The career novelist

THE CAREER NOVELIST

Regarding your publisher, experienced self-promoters know that
when their editors say they want to control the flow of information
to their company's publicists, that can really mean that they want to
keep you out of the publicists' hair. I cannot totally blame them.
Publicists are busy. They have limited budgets and busy schedules.
If you are not on their agenda (or in their budget) there is probably
little they can do to help you.
Ditto the sales department. To get help you will have to break
through those barriers, though slowly and respectfully. You need to
make your publicist your friend. That means showing that you
understand his job and, at least at first, doing much of the work
yourself. When you do get results, send your publicist a letter and
enclose a clipping or a tape. Send a copy to your publicist when you
send your thank you letters. Show them you are a player.
Getting to know your local sales rep can be helpful, too, but once
again it is important to be respectful of her time. Keep her informed,
but do not expect her to do much more than make sure there are
copies in a store when you go to sign—and remember that may
require giving a month's advance notification.
One more thing: pray that your publisher keeps your books in
print.
Once you've made your contacts and done your initial local pro-
motion, you can branch out. Buttons and bookmarks are low-cost
items that can be mailed to stores and left behind after signings.
Design a press kit. This is a glossy folder that contains (depending
on its purpose) a pitch letter, a press release, an author photo, tear
sheets—i.e., reviews, articles, and interviews—and sample ques-
tions for media people to ask.
Now you are in a position to sell yourself to local newspapers,
and to radio and TV stations. Always get in touch with the person
best positioned to help you. At a TV talk show, that is the talent
coordinator and/or producer. If your first contact is not interested in
you, ask for the name of someone who might be. At radio stations,
call the news director and ask about programs.
Radio, in fact, is one of the biggest secrets of book publicists.
(Well, it is not terribly secret anymore.) Public radio, in particular, is
well plugged in to readers. On the national level "All Things Con-