Do You Know What a Book Publicist Does?

Posted on July 27, 2017October 14, 2024 by CMPR

A Guide for Creating Your Own Campaigns

Are you an author? Is your book about to be published? Are you wondering how to promote your book?

Over the years, Claire McKinney has found that the lack of information on how book promotion works has left most authors in the dark, without a clear idea of how they can contribute to their own campaigns. In her book, she opens a window into the world of media relations and publicity so that authors will learn:

How to promote your book to the media
How to create your own media contact list
How to write press materials and how to use them
How to create a timeline and plan a campaign on your own
How to pitch, who to pitch to, and when
How to talk to your publisher about publicity

Order your copy today!

4 Publicity Lessons We Can Learn from Chris Christie

Posted on July 17, 2017October 19, 2017 by Keely Flanagan

beach chair chris christie It’s been two weeks since Chris Christie was seen chilling on Island Beach State Park with his family, setting off an internet meme fest and the lowest ratings yet of his 8-year career as the governor of New Jersey. Even though most news stories fade by this point, the photos of Governor Christie sitting in a beach chair are already being chalked up as one for the ages.

Luckily for us, there’s a lesson or two to be learned about publicity, whether you’re a public figure, an author, or a brand.

Here are four public relations lessons we can learn from Governor Chris Christie:

Don’t do a 180. When Superstorm Sandy hit, Christie was up and down the NJ coastline with President Obama. Back then, Christie was hailed as a hero. But the fiasco of #Bridgegate and #Beachgate, plus Christie’s attempt to put his hat in the ring for the 2016 presidency, left the New Jersey public feeling abandoned and his job left unfinished. When you do a complete 180 of your brand’s platform, it can leave your audience feeling confused, annoyed, or angry. Sudden moves=disgruntled public.

Keep your cool in an interview, even if it’s not going well. Recently Chris Christie was on a radio show, auditioning for a position as a host. Although it was pretty rude that one of the callers named Christie a “fat ass,” Christie also acted negatively when he called the man “a communist” and a “bum.” If you are in an interview and a host or caller is being unpleasant or asking uncomfortable questions, it says something about your character if you don’t stoop to their level and instead respond in a gracious, calm, and professional manner.

Not all publicity is “good publicity,” and public opinion counts. They say that all publicity is good, but not if the end result is detrimental to your brand. United Airlines and Pepsi’s recent missteps also prove that point—and now, especially with United, people are still on high-alert for their next slip-up (for instance, Inc. recently wrote a piece about United’s roll-out of selling already-booked tickets for a higher price instead of double-booking flights). With Governor Christie, he chooses to act dismissive towards reporters and citizens instead of responding in a courteous manner (“Run for governor, and you can have a residence”). So far, his belligerent reactions have backfired and the public has a low opinion of him.

Stick it out until the end. With only a few months of his governorship left, it’s clear that Chris Christie is “over” his position. But when you are a public figure, it’s best to maintain your grace and message until the end—so that when you finish a publicity campaign for your product, idea, or brand, you are leaving on a high note.

Do you have questions about publicity? Tweet at us @McKinneyPR. And, since we’re on the topic, tell us about your favorite beach or summer vacation spot!

Links Roundup, Week of 7/10

Posted on July 14, 2017October 19, 2017 by Keely Flanagan

We are halfway through summer! Hopefully those summer reads have come to the beach, on vacation, or cozied up with at home!

7 SEO Mysteries Solved. [Entrepreneur]

What are the best summer reads according to Forbes? [Forbes]

Publishing 101: 3 Things I’ve Learned About Book Production

Posted on July 10, 2017July 27, 2017 by Claire McKinney

book production cmpr On the heels of my post about selling and the little guy, here is some information about things I’ve learned about the book production process from publishing on my own. I’ve worked with many independent authors and have tried to help them through various parts of the book production process, including getting an editor, a book designer, jacket designer, etc. But there is nothing like experiencing a process first hand to find out how things REALLY work.

A few basic things I found about the book production process are:

It doesn’t cost a fortune to hire a decent jacket designer. You do need to make sure the person you work with can do the kind of jacket you need produced, but my designer has done fiction and non-fiction and I’m happy with his work.
Copyeditors are not that expensive and a must for a professionally produced book. Twenty-five dollars an hour, folks. If you have the next version of War and Peace, I’m sure that will rack up the hours quickly. For my book there are many sections, fact checking items, and other things that took time even though it’s only 175 pages. Still, not that pricey and very important to do.
It will take at least a month from the time you finish the book to the time you are able to submit your files to your printer/publisher. This is even a pretty tight time frame and doesn’t allow for vacations, family emergencies, your ability to make the changes the editor sends your way, and anything else you can think of that will hold you up. I was clear about the direction my book was taking, and in advance of the copyedit, two people I consider members of “the grammar police” read and critiqued it for me. That saved me time with the professional editing process.

As I continue this journey, I will try to provide things I’ve learned that may be helpful. If you want to send me questions directly, you can do so at claire@clairemckinneypr.com or on Twitter @McKinneyPR. Thank you for reading!

P.S. The last Amazon listing I checked in reference to my book said “9 copies left, more on the way.” I guess that’s a good thing.

Publishing 101: When the “Little Guy” Struggles to Sell a Book

Posted on June 28, 2017July 27, 2017 by Claire McKinney

It’s hard for a person to figure out how to publish, market, and publicize her work on her own, and it is even more difficult to simply make the book available for sale. Among all of the e-retailers out there, we know that Amazon ranks king in the world of online sales—which is where most of an indie publisher’s books will sell. If you go through CreateSpace, an Amazon company, you will have a much easier time of getting your book on their site and available without too much fuss. If you decide to start a new business and imprint, like I did, and choose to go through the Ingram platform IngramSpark instead, well, that’s where more problems can occur.

It can take a month for the information about your book on Ingram to be completely reflected on Amazon. Ingram sends it in an instant, but Amazon goes through a process that takes time. During this period your book might be listed as “out of stock”, “ships in 2-4 weeks”, “ships in 2-5 weeks”, or nothing much at all. I’m okay with that, because it’s common knowledge if you read all the print, fine and otherwise, on Ingram and Amazon. I also know from working with authors, that this is a standard.

What I don’t understand is what’s happened to my book since its publication date, which was June 6, 2017. Since then it’s been listed as “ships in 2-5 weeks”, “out-of-stock”, “ships in 1-2 weeks”, and lately with a random future availability date that Amazon pulled out of a hat. My first line of defense was to call Ingram.

Here is an approximate run down of what happened with Ingram:

Me: “Hi, I’m calling because I don’t understand why my book, , isn’t immediately for sale on Amazon, especially given it is a print-on-demand title. Theoretically it should be available almost immediately with shipping being the only issue.”

Ingram: “Hmmm, well I don’t see anything wrong with your account or what we sent. You know, Amazon sometimes will hold individual customer orders for POD and submit them all at once. This is why the book may not listed as available.”

Me: “What?! You mean if someone orders my book, the order could be held with several other titles ordered by different people until Amazon feels like sending them over to Ingram?”

Ingram: “Yes, that’s possible and we have no idea of why Amazon does that. In fact, we have no idea of how or why Amazon does what it does and we’ve given up trying to figure it out.”

Me: “Right, and they won’t tell you why because it’s an algorithm thing or something like that.”

Ingram: “Correct. But, you do have your ‘BUY’ button, that’s a good sign.”

Me: “My ‘BUY’ button? You mean they could take that off whenever they want?”

Ingram: “Yes. And again, we don’t know why they do that, but we get a lot of calls from authors who have that problem. There isn’t anything we can do except send the title information to Amazon again and hope that jars something for them.”

Me (thinking): This sounds like the kick the vending machine way of getting results, but what do I know?

Me: “Well, thank you for your help. I understand you are doing what you can.”

Ingram: “Good luck.”

Good luck, indeed. Since I published the book to help people who need a resource and can’t afford to hire a publicist, and because I have a day job, I can let some of this slide without worrying about missed sales opportunities. But what about writers who are expecting to earn a living, or are currently earning a living from their books?

I’m hoping that the more titles you publish the more influence you have with Amazon and the more seamless the process gets. For now, I can only say keep an eye on your BUY button and watch what happens with other titles you know. Maybe there is an order to this that we aren’t aware of, kind of like the universe. On second thought—Amazon-the universe—I hope not.

Category: News