes is a top choice that many of my clients have worked with.
3. If you must do the latter (see #2, above) because of budgetary constraints, at least have your designer look at book sites that have been professionally designed for inspiration and direction. A good starting point is to make a list of books in your genre and see the Web sites associated with those titles -- or go to the specialty Web design firms who focus on authors' books and look at their portfolios.
4. Once your site goes live, announce it via a friendly email to your personal contacts -- and, more formally, via a press release to the media and online press release banks.
5. Upload your initial press release, and all future press releases, to your Web site.
6. Keep adding content to your site. An easy way to do that is to make sure you include a blog as part of your initial Web site. The more content your site has, the more likely that your site will be found by your target audience and by the media -- thus, you've begun your book promotion campaign as soon as the media can easily find your site in Google and other search engines.

Starting your book promotion campaign really is as easy as creating and launching your book's Web site. For more thoughts on the topic, click here.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:55 AM | Permalink

Kudos to Elisabeth Eaves and her article, "Why Write Books? Notes on BookExpo America," published on Forbes.com."

Along with discussing the current state of the book publishing industry from a refreshingly optimistic perspective, Eaves makes a spot-on observation about the futility of trying to predict book sales. She says in essence, that "a team of blindfolded monkeys throwing darts" could predict book sales as well as any individual or philosophy or theory could.

Which (because I'm always on my soapbox about this topic)leads me back to the point I so frequently make: while book promotion may be tangentially related to book sales, it's impossible to predict how closely related even a highly successful book promotion campaign will be to an increase in book sales, nor is it reasonable to ask a book publicist to guess at the number of book sales that might be generated by a successful book publicity campaign.

That said (over and over again), authors and publishers are always asking me to "sell" my book promotion services by answering, to their satisfaction, the question of how many books they might expect to sell if they invest X, Y, or Z in a book promotion campaign. The question drives me crazy, as does the corollary, which is that certain unscrupulous (or inexperienced or naive) book promotion firms out there to attempt to answer the question -- which, of course, always has the effect of disappointing the author and publisher when the predictions made about book sales fall flat.

"I hired a book publicist, but I was very disappointed in the campaign," is the way authors and publishers typically open their conversation with me after such an experience -- and, as I've said, it drives me nuts, because it's so unnecessary. As Eaves says, books are a creative endeavor, and no one can accurately predict what the demand for creative output will be -- whether it's a book or a song or a painting.

I guess some people feel uncomfortable responding "it's impossible to know" when they're asked, point-blank, to predict the impossible. But I do have a favor to ask of the authors and publishers who set off book publicists to begin with. Please stop asking us to try to predict the effect that book promotion campaigns will have on book sales. We can't make that type of a prediction, because there's simply no science behind such a prediction. I can't answer the question, and my colleagues can't answer the question. Only time, and the book promotion itself, can answer the question of what effect the book promotion campaign will have on book sales.

And that, unfortunately, is that.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:42 PM | Permalink

If Angelina Jolie is now a more powerful media personality than Oprah Winfrey, perhaps we should all shift our book promotion strategy. Perhaps now it's time to get Angelina Jolie -- and not Oprah Winfrey -- to feature our books in her internationally-respected book club and on her top-rated TV talk show, and maybe it's time to let Angie put her famed book club's imprint on our books and hope that she finds us worthy of granting us an opportunity to promote our books in front of our target audience.

Perhaps Oprah Winfrey is old news for authors and publishers who want to turn their books into instant bestsellers . Perhaps Angelina Jolie's support is what authors and publishers should now be seeking for their books.

Or...maybe not.

And please don't let the fact that I'm not an Angelina Jolie fan influence your opinion about how to proceed now that the stunning news about how Angelina's popularity has overtaken Oprah Winfrey's has hit the news. Seriously. It's all about grabbing Angie's attention now. Send your books to...well...just send your books to wherever in the world Angelina Jolie happens to be shopping for potential additions to her family these days. And good luck with that.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:07 AM | Permalink

Most of us eagerly grab all the book promotion opportunities we can get. And then there are those who want no book promotion at all.

Check out this Associated Press (via the Guardian) article about J.D. Salinger's latest lawsuit.

Salinger is currently trying to block an author from publishing a sequel to Catcher in the Rye. It looks as though John David California (which is the writer's pen name, anyway) will not be able to share 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye with the Holden Caulfield-loving universe.

My hunch is that, while John David California is probably feeling a bit intimidated by the lawsuit, he's undoubtedly tickled by the attention Salinger is paying to his work. What better book promotion opportunity could their be than an attempt by a literary legend to legally prevent you from publishing your work?

Ah, Salinger. Must be nice to know that your book has reached the status of "classic" and that there's nothing further that you have to do -- your book will live just as long as people have books, ebook readers, or chips that can read text surgically implanted into their brains -- or whatever the next big book delivery system turns out to be.

Salinger. Salinger. How must it feel to turn down Steven Spielberg and Harvey Weinstein's offer to turn your book into a film? Mere mortals can only speculate.

Sometimes, authors who don't need or want book promotion opportunities leave me speechless. And humbled.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:40 AM | Permalink

I'm an unabashed Stephen King fan. Nearly all of his books are "keepers," as far as I'm concerned, and I have kept almost all of his books from Carrie to
Just After Sunset: Stories. So I'll take reading advice from him. At least, I want to hear what he has to say.

So I checked out his latest EW.com column, "Stephen King: 7 Great Books for Summer." I clicked on that article gleefully, in part to see what King's recommendations were, and in part to see which lucky ("anyone I know?") novelists had earned the book promotion opportunity of a lifetime (well, okay, one of the book promotion opportunities of a lifetime -- I certainly didn't mean to slight you or your book club, Oprah).

Imagine my surprise when I found that one of the authors to receive a book promotion opportunity via this Stephen King was none other than ... Charles Dickens. Seriously. Little Dorritt is one of King's "7 Great Books for Summer [of 2009]" picks.

It's been awhile since I've read Little Dorritt, and maybe there's something about it that I'm not remembering, but ... well, it's Little Dorritt. It originally was published between 1855 and 1857, and it was written by Charles Dickens who, by the way, is beyond benefitting from the book promotion opportunity of a lifetime.

Whereas (if you're following my train of thought) many -- maybe a gazillion or so -- hardworking novelists who are currently living and hoping and praying for a book promotion break of a lifetime could actually savor Stephen King's praise and bring any resultant book royalty checks to the bank.

There's nothing wrong with giving a nod to a classic novel, and I'm glad Stephen King recognized the work of one of my favorite novelists. But ... Stephen? Next time you're called upon to recommend seven novels to the book-buying public, would you please consider giving a helping hand to seven deserving novelists who could really use the boost? I wouldn't presume to tell you which new novels I'd like to see you recommend next time out ... although, as a book publicist, I do have some great suggestions. And my clients would owe you for it ... forever!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:30 PM | Permalink

Could a Skype-driven book tour work for you? Maybe, at some point in the not-so-distant future, it could.

If you're currently setting up signings, speaking engagements, and other events at bookstores as part of your book promotion campaign, then you might want to check out Publishers Weekly's article, "Visiting Bookstores Virtually." The article describes an experiment that Random House is trying with two of its children's book authors: Jerry Spinelli and Libba Bray.

Random House arranged for its authors to participate in Skype phone calls to bookstores, and the selected bookstores arranged for children to be part of the calls. The lucky kids had a chance to visit with the authors, virtually, as pets and other family members wandered into their home offices. And the authors didn't have to pack their suitcases and travel from one city to another to meet their fans.

The bookstores took a risk, because this is the first time they've used Skype in place of having an author actually appear, in person, to talk with an audience. Who knew, ahead of time, whether the technology would work, or -- even if it did -- whether it could keep an audience of young people entertained? And, for authors, it took a leap of faith to look squarely at a Web cam and trust that, somehow, they were connecting with their fans.

But, according to the PW article, it worked. Then again, as the article points out, both of these authors have a huge fan base. They were also playing to an audience that's excited by Web cams and Skype -- rather than a group of adults who could very well be turned off, or intimidated, by it.

So will you be participating in a Skype-driven book signing in the next week or two? No, probably not. But a year or so down the road . . . who knows? Things change so quickly in the world of book promotion that, some day soon, it might make perfect sense to trade in your plans for a traditional bookstore tour for a virtual one. You might find, as these pioneering authors did, that a Skype book tour provides even more opportunities than a standard book tour to foster intimacy and connections with your readers . . . and you might find yourself trading in traditional book tours for Skype-driven book tours for good.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey! I didn't realize that yesterday's Google homepage doodle was about book promotion! I thought it was about a scientific discovery!

Yesterday, Google's homepage featured one of those intriguing doodles that I had to click on before I could start my day. What was that weird drawing, anyway?

It turned out to be a fossil or, more specifically, the "missing link" -- which, happily for Colin Tudge and Josh Young, coauthors of The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor (published by Little Brown and Company) -- was the subject of their new book. The book's publication date, by the way, was(May 20, 2009, which was the date that Google featured that promotional doodle on its homepage.

We all know that prominent search engine placement is a critical aspect of book promotion. If your book's web site is prominently featured in Google, then potential book buyers will go right to it when you've been interviewed on radio or television, or you've been featured in a magazine, newspaper, or online article. Driving traffic to your book's web site is a first step on the path toward selling potential readers on your credibility, expertise, entertainment/news value, and so on . . . so I've always said that SEO (search engine optimization, which for books' web sites involve writing articles and op-eds, social bookmarking, posting press releases in online "banks," and the like) is a key to book promotion (and book marketing, by the way) success.

But I never imagined that Google itself would overtly take a hand in an author's (or a publisher's) book promotion campaign! How cool would it be to have Google link to your book, via its daily doodle? How many thousands of people would click on that doodle to find out about your book, and perhaps to visit your book's web site?

Now if only Google would make its daily doodle available to advertisers. And if only the cost were less cost-prohibitive than, say, inventing a new species or a new planet where life forms could live . . . and if only ordinary authors and publishers could afford to give it a try.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Most of the book promotion that I do is geared toward conventional and online bookstores. Some few books that I promote can be bought only at authors' web sites (it's very rare that books I'm hired to promote are not available via Amazon.com, but it still occasionally happens).

So I ask questions about distribution before I agree on a book promotion campaign because I know a bit about distribution to bookstores and via web sites. But I know little about book promotion that's geared toward libraries -- or, specifically, toward librarians. How do librarians choose their acquisitions? Which trade publications (aside from the obvious ones that contain the word "library") do they read? How else do books get on librarians' radar screen?

I was, therefore, delighted to find an article online by Sherry Thomas, a Bantam historical romance novelist, called "How Do Romances Get on the Shelves–Library Shelves."

Although the article addresses the question of how librarians choose which romance novels to acquire, it also sheds light on the process of libraries' acquisitions, in general. It seems as though the goal is to bring your book to the attention of librarians. If you can accomplish that, then there's no guarantee the librarians will buy your book -- but, at least, your book will be up for consideration.

My thanks go out to Sherry Thomas for shedding light on how the mysterious process of libraries' acquisitions work -- and, too, for offering hope that library patrons can sometimes be persuaded to buy their favorite books once they've test-driven them (so to speak). I've read that libraries are busier than ever these days with so many people opting to borrow books instead of buying them. It's reassuring to think that not all those book borrowers are committed to short-term relationiships with their favorite books. There's still room for selling a borrower on a book if the book is good enough -- and making the book good enough is the job that most authors do best (at least, they always tell me that "writing is the easy part". So that article made my morning!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:49 AM | Permalink

Good for Scribd. Far more interesting to this book publicist, though, was the fact that I read about Scribd's new ecommerce venture in no fewer than three major media outlets today: Publishers Weekly , the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Jeez. I care only marginally about the fact that Scribd will now charge readers for digital content (books, magazines, newspapers, research reports, etc.), and 80% of the proceeds will go directly to the contents' publishers. (Scribd's service will only be as impressive as its content, and I haven't had a chance yet to check out the site -- I'll reserve judgment until I have).

But I am blown away by the amount, and the quality, of media exposure that Scribd's new ecommerce venture has received. Imagine if, in the midst of your book promotion campaign, your work was featured in PW, the Post, and the NY Times on the same day? My goodness! That would be an accomplishment, for certain!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:16 PM | Permalink

Effective media kits are something that you must help to create. And you can do it, even if you've never written a media kit or even seen one. A book publicist will take the lead, but you should take an active part in the media kit creation process -- whether or not your book publicist explicitly invites your participation. That will ensure that you'll be satisfied with the results, and you'll have the winning media kit that you can stand behind.

A media release focuses on a particular angle rather than on your entire book. Only you know for certain what you'd like that focus to be. Your book publicist will have an idea or two about the main thrust of the media kit -- he or she typically has read your book and spoken with you, and knows what's likely to get the attention of the media and book buyers -- but your vision (and your goals about how you want the media to perceive you) is what matters most.

The media kit represents your book and you, and it helps to shape your image and build your brand. Your reputation is at stake every time someone reads it, and that ultimately makes it your responsibility.

Your book publicist may have a great track record in the publicity business, but he or she is unlikely to create the perfect media kit for you without your thoughtful input. Your book publicist can get the ball rolling by creating a competent first media kit draft, but your participation should kick in even before your book publicist begins to conceptualize the release. Here are a few of the key contributions you can offer:

∙ Media hooks. Your publicist tunes into the media's news sources and knows what's going on in the world. But you know which current events are most likely to resonate with you, and which news stories you feel the most passionate about. If there's something going on in the news (or there's an event that's about to take place) that you'd like to emphasize in your book promotion campaign, then let your book publicist know. Your book publicist can incorporate that news hook into your media kit, and you can offer quotations (which can take the form of comments on the news story) that will work well for the release, too.

∙ Language and concepts. Are there key phrases and ideas that come up frequently in your line of work or your area of expertise? Don't make your book publicist figure them out -- provide a list of the words and ideas that should make their way into the media kit.

∙ Questions. Book publicists often include suggested interview questions in media kits for the journalists' benefit. You know what you'd like Jay Leno to ask you if you're sitting on his couch .... your publicist can only guess what those questions might be. Imagine that Jay (or your favorite talk show host) is asking the questions most likely to elicit the information you want to provide, and deliver those questions to your book publicist. Good questions, your book publicist can create. The questions you want the media to ask you, your book publicist can only guess at -- unless you make them clear.

∙ Story ideas. Your book is filled with possibilities for media stories. Although your publicist can guess which stories you want the media to pursue, you should establish (or, at least, strongly suggest) the direction and let your publicist know which avenues are the most attractive to you. Your book publicist can easily and smoothly work them into the media kit.

As a publicist, I read every client's book before I begin to work on the media kit. I think about how the book's content might tie into current events or news happenings as I'm reading. I highlight paragraphs, flag pages, and note specific passages. I do my homework before I start to create the media kit. And, because I have a sense of what's likely to work as part of a media kit, I'm glad to put together a media kit draft that serves as a launching pad for the final product.

Once I've sent my clients the first media kit draft, I expect them to read it with an open mind. The draft isn't going anywhere ... it's only a starting point.

It's the client's responsibility to actively get involved in the media kit's creation so that the second draft will be better than the first. No media materials are leaving my desk until I have my client's approval, and I hope I won't have that approval until my client loves what we have created together.

I ask my clients to get back to me with their suggested edits (most of my clients use MS Word's "track changes" mode to accomplish this) that reflect their vision, ideas, branding, expertise, and media goals. I incorporate those editorial suggestions into the next draft of the media kit, add my own edits, send it back to the client ... and so the revision process goes.

The media-kit-in-progress makes its way, via email, between the book publicist and the client for as long as it takes -- usually, about two days -- until we've created a tightly woven, exciting media kit that delights both the book publicist and the client.

Yes, a book publicist potentially could create a decent media kit alone. But that shouldn't be good enough. And that doesn't reflect the way that I prefer to work, nor does it reflect the way you'd want me to work. I want the author or publisher to participate in the media kit creation process so that everyone involved will be thrilled with the results.

Media kit creation is a subjective process. How can a book publicist know what an author or a publisher is hoping for unless the client offers specific ideas and suggestions for creating the ideal media package?

In short, an author/publisher who is willing to participate in the creation of a media kit will surely be happy with the results and will be more than repaid for his or her investment of time and energy. Those who do not will likely be disappointed with the results, no matter how competent and creative the book promotion specialist who is involved.

So provide your book publicist with your ideas before, and during, the book promotion process. You'll love the results, and your book promotion campaign's success will reflect your efforts.

You know how you’d like the media to see you, and your book publicist knows how to make it happen. Your knowledge and your publicist’s book promotion experience: that's the winning combination.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:45 AM | Permalink

Can singing karaoke style provide you turn into a viral marketing opportunity? Yes, it can. Check out a video that Lara Zielin posted on YouTube.

Can Lara sing? Well, I'll let you decide that for yourself (Susan Boyle isn't worried about the potential competition, though, is what I'm thinking). But does Lara know a book promotion opportunity when she dreams one up? Oh, yes, she does.

Lara's video was inspired an editing letter she'd received while her debut novel, Donut Days, was in production. She turned her angst at having to rip up her manuscript into a playfully angst-filled musical response as she runs away from the letter.

She then cleverly posted the video on YouTube (clearly, she didn't mind editing the video first, and -- as someone who's had a bit of experience here, I must say that she did a very respectable job with that). Lara was able to link back to her web site,www.larawrites.com and mention her novel's title in her description of the video.

I found out about the video not because I regularly troll YouTube but because Michelle Reynoso, who works at Safeguards Technology, mentioned the video in a LinkedIn group post.

Thanks to Michelle, and thanks to Lara for coming up with an innovative book promotion idea. I hope Putnam Juvenile appreciates you, and I hope Donut Days sells at least 100,000 extra copies because of your ingenuity!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:53 AM | Permalink

I've been pumped to buy an Amazon Kindle, or whatever the state-of-the-art ebook reader turns out to be once the publishing and technology dust settles. But stories like this one in today's New York Times make me wonder: is the technology going to enhance our enjoyment of books and other things in print, or will it just be another source of irritation?

It turns out that the Kindle, which has that text-to-voice feature, doesn't know how to pronounce the name of the United States president. It's also not clear about how to pronounce the name of Boston's basketball team (it's thinking "Celtics," with a hard C, instead of "Celtics," with a soft C).

Speaking of irritants: Look, if I want to mispronounce words, I can do it on my own. I don't need the help of an ebook reader. I accept the fact that my Garmin GPS unit, which also is equipped with that text-to-voice feature, can't articulate street names as clearly as I'd like. But, then, I use my GPS unit to do that which I cannot -- namely, to (usually) get me from point A to point B without taking me through the Amazon rainforest. But reading? I've been doing that for myself since I was about five years old. And, as long as my eyesight holds out, I expect I'll be doing it for myself as long as I live. So, if the Kindle (or any ebook reader) is going to lend an electronic voice to the conversation, it has to do a better job than to decide that "Barack" rhymes with "black" and "Obama" rhymes with "Alabama." If there's a person or place in the news and I'm seriously concerned about mispronouncing it -- and if my radio and my television set break simultaneously, and I don't have access to a computer -- then I can see asking the Kindle to tell me how to pronounce, say, Thomas Cholmondeley or Abu Ghraib. If the voice-to-text technology is going to help me get lost in the linguistic equivalent of the Amazon rainforest, then I don't need it.

And I'm not sure I'd be excited about paying for that which I don't need.

So fix the technology, Amazon (and other ebook vendors), or you're just giving this book publicist an excuse to sit on the sidelines of the emerging technology for an even longer period of time. I'm excited about the new technology . . . now you just have to show me that the whole package really works, and you'll have yourself a new customer.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:19 AM | Permalink

Well, here's some good news for those of us who are in the midst of book promotion campaigns -- but it comes in the form of bad news. The post office has just increased its rates for first class postage and for mailing postcards. You can check out the new rates at CNN.com which, for some reason, is easier for this particular book publicist than going directly to the "calculate postage" page on the U.S. Postal Service's Web site.

Anyway, if you conduct snail-mailings of media kits, or if you send out postcards to your mailing lists, to try to drum up book promotion opportunities or book sales, then you'll be spending more now than you would have spent two weeks ago on your endeavors.

But I promised you some good news, and here it is. If you're sending out books and media kits via Priority mail, or you're sending out books via Media Mail (no paperwork allowed), then the rates will not go up. So, for most authors and publishers, the rate increases will probably not end up increasing the costs of a book promotion campaign -- for the time being.

I have faith that, one day soon, the rates for the rest of the United States Postal Services' offerings will go up again and, when it does, that will send the costs of book promotion campaigns soaring yet again.

But, for the time being, we're safe. Unless we want to mail our mom a belated Mother's Day card . . . but none of us would be in a position to have to send our moms a belated Mother's Day card, would we? Me? I took my mom to see the new "Star Trek" movie on Mother's Day. Maybe not the best movie choice in the world for my mom but, hey . . . I enjoyed it. For the most part. I could have done without the explosions and violence, but then, I guess the director of the movie had to spend that gazillion dollar special effects budget somehow.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:46 AM | Permalink

We'll do a lot for book promotion opportunities . . . but would you write a novel that includes an account of Oprah Winfrey saying compromising things about "some mistakes she made" on tape? That's what James Frey chose to do in the paperback (the hardcover edition omitted the Oprah section) version of Bright Shiny Morning, according to Wednesday's Guardian.

Frey already has incurred the wrath of Oprah Winfrey by admitting that he fabricated certain elements of his Oprah's Book Club pick, A Million Little Pieces. Along with major book sales, he scored an on-air scolding from Oprah, which couldn't have been a whole lot of fun for him.

Is that Oprah addition to Bright Shiny Morning Frey's way of getting the last word in an argument? Maybe, and maybe it even feels good to Frey as though he's "won" -- but, if I were in his position, I wouldn't mess with Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah isn't some sort of a Mafia don, and I'm not suggesting that Frey should be afraid that she'll respond to the accusations against her in his novel by getting one of her producers to leave a horse's head in his bed. But Oprah's voice in literature is a powerful one, for better or worse, and I wouldn't want to hear that voice raised against my work and me, if I were a novelist -- and I wouldn't court Oprah's wrath in an effort to sell more novels. It seems unworthy and cheap.

If Frey is such a brilliant writer (and I wouldn't know first-hand -- I delayed in reading A Million Little Pieces and, once the controversy broke, I decided not to purchase the book at all), then he doesn't need to talk trash about Oprah. And if he isn't as great as he apparently thinks he is, then Frey has no right to invoke Oprah's name (and try to compromise her reputation) to sell copies of his novel. Certainly, he most likely has a legal right to do so (Oprah Winfrey is a public figure, so I'm guessing it's easier to get away with bad-mouthing her than to pick on another, anonymous citizen). But morally, I think Frey is completely unjustified in telling tales about Oprah as part of his book promotion efforts. I'm not sure what James Frey was thinking, but this is the clearest-cut case of "biting the hand that feeds you" I've seen in a long while.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:38 AM | Permalink

For the past couple of weeks, I've been following the travails of the Boston Globe. Will it survive? Will the New York Times Co. close its doors? (It looks as though it will survive for the time being. According to the Boston Globe's web site, the last of the Boston Globe's unions has finally reached an agreement with the New York Times Co., and all that's left is for the union's membership to ratify the agreement.)

Anyway, while reading every scrap of information I could about the Boston Globe's troubles and those of other newspapers across the country, I stumbled across a Time magazine article called "Will Amazon's Kindle Rescue Newspapers?"

The article talks about a Kindle with a larger screen that's supposed to serve up newspapers (and textbooks) more easily for readers and postulates that this, finally, could be the answer for those of us who -- what? Wanted our broadsheets but didn't enjoy refolding them when we were finished with them? Or didn't want to deal with the overseas-based home delivery staff when subscription issues went awry? Or didn't want to deal with vending machines to buy a copy? Well, I'm sure the larger-screen Kindle will rescue the concept of reading newspapers for some segment of the reading population (I'll get back to you as soon as I figure out which segment of the reading population that is, exactly).

But what really jumped out at me about that Time magazine article was the picture of Stephen King holding a pink Kindle aloft with the biggest grin on his face that I've seen outside a candy shop or toy store. King, who has published a book directly to a Kindle, is enjoying the technology. If you have any doubt about his motive in working directly with Amazon -- if you suspect that he wanted to stick a finger into the eye of mainstream publishers just because he could -- then one look at that photo will tell you differently. King loves the Kindle. He loves being a part of the publishing revolution. He'd love being a part of anything that involves books, because Stephen King loves books.

King isn't holding a copy of The Stand in his fist and saying, "I wrote this great book. I am great. My books are great, and they're not changing. Let's stay where we are and talk about how great everything is" -- as the rest of the civilized world explores new publishing possibilities. King is at the forefront of the publishing revolution, and he doesn't have to be there. He wants to be there, and I respect him for it. And, yes, I love him for it, because I feel as though he's holding my hand through what could be a challenging and frightening ride to an unknown plane of publishing existence.

What could feel threatening to a book publicist (and to a news junkie) feels a lot less threatening, somehow, when I see Stephen King's gleeful expression and can feel his enthusiasm, and his eagerness, for what lies ahead jumping off the page. I can feel King's delight, and I can -- yes, I can -- share it.

I'll have the Boston Globe to read tomorrow, and I'll have hard copies of books to read next week. And the month after that? Or the following year? Who knows? Maybe I'll have a Kindle 2. Maybe I'll have an iPhone with that Kindle application installed on it. Or maybe I'll have a Sony eReader or that thing Barnes and Noble seems to be working or, or maybe I'll have an ebook (and enewspaper) reader that I haven't even heard of yet.

As long as I have reading materials, I'll be good. I can read them, and I can promote them ... whatever they are.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:12 AM | Permalink

Do book promotion campaigns require tolerance for hate? Obviously, they do not. And, as a book publicist, I will never understand why authors subject themselves to interviews with talk show hosts whose on-air persona is about spreading rancor, narrow-mindedness, and xenophobia.

I'm aware that some of the (in my opinion, although I recognize it's a question of personal taste) chief offenders -- Don Imus and Howard Stern among them -- aren't leaving the airwaves any time soon. But I hope that a Boston-area radio talk show host by the name of Jay Severin whose idiocy just came to my attention will be leaving his world, WTKK-FM, for a distant galaxy permanently. Severin, it seems, thinks that Mexico (and, by extension, those who live in Mexico) is to blame for the Swine Flu. I can't quite follow the logic, but apparently, Severin thinks the spread of H1N1 is tied to illegal immigration . . . which, somehow, gives him the right to give voice to racial slurs on the air.

However fast and furious the pace of booking author media interviews might be, I can guarantee you that I would never knowingly schedule an interview with an individual who is disrespectful toward anyone on the air . . . or who earns a living by putting people down. Subjecting authors to foolish, unwise, or short-sighted talk show hosts is no way to promote books . . . and it's no way to run a book promotion firm, either.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:44 AM | Permalink

Could Boston become a one-newspaper town? Well, yes. Boston could even become a no-newspaper town at the rate newspaper closings are going (check out this CNN.com story). We all know by now that the Boston Globe's future is precarious. The union leaders have blown past their second deadline without coming to terms with the Boston Globe's owners -- or, at least, the four unions haven't all successfully met the terms dictated by The New York Times Co. for keeping the Globe in business.

Meanwhile, the Boston Herald has turned into a cross between a celebrity magazine and a sports magazine -- and its editorial content, even in those areas, seem to be diminishing every day.

So the question, for this Massachusetts-based book publicist, isn't so much whether Boston could become a one-newspaper town. It's whether Boston could become a no-newspaper town. And the corollary, of course, is this: If Boston becomes a no-newspaper town, what will that mean for book promotion campaigns? Clearly, book reviews in newspapers are becoming distant memories. Yet, strangely, most authors and publishers who contact me still open their conversations with, "My goal is to have my book reviewed in the New York Times or another newspaper of that caliber. Can you make it happen?"

In a word, no. I can't make it happen, and I'm already recommending that authors and publishers take a look at their own newspapers and make note of how few books are actually reviewed therein, and the origin of those books. If your book is already in print, and if your publishing house isn't among the major ones, and you're not paying for newspaper space . . . then its probably not going to see the inside of a newspaper. Instead, you should be focusing on other book promotion opportunities -- and they're out there. You have to be more creative than ever, but that's what book promotion has always been about -- creativity -- and that's a good thing, after all.

I wish the Boston Globe employees and readers luck and success as we see what happens next. Maybe there's still the possibility of a future for Boston's number one newspaper -- for a little while, anyway.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:24 AM | Permalink

Do you sometimes feel apprehensive about your ability to handle book promotion interviews with finesse? That happens to a lot of authors -- even veterans of book promotion campaigns -- and that's why I'm pleased to offer a reassuring thought for the day. Here it is.

No matter what you do, and no matter what you say, and no matter what you forget to say -- you could never blow an interview as badly as Hulk Hogan did. In case you missed it, Hogan told a Rolling Stone magazine interviewer (in the context of venting his feelings about his ex-wife who's currently dating a much younger man)that he can "totally understand O.J." Did he stop there? No. In fact, he explained that he was capable of doing that which O.J. Simpson was accused.

Check out the CNN story, if you haven't seen it, and take heart. Unless you have scrambled eggs for a brain or mashed potatoes for morality, you could never mess up a book promotion opportunity as badly as that. In fact, Hulk Hogan has set the bar so low that, from now on, no interview we see or hear read could ever seem as incompetent, unworthy, or inappropriate as before.

Hulk Hogan has given us all a new reason to feel confident in our ability to do a reasonably acceptable interview. Now the challenge is to do an even better interview than you did last time . . . and that confidence and ability will come with practice.

Decency? Unfortunately, that probably can't be learned by those of us who have left our formative years behind. Sorry, Hogan, but no amount of media training can ever change the fact that you don't deserve to talk to another reporter . . . unless, perhaps, it's a court reporter.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:03 AM | Permalink

There's been plenty of buzz recently about a glitch (or, perhaps, something far more purposeful and sinister than a glitch) in Amazon's ranking system. (If you want to catch up on the story, click on the New York Times story here.) There's been a copyright battle brewing between the Authors Guild and Amazon over the Kindle 2's "text-to-speech" functionality. (For more on that story, click directly on the Authors Guild Web site.)

But, although beating up Amazon for its myriad controversial choices (or glitches) may seem like a fun and productive sport for publishing industry professionals, I have a hunch we'd all be better served to get to know Amazon a little bit better and learn how to work with it. Specifically, tap into Amazon's book promotion opportunities.

There's a whole world of book promotion potential of Amazon that lies beneath the bookseller's surface. I wish I could say that, ardent book publicist that I am, I found out about Amazon's book publicity opportunities by clicking around the site and uncovering hidden treasures for authors and publishers buried beneath Amazon's surface . . . but the truth is that I read a lot, and most of what I uncovered regarding Amazon's hidden book promotion opportunities, I found via a wonderful book by Brent Sampson called Sell Your Book on Amazon: Top-Secret Tips Guaranteed to Increase Sales for Print-on-Demand and Self-Publishing Writers. I'm not shilling for Sampson (in fact, I don't know him and, except for the fact that I bought a copy of his book, I haven't done business with him). But I'd like to see every author (yes, even mainstream authors can benefit from understanding the book publicity potential of Amazon) pick up a copy of his book.

Amazon's offerings and -- you'll know this if you've tried to work with Amazon using any guides you've come across -- its URLs are constantly changing. So I read everything I come across regarding Amazon's book promotion opportunities so that I can keep up with the available features. (Obviously, I try to keep up-to-date with Barnes and Noble's online book promotion offerings to which, while less robust than Amazon's, are still worth checking out. For example, have you checked out Barnes and Noble's new Blogging Booksellers feature?)

Amazon isn't perfect, and we can all take issue with something about its functionality, vision, style, and the like. (I'm tempted to say that Amazon is only human, but it isn't, and I think that's the point here.) But, anyway, why not take a look at the other side of the story? Why not explore the ambitious and evolving infrastructure that Amazon has built to help authors and publishers gain online visibility for their books? (Yes, of course, I know that helping authors and publishers promote its books through Amazon benefits Amazon as well as authors and publishers, but we're not beating up on Amazon right now, remember?). Just tap into one or two of its book promotion opportunities that so many authors and publishers tend to miss (such as its Wiki that will accept all entries from authors and publishers, at this time), for starters, and see where it leads.

It's big, controversial, powerful, and I know the temptation is to spurn any corporation that boasts those attributes. But Amazon offers so many benefits for authors and publishers . . . so why not befriend Amazon, and see whether its book promotion opportunities can do some good for your book sales?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:56 AM | Permalink

Book promotion campaigns are mandatory for authors, and shyness is not an option. As a traditionally published author, you owe your publisher your presence on the book promotion trail, and "I'm too busy," "I have a headache," or "I don't like to do interviews" will not be accepted as excuses for your lack of participation.

That's what Dear Abby says, anyway, and -- as a book publicist with a healthy sense of self-preservation and self-interest -- who am I to argue?

One other thing. Who knew that the Dear Abby column was still around? The newspaper to which I subscribe hasn't carried the column for years.

Oh, well.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:39 PM | Permalink

Publishers Weekly recently covered an odd item that I thought I'd share. But first: a riddle. What's (arguably) the best book promotion opportunity imaginable? Answer: a movie.

If a movie based on a book actually makes it into theaters -- which, of course, is a long, long way from selling rights to a film company -- then millions of film-goers learn about your book and, potentially, become book buyers. Right?

Right. Except when the book's publisher goes belly-up before the movie's release, and the book is out of print.

Believe it or not, that's what happened with Disney's new movie, "Race to Witch Mountain." You may remember Paris Hilton's aunt, Kim Richards, who played a child named Tia in the vintage (well, 1970s) movie "Escape to Witch Mountain" and its sequels. That Witch Mountain series was based on a book (unbeknownst to me until now -- and, yes, shame on me for missing this!) called Escape to Witch Mountain that was written by Alexander Key and was published by Westminster Press in 1968. Westminster Press, alas, is no longer among the publishers of this world, and the book was out of print -- groan! -- when Disney released "Race to Witch Mountain."

So here comes the best book promotion opportunity imaginable . . . and the book that could reap the substantially rewards is out of print.

Enter Sourcebooks which bought the rights to the book, Escape to Witch Mountain, and will launch a paperback version of the book at the same time as Disney releases its "Race to Witch Mountain" DVD. No one knows (or, at least, the folks at PW don't know) when that will be.

But . . . at least the book that inspired the movies will be back in print, and at least Sourcebooks and readers -- and, I hope, either Alexander Rey himself or his estate (I couldn't turn up any biographical information on Mr. Rey during a quick online search, although it looks as though another of his books, The Forgotten Door, was published as recently as 1988) -- can benefit from the return of the Witch Mountain fervor.

Ah, 1970s-era Disney movies. Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, Eddie Albert, Bill Bixby, Jodie Foster, Don Knotts . . . don't get me going on film nostalgia this Friday morning. Just don't.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:12 AM | Permalink

A client recently called to let me know that a radio interview hadn't gone well. "The host wasn't prepared, and he didn't ask me the right questions at all. I thought you'd want to make a note of that so you won't approach him again to book other clients on his show," she told me.

Well, I was sorry to hear that the interview hadn't gone well. I'm sure the host and the producer were similarly sorry the interview hadn't gone well; it's their show, and they're the ones who count on guests to help their shows go well so their ratings can go well, and paydays can continue to go well, too.

Book promotion is a team sport, and interviews are always easier when the interviewer does a good job. But, finally, whether or not the interview goes reasonably well is the interviewee's responsibility.

Interviewers are human, and that means they have their good days and their bad days. They have their days of being prepared, and they have their days of being unprepared, and they have their days of being focused, and they have their days of being distracted. There are kind interviewers and aggressive interviews and quiet interviewers and shy interviewers and combative interviewers and bright interviewers . . . and there are interviewers who are as stupid as rocks. There are interviewers in good health and interviewers with migraines and interviewers who suffer from chemical dependencies . . . and, whatever type of interviewer you run into, the interview itself is still your responsibility.

Find out as much about the interviewer as you can ahead of time by checking Google and the media outlet's web site. See, in general, what you might expect. If the interviewer's style is aggressive and argumentative (or if his/her philosophy is on the opposite ends of the spectrum from yours), then come prepared for some challenging, hard-hitting (or maybe even downright silly) questions. Conversely, if the interviewer's style is entertaining and light, then get set for a good time . . . and so forth. If your interview segment is a couple of minutes long, be concise and have sound bites ready. If your on-air time will be allow you much longer than that, then be prepared to elaborate and have the information you might need available to you.

Because you never know exactly what interviewers might want to talk about, know ahead of time what you want to convey. Which messages would provide the best book promotion opportunities for you? Create those messages, and practice delivering them. Then, whether or not the interviewer asks you the "right" questions, bridge back to your message points. Be ready to bridge back to your message points if the interviewer's questions are absurd, off-target, hostile, or just plain uninformed. Say something like, "That's an interesting point . . . and I'd also like to mention that . . . [here's where you slip in one of your messages].

Once you've become comfortable taking responsibility for your interviews, you'll find that your book promotion campaign will be a better experience for you. You'll feel empowered to get an interview back on track when it goes awry, and you'll be able to prevent the interviewer from having complete control over whether or not your interview goes well.

Book promotion is a team sport, as I've said, but you're the person who's promoting your book. Therefore, ultimately, book promotion is your responsibility. Don't let it scare you . . . in this context, responsibility is a good thing, and when you come to an interview prepared to deliver your messages, you'll enjoy the book promotion far more than if you creep to the microphone fearfully and having no idea of what you might expert . . . and how the interviewer might try to derail your book promotion campaign.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:30 AM | Permalink

Could Amazon someday make major publishers superfluous? Amazon probably would like to offer the perfect publication and delivery system for books (I want a Kindle, as soon as a few of the current kinks -- big and small -- are worked out). And Amazon has already revolutionized the book publishing industry.

Amazon offers distribution for nearly all books in print. That means that, even if Barnes and Noble/Borders/independent bricks-and-mortar bookstores don't carry a book, media consumers can still buy it ... which, by extension, means that a book promotion campaign can be a worthwhile investment. That was not the case B.A. (Before Amazon), when an author who sought book promotion opportunities but whose book was difficult to purchase could not benefit from media visibility. I remember those days well, because as a book publicist with integrity, I used to turn down the opportunity to represent self-published books just for that reason.

With the advent of Amazon, media consumers could suddenly buy books online as soon as they saw, or heard about, or read about the author ... so book promotion opportunities could become sales opportunities, too. And that was true whether your book was published by a mainstream publishing house or whether you had your own, as-yet-unknown imprint (or were working with an obscure, specialized book publishing house).

So Amazon has already affected book promotion, and it has changed our book-buying habits, and it probably holds the key to our future reading rituals. But could Amazon ever make major publishers superfluous? We know that authors who self-publish their work can use BookSurge (or not) and national book promotion campaigns to get their books in front of the masses. But would bestselling authors ever jump ship from major houses to Amazon's publishing and delivery systems? Would authors earn more money if they did? What about the other side of it -- what would authors sacrifice if they forfeited the prestigious imprints on their books and published directly through Amazon?

Check out this article, "Why the Lack of a Jeff Bezos Dooms Mainstream Publishing," in Dear Author for an interesting take on why Amazon might, eventually, render mainstream publishing houses just so much extra baggage for the most successful authors (it goes without saying that, for most authors, mainstream publishing was never an option).

As the article points out, mainstream publishers are cowering in the corner, bemoaning poor book sales and lamenting the fact that "no one is reading anymore." At the same time, Amazon's Jeff Bezos is essentially experimenting with different ideas every minute, and finding success with enough of them to be truly excited about the future of publishing. Given those two distinct camps -- the chest-beating, traditional publishers and the future-facing Amazon -- isn't it apparent that, one day, Amazon could make major publishers superfluous?

Could be. And, if that happens -- harsh though this may sound -- I'd have to say that major publishers deserve what they get. If you're not growing and changing, then your stagnating ... and nothing good has ever come from standing still, in publishing or in any other industry.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:41 AM | Permalink

Barnes and Noble is smart and innovative, and both attributes will serve book promotion-savvy authors very well. For example, according to a Publishers Weekly article by Lynn Andriani, BN.com has launched a new "Blogging Booksellers" feature on its site. Bookstore bloggers in nine cities will create video blogs about the books they recommend and about bookstore events that, undoubtedly, feature some of the same books.

How's this for a book promotion opportunity? Go to BN.com, and click on the "Barnes and Noble Studio" tab. Then click on "Meet the Blogging Booksellers." Locate the Barnes and Noble store closest to you (using the map and the "Select a Location" drop-down list to pinpoint the store near you). Click on the blogger's Barnes and Noble profile to pull up the blogger's full name and position, and then call up the local store to pitch your book to the blogger.

It could net you visibility on the BN.com Web site. You couldn't beat that for a book promotion opportunity! And, if it doesn't work out, that's okay. There's always the next event, or the next book, to pitch!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:58 PM | Permalink

Are there limits to the extent to which you'll go in order to garner book promotion opportunities? I hope so! An example of an out-of-bounds book promotion maneuver (in the opinion of this humble book publicist, anyway) is playing an April Fool's prank on the media.

Editors, producers, and reporters might choose, on their own, to observe the rite of foolishness on April first. But authors, publishers, and book publicists don't have to feed into that nonsense in the name of book promotion.

Forgive my grumpiness, but I just read this article on CNN.com called "A nod and a link: April Fools' Day pranks abound in the news." Some journalists might have found it amusing to cover a spaghetti tree pest back in 1957. But I'll be honest with you: if I'm watching, reading, listening to, or clicking on a newscast, I don't want to filter the news through my reality filter (which isn't to say that I take every word uttered by all the media, all the time, at face value, of course). I want to trust that the newscast has at least tried to get its facts straight and has the good sense to not play games with media consumers on the first day of April.

It's not that some of my clients haven't thought that it was worth pitching a "joke" to producers and editors in honor of April Fool's Day. It's just that, as a book publicist whose reputation matters to me (and who values the integrity of her clients, as well), I don't think it's appropriate to play games with the media under any pretext whatsoever.

It's not worth scoring book promotion if you have to play an April Fool's Day prank to do it.

And, no, I don't think April Fool's Day pranks are very funny. Alas.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:59 PM | Permalink

Don't lose an easy book promotion opportunity. Well, I say "easy." Actually, it's not necessarily an "easy" book promotion opportunity I wanted to point out, but it is an obvious one -- or, at least, it should be obvious.

I'll change a couple of details so that I won't embarrass anyone involved. but here's the gist of what happened.

I was just reading a magazine during lunch (yes, I know it was only 10:30 in the morning, but I was hungry for lunch and I needed a break, anyway), and I came across an interesting article that was written by a doctor I hadn't heard of before. Naturally, this book publicist's curious eye jumped to the byline, which was about the length that authors hope it will be. This byline read, "Dr. Jane Smith is a pediatrician, author, and a mother of three children under the age of eleven."

And, just that simply, and needlessly, a book promotion opportunity was lost.

Here's what I'd tell Dr. Smith, or her publicist -- and here's what I would stress to every author, publisher, and book publicist. Writing and placing articles in magazines, newspapers, and online are a great way to spread the word about your book. But you have to turn your articles into book promotion opportunities, because that won't just happen by itself. It will happen if you create your own byline and submit it along with your article when you invite editors to publish your article. And, naturally, your article should mention the key points: Your name, your book's title, and the Web site for your book. Then, if the editor invites you to submit more information, that's grand: you can add other key elements of your bio (you're a pediatrician, you have three children under the age of eleven, or you live with four iguanas and 23 guinea pigs, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are your favorite, or whatever the case may be).

But your article serves to give away enough information to convince readers of your credibility as an expert. The article itself isn't going to sell copies of your book to readers. You can't take a paragraph to say, "In my book, I say such and such." Well, you can take a paragraph to say that, but the editor will delete it -- and, worse still, could consign your article to the circular file rather than publishing it.

So your article can't sell your book to readers, but your byline can. Your byline is your payment for letting the editor publish the article (presuming this is a small publication that lacks the budget to pay authors for submissions, which is where most of the book promotion possibilities for bylined article placements hide). Your byline shouldn't say "Dr. Jane Smith is an author." Your byline should say "Dr. Jane Smith is the author of 'The Jane Smith Book,' and you can visit her online at www.thedrjanesmithbookurl.com/.

That gives your readers all the information they need to buy your book. And that is the difference between creating a book promotion opportunity and, frankly, tossing a book promotion opportunity right out the window.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm lucky enough to have a friend, Amy Holman Edelman, who is a book promotion genius as well as a corporate marketing guru. She's also a bestselling author (The Little Black Dress and "Manless in Montclair: How a Happily Married Woman Became a Widow Looking for Love in the Wilds of Suburbia."

Her new book promotion brainchild is IndieBooksellers.com. She just emailed me a letter that she's sent out to a few book publicists. If you're a book publicist and you haven't received a letter, you may want to read it -- so, with Amy's permission, I'm cutting-and-pasting the letter below. And, if you're a self-published author, or you know anyone who is, then take a look at IndieBooksellers.com. I think it's going to be a great opportunity for self-published authors and their book publicists. And I can attest to the fact that Amy is a brilliant publicist herself (ask her, sometime, how she happened to meet her husband...and what the New York Daily News had to do with it!).

Amy's letter, then:

Do you represent any self-published/POD books? If so, I’d like to tell you about a new website called IndieBooksellers.com (IB), like Amazon.com for self-published and POD books.

The reasoning? There are many great books that don't make it into the traditional publishing system. IB will be a place for self-published/ POD books to essentially "come out of the closet"...to shed the stigma that--up till recently--clung to that category. As Sundance has done for Indie films, IB’s mission will be to promote and legitimize independent books and authors. And with more and more Indie books finding mainstream success (think Lisa Genova's Still Alice, currently #9 on The New York Times bestseller list), the change has already begun.

In addition to visibility and a sales platform, the site will offer authors a website page with their own URL, which can be used to post reviews, promote their books, etc. The fee to the author for inclusion on IB is $149 per year but prior to going live (in about 7 weeks) we will be offering a discounted rate of $99 per year. All books on IB will be vetted prior to acceptance.

The IB Home and Author pages are attached. Please let me know if any of your clients would be interested in participating or send them to www.indiebooksellers.com to sign up. If you refer an author/ book, your company will get listed—at no cost—on our resource page. Please let me know if you'd like to discuss further.

Best,

Amy Edelman
IndieBooksellers.com
973/783-3052
ahedelman@comcast.net

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 4:00 PM | Permalink

I've finally done it. I was sending an email to a client and, for the first time, I added my Twitter handle (@bookpr) to my signature.

I've been tweeting for awhile, and I'm pleased to count bookstores, libraries, reporters, reviewers, literary agents, authors, and producers among my followers. And I'm getting into a rhythm of letting fellow tweeters know about my clients' bookings and bylined article placements -- all of which, I imagine, will have to add to their online book buzz.

So, yes, I've seen the book promotion potential of Twitter and spent a bit of time experimenting with it over the past couple of weeks. Now I'm getting it, and it promises to be an effective and exciting new way to explore book publicity opportunities.

A few days ago, I took the time to add my Twitter handle to the contact information on my Web site.

But there was something particularly momentous about adding my Twitter handle to my signature on an outbound email. Somehow, adding that information to my signature was a signal -- to the recipient of that email and to me -- that Twitter is becoming an important part of the book promotion process.

I'm eager to watch it working for my clients, and if you're using Twitter (along with other social networks, such as LinkedIn and Facebook), I hope you'll let me know how well it's working for you.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:18 PM | Permalink

Yesterday, I discovered Scribd. Scribd is the latest hope of publishers and authors who want to promote their books online.

Users sign up, and then they get to see book excerpts, and even full-length books, for free. According to a recent article in TechCrunch, such major publishers as Random House, Simon & Schuster, Workman Publishing Co., and Berrett-Koehler have already begun explore the book promotion value of Scribd. Scribd beats the book excerpts that you can find on Google and Amazon, the article contends, because Scribd lets users embed the book excerpts in their own blogs and on their own Web sites.

And, like Google and Amazon, Scribd levels the proverbial playing field between mainstream books and self-published books. Just as all cats look grey in the dark, all books look equally palatable -- or not -- on the computer monitor. Every book benefits to the same degree from Scribd's book promotion value, regardless of the publisher, or the author's renown.

Which leads me to my own beef about Scribd (and every other site that offers books, or book excerpts, for free. This peeve doesn't involve copyright issues or philosophical concerns (of course I don't want pirated books to abound on the Net, nor do I want paper books to disappear) but, rather, readability.

I tried to read one of Random House's titles online via Scribd, and all I got for my efforts was the beginnings of a headache. Is anyone really going to read a book on his or her computer monitor? I understand that ebook readers are nearly (although, perhaps, not quite) ready for prime time. But does any publisher, including self publishers, really expect potential book buyers to start reading a book -- and to enjoy that book -- while glued to the Scribd site?

It would be nice if Scribd had revolutionized the art of reading a book online, but to be fair, that's not its business. Scribd does have buy-in from enough major publishers that, maybe, I'll simply be outvoted. Maybe potential book buyers and the media will flock to Scribd. Me? I'm not flocking. But that might just be my loss.

Continue reading "Scribd for Book Promotion" »

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Print on demand technology has come a long way. Time Inc. is currently experimenting with Mine Magazine. here's the scoop from the Chicago Tribune</span>. You sign up to receive either a print or a digital test version of Mine Magazine here. Both print and digital subscriptions are limited, and it's first-come, first-served. You choose the sections you want, of the five magazines you want, and you'll received the personalized magazine with ads based on your selections.

This book publicist just subscribed to hers, and she can't wait for it to arrive.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:02 AM | Permalink

William Morrow has the right idea. It's advancing between $2.5 million and $3 million for a two-book deal by an unlikely author: the pilot, Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger, who emerged from a plane accident in New York unscathed -- and a hero for not only the 150+ passengers and crew members whose lives he saved, but for everyone in the world who followed the story. You can read about it here.

The question may eventually arise: Can he write?

Let's be honest. What difference will it make? Sully is a national treasure, and he'll have all the book promotion opportunities he needs, for the asking, upon the release of each of his books. We'll see and hear and read the book publicity Sully receives, and we'll check out his books so that we can share some of that heroism, too.

Sully's book deal makes us feel good, and the book promotion hasn't even begun. Way to go, Morrow, and kudos to your acquisitions department. You scored a winner -- actually, two winners -- here.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:59 AM | Permalink

Will you still be receiving book promotion opportunities in 400 years? It can happen. William Shakespeare got a pop on CNN.com: "Unique portrait from Shakespeare's life unveiled." Yes. Click here, and you can see William Shakespeare's photo. Supposedly.

Although, since the author himself didn't supply the CNN.com reporter with the photo, and since his original publisher wasn't able to email, either, I'm not morally convinced that we can prove it's actually William Shakespeare's picture at all. Still...it's interesting to speculate about whether any of today's author's will be receiving international exposure on the largest and most influential mass media outfits in, say, the year 2409.

Be interesting to imagine what book promotion will look like then.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:08 PM | Permalink

I'm starting to get my other foot wet on Twitter. I got my first foot wet when I set up a Twitter account. Now that I'm actually following other Tweeters, it's starting to get interesting and worthwhile. I'm beginning to see how Twitter really can be part of a successful book promotion campaign. For anyone who wants to follow me on Twitter, I'm @bookpr. See you on Twitter!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:58 PM | Permalink

Is Reuters ignoring your book promotion pitches? Mine, too. Reuters generally gives my book publicity the cold shoulder. If you're wondering why Reuters isn't seeing your story pitch as news, maybe this will help explain it. Here's a news story that Reuters just covered: "Indian boy marries dog to ward off tiger attacks." I have to believe that, in India, discerning readers and media consumers (not to mention book publicists) are shaking their heads in dismay....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:09 PM | Permalink

What's the biggest book promotion achievement you can imagine? Oprah's Book Club? The New York Times bestseller list? The Publisher Weekly bestseller list?

Novelist Chris Bohjalian has scored every book promotion coup you can name. Yet, in yesterday's Sun Sentinel article penned by Chauncey Mabe, Bohjalian admits that he feels professionally challenged by the digital age and the fact that, with more choices available to them, fewer people are reading traditional books. Bohjalian, who wrote the enormously successful Skeletons at the Feast, joked about someday having to wait tables.

On the other hand, Bohjalian also said he enjoys connecting with his fans via the Internet. Online book clubs couldn't exist outside of the digital revolution, so Bohjalian's biggest threat has also provided him with new opportunities to connect with his readers.

I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off. And, somehow, I'd guess that Bohjalian himself would agree.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:13 PM | Permalink

Yesterday, I heard rumors of layoffs at HarperCollins. Now I've read the explanation in Publishers' Weekly, and it's ugly. According to PW's article, "Harper Closing Collins; Other Layoffs Planned," Harper is closing its Collins division. Collins' general nonfiction, business, and reference titles will be published under the Harper imprint, which is fine...but, with the expansion of Harper's list, it's obvious that the books published under the Collins imprint (or even the Harper imprint, for that matter) won't get the attention they would have received and that they should have received. Book promotion, marketing, and sales may well fall by the wayside for individual titles -- through no fault of the authors or the publisher.

To me, that's an indication the economy is really hitting the skids: when authors' book projects are compromised and it's nobody's fault. Even this book publicist, who would love to blame a "bad guy" for the situation in which HarperCollins' authors find themselves now, can't. Stuff happens. And, in this economic climate, we'll be undoubtedly seeing a whole lot more stuff.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who are affected by the changes at HarperCollins -- staff members and authors alike. It's the end of an era for all of us...book publicists, book lovers, authors, and publishing industry professionals alike.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:06 AM | Permalink

It's back! Book Expo America, the granddaddy of all book trade shows in the U.S., will be held in New York ate the Javits Center again in 2009...and in 2010, 2011, and 2012. It will also be shortened by one day, according to an article in Publishers Weekly.

That means, obviously, that plans to hold BEA in DC and Las Vegas have been postponed indefinitely. Well, okay. Makes sense to me. Many of the major publishing houses are based in New York, and it's far less expensive, and far less disruptive, for them to travel to the Javits Center than to go anywhere else. A New York-based trade show might not be nearly as much fun for a New Yorker as, say, a Las Vegas-based trade show...but that's the price we pay to economize.

I just heard from a HarperCollins author that the publisher has, in fact, downsized its staff. Is this the time to be planning a jaunt for the remaining staff members to a distant city in 2010? No, of course not. So, in that sense, it's good that BEA will remain in New York for the next few years.

On the other hand, I do look forward to a healthier economy that, one day, will allow publishers (and, not so coincidentally, book publicists) to write off trips to more exotic locations for BEAs of the future. Has anyone given any thought to holding BEA in Hawaii, I wonder?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:14 PM | Permalink

Want to get an interview slot on NBC's "Today Show," or score other high-visibility book promotion opportunities? Then be a pig. It worked for Miss Piggy who discussed her new book, The Diva Code: Miss Piggy on Life, Love, and the 10,000 Idiotic Things Men Frogs Do, on this morning's "Today Show."

Don't quite have the swine look and feel? That's okay. There are still book promotion opportunities waiting for you. It just won't be as easy for you, as a non-porker (and non-muppet) to score a high-visibility slot as it evidently is for Miss Piggy. But don't fret. What you may lack in looks, brilliance, and pork potential can definitely be made up in creativity. You'll just have to do more to score your book promotion opportunity than express your willingness to diss frogs in public. Ah, to be a pig!

Don't quite have the swine look and feel? That's okay. There are still book promotion opportunities waiting for you. It just won't be as easy for you, as a non-porker (and non-muppet) to score a high-visibility slot as it evidently is for Miss Piggy. But don't fret. What you may lack in looks, brilliance, and pork potential can definitely be made up in creativity. You'll just have to do more to score your book promotion opportunity than express your willingness to diss frogs in public. Ah, to be a pig!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:19 PM | Permalink

It was inevitable that the economic downturn would hit the publishing industry. Book sales had dropped off before the recession. Shrinking wallets and corporate panic (with good cause, unfortunately) was unlikely to help. So mainstream publishers (who already weren't publishing a terribly high percentage of all new books) are publishing fewer books and promoting and marketing fewer of the books they have published. That means book publicists' phones are ringing more often than before -- not necessarily with tons of viable book promotion projects, but still, most authors understand that, if they want their books promoted, they have to do it themselves or hire a book publicity firm to do it for them (or at least to partner with them to conduct a book promotion campaign).

The hitch? So many authors come to the question of book promotion when it's almost too late. They email or call a book publicist and say, "My book was published by [fill in the name of a major publishing house] in 2008, and that publisher failed to promote my book. What can you do for me?" Well, immediately, I can tell them that they should have contacted me several months before the book was published so we'd have the greatest window of opportunity for book promotion ... and then I can tell them that there are still some highly effective book promotion strategies that we can try.

Mainstream books have a fairly long window for promotional opportunities because they are mainstream published books. But what about self-published books?

In case you missed the New York Times article of January 27, 2008, "Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab," here's the link. It offers a headache-inducing quantity of information about various ways in which authors might self publish their books, but it doesn't offer a primer on how to figure out which self publish route is best. It's almost impossible for a publishing industry outsider to chance upon the best self publishing solution; it takes time, research and, unfortunately -- for many authors -- making some mistakes and learning from them.

So authors contact me and say "I'm curious about what it would take to launch a book promotion campaign for my self-published book" too late for me to steer them toward the most information they could find: they haven't really self-published at all. My definition of self publishing is having your own ISBN number and bar code on your book, and having your own imprint on it, too. The minute any company sells you those things, or insists that you use them, then -- for book promotion purposes -- you haven't self published. You've saddled yourself with someone else's baggage, and when you go to promote your book -- or you try to engage a book publicity firm to help -- you're necessarily dragging around the weight of thousands of subpar, unpalatable titles. The media is aware of the dismal track record of so many of the turnkey print-on-demand publishers. Therefore, many of them steer clear of those imprints. However, if your book is truly self published -- if you bring your own imprint to it, and your own clean slate -- then you are on an equal playing field when you launch your book promotion campaign.

I wish the New York Times article had urged would-be authors to do their homework before they committed to publishing their books through any of the companies they mentioned. All of those companies have their place, and I would personally go with any of them -- under the right set of circumstances, and for the right reasons. But I'd do so because I've done my homework. I know the differences between the companies, and I know their limitations, and I know which are likely to help -- or hinder -- book promotion and book marketing efforts.

At this time, there are no resources I would recommend as a shortcut to finding out which method of self publishing would be best under various sets of conditions. There's a book called The Fine Print of Self Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies Analyzed Ranked & Exposed by Mark Levine that's helpful in a lot of ways and that you should buy if you're comparing various companies' contracts -- but the book doesn't go far enough in discussion the book marketing implications of each publishing choice. To really understand how to self publish, you have to ask the right questions of each company you're considering. These questions include (but aren't limited to):

* May I use my own book cover? (So many print-on-demand companies' book covers are unappealing enough to cause negative feedback from important media outlets.)
* May I use my own imprint instead of yours? (As I've said, it's much easier to drum up book promotion opportunities for books that don't suffer the stigma of an imprint responsible for printing thousands and thousands of "duds.")
* Will my book be carried by Ingram Book Group? (If you don't know who they are, you really have to do your homework. Distribution through Ingram is critical to a book's mainstream success, and the only time distribution through Ingram wouldn't matter would be if your niche were so small that you were selling directly to your target audience rather than conducting a book promotion campaign to drive potential buyers to bookstores.)
* May I use my own ISBN number? (That's actually the same as asking "May I use my own imprint instead of yours," since book buyers and the media can easily recognize the ISBN numbers that belong to huge companies. You're far better off, from a book marketing perspective, if you can use your own ISBN number -- and, please, buy the whole block of ten numbers rather than a single number so you won't end up spending more money than you have to as you decide to publish an ebook, an audio book, or your next title.)
* What can you do to help me get book sales if I score some major book promotion opportunities? (In a traditional publishing house, the marketing department communicates your book promotion hits to its sales force on a regular basis so that stores will have an incentive to buy more copies of your book. What can the self publishing company you're considering do to help make your book promotion efforts worthwhile?)

That's a starter list of questions that will help you choose the "right" way to self publish a book that you intend to promote and market. But the best advice this book publicist could provide to most authors who want to self publish their books would be this: to maximize your chances of selling the greatest number of books as a reward for your book promotion efforts, work with LightningSource. I have no financial relationship with LightningSource, and I have never been a client of theirs (although several of my clients have worked with them), but I do appreciate the fact that the company distributes through Ingram; insists that you use your own imprint and ISBN number (they don't offer you any other option); doesn't require exclusivity; and -- last time I checked -- charges only about $75 to set up an account. But working with LightningSource isn't as easy as working with one of the turnkey solution print-on-demand companies. LightningSource insists that you be your own publisher, and while the account representatives will offer guidance, they won't do the work of a publisher for you.

I love the fact that I'm hearing from more authors than ever before, and I'm flattered that so many of them have looked at my web site, like what they see, and have inquired about my book promotion services. But I'd so much like to catch authors before it's too late to get a book publicist really excited about a project: before a major book publishing house has given up on promoting the book (or lost interest in selling the book) or before an author has committed to working with a print-on-demand company whose imprint would make a book about 95% more difficult to properly promote than it has to be.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Would “The Da Vinci Code" have become a blockbuster hit if it hadn't received help from a promotional Web site designed by Jefferson Rabb? Maybe not, according to a New York Times article called "See the Web Site, Buy the Book" that appeared on January 23, 2009. Although the article grants that no one knows for sure whether a Web site enhances book sales, it postulates that a Web site is as important part of a book promotion campaign as anything else and has, in fact, replaced the book tour has the core of a book promotion campaign.

Agreed. I've seen clients with substantive Web sites receive interest from national television shows, radio, newspapers, and wire services as a direct result of their online visibility. That doesn't mean, if Google singles you out as the de facto expert on your topic, that you can fire your book publicist and cease all other book promotion efforts. But, as an adjunct to a proactive book promotion campaign, a book's Web site is unmatched for its potential to raise the media's, and potential book buyers', awareness of you.

The Times article also talks about several firms that create book trailers: Circle of Seven Productions, Expanded Books, and AuthorBytes (the latter of which, I'm proud to say, designed my Web site.

I'd recommend checking out one of the companies in that Times article, or finding out which Web design firm produced the book sites to which you're most attracted, if you're in the market for a book Web site, or a book trailer, of your own. What the Times article doesn't say is that, if you have an amateur design your book Web site, or produce your book trailer, you can -- and, I believe, will -- hurt your credibility. With so many firms specializing in book Web sites, it makes sense to work with a company that knows how to create what the media, and book buyers, expect. That's not to say that you want to use a template to create your book Web site or you want an exact recreation of another author's Web site. But you do want to work with a Web design firm whose sole focus is on authors and books rather than a corporate Web designer. And, however much you may care for your young relative who's majoring in graphic design, this isn't the time to engage him or her professionally. Times may be tough, but an investment in a wonderful book Web site may be a wise idea. Doing business with an inexperienced firm, or a teenager, is not.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:18 AM | Permalink

A publishing professional just called (yes, he called me on the telephone) to alert me to a CNN.com article about social networking and to make his argument that, henceforth, Twitter has to be part of every book promotion campaign. "Twitter has become its own newsfeed," the publishing professional enthused. "That's how people are getting their news now! Tweets reach people before Associated Press stories do! If you're not tweeting, you're not promoting your book!"

Well, maybe. But I'm still not convinced.

If. heaven forbid, an author tweets to her followers, "We're having an earthquake!" then that news will make the rounds. But if the same author tweets five times a day about the progress of her book promotion campaign ("I just sent out 3 email pitches to the media," "A national radio show producer is on vacation this week and won't be checking his email - that leaves two pitches that might come through," "Just received an auto response from a producer, so who knows what might happen," "I received a random phone call from a high school classmate and pitched my book to her," and "I just sold a coworker a copy of my book"), that's going to get old pretty quickly.

As a book publicist, I'm excited about the growing possibilities of Web 2.0, citizen journalism, social networking, and all of the other avenues that are opening up as quickly as someone can invent new ways to use them -- for book promotion and beyond.

Who knows? Maybe there's a way to Tweet about your book promotion campaign without boring the socks off your followers. And maybe there's a way to broadcast messages to Facebook and MySpace groups without triggering a mass gag reflex on the part of recipients around the globe.

For now, it's worth keeping an eye out to see how authors, publishers, and book publicists are using social networking to promote their books and their messages. Tomorrow...maybe we'll all be tweeting instead of using email or talking on the telephone to spread our book news. We'll have to see about that. In the meantime, I'll dip another toe into the waters. I already have my Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace accounts....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes, for whatever reason, an interview doesn't go perfectly well during a book promotion campaign. The interviewer might be having a bad day or might become confrontational or ditzy; the author might be nervous, over-confident, or distracted. In any event, wouldn't it be great if book promotion interviews could be done a second time if they went south initially? Well, of course, if it's a taped radio or TV interview -- and if it really went south -- there's a chance (however slim) that the interview could be taped a second time (or, at least, that the most embarrassing part(s) could be edited out. And, if newspaper and magazine reporters have a heart, they simply won't use the portion(s) of the interview that were awful or would show the author in a bad light.

But, typically, book promotion interviews happen, and you do your best, and then you're done...and you move onto the next opportunity. Hopefully, you learn from the experience and you improve your performance each time. And, hopefully, your book promotion campaign gets stronger, and more effective, over time as you become better and better.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be the President of the United States or the Chief Justice, though, and have an opportunity to take a wrecked TV opportunity and do it all over again the next day? It happened. The botched Oath of Office was able to proceed without a hitch the second time around. Here's the story.

There weren't many media people around when President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts went through the whole Oath again, "very slowly" this time. But it must have been a source of satisfaction to both the President and the Chief Justice that, when the pressure was off, both could perform at the top of their game...and that they weren't doomed to remember the silly mix-ups (because it sounds to me as though there were a couple of problems with the Oath of Office the first time around) that occurred on Inauguration Day.

Would that all authors had an opportunity to redo their less-than-perfect media moments!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:21 AM | Permalink

Traditional book promotion -- the type of book publicity campaign that involves mailing out books/media kits and following up to pitch reviews and interviews -- just got a bit more expensive. The price of mailing a United States Postal Service flat-rate envelope (the type of mailer that's supposed to be used for documents but that accommodates a trade book, too, most of the time, as long as you don't have to apply tape to keep the mailer closed) just went up to $4.95.

The postal rate increases (which apply to Priority and Express packages) might make some authors and publishers (and book publicist) think twice before committing to massive, blind, untargeted mailings. There are much beter ways to conduct book promotion campaigns. There always have been (online book promotion campaigns have always been far more efficient than traditional book promotion campaigns). Now book promotion specialists and others have more incentive than ever to make the switch.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:26 PM | Permalink

I was thrilled, proud, and overwhelmed to watch the presidential inauguration today. I also hate to be the book publicist to say "I told you so," but I do tell authors who are in the middle of their book promotion campaigns, or about to start their book publicity campaigns, "Rehearse! Don't presume your book's title and your Web site's URL will trip off your tongue when the host or reporter asks for it. Practice! That's the only way to know for sure that you'll be able to do the job when the time comes."

Notice: President Obama rehearsed his speech for the past week or two, and he spoke every word of it passionately and effortlessly. But the Oath of Office, to which he didn't give any thought (it was just a "repeat after me" situation, so what could go wrong?), went south immediately. "I solemnly what? Dang. Let me do that over again."

Yes, President Obama was nervous and under stress. But...sorry. It wasn't supposed to show during the Oath of Office. Nothing about the vow was spontaneous or unexpected. The President blew it.

Granted, if that's the worst mistake that the President makes during his Administration, we'll be the most blessed country in the galaxy. But...that embarrassment and momentary loss of cool could have been avoided by a few minutes of looking over the words, practicing them, and getting ready to say them.

Joe Biden probably flubbed his oath, too. It seemed to me he did, anyway, however slightly. Still...as Judge Judy might shriek..."Where did they think they were coming today? They were taking the Oath of Office. How difficult would it have been for the President and the Vice President to come prepared?"

I know that I'm being a grump. In part, I'm trying to cover up how deeply moved I am to have a new, youthful, and (I think, anyway) wonderfully exciting person at the helm and another great soul by his side. My prayers are going out to the Obamas and the Bidens, and to all of us, wherever we live, and whatever our political philosophies.

This is a great day, historically, and it's a great day for me, personally.

But...gentlemen? Next time? Look over the words before the cameras roll! That's all I'm asking.

Perhaps I'm being too hard on Obama and Biden. Perhaps they were given the words in the wrong order, and then they were flummoxed when they were supposed to report those words. But...again. Being prepared would have prevented the problem. Listening, and responding with cofidence, is so much easier to do when you're fully prepared.

Oh, well. Next time....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm currently reading (actually, that's not exactly true; I'm currently devouring) Steve Weber's book, Plug Your Book: Online Book Marketing for Authors (more about that in a future post, I promise, because this is a book that no one who's tackling a book promotion campaign can afford to ignore, and I'd like to explain why in a post dedicated to the topic). Anyway, I'm reading Steve Weber's book, and he repeats a statistic I've heard before: 15% of book sales take place online.

That figure has always seemed low to me. I'm biased, because I do most of my impulse book buying online. Amazon, particularly, lures me to buy its wares with its well-targeted email pitches and creepily on-target, irresistible reading suggestions meant just for me every time I log onto the site. It's not only Amazon that triggers my book-buying behavior. It's also BN.com, Half.com, eBay.com, ABE.com, and any other .com that I stumble upon in my quest for truth, justice, information, entertainment, and the American Way. So I buy books online, and it's sometimes hard for me to fully appreciate the fact that most people don't, and that most book purchases take place inside bookstores. Isn't going to a bookstore less convenient than clicking a mouse a couple of times? Here in New England, during an Arctic cold snap, I'd say that it is. Of course, bookstores are more fun than an amusement park (to this book publicist, anyway), but I'm not always going to get to one. I will always have Internet access, and I will always be able to buy books online.

As for why most people don't buy their books online, I'm guessing that an article I just read on MSNBC.com titled "Study: If you touch it, you will buy it" can, at least partially, explain why bookstores still boast more book sales than the Internet. The study in question, which was published in the August 2008 issue of the journal Judgment and Decision Making, found that people who touched items were more likely to buy, or at least bid for (at an auction), those objects than people who only looked.

Maybe widgets such as Amazon's "Look Inside the Book" feature which allows browsers to "flip through the pages" of a book in a virtual sense helps level the playing field between vendors whose books can, and can't, be touched. But...well, bricks-and-mortar bookstores (at least according to all the statistics I keep reading, in Steve Weber's book and beyond) maintain a huge advantage over online bookstores. The prediction of this book publicist is that, as book buyers all get Broadband service and move into the 21st century for real, that will change. I know. Other things will have to change, too. Computer security will have to be enhanced so that people will no longer fear giving their credit card, or their banking account, information to an online vendor. Some of the tougher-to-navigate online booksellers will have to hunker down and streamline some of their functions (I, for one, don't enjoy having to click about 24 times to find a relative's "wish list" when it was time to shop for holiday gifts).

But, when the dust settles, I think (and trust) that online booksellers will learn from shoppers' documented behaviors and quirks and preferences, and they will transform the online book buying experience into something that, finally, resembles the Holy Grail: walking into a bookstore, browsing the shelves, admiring the bindings and covers, and touching, smelling, flipping through, and hefting the "real thing."

Book promotion efforts these days focus as much on bringing readers to Web sites, and online bookstores, as they do on compelling people to walk into bricks-and-mortar bookstores. But I think that reality is already beginning to change.

What about you? Where are you buying books these days? And where are you directing readers?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:10 AM | Permalink

According to CNN's "Showbiz Tonight," infamous author Ann Coulter may be the worst talk show host ever. Click here to watch her alienate the cohosts of "The View."

It isn't pretty, but it's instructive. Behaving badly on talk shows may help get your name out there, but it's also a sure-fire way to burn bridges. How many book promotion opportunities do you think you'll score if every talk show host cringes at the mention of your name, and every producer shudders to remember the last time he/she booked you on the show?

Book promotion opportunities, even for someone with Coulter's notoriety, are hard won. Some day -- after Barbara Walters of "The View" and all the other talk show hosts -- have been confronted by the antagonistic Coulter on the air -- book promotion opportunities may not be won at all.

To paraphrase an old truism: Book promotion is a privilege, not a right. You have to earn the privilege to have book promotion opportunities every time you sit down with an interviewers -- by phone, in studio, or via the Internet. If you don't earn that right, and you don't prove yourself with humor, grace, respect, and hard work -- then forget about having any book promotion opportunities in the future.

Behave now. Your book promotion campaign will benefit for all time.

And, anyway, is it really so hard to be appreciative of book promotion opportunities? You wouldn't think so. You really wouldn't.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:17 AM | Permalink

Putting some time and thought into your book promotion campaign ahead of time always makes sense, but now it might make even more sense than usual. February 17, and the days immediately following, will probably not be the ideal time to appear on a major television show, because some viewers might not be able to pick up the signal.

February 17 is the day when analog television broadcasts will be exchanged for digital television signals -- unless that date is postponed. According to The Red Tape Chronicles, that changeover may affect even viewers who were pretty confident that they'd be able to still get television reception after the big switchover. Seems there's some confusion over whether or not rabbit ear antennas will work (they won't) and whether rooftop antennas will be able to pull in the UHF signals used in digital broadcasts (they may, but only if you're willing to rotate the antenna to pick up each individual channel -- and, as the Red Tape Chronicles article points out, it's not going to be a whole lot of fun to climb on top of rooftops to adjust antennas in the cold of February.

Television viewers are resourceful. They're also highly motivated. Okay, let's face it. People are addicted to their television shows, whether that's "Oprah" or "The Today Show" or "American Idol." So, one way or another -- by spending the bucks for a digital television set, getting the cable and satellite companies to do the conversion. or coming up with another plan -- people will get their televisions working.

But there might be an interval when some television viewers are still figuring things out. It won't last forever -- the networks can't afford to lose hordes of television viewers forever -- but there might be a few days, beginning February 17, when some people who'd ordinarily tune into their favorite television shows can't.

That means, as you're planning your book promotion campaign, you'll want to take that time period into consideration. If you have a shot at appearing on a major television show, February 16 would be would be a grand day to make it happen. February 17, not so much.

It's all about timing, so keep the date in mind when you're scheduling television interviews. And then hope that, one way or another, viewers make their adjustments to the new technology quickly...and as painlessly (and inexpensively) as possible.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:50 AM | Permalink

I was just reading a very interesting and informative post written by Noel Griese on the Southern Review of Books blog. Griese points out that, according to the law of averages, authors who use a subsidy publisher will not make money on their books, although other benefits (credibility, speaking engagements, building brand, and so forth) may well accrue, rendering the book publishing effort worwhile. But, on the issue of book sales: Griese points out that many important bookstores shy away from books published by subsidy presses because of their perceived inferior quality. That reputation, in some cases, is merited. But for books that are the exceptions, book promotion can help level the playing field between mainstream books and those published through subsidy publishers.

Most media decisionmakers are democratic in that they care more about an author's expertise than a book's imprint. What difference does the imprint iUniverse, AuthorHouse, or Xlibris make when the author is an expert on a topic that's in the news? Fortunately, book publicists can get book publicity opportunities for all authors when the topic and the pitch is on target and timely. Book promotion then can lead to book sales, and book sales can lead to bookstore buyers' changing their minds about whether or not to stock a book.

Another interesting point that Griese raises is that the world of subsidary publishing has just consolidated even more. Author Solutions, which already owned iUniverse and AuthorHouse, has added Xlibris to its holdings. That means that, if you're an author who's using print-on-demand publishing via a subsidary press, then chances are, you're working with Author Solutions.

Good for Author Solutions...and good for authors who understand that book promotion is a key element of a book's succes, regardless of the publishing venue or process.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:53 AM | Permalink

An interesting January 3, 2008 Wall Street Journal article claims that the major publishers are acquiring titles that they can turn into blockbusters. They're paying millions of dollars for such books as Tina Fey's and Sarah Silverman's that will have to sell a million copies to earn back their advances, and then they'll spend even more money on book marketing and book promotion.

Great. So how do you convince a major publisher that your title will be the next blockbuster? That's apparently easy enough if you're Tina Fey or Sarah Silverman (while I understand the former, the latter leaves me just scratching my head, but that's a whole other story). For the rest of us, it helps to have a book that reminds an acquisitions editor of another runaway hit. The WSJ article cites Vicki Myron's Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World, which was published by Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group USA. Myron was a first-time author, and she supposedly received a $1.25 million advance for the book that reminded many industry insiders of an earlier hit by John Grogan called Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog. That was all Myron's book needed to convince publishers that it was worth almost any amount of money.

So if your book feels like another bestseller, then book promotion, book marketing, and even book selling will be a whole lot easier than if you're trying to reinvent the publishing wheel. While there's still room for a break-out book that succeeds on its own merits, the WSJ article points out that life is a whole lot easier for authors whose works are less fresh and seem a whole lot safer than the Harry Potters or the Tipping Points of the publishing industry that pretty much invented, and then came to define, their own categories.

For a while, then, book promotion will be easier for titles with blockbuster potential. Of course, publishers can be wrong ... and publishers can miss something. As a book publicist, I'm still willing to let the media and readers decide which books, and which topics, are the most entertaining and informative. And I'd still rather work with authors whose titles break new ground rather than build on past successes. I'm hoping others in the publishing industry feel the same way.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:51 AM | Permalink

The new year has begun with some unexpected news. WBZ-AM, Boston's 50,000-watt news/talk station, has just laid off three of its talk show hosts and a sportscaster. I read the rumor on the SaveWRKO.com Web site, and found confirmation in today's Boston Herald. The demise of the "Steve LeVeille Broadcast" leaves the midnight to five o'clock hours at WBZ-AM unfilled; the departure of Lovell Dyett and Pat Desmarais mean that the evening weekend hours have new gaps in them. And sports anchor Tom Cuddy? Just another familiar WBZ name that won't be around until another slot opens up for him somewhere, in the Boston area or beyond. Who does that leave for talk show hosts at WBZ-AM? Well, Dan Rea, who hosts the weekday show, "Nightside," during the evening' Jordan Rich, who has a long-running late-night show bearing his name on weekends, and Morgan White, Jr., who fills in for the regular talk show hosts when they're sick or on vacation.

I'm a WBZ-AM listener (and have been since WHDH-AM devolved into an all-sports radio station), and I'll miss the hosts to which I've grown both fond and accustomed (not to mention one of my favorite radio producers of all time, assuming she's now out of work). But my concern, as a book publicist, is: what's happening to those time slots? Will they be filled by syndicated programs or by infomercials? (I can't see myself listening to either; WRKO-AM, down the radio dial, is sounding better and better all the time to me.)

From a book promotion perspective, I'm currently on yellow alert. Last year found several top daily newspapers filing for bankruptcy protection, ceasing their home delivery services, or (in the case of the Christian Science Monitor) moving from a daily print publication to a mostly Web-based entity. Just hours into the new year, a virtual carnage of talk show programming has taken place at a major market radio station. What's next? That's what everyone involved in promoting a book ought to be asking. Which other media outlets are in trouble and, therefore, are reducing their book promotion opportunities for authors and publishers and book publicists?

And, more importantly, which new book promotion opportunities will open up in 2009? Stay tuned. This is going to be an interesting ride. It's put people out of work; it's indicative that the economic crisis is as serious as we'd fears; it's horrible for those of us who can't stand the thought of switching our radio listening time allegiances; and yet -- it's also curiously fascinating to those of us who know book promotion opportunities are still to be had. They've already morphed into new arenas, such as blogs and Web sites and podcasts. And, in the months -- and perhaps years -- to come, they'll change in new and interesting ways that we can't even imagine right now.

I, for one, am looking forward to the ride.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've just invented a new rule for book promotion. Actually, it's a new rule for promoting anything: books, movies, fast-food restaurants, any other food products, or even charitable organizations. The rule for promotion is: you have to be alive, or I don't want to see or hear you.

I squirmed a few years ago when I saw an animated version of Colonel Sanders pitching fried chicken. (Not that I'm an authority on the subject, but it seemed to me that the formerly Caucasian chicken man had turned into an African American animated version of himself, which made the whole thing seem even creepier to me.) But now something even more egregious has come along. John Lennon has been resurrected to endorse the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization. You can see the PSA on YouTube.

Yes, I know that Yoko said it was okay for her late husband to endorse a worthy cause like OLPC, even though John wasn't here. So the pitch is legal. Worrisome, but legal.

As a book publicist, here's my new number one book promotion rule: I'll only take on book publicity projects with a living author who can speak to the media. Media interviews could certainly be handled by digitally-remastered authors. But, somehow, I'd feel more comfortable with book promotion projections that were backed by living, breathing authors who are here with us now.

Sorry, Yoko. I respected your husband, too, and I love his music as much as everyone else in the world. But I don't want to see, or hear, John Lennon showing his support for an organization or product that didn't even exist in his lifetime. Fair enough?

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:26 AM | Permalink

If you're like most people, you've probably been wondering if it's worth your time to conduct a book promotion campaign during the holiday season. Even I needed a reminder that time spent on book promotion was a worthwhile investment -- even if it does seem as though so many members of the media have taken this week off, and are currently thinking more about mincemeat than about lining up interviews.

Happily, though, I did get that reminder. Yesterday, I gamely sent out an op-ed piece that a new client had written. It was time-sensitive, and I blasted the op-ed piece out to all of my weekly and daily newspaper contacts and hoped for the best.

I had a few takers, including one publisher of a community newspaper who wrote me to say (and this is an exact quote): "This looks like a good op-ed. Please e-mail to me an author photo and a book cover at your earliest convenience...today if possible! I have very little for this week's newspaper...."

Naturally, I rushed him the author photo and book cover, and I congratulated myself on continuing my book promotion efforts even during a week when you wouldn't expect anyone to be at the other end of pitches. And, of course, I congratulated my author on trusting that, even though the holiday season may not be the optimal time for digging up book publicity opportunities, it's a time when many other book publicists are on vacation...which creates a gap that's just waiting to be filled by the rest of us.

Onward! I'm working on book promotion efforts until Santa Claws himself slides down my chimney and tells me to unplug my computer and take a break.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:37 AM | Permalink

This really happened. A few years ago, I scored an interview for one of my clients with the New York Times. The Times reporter was nice enough to send me a link to the article which I promptly forwarded to the client.

His reaction? It was just what you'd expect -- maybe -- if you had no pride in your work. He clicked on the link, called me, and said, "So...did this article only make it onto the Web site, or is it the actual newspaper?"

How book promotion times have changed.

You've probably seen the story by now, or at least you've heard the news. The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News -- two different newspapers, apparently owned by the same company -- have been forced to save money by changing their subscription model. Henceforth, subscribers to the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News will receive their newspapers three days a week. The other four days of the week, they can read their newspapers online, provided the subscribers have a broadband connection.

What does that mean for authors and publishers who routinely pitch newspaper editors as part of their book promotion campaigns? One of the obvious points is this: If a newspaper mentions your book, whether it's an online or "actual" newspaper, take the mention and smile. Take-away number two? Keep pitching newspapers, because it will always be nice to have visibility in a newspaper -- whatever form that newspaper takes -- but broaden your book promotion campaign so that you're also seeking publicity opportunities in other media outlets.

Newspapers may be the first industry to enjoy a healing economy when the recession finally ends. Or newspapers may be as scarce as white tigers in a couple of years. In any case, book publicists, and authors and publishers who conduct book publicity campaigns, shouldn't count on newspaper exposure as the core of their book promotion campaigns. The times are changing in the world of newspapers, and the times need to change in the world of those who conduct book promotion campaigns, too -- or we'll be left with no plan when it comes time to promote books.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:18 AM | Permalink

Yesterday, I heard rumors that the Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, might be filing for bankruptcy protection. Now, as someone famous once said, here's the rest of the story. The challenge for those who conduct book promotion campaigns is greater than just walking gingerly around the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times until they get their financial affairs in order again. Unfortunately for those of us who conduct book promotion campaigns, the Tribune Co. also owns the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, and WGN out of Chicago (the TV superstation as well as the 50,000-watt radio station).

In other words, the Tribune Co.'s problems affect everyone who is conducting, or will be conducting, a book promotion campaign in the near future. Good lick to us book publicists. And good luck to the Tribune Co.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:26 AM | Permalink

If your book promotion campaign revolves around book reviews in the traditional media, you'll be facing an increasing challenge. Major market newspapers have already begun checking in with their financial woes. We know that the Christian Science Monitor is only publishing a "real" newspaper once a week now, and is solely publishing online the rest of the time. We've heard about cutbacks at major newspapers all around the country. Now we can add the financial troubles of two more newspapers to the list: the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

According to an Associated Press story that I just read on MSBNC.com, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times -- Tribune Co. -- may be planning to file for bankruptcy-court protection. Here we are, book publicists, publishers, authors, and others who are in the midst of book promotion campaigns, asking newspapers to review their books. And there are the newspaper publishers, telling us that they just can't afford the editorial space we're asking them to provide.

No one can predict how deep the recession will get or how profoundly it will affect the publishing industry. Even without the recession, no one can predict from one moment to the next the ways in which the publishing industry will evolve, and the ways in which book promotion efforts will need to change. But we can say, with certainty, that online book promotion efforts will grow increasingly more important.

Editorial space on the Web is virtually free and unlimited opportunities exist for gaining online visibility. On the other hand, real-world newspapers (and, of course, magazines) are fighting for the opportunity to publish every single page now, and our book promotion needs don't fit their business plan at the moment (unless we're willing to pay for advertising, which is a whole other discussion).

The broadcast media is there, and radio and television shows will have airtime for authors for the foreseeable future. But, if the print media was at the core of your book promotion campaign plan, this would be a good time to re-think your approach to book promotion.

Book promotion opportunities still exist, and they always will, no matter what happens with regard to the economy. But a shift toward online book promotion strategies makes sense now, and it will almost certainly make an increasing amount of sense as we move forward.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:51 AM | Permalink

Remember the name of the author who snubbed Oprah when his book was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection, and he refused to allow a special book club edition go to press, and then he tried to change his mind except that it was too late because once you say no to Oprah, you've burned your bridges, and he never got another opportunity like that again as long as he lived? Neither do I, but there was such an author, may his career rest in peace.

The lesson here is: Don't snub Oprah. How unfortunate for the soon-to-be sorry former vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, since she apparently just walked down Snubbery Road by refusing to grant Oprah Winfrey an interview with her. See MSNBC.com's "The Scoop" article for details.

Palin has received more publicity in the past few months than anyone else on the planet, so she doesn't necessarily need advice from this book publicist. However, if she wants advice from this book publicist, then here it is: Get on Oprah Winfrey's good side, and stay there, if at all possible. Yes, we know she supported Barrack Obama instead of John McCain. We get the fact that you were disappointed and hurt and chagrined and bewildered by that. Now it's time to get over it and move on.

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential women in the world. For publicity's sake, Sarah (if not for pity's sake), you really ought to sit on Oprah's couch and chat with her for an hour or so. You might learn something.

And what you learn might just help you launch your own successful nationally syndicated talevision talk show one day in the near future.

Think about it, Sarah.

Just think about it.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Blogs are book promotion magic. That's my mantra, and I'm serious. Every author should blog. I tell it to everyone I run into: blog, blog, blog! Trust me! Blog! You'll drive traffic to your book web site, and you'll raise the visibility of your book online.

As often as I've advised authors to blog, I've fielded the question, "How?" Depending on how well I know the questioner, I'll either 1) stop what I'm doing and walk the person through places online where he or she can research the ins-and-outs of setting up a blog 2) refer the person to a search engine and a way to frame the query to turn up targeted, helpful responses or 3) advise the person to check in with his/her web site designer who gets paid to field such questions.

That's how I handle the question of "how to blog" if the question is a technical one. But if, as so often happens, the would-be blogger is just staring at a blank screen and having a bad moment or two about how to get started blogging, then here's an article that can help him or her to get past "bloggers' block." It's MSNBC.com's "The 11 lamest blogs on the Internet," and here's how it will help. Once you see how low the blogging-bar has been set by hacks, you'll realize that -- as a real writer -- you could blog more appealingly than that even if you were in a coma. That article is fun, though, and I think you'll enjoy it. After you finish reading it, start that blog! Please! Thank you.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Some things don't require promotion -- and your credit card information is one of those things.

Call me a paranoid book publicist, if you'd like, but I want to pass along something that just happened. Put it in this context: Last year, right around this time, my credit card (one that I used to keep in my wallet at all times) was stolen. No real harm was done, since I discovered the problem within a week and was able to successfully dispute the $1,000 worth of charges the criminal had run up on my card (all the purchases were made in person in local stores, by the way, that did not require a buyer's signature or identification).

So that's the back story. Now here's the story.

This morning, I received two unsolicited emails from a major national chain of home improvement stores (not the one with the massive orange buildings) providing me with my password information, "that I'd requested." Um, no, I didn't request my password -- nor, by the way, do I recall ever signing up to use this site. However, I must have, because the password was one that I actually sometimes used, and it was one that no one could arbitrarily figure out.

So I called the phone number that was provided in the email to request that, to guard my security and privacy, they delete my existing account from their database. The customer service representative proceeded to ask me a lot of personal questions -- including my password. I refused to give it to her, obviously, because to do so might have potentially given her access to my credit card information. And how did I even know that I was actually calling he store that I was supposed to be calling (although it all sounded very legitimate when I made the call and got what appeared to be the store's voice mail system).

I was so uncomfortable that, once I hung up (without providing any sensitive information beyond my name), I hacked into my account and changed my password.

I'm also passing along this story as a reminder that this is the season for criminals to have a field day with people's identity information, credit cards, wallets, and more. Hold onto your belongings tightly in stores that are crawling with shoppers (and, hopefully, also with security personnel), and shop online only at stores that you know and trust.

A bargain is only a bargain if you come away from the transaction with your identity and personal belongings intact. And even something as innocuous as an email that comes from a major national chain of stores can constitute a risk if that store's security protocols are sloppy -- or nonexistent -- and their customer service representatives have been trained to do little more than perpetuate the problem.

This book publicist is giving thanks that she's as paranoid as she is and for the lesson she learned last year, right about this time. Who knows? I little bit of paranoia might actually keep identity thieves and credit card information swipers away this holiday season.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:34 AM | Permalink

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has just passed on all publishing manuscripts ... but don't take it personally. It's strictly an economic decision. While HMH will focus on publishing (and, presumably, promoting and selling) books that are already in their "very robust pipeline," the executive editors have orders to decline all new manuscripts until further notice.

So says a November 24 article in Publishers Weekly which starkly paints the bad news: This will be a "not-so-merry holiday season for publishers."

Well, okay. Times are tough. But that doesn't mean authors have to sit on their butts and lament the fact that no one will buy their books, or that their publishers don't have the budget to promote the books they've already sold.

Authors can self-publish, and it's not so hard to do. Books, Web sites, and listservs devoted to self-publishing abound. Services like LightningSource and CreateSpace make it possible to get a book into some, or even all, of the traditional distribution channels far more quickly than Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, on its best day, could.

Also, for books that are already in that "very robust pipeline," it's possible to promote a book even if the publisher allocates little of its budget toward the cause. Authors can embark on a self-directed book promotion campaign by contacting media outlets themselves or hiring a book promotion specialist to help.

Publishing and selling books doesn't depend on such major houses as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt anymore. HMH has admitted it. It's time for authors to accept it and move on. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has problems ... but that doesn't mean the world of publishing books has come to an end. On the contrary ... a whole new world of possibilities is opening for us all.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:24 AM | Permalink

If you love reading -- and I doubt you'd be reading a blog about book promoting if you didn't -- then I'd advise you to steer clear of today's edition of the Boston Herald. It's the bearer of two bad-news items.

First, the Herald reveals the chilling news that Cambridge, Massachusetts' Out-of-Town News is in deep financial trouble and may be forced to close.

If you've ever been to Harvard Square, then you know the Out of Town News stand. It's the first thing you notice when you emerge from the subway's Red Line and the place where you probably indulged your curiosity about every imaginable newspaper and magazine, from all around the world, as you waited for a friend or just relaxed before your next engagement. A Harvard Square devoid of the Out of Town News stand would be like ... well, like a Downtown Crossing lacking a Jordan Marsh and a Filene's. Which, granted, has already happened so, presumably, the Out of Town News stand could succumb to the competition from the Internet. But -- what a terrible loss that would be for all of us.

And another reason to avoid opening the Boston Herald this morning is that their reporter, Christine McConville, asks the question, "Will Someone Step Up to Buy the Boston Globe?" I'm not sure we have to worry about Boston's becoming a one-newspaper city just yet (and it isn't as though the Herald, which is Boston's number two newspaper, doesn't have its axe to grind), but still, it's disheartening to see anyone raise the possibility that the New England Media Group, which is owned by the parent company of the New York Times, is in dire straits.

The economic news of the past few months has been horrible for all of us. But doesn't it sometimes seem as though those of us who love books and newspapers and magazines are dealing with a dual problem -- that we're staring at the dominance of the Internet at the same time as we're watching the slowing down of the economy?

Anyway, don't open up today's Boston Herald -- and don't log onto their Web site, either. You heard it from this book publicist first.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Rupert Murdoch has just declared that newspapers are alive and well, and rumors of their death have been greatly exaggerated. That, according to an Associated Press article that describes Murdoch as a "global media magnate."

Presumably, Murdoch has interests in other media outlets besides newspapers, so he can afford to be objective. The Associated Press, too, sells its stories to media outlets beyond newspapers, so perhaps Rupert is right. Perhaps book publicists and others who are conducting book promotion campaigns can pitch away to newspapers, as always, and pretend that these are the good old days when newspapers mattered, and when the Christian Science Monitor didn't even have its own Web site, and when the Los Angeles Times and other major dailies hadn't even thought about cutting down on the number of book reviews they published.

Hey, this book publicist had some good newspaper-related luck recently. For one pitch, last week, I was able to report back to a client that the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Metro, and the Chicago Tribune were going to cover the story. (Actually, it wasn't only a question of reporting that the newspapers were covering the story. Three of those four publications requested an interview with the author.) I'm a believer. Newspapers are alive and well, and they're relevant. So...I agree with Rupert, and I'm delighted to see that the Associated Press is spreading the word that, for the foreseeable future, traditional newspapers matter and can still do a book promotion campaign a world of good.

In fact, newspaper publicity can even give book promotion campaigns a greater boost than before. Now that just about every newspaper has an online presence, most newspaper stories (and, by extension, the experts featured in those stories) receive online visibility. So a news story automatically becomes part of an online book promotion campaign. No author would turn down the opportunity to appear in the New York Times -- particularly, when the New York Times will get you some attention on its site as well as in print and bring extra readers to you (and, hopefully, to your book).

The one hitch in my faith in Rupert Murdoch's optimism (and the Associated Press's gleeful reporting of the same) is an email that I received this morning from the Chicago Tribune. "Want more jumble?" the ad's caption wants to know. Apparently, Chicago Tribune's readers (I assume that I'm considered a Trib "reader" because I regularly pitch stories to them) can receive 10 percent off the retail value of various puzzle-related products (a couple of board games and a calendar, if I'm reading the ad correctly).

Okay, then. The Chicago Tribune is selling some stuff this holiday season to raise some cash. I find that a little bit scary. But, as I said, okay. Just because the Chicago Tribune is offering 10 percent off their toys doesn't necessarily mean the publication is facing rough economic times. It could mean...well, it could also mean that the editors of the Trib...um...like the Jumble and wanted to share it with their readers. Yeah. That must be it.

Oh, well. I'm still delighted that my client is getting a pop in the Chicago Tribune for her book, and I'm thrilled that the owner of many newspapers around the world have validated newspapers as worthy media outlets -- at least, in the short term.

But...today, the Chicago Tribune is selling board games. Tomorrow? Well, let me just say this. If, tomorrow, I should happen to find an unsolicited email from the New York Times, I will be truly cautious about clicking on it. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Sometimes, viral marketing opportunities happen out of the blue ... and I wonder whether, sometimes, the recipients of all that publicity can receive too much promotion.

For example, this morning, someone sent me an email full of political cartoons. The first featured a link to a Web site that looks a lot like the New York Times' site -- but isn't. Whoever put together the "joke" used what appears to me to be the New York Times' logo and style.

In fact, I can't help but wonder whether the creators of the parody site intended to fly under the New York Times' radar. If so, that's probably not happening. If I received an email linking to the parody site, then I imagine thousands of people received it.

And I wouldn't be surprised if some of those people are lawyers who'd be interested in pursuing the legalities of using a publication's logo and style. I'm assuming that it was done, in this case, as a joke and without the Times' permission but, of course, I don't know for sure.

Regardless, I wonder if this will turn out to be one of those cases where too much promotion, and too much viral marketing, is a bad thing. We shall see....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:51 AM | Permalink

Proofread book promotion materials. All book publicists, and everyone who promotes a book, does that automatically. Media kits are proofread from top to bottom, multiple times, before you stuff them into Jiffy bags with books and send them on their way. Media kits that are riddled with typos lose credibility (just as books would, if they were similarly afflicted), and they're likely to end up in the trash. We don't want that, so we take the time and make every effort to prevent that from happening.

However, the Internet is far less forgiving than any other medium. Paradoxically, we tend to be far more casual about proofreading when we use the Web to disseminate our book promotion materials.

So much of the time, we're sending out email pitches, and you know the problem with email. It's so immediate that we devalue it, and we're so quick to hit "send" that we often don't take the time to proofread each message before it goes out. Plus, we can be cocky. I know I can be cocky. I was practically born with a keyboard extending from my fingertips, and my accuracy has always been decent ... so I can send off email pitches with impunity after giving them a casual once-over most of the time. Ah, but it's the other times that are the problems. I know, from experience, that producers and editors hold onto my email pitches. Sometimes, media decision makers respond to my emails months, or even years, after I've sent them a particular pitch. Can you imagine finding a typographical error in an email that you sent 18 months ago, and that a reporter has held onto all that time? Not good.

Similarly, it's so easy to publish materials online that we think almost nothing of letting press releases and even blog entries "go live" after giving them the most perfunctory double-check. But ... no one is perfect, and you don't know "awful" until you've found a typo you created memorialized -- forever -- all over the Web.

Typos don't help your credibility, and they don't add credibility to your book promotion campaign. So learn from a book publicist who's been there. Proofread. Make the time. Use a dictionary; don't rely on your spell-checker.

Once Google finds your typo, your typo takes on a life of its own. Google believes (and, consequently, people who use Google believe) that you're uncaring, illiterate, lazy ... and you can't prove differently.

Try telling Google that you've found the typo, and you've fixed it. Impossible. On the Internet, metaphorically speaking, your book is always in its first printing, because that first printing is always archived and available. Typos are forever, and so is remorse.

So take the time to proofread before you publish book promotion materials and blog entries. It's worth the time you put into it.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:23 AM | Permalink

Here's a book promotion tip: If you want to sell a book, then just become president of the United States.

You don't want the job? Well, I don't, either. But the book promotion strategy is working out very well for President-Elect Barack Obama. According to the Los Angeles Times, we'll be seeing at least nine Obama-related books in the next few months. The LA Times quotes Dermot McEvoy, a senior editor at Publishers Weekly, as saying that the election was "the biggest thing for publishing since Harry Potter."

However, the fairy dust isn't sprinkled on all presidents in equal measures. Witness George W. Bush's failure to announce a book publishing deal. His wife, Laura, may beat him to the punch. See an Associated Press article that MSNBC.com is running that says Laura's people have been in touch with at least three publishers about selling them her memoir.

There's a lesson in here somewhere. Maybe becoming president of the United States is worth it for the book promotion value alone ... or maybe just being a likeable soul is what does the trick. Hmmmm....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 11:42 AM | Permalink

Book promotion means, in part, web site promotion. Driving traffic to your web site, and selling them on you, and proving your expertise, can be as important as that big media hit. I'm not dismissing the importance of traditional media exposure. TV and radio show appearances, and newspaper and magazine interviews are important elements of a book publicity campaign. But no book promotion campaign is complete without a focused effort on bringing visitors to your web site (and/or promoting your blog).

Arvinder Singh has written an article called Most Cost-Effective Way To Publicize Your Website that offers tips on using bylined article placements to promote your web site -- which, again, can lead to long-term book selling opportunities.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:59 PM | Permalink

Yesterday, my 20-something-year-old niece gemailed me to ask where she can find free ebooks online. My niece was looking for something to read, and she didn't want to pay for it.

Well, okay, that's good news and bad news. My niece is part of the growing group of consumers who are low on funds and who consider books to be a luxury item. That's the bad news. The good news is that my niece wanted to read a book! That's not something I take for granted. You'd think that she'd have picked up the gene to become a book junkie from one relative or another. Alas -- apparently, it doesn't work that way.

Anyway, I thought of the Gutenberg Project. I wanted to double-check the link (which, by the way, is right here), so I went to the Gutenberg Project site.

I hadn't visited the site in a long while, and perhaps you haven't visited the site in awhile as well. If that's the case, then I'm delighted to report that the site is growing and evolving. The Gutenberg Project's catalogue has grown, and it has added audio books to its offerings.

In short, the Gutenberg Project is promoting books, and reading promotion is book promotion. Sure, those of us in the publishing industry want people to buy books, now has become a way to promote reading. The price is right. So what's not to love about it? Book promotion is book promotion, and Gutenberg Project is promoting books by promoting reading, and that's good for us all.

Similarly, Publishers Weekly Daily just announced that Daily Lit has just begun sending free samples of selected books to subscribers via e-mail and RSS feed. If you're familiar with Shareware, then you already understand the concept. Books are free to try out (or sample). If you like what you see, you can buy an electronic version of the book. As the Daily Lit site says, you can "get what you want[,] when you want it." In fact, you can customize the frequency, time, and length of your book samples.

I'm about to sign up for Daily Lit myself, and I plan to go back and take a closer look at Gutenberg Project this weekend and see what looks good there. Free books? I'm there. Book promotion? Again, yes -- any sites that offer free books are promoting books and promoting reading, and my thanks to everyone who offers the gift of books to me -- to my niece -- and to all of us.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:20 PM | Permalink

Yet another Associated Press story caught my eye. It seems that a goodly number of noteworthy writers (Toni Morrison, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ayelet Waldman, and others) consider President-Elect Obama to be "a peer, a thinker, a man of words."

Finally ... a president who is a book person.

I'm good with that.

It's been a long, long time.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:59 PM | Permalink

Few of us would turn down media attention. Publicity helps sell books, is what we believe, and it's what we know.

Look at Tina Fey. Her "Saturday Night Live" impersonation of Sarah Palin goes viral, and a publisher hands her five million dollars (or, at least, that's the latest figure I've read) to write a book on -- well, something. That's how it works: you get the media's attention, and then you sell books. One plus one equals two. Fey's publisher believes it. Book publicists believe it. Every author and publisher I've ever worked with believes it.

But there's an exception to every rule, and here's an example of how too much exposure -- if it's exactly the wrong type of exposure -- can jinx book sales even before you put your fingers to the keyboard to write your book. It's the case of soon-to-be former president George W. Bush.

According to an Associated Press article I found in the International Herald Tribune, Bush's unpopularity will make it nearly impossible for him to get a decent price for a memoir. The publishing pundits quoted in the article would advise Bush to wait until all the bad publicity he's received over the past eight years fades away before he even thinks about pitching a book.

Not to worry, is my reaction to the story. George W. Bush probably has more on his mind right now than selling a book....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:58 AM | Permalink

I've been something of an evangelist lately. I have been telling book promotion clients, other authors and publishers, and other book publicists that the single best thing they could do to enhance their books' visibility and to improve their Google rankings is to blog.

They already know that every book needs a Web site, and everyone who's trying to establish credibility and build brand needs an online presence. That's a done deal. But, frequently, I enounter resistance when I tell people that they need a blog, too, if they're serious about book promotion.

I can understand that. "To blog" is the silliest sounding phrase in the English language, and it doesn't appear in any of the Marketing 101 textbooks anyone used in school. Blogging for book promotion is a new concept, and its value is difficult to quantify. My saying that it produces miracles doesn't help, because even though I can cite half a dozen examples, everyone seems to think that those were anomalies. Those viral marketing opportunities happened accidentally, and they can't be reproduced on demand. Therefore, they're not worth pursuing.

Yet I do insist that no book promotion (or any self promotion) campaign is complete without a blog. I can't prove to you that it will be worth your while. You'll have to take that on faith. Then you can prove it to yourself.

Search engines love blogs. One search engine, Google, provides a free tool for creating and hosting a blog. It's called Blogger, and you can't beat the price. Spend 30 minutes fooling around with Blogger (once you've set up a Gmail account for yourself), and you'll be able to set up a credible blog that can be the cornerstone of your book promotion campaign.

Argue with me, if you'd like. Tell me about that $30,000-per-month book publicist you hired who's going to make you rich and famous. But why not give blogging a try as well? What do you have to lose? Blogging could be the making of your book promotion campaign. Blogging might bring the media to you, and it might bring you the readers who wouldn't find you in any other way.

So the evangelist in me says: blog. Blog for book promotion. I think you'll be thrilled with the results. And I don't get paid a dime to say so.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:46 AM | Permalink

Is taking abuse from shock jocks a necessary evil of book promotion campaigns?

We know that Don Imus sells a lot of books. Does that mean that book publicists have to try to get their clients on his radio show?

This book publicist doesn't think so. Unless an author has a burning desire to appear on one of the shock jocks' radio shows, sorry, but I don't pitch the story to those folks. I won't subject my clients to abuse from Stern, Imus, Limbaugh, or any of the other people who make their living by conducting abrasive, bombastic, hurtful interviews.

Somehow, I thought the BBC had transcended the problem. Alas, here's a story that proves the problem of on-air jerks and their antics has traveled to the other side of the Atlantic.

Apparently, Russell Brand -- a BBC shock jock -- resigned after more than 18,000 listeners complained to the BBC about his harrassment of a 78-year-old actor by the name of Andrew Sachs. Brand and a "fellow performer" were both suspended by the BBC for the "prank." I only regret the fact that Brand left his job before the BBC could terminate him.

Sure ... British authors have just lost a book promotion opportunity. But I think that's a small price to pay for ridding the airwaves of a classless act. Now, if only Brand's U.S. counterparts who leave our airwaves ... you know who I mean ... would stay off our airwaves permanently. Alas ....

I hope British radio consumers have better luck with keeping Brand off their radios.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:59 AM | Permalink

Authors and publishers who ignore changes in the media do so at their own peril. It's not particularly enjoyable to watch newspapers' book review sections shrink or disappear altogether, and it's sad to see national and local television (not to mention radio) shows fizzle. And it's especially difficult to watch prestigious newspapers morph into something altogether new ... but to deny those changes, or to hope it won't affect any other newspapers, is to jeopardize book promotion campaigns and the possibility of garnering as much book publicity opportunities now as you did in the "old days."

The Christian Science Monitor, which was a nationally-distributed daily newspaper, has announced its plan to become a weekly print newspaper and to update its online version on a daily basis. That will mean decreasing its operating costs substantially, and it will also mean that book publicists others conducting book promotion campaigns who ignored the online editors at the Monitor will now be pitching them ... or they'll essentially lose the opportunity to get any visibility for their books in that media outlet. Here's the Christian Science Monitor's statement about how the paper will shift from a "print to web-based strategy" in April of 2009.

Scary ... but thought-provoking. And certainly proof that all book publicists have to keep up with media changes if they want to keep their book promotion campaigns strong.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:05 AM | Permalink

Despite the fact that we can now instantly email missives and pictures to people on other continents, there's still no replacing the telephone. Which is why this weekend was a tough one for this book publicist.

I'd heard the weather forecast. The pundits were predicting a thunderstorm. I backed up my data, and I unplugged my computer and external hard drives and modem and router. But -- well, you've guessed the rest of it by now. I failed to unplug one of my phone lines, and that phone line was slammed by a thunderbolt (or so my theory goes).

After I'd spent two days (Saturday and Sunday, for those of you who can appreciate the irony of the story) plugging and unplugging and replugging in devices, cords, adaptors, and what-have-you into the troubled phone line, and after buying $50 worth of new stuff to replace old stuff that I suspected of malfunctioning but couldn't prove had malfunctioned until I'd bought the new stuff -- which didn't prove anything, anyway, but it gave me something to fiddle around with during the two beautiful days that will likely mark the last two glorious weekend days of the year), I finally gave up and called the phone company this morning.

Monday is a back-to-work day for this book promotion specialist, so I was hoping the call would be quick and painless. That wasn't to be. A voice mail system prevented me from speaking to an actual person until I began exhibiting signs of clinical idiocy/stupidity and failed to answer enough vocal prompts to keep the voice mail system cranking out irrelevant questions ... at which point, I got an actual person on the phone who had none of the information I'd just spent 10 minute passing along to the voice mail system. But, anyway, both the voice mail prompt and the actual person who finally dispatched a technician to my office warned me that, because I had no service maintenance contract, it would cost me $100 to have the phone line repaired except in the unlikely event that the phone line problem was the phone company's problem (apparently, an outdoor line problem is still something for which the phone company will take responsibility whereas anything else -- such as smashing important indoor phone outlets in an attempt to get things working again after a system problem is something for which the phone company will not take responsibility). The customer service representative who called to confirm my appointment (which, of course, was loosely scheduled for sometime this week) repeated that this visit would probably cost me $100 if, indeed, I still wanted to go through with this visit.

All I'm asking is: What choice did I have? I have two phone lines, both of which I need to conduct my book promotion campaigns. I can email and fax and snail-mail and even send singing telegrams until I'm blue in the face -- but, if I absolutely, positively have to communicate with somebody who's not within earshot, there's no substitute for picking up the phone and making a call. Nor, by the way, is there a replacement for being able to receive phone calls from the media, authors, publishers, and others who need to call book publicists.

In short, my book promotion efforts require two phone lines. My sanity requires two phone lines. My effectiveness at book publicity presumes that I have two phone lines and that they both work, all the time.

There's an upshot to the story, and that's this. The telephone technician came out (yay!), did his tests, and has determined that the phone line problem is an outside issue that is the phone company's responsibility (yay again!), and he can fix it -- he hopes -- by "climbing a few poles" and locating the wire that got zapped in the storm (again, that's my theory -- the tech can only confirm that there's a wire somewhere that's spoiling to break, and that's what's been causing the problem).

So, as a book publicist who's had only one working phone line for two and a half days, and who wrecked a beautiful weekend by trying to fix the problem herself, I have a bit of hard-earned advice. And, strangely enough, I feel as though I'm paraphrasing the old "People's Court" television show to convey it, but so be it. I loved that old show, anyway. If you have a phone line problem, don't take matters into your own hands, and don't waste your time crawling around on the floor subjecting every outlet and wire in your path to potential harm. You take it to the phone company and let them deal with the issue.

They won't like it one bit. But, then again, you're not conducting a book promotion campaign without a working phone line or two -- so don't hesitate to call on the phone company for help when you need it.

You pay them enough to defend your one phone call per decade to them.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:53 PM | Permalink

A new national television show is always an occasion for celebration when you're in the midst of a book promotion campaign (or when you're about to launch a book publicity campaign). So how neat would it be if there were a new national television show? I've been fantasizing about the "Sarah Palin Show" ever since I saw her acceptance speech -- who gives better television than Sarah, unless it's her accidental (and sometimes reluctant) twin, Tina Fey? -- and appreciated her charisma and stage presence. Plus, Sarah will need to do something constructive with her time after the election is over, and I can't see her fading back into the Alaskan wildlife and languishing in obscurity. Can you?

So I was delighted to see a Hollywood Reporter (via MSNBC.com) article that "reveals" the predictable fact that Sarah's "people" are trying to come up with a new vehicle for her, and they've been talking about the possibility of finding a national television talk show for her to host. Hey! I'm there! Well, maybe I'm not there as a viewer, exactly, but I'm there as a book publicist who will be pitching guest suggestions to the producers.

And, on a related matter, have you seen Ron Howard's video endorsement of Barack Obama? It's worth a click if you're an "Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days" fan (one sort of naturally goes with the other), or if you're just interested in seeing what another Hollywood insider has to say about politics. Howard must feel strongly about this. The man removed his baseball cap and his shirt to make his point!

Anyway, here's to Sarah Palin's new national television show. Long, and soon, may it air.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:54 PM | Permalink

Show of hands: who's planning to buy a copy of Maureen McCormick's new autobiography? If you're asking, "Who's Maureen McCormick," you're excused from answering. But, for the other 95% of us, let's be honest. We want to read the life story of Marcia Brady's alter ego, don't we? If it was even half as much fun as Greg's book -- well, that is, Barry Williams' book -- then we owe it to ourselves to buy a copy.

But, as we're seeing from all the book promotion ops (Maureen got a gig on the "Today Show," for pity's sake -- click here to see the video clip), this book probably won't be a laugh riot. We're not talking about a teenager dating her television parent. We're talking about...well, you'd better navigate away from this page now if you were a huge "Brady" fan who doesn't want to be crushed...drugs, syphilis, mental institutions, depression, domestic violence, and more (involving either Maureen herself or some of her family members).

Yuck.

A bigger "Brady Bunch" fan than me, you will not find. I loved Maureen, and I can name all of the Brady kids faster than I can tick off all the names of Sarah Palin's kids (the Brady kids' names were a whole lot more common, of course, but even so). And I'm happy that another "Brady kid" has lived to tell us what it was really like to be a member of the Brady clan.

And I'm tickled for Maureen's sake that her book was deemed worthy of a pop on one of the national morning talk shows.

But...fans? And others? Is there a time when book promotion opportunities might provide too close of a look at someone's life? Is there a situation in which TMI is TMI, no matter how grateful you might be for an author's contribution to your life? If so, then I'd have to respectfully submit that this is it.

Maureen, I love you. I truly do. And, yes, I'm going to buy a copy of your book.

But -- read it? I don't know. I'm not sure yet that I want to know that much about you. Forgive me, Maureen. But I'm just not sure. (Chris Knight, where's you're autobiography? Now, that one, I'll read.)

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 1:42 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Talk about a book promotion opportunity: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio's work is the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature. Time to commit the name to long-term memory, if not actually learn how to properly pronounce it.

I'll admit to feeling some disappointment. If one of my clients couldn't win the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature, I was hoping the award would go to Philip Roth -- or another American. According to this MSBNC.com article, the last American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature was Toni Morrison, and that was back in 1993.

Come on, American novelists. What are you waiting for? Keep on writing, and keep on publishing, and keep on promoting -- and win that Nobel Prize for us! Your fellow U.S. citizens are counting on you.

Not that there's anything wrong with the French. I'm just saying....

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's an email that I received recently from an author:

This is my recent book [here, the author inserted the URL for his new title]. What can you do to make it sell better?

My response to him (and to other authors and publishers who approach me with the same question ) is:

Although I don't get involved in book sales, you might be interested in the book promotion services that I offer. If you haven't already visited the "services" page of my site to get a sense of the traditional and online book publicity services that I offer, I'd encourage you to do so. I'd be glad to provide a customized book promotion plan upon request, so let me know if you'd potentially be interested in what I offer. Although book promotion is tangentially related to book sales, it is not the same thing, and there's no guarantee that even the most successful book promotion campaign (which is designed to build the author's brand and raise the visibility of the book) will result in increased book sales. Although it often works that way, I wanted to draw the distinction for you between the two, because you may be seeking a book distributor rather than a book publicity firm. Let me know if you'd like more information about any of my services, once you've reviewed my offerings.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:39 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

The World Wide Web has given us all the power of the press, in a sense. It's given us all the power to publish press releases online, to point media consumers (and potential book buyers) toward news stories via social networking sites, to blog our way to fame and fortune, to enter articles about ourselves in communal online encyclopedias, and even to become citizen journalists at offshoots of such major news organizations as Turner Broacasting. That's been a huge boon for those of us who are involved in book promotion campaigns, because it's meant that any author, publisher, or book publicist can generate book publicity by flexing that power of the press and using it to do good.

Unfortunately, it's also possible to abuse the citizens' power of the press, as evidenced by the fool (soon to be imprisoned, I hope) who posted an unfounded "news" item about Steve Jobs' supposedly failing health on iReporter.com and sent Apples' stock prices plummeting. Jobs is fine, and Apples' stock prices will recover, but the damage to free-for-all news sites such as iReporter.com has been done. Who will trust the "news" reporters they see posted online by citizen journalists after this event (which you can read about here)? How will you know whether the citizen journalists are sharing news stories or perpetrating a hoax? And, if you suspect the Net is filled with misinformation -- given the fact that we're all living with information overload and too little time on our hands -- why will we even bother going to such sites as iReporter.com and Wikipedia to sort through the real news, the potentially real news, the suspiciously difficult-to-believe news, and the clearly ridiculous reporting.

In the case of this incident, a citizen journalist has caused real people actual harm. And he or she has also harmed everyone who uses the citizens' power of the press for book promotion, or to become part of the newsmaking universe for any other reason. It's distressing, and I hope this individual -- and any others who think it's amusing to use the citizens' power of the press to hurt others -- is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Joining this creep in a very long jail sentence, I'm glad to anticipate, will be O.J. Simpson. Sometimes, the legal system really does work, despite rumors and evidence to the contrary. As a sidebar: I'm glad that Fred Goldman, and not Simpson and Judith Regan, will benefit from any increase in book sales for which this long-awaited conviction is responsible.

Goodbye, O.J. And, let's hope, goodbye to everyone who would even think about misusing the potent newsmaking tools that are now in all citizens' hands.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:54 AM | Permalink

There's a lot that I don't understand about politics. But could somebody please explain why the bidding for Tina Fey's new book project is now up to six million dollars? Here's the New York Observer's article on the subject.

Tina has yet to write a book proposal, by the way. Her literary agent, Richard Abate, asked for five million dollars, and -- reportedly -- at least one publisher upped that figure by one million dollars.

Okay, I'll admit that I haven't seen Tina's show, "30 Rock." I have it on the authority of a 22-year-old niece that the show is "amazing." So maybe the show is sensational enough to warrant an equally sensational advance on an as-yet-unwritten book by someone who isn't even an author.

But my hunch is that the seven-figure offer isn't stemming from the "awesome" job Tina is doing on "30 Rock" but, rather, her "Saturday Night Live" impersonation of Sarah Palin. Let's go with my theory, for just a minute. If publishers are enchanted by the fact that Tina's impression of Sarah has been spread, virally, via the Web for the last two weeks, I understand that.

There's just one thing I don't understand. When was the last time you saw Martin Short, as Ed Grimely, bopping around his apartment to express his undying admiration over "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajack? And when was the last time you thought of Eddie Murphy's spookily accurate rendering of "Mister Robinson" (a play on Mr. Rogers, right down to the sweater and sneakers)? Not recently, I'd suppose...and certainly not recently enough for a publisher to presume that, just because Ed Grimely and Mr. Robinson once captivated Americans, either Martin or Eddie's book would be a media sensation.

Hey, we all love to laugh, and satire is a fun and safe outlet for us, especially on a weekend. Tina Fey is funny, and who knows? Her impression of Sarah Palin may already have affected the outcome of the next presidential election. That's huge. But...is it big enough to warrant a 7 million dollar advance on an unwritten book? Is Tina's impression of Sarah going to be grabbing headlines after the election is over and, perhaps, long forgotten (particularly, if "her candidate" doesn't win the election)?

I'm sure that any competent book publicist could promote a book written by Tina Fey in a big way. But...could any book publicist out there promote a book written by Tina Fey (and published in, perhaps, 18 or 24 months) in a big enough way to warrant this kind of book deal?

It hardly seems likely. I have faith that publishers know what they're doing, most of the time, but...perhaps, this once, someone is getting just a tad carried away. If it were up to me, and I were trying to gauge the book promotion value of Tina's forthcoming book, I'd 1) wait for her to write that book, and see how it turns out and 2) I'd see who wins the presidential election. Three: I'd see whether the public's interest in seeing the Tina's "Sarah" impression remains unchanged as the real Sarah (hopefully) gains a bit more experience in handling media interviews and four: I'd see whether Tina can truly keep up the pace of working on two national television shows simultaneously for very much longer.

But that's just me, and what do I know? Perhaps Tina Fey's new book will be worth every penny of the six million dollars that are being talked about. Maybe the bidding will even increase another million or two before the auction is through, and maybe the book will, in fact, earn back its advance in two months.

Anything is possible. But, if I were a betting woman, I wouldn't bet on the long-term book promotion value of this particular book project.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Book promotion tip #1: Give the media what it needs. Usually, what the producer of a radio show (presuming the producer of the radio show has scheduled a phone interview with an author) needs is: the author's phone number (and, perhaps, a backup number), a media kit, and a copy of the book. That's simple enough, unless you're counting on the publisher to send out copies of the book.

Today, I got an early morning phone call from a radio show producer saying that he had a phone interview scheduled with one of my clients, and -- he'd just checked -- he had no copy of the book. We were fortunate in that he still agreed to do the interview on the strength of the media kit (which he was able to download from the author's Web site). But other proudcers would have rescheduled or canceled the interview.

Since the producers' failure to receive a book on time reflects poorly on me, I'm ultimately responsible for getting books out -- even when all I can do is request that publishers fulfill book requests. Most publishers are well meaning and, because they benefit from book promotion opportunities as much as (or more than) their authors, are anxious to get books out as soon as they're requested. But the best thing to do is stay in control of book requests by having the publisher send you enough books to take care of the requests your book promotion campaign will generate -- ahead of time. I wish I'd done that in this case. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's morbid, but true. A fool-proof way to getting media coverage of your book is to do what Paul Newman did: live a heroic life, win the admiration of billions of people, and then pass away suddenly (well, suddenly for those of us who couldn't bring ourselves to believe that cancer would ever dare to mess with such a beloved, strong, and unutterably generous person). Do all those things, and your books, too, will win the book promotion that Newman's books are receiving.

Here's a Los Angeles Times article about the books that Newman either wrote, or that revolve around him. You bet: book sales are poised to soar, economically difficult times notwithstanding.

Full disclosure: This book publicist just snagged a vintage copy of Newman's Own Cookbook. Okay. I'm human. I loved the man, and I've bought his products to support his causes whenever I could (and I'm gratified to learn that Newman's charitable foundation will continue, even though the man now lives on only on film and in the hearts and memoriess of those who loved him). Here's an Asssociatd Press story that promises Newman's Own legacy will continue, and another story from MSNBC.com on the same topic -- so I'd say we can have faith that Paul Newman's legacy will endure. I hope we can all celebrate Newman's life by trying to follow his example of unselfishness and compassion.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 10:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

If your book is an Oprah's Book Club selection, you will be rich and famous, and your book will be successful. Whatever book promotion you've received before Oprah chooses you will be beside the point, and whatever book promotion you garner afterwards will be irrelevant. Oprah's Book Club will be the focal point of your book's visibility, and it will be the reason why readers know who you are.

Time.com offers a brief history of Oprah's Book Club written by Kate Pickert here. If that article doesn't convince you to get a copy of your book off to the producers of "Oprah," nothing will. For information about how to contact the producers of "Oprah" (or any national television show, for that matter), read my article, "May I Have Your Contact Information for the 'Oprah' Show?" by clicking here.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In his blog, Andrew Crofts writes about Paranoia on the Amazon Roller Coaster. I've seen that condition, many times, in authors who are in the midst of book promotion campaigns.

The way it usually works is that an author who gets a book publicity media hit runs to the computer after a live radio interview to check his/her Amazon rank. If the rank hasn't changed, I get an email dripping with frustration. "The radio interview didn't sell any books," says the author. "What else can we do to promote my book?"

In the spirit of full disclosure, I"m not exactly sure how Amazon's ranking system works. I've heard rumors, but I don't know the facts. To the extent that Amazon's rankings reflect book promotion-related media hits, the relationship is not instantenous, nor is it permanent. I know that. The rest, as far as I can tell, is information that's more closely guarded that the Hope Diamond -- and perhaps rightfully so, since authors and publishers can drive themselves crazy by staring at those numbers, hour after hour, and trying to figure out how to change them for the better, and then how to maintain their rankings.

I always tell authors that Amazon rankings are probably a fine measure of something. The problem is, since we don't know what Amazon rankings measure, exactly, it doesn't seem to be a good investment of one's energy to focus them.

Focus on the book promotion campaign and on delivering the messages you want to convey, is what I tell authors. Get the word out. Let potential book buyers see your expertise for themselves. Woo them. Let them come to rely on you and respect your credility. Over the long haul, this focus on your mesaging and your brand usually help sell your book.

Check out Amazon's rankings, once in a while -- but not every hour, on the hour, and certainly not after every media hit when you're conducting a book promotion campaign. Checking out Amazon's numbers all the time when you're in the middle of a book promotion campaign is like weighing yourself constantly when you're on a diet. You'll drive yourself crazy, and you won't accomplish anything positive. So stop obsessing about the numbers, and remember the point of a book promotion campaign: to gain as much visibility for your book, and for you, as possible, and let people come to the conclusion -- over the long haul -- that they want to buy your book.

It doesn't always happen right away. But, if your book promotion campaign goes well, then it will happen. Have faith. And stop making yourself nuts with those elusive Amazon numbers.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Would an appearance on National Public Radio help your book promotion campaign efforts? Every author wants to appear on such NPR shows as "All Things Considered," because that type of media hit is the making of any book promotion campaign. But how can you get past the gatekeepers at NPR?

Well, in truth, you can't. You can't slink your way past an NPR producer, because NPR producers hold all the power. You can't convince them to cover a topic that's not appropriate for them, because they receive too many pitches from too many authors and publishers to need on-air cnotent. You'll never find a less "hungry" crowd than NPR producers.

But, if you'd like to give NPR your best shot, then listen to a podcast with Carol Klinger, a booker for "All Things Considered," as she explains how she finds guests for her show, and the best ways to pitch her. Thanks, Carol, for letting us in on your secrets!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's the scenario: Professor R. Preston McAfee of Cal Tech is lucky enough to be featured as the author of Introduction to Economic Analysis in the New York Times -- and he doesn't stand to make a whole lot of money on the media hit. He could have. Dr. McAfee's textbook is used at enough prestigious colleges around the country that he could have received a $100,000 advance on the book from a major publisher. But he chose instead to offer his book available online, for free, to students who needed it in order to protest the skyrocketing costs of textbooks. For students who want printed versions of the textbook, they can buy one online from Lulu or Flat World for between $11 and $59.95 (I'm going to take a quick guess here that most of the revenue would accrue to the publisher as printing costs rather than provide a profit to the professor).

It turns out that Professor McAfee isn't alone in enjoying the book promotion opportunity that the Times article, "Don’t Buy That Textbook, Download It Free," provided on Sunday. Engineering professor Richard G. Baraniuk of Rice University founded a company called Connexions to allow instructors to make their textbooks and information available for free online, too. Connexions uses Creative Commons license to allow students and their instructors to interact so that students can ask questions about the information in their textbooks -- and they can receive answers.

Ordinarily, an article in the New York Times reflects one of the best imaginable book promotion opportunities for authors. In this case, the Times' article provides an opportunity for giving instructors -- and their grateful students, as well. Spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks? Why not save your money instead...and, hopefully, use it to do something good for the next person in need.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:51 AM | Permalink

There are times, and seasons, when a book gets too much media coverage, or when it gets media coverage for all the wrong reasons. That's when book promotion makes readers unhappy -- and when book promotion can blow up in the author's (or the publisher's) metaphorical face.

Two cases in point. First, Lynn Spears' new book about her daughter, Brittney. Once "delayed indefinitely" (at least, according to a People magazine article, which cited the fact that a younger teenage daughter had become pregnant), Spears' book is now getting so much publicity that I can't get away from it. Everywhere I click, every page that I flip, and every station that I tune into seems to be providing another book promotion opportunity for Lynn Spears. Do we need that? Not me...I was already convinced that I didn't need to hear Lynn Spears' ideas about parenting before the media became saturated with "news" about the book.

Second case: Stephenie Meyer's new novel, Midnight Sun, that was apparently supposed to be the last book in the strangely popular Twilight series. It seems that Meyer sent out a rough draft of Midnight Sun to a few people in her inner circle, and one of those "trusted" friends posted it online without permission. Meyer was unhappy enough to cancel the book's publication, according to virtually every media source that covers books including this one (in case you care to read the story again. I'll admit it. I bought a copy of the first novel in the series because I wanted to see what all the hype was about before Meyer's unpublished novel received all this publicity. Got to say: I didn't make it through the book. Maybe it was the vampires, or maybe it was the dubious characterizations and plotting -- but I gave up on it with about 30 or 40 pages to go (which is never a good sign -- especially when the someone who gives up on it is an avid reader of Young Adult novels). Anyway, Meyer may publish the novel eventually, and will all that book promoton help sales? I think it will. Sadly, I really do think it will.

So there you have it. Two books that I don't want to read, and two smashing book promotion campaigns that I wish hadn't happened.

Call me selfish, but I'd rather see book promotion opportunities go to authors whose works I respect. Oh, well.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:05 AM | Permalink

It seems obvious to me: if you need some media attention for your company, write a book and use it as a media hook. Then again, I'm a book publicist, so I see what may not be apparent to everyone who's trying to promote a company or disseminate a message. Authors have instant credibility. If you want to promote yourself, and you have a book, great. The media will listen. If you want to promote yourself, and you lack the platform that a book provides, then good luck.

Book promotion is easy. (So says the book publicist.) Self-promotion is trickier.

Need a book? Len Stein of ChiefMarketer.com wrote an excellent article on the topic. Click here to read it.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:57 AM | Permalink

National media opportunities come, and national media opportunities go. Every new national TV show that hits the airwaves represents anoher book promotion opportunity, so stay on top of what's airing ... and what isn't.

I just read about a new television personality who wants to be the biggest thing since Oprah (here's the Newsweek.com article). And who knows? She might just succeed. Her name is Wendy Williams, and her show has been test-marketed in just a few cities so far: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Detroit. But, in 2009, her television show will be seen nationally.

So, while you might not make it onto the Oprah Winfrey Show, here's another book promotion opportunity for you: the Wendy Williams Show. Hey, I'll pitch her producers on behalf of my clients. This book publicist is about to do her research now and get the names, and contact information, for those producers right now!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 3:01 PM | Permalink

Can your opinion buy you a book promotion opportunity? Yes, if it appears in a major daily newspaper's op-ed section.

Here's a case in point: Wendy Grolnick and Kathy Seal's cowrote an op-ed piece called "Pay to Learn Shortchanges Kids." The Los Angeles Times published the article in today's edition. The byline credits Grolnick and Seal as the coauthors of the book, Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids: Dealing With Competition While Raising a Successful Child.

Granted, the Los Angeles Times requires exclusivity for editorials they print. But, according to Cision Media Source, the daily circulation of the paper is 773,884. That provides quite an opportunity for book publicity! To reach 773,884 readers, it's just fine to give one of the top U.S. daily newspapers the exclusive right to print your opinion piece.

Congratulations to my clients, Wendy and Kathy! It took two days from the time we pitched the op-ed piece to the LA Times before it appeared in print. Not bad at all!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 9:40 AM | Permalink

Did you read about how Angels and Demons (by Dan Brown) and White Oleander (by Janet Finch) recently scored a book promotion opportunity? Well, here's a link to the MSNBC.com story.

It seems that Heidi Dalibor borrowed the books from the Grafton Library and never returned them. She was notified, via mail, that she's have to either pay the library a $30 fine or appear in court. Sadly, Heidi was working that day in what was certainly an important job and was unable to tear herself away to make her court appearance. The next day, the police arrested her at home. (She must have a very, very important job at home, too, because she was too busy to put shoes on her feet to accompany the police to the station when they arrested her.)

Ultimately, Heidi's mother helpfully brought $201 to the police station to spring her daughter from prison. That included the $30 she owed in library fees and the $131 she owed in court costs. Heidi gleefully landed an appearance on NBC's "Today Show" to assure her adoring public that she'd learned a valuable lesson: she won't be borrowing books from the library anymore. Also, she endorsed both Angels and Demons and White Oleander as "good books."

Well, let's hope they were good books. She paid $201 for them. Plus, she lost all those precious hours of work time while she stewed in prison -- and in the green room -- thinking about where she'd gone wrong in life.

Congratulations to Dan Brown and Janet Finch. They didn't need the book promotion opportunity, or the endorsement, but they received both. Gee. Maybe Heidi Dalibor will start her own book club now.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kaylene Johnson's biography of Palin, Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment on Its Ear (the lucky publisher is Epicenter Press, and the pub date was April 2008) broke into Amazon's Top 25 list within hours of the big announcement.

I heard a news report this morning that said the publisher is going back to press for 50,000 more copies immediately. That is probably a good idea.

One individual from the U.K. who posted a used copy of the book on Amazon is asking $105.55 for it.

Epicenter Press is an independent publisher, and they couldn't have planned on this book promotion opportunity. Good for them! I wonder what percentage of the proceeds they plan to pass along to John McCain.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:11 PM | Permalink

When I heard about Dave Freeman's untimely death, I hadn't heard of Freeman -- and I barely had heard of his book, 100 Things To Do Before You Die. My second thought, after I slogged through the horror I felt at the way the 47-year-old author died -- he fell at home and hit his head and just, somehow, didn't make it -- was that this incident was going to sell a lot of books. What better book promotion opportunity could there be than the author's death? Book promotion opportunities, finally, are news items, and this was a big one. It was ironic, heart-wrenching, and unacceptable -- and, of course, every media outlet in the world gobbled it up. Here's an example of just one article about the Freeman's death that opens with the title of his book.

What I didn't realize, until later, was that Freeman's death wasn't only a horror show combined with a book promotion opportunity. It was also a chance to promote a movie -- in this case, "The Bucket List," that was apparently inspired by Freeman's work. This Reuter's article, published by MSNBC.com, talks about how Freeman's death has inspired people to create their own "bucket lists" -- just like in the movie. Had I heard of the movie before Freeman's death? Vaguely -- but only in the sense that I hear about other movies with strong lead actors that I probably wouldn't schlep to a theater to see but would probably, eventually, put into my Netflix queue.

Book promotion and movie promotion -- Freeman's freak accident (at least, I hope it was a freak accident -- I think it was a freak accident, because people in their forties typically don't die in their homes because they slip and fall, do they?) was a two-fer. Book sales and movie ticket sales (or DVD sales, if the movie has moved on from theaters, at this point) are positioned to soar.

Book promotion and movie promotion opportunities aren't worth dying for, but this one is worth learning from. What makes a promotion opportunity? A news event. An attention-getting action. An unexpected happening.

Create one, if you can. But don't do it by dying.

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 8:32 AM | Permalink

The following is not only a book promotion tool (although you can use it to snag some book reviews), but it's also a valuable information source for publishers and authors: Publishing Poynters Marketplace by Dan Poynter. It's a free newsletter, and you can see the September issue online here.

For publishers and authors who are interested in finding readers to review their books on either Amazon or Barnes and Noble's site, Poynter provides a free classifieds section where industry professionals can list their titles. Free book promotion? Sounds like a deal to this book publicist!

Thank you to Dan Poynter!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 7:54 AM | Permalink

Yesterday was an exciting day for this book publicist. I received three emails from an editor at a major magazine acknowledging the upcoming publication of three articles -- written by three of my authors -- each of which will carry my authors' bylines and refer readers back to their book Web sites. Good for the editor who received content for her magazine. Good for my clients, each of whom received visibility in a national magazine. And good for this book publicist -- that's three more book promotion opportunities to show off about, and all in one day!

Posted by Stacey J Miller at 6:24 PM | Permalink

The two satellite radio networks, XM Satellite and Sirius, have finally merged. The name of the new network will be Sirius XM Radio Inc., and the total number of subscribers will 18.5 million. Here's the story.

For this book publicist, that's a media marriage made in heaven. XM Satellite and Sirius radio shows were always relatively easy bookings. Of course, there are no easy bookings, but some media outlets are more approachable than others, and both XM Satellite and Sirius have both been notably open to guest suggestions and even, perhaps, "hungry" for experts to fill their airtime. So how cool is it that the listening audiences of XM Satellite and Sirius will double (I presume, based on my assumption that subscribers of either former network will now be able to hear shows on both networks -- which, naturally, is the new network).

See? This is