THE CAREER NOVELIST
coordinators at "Donahue" and "Oprah"? Should you send in your
life savings to secure advertising space? What about signings?
Satellite TV tours? What is effective? What does it cost?
Are you a numbskull for simply staying home and writing? Before
answering those questions, let's first do a reality check and see how
promotion is actually done by the pros in the book business.
HOW THE PROS DO IT
First, all publishers promote. They may merely mail review copies,
or they may launch expensive, twenty-city author tours. Either way,
the employee responsible for that stuff is the publicist.
Talk to a publicist and you will discover an alternate way of look-
ing at publishing. Whether your book is good or bad may matter to
your publicist personally—they are book lovers, too—but in the end
the quality of it is immaterial to his job. More important is you. Are
you attractive? At ease in interviews? Do you have a salable topic or
personal story?
In short, are you "promotable"?
Let's assume the answer to that question is yes. Let's also
assume that at your publisher's all-important marketing meeting, in
which upcoming books and authors are culled, you and your novel
are singled out for a push. What happens then?
Two or three months prior to publication you meet with your
publicist. Here she determines your assets: who you are, what you
do, whom you know, your level of experience with the media, and so
forth. Are you an expert in forensic archaeology? Good. Are you mar-
ried to a celebrity chef? Useful. Is your book especially appealing to
scuba divers? Fine. All these suggest promotional angles.
A plan is formed. Depending on the budget for your book, a list
of targets grows. The idea is to generate word-of-mouth about you
among the readers most likely to fork over their hard-earned cash
for your book. Fortunately, there are thousands of opportunities,
from local newspapers to industry associations to specialty maga-
zines to radio chat shows to "Geraldo." Press kits are mailed and
pitches are made. You are "booked."
You hit the road.