C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists | C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists

Creating Authors’ Own “Oprah Moments”

July 16, 2025July 16, 2025 by Cathy Lewis

In book publishing, authors are constantly in search of ways to elevate their exposure and connect with readers. As the “Oprah moment” has now become a cultural phenomenon representing the ideal of catapulting a book into the limelight, authors and publicists alike are striving to create and leverage such moments to achieve success in the competitive book market.

The essence of aspirational moments
Aspirational moments are those instances when an author connects with their audience in a way that leads to significant sales spikes and heightened visibility. Like Oprah moments when an author’s book captures the spotlight, these moments can take various forms — through a heartfelt interview, a viral social media post, a powerful book launch event, and others. They allow readers to relate with the author in a way that captures their imagination and encourages them to seek out the author’s work.

The ‘So-What’ Is the Secret Sauce in Book Publicity

May 20, 2020 by Cathy Lewis

In a crowded, hypercompetitive, and oh-so-noisy marketplace, book publicity isn’t getting any easier. To succeed, especially at the highest levels, it’s important to know why a book matters.

I’m not talking about peppy platitudes, gross generalities, or heaven forbid, shameless self-promotion. I’m talking about current, concrete relevance — in the here and now, in the real world — preferably communicated in a sentence or two.

I call this “the so-what.” And in respect to every media decision maker — whether in print, broadcast, or digital — it answers an all-important question: Why should I care?

7 Ways to Never Run Out of Book Publicity Content

July 25, 2019 by Cathy Lewis

By any measure, content marketing is the new and ever-expanding ‘it’ in business and branding circles everywhere. Regardless of type — consumer or B2B, digital or traditional — marketing campaigns now run on content. Today, even Coca-Cola spends more money creating its own content than it does on television advertising.

For authors, book publicity and promotion is no exception: Content is king — if you never run out of ideas. For articles, blogs, podcasts, videos, social sharing, media interviews, and more, you need a constant pipeline. Or as one content marketing expert put it, “you need to keep feeding the beast.”

But how can you keep the ideas coming? Here are seven surefire ways to ensure you never run out of content.

Book Publicity Does More Than Promote Books. It Builds Brands

April 17, 2019July 25, 2019 by Cathy Lewis

Why do authors write books? For most, their primary reason is clear: They want to build their personal brand — a smart first-line strategy, particularly now when the average nonfiction book sells less than 250 copies a year.

Today, book publicity — a must-have marketing tool in the new, overcrowded publishing world — does more than promote books. It is purposely designed to build brands.

Consider these key reasons, all proven brand builders, why.