36 Comments

Brilliant! I am a former media person. The number of books and media requests (back fifteen years plus)

was staggering. My rule was to always respond. So many worthy books. So many articulate authors. Not enough opportunities for booking. Publicity is one of the toughest positions in publishing. You are responsible for the process….not the outcome. Thank you Kathleen.

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Hi Carol!

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Hi Kathleen!

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This was great to read from your point of view. I receive a lot of pitches for my podcast and I actually WANT to say yes when I can. Without question, I find it easier to say yes when the publicist (or author) provides 1-3 title ideas for the episode they're pitching. Meaning, I do want a pitch for an episode, not just a pitch to have the author as a guest and for me to figure out the angle. (Unless I'm pitching the guest-- then I do the angle part.) I've had some excellent pitches from publicists, and I would not have had their clients on my radar without the email.

The publicist doesn't even need to have ever listened to the show, not even once. But glancing at the episode titles gives an easy sense of how narrow I go on the topic friendship. (Just using my podcast as an example.) When I get a pitch that says, "Author XYZ has a friendship in her book," I'm not sure what the expectation is for me. There are friendships is almost every book. What will the episode be ABOUT? Glancing at my titles will tell anyone the episode won't be about the book, but I will mention the book tons, especially on social media. The about . . . it really matters. That's all I need to know-- a sentence or two. Without it, I can't say yes.

I've had lots of authors on my show. I've had to say no to lots too though and it's always because there is no angle or the angle doesn't fit.

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Thank you for this. If you ever have the bandwidth, I'd love to hear your advice for how authors can best work with publicist - what we can do to help & what we shouldn't do. It's hard knowing where the line is between being engaged, and being interfering or pushy!

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Hi there. If you look at my archives, there’s a newsletter about this.

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Oh you gem, thank you. Still finding my way here & keep forgetting to go through folks' archives

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This is a generous and helpful piece. Thank you.

As a new reader of this Substack, something I’d love to read your take on is Publicist vs. Marketing: An Author’s Guide to Who Does What. ✨

Thank you for your work!

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Great advice for just about any working person. I can see this advice working well for fundraisers as well! They go through more 'no's' when asking for money, which is why I had a very hard time doing that work. I always felt personally rejected. Pitching a story is similar. Coming up with that perfect lede that will hook them in was always key. Nowadays, as you say, journalists are overworked and understaffed, I'm not sure a good hook will even do the trick. I'm wishing you a happy, restful week. Go and enjoy yourself. xo

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Such great insight - thank you! So helpful for me as an author to understand a publicist's role and to be patient with all of the effort I don't see. Enjoy the warm climate.

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This is such a gentle essay with much compassion and tips for long term sustenance!

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As an author this is really useful info, thank you 🙏 - though sad to read how tough things have got. Starting to wonder if there anyone working in the publishing industry who is actually healthy and happy!? It feels pretty brutal for everyone atm 😬🫣

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It has always had a level of being brutal. It's just that people don't talk about it.

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Ahh I miss my days in publishing. As a "local media escort" I always dreaded the question "Is my publicist doing a good job? I'm not on (fill in the most popular show) and other authors are" Of course I always assured them that you were, indeed, doing a great job. But sometimes it was hard not to mention that their book wasn't very good.

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I hope you are well. I hope you take care of you because selfishly your voice is important to me. And I'll bet to a lot of others. Take good care of YOU!

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YOU ARE IN MY BRAIN! I have been at this for 30+ years myself, and still feel so many of the things I did when I first started. Publicity is hard and getting harder, and no one other than another publicist truly understands. THANK YOU for this post and your efforts to demystify the publishing process.

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A great perspective for those authors who don't know much about the publicist's job, and a helpful reminder for those who think they do.

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"Those who think they do" = every author ever ;)

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Such a terrific post that can relate to any profession. "Don't wait until burnout to take time off" -I'm guilty of waiting for sure. Thanks for sharing!

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Exactly. One author recently sent me a list of "PR ideas" from a friend of hers and it was a laundry list of publications and bookstores from the New York Times to addresses of local B&N stores. As if it never occurred to me to send the book to the NYT for review (where less than 1% of all books sent to them are reviewed) or that just knowing that a B&N is around the corner means that store will automatically book my author and the half a million other authors publishing in the same calendar year. Sigh.

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I so get it. Been there.

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This is such a great article. As a first time author, I had no idea what publicists really do or what to expect. I really appreciate seeing the human side of publicity. I mostly appreciate your vulnerability so others that are feeling the same know they are not alone.

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Thank you.

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I am a publicist in a different creative industry, and I must co-sign this. We have all the responsibility and very little of the power, which is guaranteed to breed intense anxiety. The more authors, artists, and other creatives understand how all this works and, importantly, feels, the better they can work with us and get the most value from that positive collaboration.

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Exactly this.

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