How Much Does Publicity Cost?

A breakdown of expenses + a roundup of publishing news.

If you’ve noticed, I’m trying to write more than one newsletter per week. I want to share a lot of content, and writing makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. Today, I want to talk about how much publicity costs. I’ll provide some sample fees, but I also want you to see what it costs me to keep my business running.

First, let’s break down my overhead. I work from home, so I don’t pay for an office, though my home office is designated as such for tax reasons.

Tools I need to do my job, and yes, they are business write-offs, but can be painful out-of-pocket:

Muck Rack is a media database. Most publicists use this, Cision, or something similar. Usually, they find a group to share the cost. My share is supposed to be $2500 for the year starting June 1, but we lost two people, and if we don’t find replacements, it will cost us $4000 per publicist. Friends, that is expensive and a necessary evil.

PodChaser is a podcast database that costs me $3000 per year. I have mixed feelings about it because sometimes it’s excellent, and other times I never find what I need.

PodMatch is a platform where publicists can add clients and match them with relevant podcasts. However, publicists still must vet the requests and schedule. It costs me $64 per month.

Press Pulse AI is a platform where your client’s profile matches media requests. Publicists must review each request to see if it is a fit. I’m experimenting with it, using myself as the client. It costs me $34 per month.

PodPitch is very new and very expensive. I like the founders because you can directly communicate with them, and when you develop a relationship, they’ll build whatever you suggest. AI powers the platform, and publicists choose how many profiles to add. The publicist provides a pitch, etc., and AI finds relevant podcasts. I’ve had great success with it, but it can cost up to $800 per month or more on top of a membership fee (Mine is currently the lowest plan, $99/month). Needless to say, I use it sparingly.

Canva is a platform where people can create digital assets and more. It costs me $13 per month.

ChatGPT + Claude AI are AI platforms. I pay $40 total per month for both. They help with various tasks.

Calendly is a scheduling tool that costs me $12 per month.

*I’m omitting my cell, WiFi, postage, printer ink, paper, etc., because those are obvious expenses.

Subscriptions: This is a broad category, but it includes every media subscription in my household, including newsletters, Adobe, and streaming services. The total cost in 2024 was over $5000. That’s all I’ll say.

Publicist Fees:

I want authors to understand why publicists charge what they do. One reason is every expense I listed above. Another reason is time. The more time a project will consume, the higher the fee, which means I can’t take on additional work. I’m okay with that because I’m getting paid for my time. Conversely, I’ve learned the hard way that undercharging authors because I feel bad that publicity can be unaffordable…is not viable. It means I must take on a lot of extra work to make up for the fiscal deficit from taking on a project where I should’ve charged more. This is a hypothetical: Providing a PR campaign for $5000 is unrealistic because it takes up a lot of a publicist’s time, but you’re also not paying them a fee that prevents them from taking on a bigger workload.

So, then, what is a fair fee? Well, that depends. My retainer clients (clients who pay me a monthly fee) are a priority. They require the most from me, and what I charge depends on the scope of work. Retainers are all over the place. They can be as low as $3K and as high as $20K monthly. The latter is usually reserved for celebrity publicists, but I’ve seen monthly retainers for book publicists as high as $10K. There are also flat fees, where a publicist may hypothetically charge $15K for a campaign, and the client pays $7500 up front and another $7500 upon the campaign’s conclusion. You can also ask if a publicist offers “à la carte” services. For example, I offer a package that includes only pitching podcasts and/or newsletters—podcasts work best for nonfiction. My minimum is $5K, with $2500 paid up front. I can be flexible with payment plans; other publicists may do the same. Ask them, and be aware that we must pay quarterly taxes, so sometimes, low fees are like no fees.

If marketing elements are included in a campaign, it is more expensive. I suggest you talk to your publishing team to get a sense of their marketing and publicity plans before you reach out to a publicist. You may find you don’t need to hire someone, or you will better understand how hiring an outside publicist can fill gaps that your in-house team isn’t covering.

Some Hard Truths:

• If you are considering the self-publishing or hybrid publishing routes, you must have a platform. Traditional media will not pay attention to self-published books unless they’re a “phenomenon” (sell a ton of copies + get picked up by a traditional publisher). Reviews are pretty much off the table for self-published books unless you go the blog tour route (which I fully support) or pay for reviews, especially in Kirkus or Publishers Weekly. The same holds for hybrid books, but podcasts are definitely in play if they are non-fiction. I’ve followed indie romance authors for years, and they are the best at building their platforms and connecting with readers. A platform is non-negotiable for self-published and hybrid-published authors.

• I understand why some authors go with micro-presses (very small indie publishers), but the problem is that those publishers don’t have the resources to put marketing muscle behind books. When publishers don’t put any marketing behind a book and create ARCs less than three months from publication, it isn’t suitable for the book. I would advise authors considering this route to ensure they work on building a platform first. There are publicity opportunities, but your best bet for sales will come from connecting directly with your readers. I sound like a broken record, but this is especially important for fiction authors.

• Ads rarely sell books. Sometimes, ads are used to amplify awareness of a book. That’s how I view Goodreads (though I do not like that platform). Geoff Affleck did a webinar with Jane Friedman a couple of weeks ago, and had such great suggestions for Amazon ads. His business is partly creating and managing Amazon ads for authors—the caveat is that you must be willing to spend at least $500 monthly on the ads. Here is his website.

• Advice for assessing your finances before talking to a publicist: This is tough love from me, but please know if you have under $5K to spend for a campaign, you’re not going to get far. There are publicists available who offer services like creating press kits, etc., which will cost less and work for hybrid and self-published authors if said authors can put in a lot of time for a DIY campaign.

• No one can guarantee publicity results. Any promotion you see where someone says they can 100% get you on national media is a scam. Additionally, any promotion where someone guarantees they can make your book a bestseller is a scam. There are many people out there who will gladly take your money and run. Don’t fall into that trap. There is no world where any publicist can guarantee media and bestseller status. You should also subscribe to Writer Beware.

• There is no standard number of copies a book sells.

• Pre-sales are difficult. It drives me crazy when publishers harp on authors about getting pre-sales. Most people don’t pre-order books unless it’s a highly anticipated release, a celebrity, or another high-profile author. Pre-orders are not indicative of a book’s sales trajectory. Publishers get worried when they announce a big book and there are crickets in terms of pre-orders, which is justified because they probably spent a boatload of money on the advance. The average book doesn’t gain the same traction with pre-orders. People, especially in the current economy, are unwilling to shell out money unless they get a product sent immediately. A publicist can offer no secret sauce for getting more pre-sales, but using your platform to ask your readers to pre-order your book is never a bad idea.

I hope this was helpful to you. Please remember this is general advice; every book is different, so no experience is identical.

Quick Publishing Hits (all links are gift links):

• I caught some chatter about this on Threads as it was happening. The “A Million Lives Book Festival” was a bust, and people lost thousands of dollars. I don’t know how people sleep knowing they’re ripping off authors. Here’s an article about it in Newsweek.

• The National Endowment for the Arts rescinded grants that affected some publishers. This isn't good for the industry. You can read about it here.

• Let’s not pretend that Mr. Beast is actually writing fiction. If HarperCollins paid eight figures for this book, they better hope and pray that Mr. Beast’s YouTube audience reads. When I envision the Venn diagram of James Patterson, Mr. Beast, and readers, I don’t see the Mr. Beast crowd as a huge book-buying audience. Let’s see what happens!

• Oh, here’s some unsurprising news:

• I’m not sure how I feel about the process the Pulitzer Prizes adhere to for fiction.

• Commentary: I’ve read about what happened when Glennon Doyle joined Substack. Doyle is a bestselling author and podcaster with an enormous platform (I’m simplifying this for people who don’t know who she is). Here’s the thing: You don’t get to dictate who joins a platform or how they join it. If you are that concerned about someone with a vast following joining the platform, maybe Substack isn’t right for you. In my opinion, there’s room for everyone, and when a person like Glennon Doyle joins Substack, they bring an audience with them who may not have known about Substack (newsflash: many people don’t). That audience could have discovered your work. Two things happen when your actions make a person quit a platform: 1) You are choosing people who wanted to read her work here, but now they can’t. 2) Writers often complain about the publishing industry being filled with gatekeepers. When you essentially force a person to quit this platform so you can have your time here without their presence, allegedly stealing your readers, you become a gatekeeper. Is that what you want? I don’t think so. Did you consider that someone at her publisher might read your screed about Glennon Doyle? What if you had a book on submission there? Do you think that’ll help? It won’t. Think hard about what you put forth online, and why. No lives are at stake when most big names join Substack. Let’s not act like it. Full disclosure: I have never read Glennon Doyle—not my thing—but I respect her work, and she helps people, so good for her.

END NOTE:

A special ask: I am compiling a spreadsheet of newsletters and contact information. If you’re interested in being on my list for book releases, events, etc., contact me: publishingconfidential@gmail.com (Please do not use this email to send me complaints about what I write. I won’t respond, and it’s more reflective of you being mean.)

Please include the name of your newsletter, what you write about, the number of subscribers, your contact email, and what kind of books interest you. Don’t worry, your info will not be shared, and I will not spam you with pitches. I’m being very intentional about this.