6 Ways to Boost Your Book Publicist’s Success Rate

By Cathy S. Lewis

When I initially interview authors to assess whether they’re a good “fit” with what we do, I always remind them that book publicity is a collaborative effort. Contrary to what many authors think, writing the book and getting it published isn’t the end of their job. It’s the beginning. Book promotion works best when the author actively participates in coordination with their publicist.

When a book publicist has a highly motivated and involved author to work with, one who’s willing to put time, energy, and creative ideas into the publicity campaign, the synergy of efforts can produce results far greater than if the publicist worked on her own.

Bottom line: If you want to maximize your publicist’s success, reach a lager audience in your book promotion campaign, and increase book sales – try these six book publicity strategies.

1. Come up with buzz-worthy pitch ideas. You’re an expert in your field and know what’s hot, controversial, and new. Help your book publicist by letting her know about breaking stories, emerging studies, and compelling trends that you can talk about. The more buzz you can generate with catchy media pitches, the more you and your book will get noticed. For example, one of our health book authors, Dr. Jay Cohen, an expert on prostate cancer, let us know about a new and controversial cancer screening recommendation for men. We crafted a pitch and print-ready piece a day after the news broke, and his article was quickly published online and syndicated.

2. Create your wish list and back it with a solid strategy. Help your book publicist shape her strategy by creating a wish list of placements that target your audience. Focusing on a few, targeted venues can reap greater benefit than casting a wide net. For example, business book author and tech advisor Phil Simon wanted a regular bylined blog at Inc, and asked us to focus on landing one for him. It took us six months to get it, but now he has that plank in his platform for the rest of his career.

3. Write tips sheets for different audiences. If you write health books, for example, and you’re an expert on women’s wellness, write 5-7 tips that target moms, working women, teenage girls, older women, and maybe even husbands. These lists become valuable raw material that your publicist can use in any number of ways—in articles and blogs, as talking points, for pitch ideas, for radio and TV show topics, and more.

4. Suggest course corrections. If journalists consistently ask you the same question, or get puzzled by the same issues, tell your publicist about it. Often, media people unwittingly tell authors what’s most interesting to them—and that’s your cue to jump on that topic. For example, Vicky Oliver, a bestselling author of career books, told us that reporters always ask her for secrets to acing a job interview. That became a topic we zoomed in on for the campaign.

5. Find real-life examples and leverage your network. If you have friends in high places—celebrities or high-profile clients—figure out ways to include them in your publicity campaign. For instance, business thought leader Prasad Kaipa reached out to a fellow author, an expert on Apple, to cowrite a piece about Apple CEO Tim Cook to be published when the company’s quarterly earnings report hit the news. Fortune/CNN ran with it. Tell your publicist whom you know so she can brainstorm ideas with you.

6. Do self-promotion and social media PR too. Just because you’ve hired a publicist doesn’t mean you can’t do publicity on your own. Reply to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) leads. Do local book signings. Write blogs at your website. Teach workshops and do lectures. The more publicity you do on your own, the more energy it adds to your overall publicity campaign. When you get interviewed or featured in the media, don’t sit back and gloat. Post it on your website and social media pages. Tweet it. Tell your friends to do the same. You can boost your posts on Facebook for $15 and get more fans to your page. An article might reach 5,000 people instead of 500. For instance, when our client Dr. Michael Murray did this, his article on natural ways to reduce blood pressure reached over 20,000 on Facebook.