Wordcraft -- What is a Book Publicist?

Stephanie Barko

An already-published friend said that if I had a chance to talk to literary publicist Stephanie Barko, I should grab it. And since Stephanie lives and works near Austin, Texas, she agreed to meet me during the recent ArmadilloCon convention in Austin. She was brimming with information about what a publicist actually does, and she agreed to serve as guest blogger today. For more specifics about the services her firm offers, see: www.stephaniebarko.com.

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What is a Book Publicist?

by Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist

With writers publishing their material in multiple formats these days, the competition to sell stories has never been keener. After your craft is honed and book design is done, how does an author stand out in the marketplace? The wisest and savviest authors and indie publishers are investigating what a book publicist can do for them.

The book publicist sits at the back end of the publishing chain and is the team member who pushes the finished book into the marketplace. Although a publicist may be the last professional you engage, book publicity begins six to 12 months prior to release date and ends about three months after launch.

Book publicists specialize in genres just like literary agents do.  These genre specialties include nonfiction & fiction subgenres like how-to, history, career, business, biography, autobiography, self-help, and historical fiction.  Some book publicists are employed directly by publishing houses and some freelance for publishers and authors.

A critical function of the book publicist is to submit galleys and finished books for standard and reader reviews.  The publicist may also attempt to get the title on a prominent books list or nominate it for a book award.  Also within the publicist’s purview is the pitching of features to journalists either written by, about or mentioning the author. 

Publicists can both directly and indirectly influence book sales through their book marketing efforts, including promoting a virtual tour, securing author interviews, leveraging the author’s book blog and social networking profiles, and utilizing the author’s media kit.  If funds are available, publicists will also schedule an author’s book talk or ground tour. Publicists will sometimes promote free books and conduct book giveaways to generate interest for a title.

Here is a list of services that some publicists offer.

• Devise and execute the book platform

• Acquire endorsements

• Oversee editing of the book’s back cover text

• Edit the author’s biography and the book’s synopsis

• Create a strategy for the author’s book blog

• Initialize the author’s social networking profiles

• Request book reviews

• Assemble a media kit and disseminate its elements

• Pitch interviews and features

• Plan the book’s launch event and book talk

• Schedule, host and promote the book’s virtual tour

• Encourage nomination of the title for book awards

• Position the title for addition to a books list

• Formulate the author’s talking points

• Syndicate the author’s articles

• Recommend venues with high traffic author events

• Leverage the interest of special audiences & book groups

Publicists joke among themselves that no two of us are alike, and this is quite true.  Each of us specializes in a particular type of client or subject and each publicist has a track record that illustrates a unique variety of experience.  However, one thing is certain--the book with the extra marketing push will always do better, even if a similar title is as good.

Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist was voted a Top Ten Promotional Resource in
Preditors & Editors 2015 Readers Poll.  Learn from Stephanie’s free book marketing videos at www.youtube.com/stephaniebarko and check out her app at www.DIYBookPlatform.com.

Wordcraft – Want blurbs for our books? Start searching now!

Fourth in an occasional series about publication and promotion

Last Tuesday’s post dealt with searching for literary agents at conferences. Today’s post deals with finding other authors willing to blurb our published books. Wait – we don’t even have agents, let alone publishers, and suddenly we’re talking about those fine lines of print that read “Excellent entertainment,” “Mesmerizing,” “The Ultimate guide” – to quote blurbs from a few books on my reference shelf.

But isn’t it a little early to be looking for that kind of praise? After all, reviewers or famous authors have to be able to read our book before they can heap praise on it, and we don’t even have a book yet for them to read.

We may also be muttering that we would rather crawl into a hole and die than approach (insert famous author’s name here) and ask him/her to time out of a busy, possibly even profitable schedule to read a book by an unknown writer. That’s the good part. Because right now, we’re not asking for blurbs. We’re not even thinking about blurbs. We’re asking to be friends, or at least fans, of authors whose books we like. What author, famous or not, wouldn’t welcome that kind of request? But somewhere down the line, we may have reason to stop and think, yes, these are the people I’d like to get blurbs from.

Because the best people to get recommendations from – and a blurb is only another kind of recommendation – are people with whom we have a personal relationship. And we start those by taking the first step, a meeting. Online is one way to meet. Face to face is another. Which is why I’m listing conferences with plenty of authors ready and eager to meet with readers.

The literary conferences listed last Tuesday (title) are also full of authors happy to chat with readers, and even happier to sell books to readers. But there are even more conferences that feature only authors, and they’re usually less expensive.

image: wikimedia commons

One that has my local chapter of Mystery Writers of America talking is Bouchercon, the world mystery convention, meeting September 15-18 this year in New Orleans. Please note that the deadline for registration is September 9 (this coming Friday). No registration will be available at the door, so hurry for a chance to meet and hang out with hundreds of mystery and thriller authors. 

Also this month, one of my favorite Dallas-area small conferences: FenCon, September 23-25. This features dozens of science fiction, fantasy and horror writers giving readings and opining on panels, all of them with books to sell.

Interested in young adult and middle grade books? Check out the Texas Teen Book Festival in Austin, October 1. Or for the every genre imaginable festival, the Texas Book Festival, November 5-6, also in Austin.

For romance readers, a Dallas-area convention is Readers ‘n’ritas, November 11-13, in Allen, Texas. Smaller than those above, but with dozens of romance authors eager to connect with readers.

For other single-author events or series, see “Fall into autumn with Texas literary events,” at this site, August 16, 2016. To search for authors as well as agents, see "Where the heck do you go to meet an agent?" also at this site, August 30, 2016. Above all, get on the mailing lists of any local or regional bookstores that host author signings.

So now we’ve met, chatted, bought, taken pictures of us smiling with (insert famous author's name here), posted on social media. Aren’t we among hundreds or thousands of fans who’ve done the same? How are the authors of our dreams going to remember us from among all the rest? That’s the next step in the process. But I’ll take a brief hiatus and let book publicist Stephanie Barko tell us next Tuesday what her profession can do.