• This piece is adapted from Betsy Lerner’s new book The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice for Writers (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century). By Betsy Lerner When I was a young editor at Houghton Mifflin in the mid-Eighties, I was assigned to work on a paperback series of successful books called Guerrilla Marketing. The books were an …
“I Paid Them to Read My Book”: Jennifer Belle’s “The Laughter Project” Pays Dividends
By Jennifer Belle • Author Jennifer Belle took her book publicity into her own hands by hiring actresses “to read my book on the subway and at New York City landmarks for $8/hr” • Jennifer and her story of the publicity stunt ended up in the New York Times, the NY Post, on author blogs and on Judith Regan’s Sirius …
Digital Case Study: Can Goodreads Ads Help Unknown Authors Find an Audience?
By Karen Holt Goodreads.com, where authors use social networking to connect with fans and attract new readers, has quietly been building a program that lets writers and publishers pay to kickstart interest in their titles among the site’s 3.4 million book-loving members. Appearing under the label, “Sponsored Books,” the pay-per-click ads typically include a brief description of a title and …
Bonus Material: Is Xlibris Profiting More from Selling Publicity than Printing?
By Edward Nawotka As part of the compensation for her troubles with Xlibris (outlined in our feature article), Joanne Gail Johnson was offered what appeared to be a generous marketing plan, including an offer to send press releases to 100 media outlets (valued at $349) and promoting the book to 100 Web sites (valued at $299). But Johnson felt this …
What’s the Buzz: Pynchon’s Trailer; Digital World Book Conference
By Hannah Johnson The best of social media and the blogosphere… httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U One of the hottest links and retweets of the past few days has been the book trailer for Thomas Pynchon’s new novel, Inherent Vice, which was published on August 4 by Penguin Press. Even I have to admit that this book trailer is a good one. And who …
The Database Dilemma: Managing the Publicity “List”
By Chris Artis A book publicist is only as good as his or her Rolodex. That was one of the first things I learned nearly two decades ago, when I was an assistant in a two-person publicity department in a small New York publishing house. My boss’s Rolodex was large and overstuffed with the business cards of editors, reporters, and …
Bonus Material: How Much Does a Publicity List Cost?
By Chris Artis As discussed today, publicity lists are among the most essential tools a publicist has to promote a new book. But how much do they cost? Peter Grand, Inc. charges a one-time fee for installing the Publicity Assistant 2000 program. The amount is based on a per user basis and can run from $6,500 per user to as little …
Frank McCourt and the Texas Kid: What I Learned About Private Planes, Irish Accents, and Fame
By Erin L. Cox Sunday marked the passing of Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirist Frank McCourt. Best known for his internationally bestselling memoir about his poor, Irish childhood, Angela’s Ashes, Frank was also a beloved New York City schoolteacher, playwright, and a fantastic storyteller. What I worry about is that people will think of Frank only as the poor boy from Limerick, …