You need to think about your expectations and if a freelance publicist can help you to better achieve them than you can on your own or with the resources that your publisher is providing. So get to work and blog, tweet, and post on social media about your book. . You’ll receive exclusive tips on how to create like DaVinci, promote like Dali, and seize your inevitable success. After that, the second most important thing will be building up your OWN audience and platform, so you are less tempted to pay for bullshit marketing services that won’t help your long-term author career. A book publicist isn’t an option for your book or career if: You think a publicist should work for a percentage of book sales. Guest contributors to Publishing Perspectives have diverse backgrounds in publishing, media and technology. There are a variety of options to choose from. Remember that the person you hire should work for you. But just as with any other element of your book marketing plan, having a book publicist will not guarantee book sales. There are a million books on business. OK, so you’ll hire a publicist. […], © 2020 The Book Commentary LLC Publicists can do fabulous things for authors. If you don’t know what all this means, now is a great time to join my private course and membership community (or just download the free guide and workbook, which explains most of this stuff). Remember . Your ultimate success depends on your continued commitment to promoting your book from your end. Specifically, use content marketing to get traffic; use a permafree book and optin bribe to build an email list; offer vulnerable shares and valuable content to build trust; use image qoutes and excerpts to build desire before launch; launch with ad stacking and list trades; write series and complete boxsets so you have a higher value ladder and can bid more on ads; run ads as long as they’re profitable (if you cant advertise profitably, there’s a problem with your conversion or targeting – product market fit). It may seem like publishing is getting saturated, but the truth is there is a ton of demand from readers that is not being met, because the majority of writers are choosing to write in less commercial genres. You want to speak to authors who have used the services of the publicist. Should I Hire A Book Publicist? If you need help getting started, I have a course on writing bestsellers, and a bundle to help you build a fanbase, that are highly recommended. Identify Your Target Audience. How to Hire a Book Publicist (and Develop a Publicity Strategy for Your Book) 1. After that, it’s time for her to move on to other projects. check to make sure the book has obvious value (content, title, subtitle), make sure your cover attracts that audience, invest in building your own email list and audience (which means after you blow all the money, sales will dry up and your book will be invisible again), get enough book reviews before you launch. The same rules apply as for finding the right editor. How much does editing cost and are you being ripped off? The huge array of media opportunities available to anyone with an internet connection may overwhelm you. Ask them about books they are working on or books they have marketed and find out how they are doing. Many stores and buyers are the same way. A publicist’s assistance may cost thousands of dollars and provide services for several months or longer. The hype doesn’t last long as the publisher quickly moves to the next title or reaches the limit of funds allocated for your book marketing. Go Publish Yourself offers affordable marketing services as well as resources and articles to help get you started on conducting your own campaign. They might help you: find relevant bloggers or platforms and approach them 6months in advance Another of the popular author questions. But how do you make sure you hire the right book publicist? They want to make sure they sell enough copies of this one to get a solid advance for the next one. Once you know what your in-house publicist does, you can easily get the outside professional publicist to fill in the gaps. Certainly there are a lot of practical ways that a dedicated publicist may make a significant difference for nonfiction titles. Creating a website for your book and blogging about it is a good start. Individuals looking to build a platform for a career’s worth of books. But just as with any other element of your book marketing plan, having a book publicist will not guarantee book sales. Either of your publicists will help you arrange these events, or you can do the footwork yourself. “it takes a certain amount of financial security to be able to put one’s feet up and keep the pen on paper. $100s in discounts on publishing, printing, eBook formatting, and more The author is also working during this time and using a publicist will probably make you busier than you were without one. They just want to pay someone to make their book successful, without focusing on writing books that sell; getting professional covers; building organic traffic or engaging with their email list. Having a dedicated book publicist can increase your legitimacy, afford you unique publicity opportunities, and free up hours of time that you might have spent trying to make contacts. How to build a profitable online business you can run from anywhere, How to write & publish a bestselling book without spending any money, Cover design secrets manipulate readers into buying books, The 8 brilliant fonts you NEED to use in your book layout (with type combinations and samples), How to build an email list of supportive fans BEFORE you launch. People who have already invested in a professional cover design and editing and who have asked several objective readers to provide constructive feedback on the book.