We love parenting books. We’re happy to promote parenting books that are well written and offer lots of fresh, practical advice that’s based on solid science or the author’s well-credentialed expertise in a discipline—such as pediatrics, pediatric psychology, pediatric nutrition, or child development, to name a few.
Here are some of the common questions parenting authors ask us.
What Type of Parenting Books Are Most Successful?
Our decision to take on a parenting book is based on some of the same criteria we use for all our books and authors. Primarily, the reason we choose one book over another often comes down to where we’re going to place it. For example, when we took on Dr. Charlotte Resnick, a child and educational psychologist, author of The Power of Your Child’s Imagination, we were wowed both by her credentials and the originality of her strategies to help children solve problems using their imagination and creativity. We knew her upbeat, interesting ideas would be perfect for daytime TV, which is dominated by female viewers. We got her appearances on Good Morning America Online and the ABC morning show in San Francisco. She landed many high-profile print placements as well, from Good Housekeeping to USA Today.
Are “Mommy Blogs” Good Venues for Parenting Book PR?
Mommy blogs are a big universe; there are currently over a thousand of them. They vary from a mother sitting at home writing about her personal experiences, to commercial sites that solicit ads, screen and edit content, and have lots of traffic, a good journalistic reputation, and a high Alexa rating. We know the top-tier mommy bloggers, and we frequently work with them. They sometimes have a beat—such as health, alternative health, or midlife mothering. As always, we craft our parenting authors’ guest posts to fit the audience. A well-placed guest post at a high-value mommy blog can be retweeted, liked on Facebook, and syndicated on other sites. Bottom line: The right mommy blog can generate book sales, because this is the parenting author’s perfect audience.
Is It Hard to Publicize and Sell Parenting Books?
There are lots of venues for parenting books that don’t exist for other genres. For example, there are regional parenting publications in every state. There are many national parenting magazines, as well as many radio shows and TV shows that include parenting segments. When we took on Dr. Ari Brown, a Texas-based pediatrician and author of the bestsellers Expecting 411, Baby 411, and Toddler 411, television producers loved her combination of real-mom advice and medical credentials. We placed her on Rachel Ray, Dr. Oz, Today, Dr. Phil, and CNN, among many others.
What Kinds of Stories Are the Media Interested In?
Parenting books and authors lend themselves well to topics that come around every year, such as Halloween, back-to-school, and holidays. Then there are always new health and educational recommendations coming out of government departments or large research organizations such as the American Pediatric Association. We like to follow the news and pitch relevant story and segment ideas so that our parenting experts ride the edge of the latest news wave or trend—and can be the go-to experts on those topics. For instance, psychologist Dr. David Swanson, author of Help! My Kids Are Driving Me Crazy!, got a lot of great media hits, from Today to Working Mother magazine, when we pitched his expertise on dealing with holiday family travel and stress.
If you’re a parenting author, it makes a lot of sense to hire a good book publicist who can leverage your credentials, shape your message, and generate widespread national recognition for you and your book.