I am interviewing Ed Banker today at 3PM CT.  I am very excited to pick his brain about what media are looking for, how to approach them for interviews as well as what NOT to do.  If you want to be more radio and television savvy and gain more publicity, don't forget to tune in!  You can listen live and chat during the interview at www.blogtalkradio.com/sabrinasumsion.

I've been working on another pet project . . . as you know, I do interviews with various literary people on Mondays.  I will be adding Wednesdays to my line up talking about various books I have received for review.  Every Wednesday I will cover at least 3 books.  If you would like your book considered for review, please contact me.

Today is the last day of 2009 and I am pondering what 2010 has in store.  As I think about the possibilities and the potential paths to take, I'm a little overwhelmed.  Here are the plans I have in stone for 2010 professionally:

Release 12 more publicity tip videos on youtube.com

Launch "The Lost Secret to Lucrative Writing" in March with all the seats filled.

Hold two in-person seminars teaching about marketing and publicity.

Educate more authors about publicity and marketing.

Have a viable plan for a large writing conference in 2011.

 

What is your plan for 2010?

 

 

I had a reader ask me what were the top 10 things agents hate.  I sent an email to my friend Elizabeth Pomada at Pomada-Larsen Literary Agency and she sent me this list:

There was a post on Linkedin asking:

When do you hire a publicist? How do you find one you can afford?

Thank you for your thoughts and guidance on this. I have several books and CDs out, and several more in the works. I am beginning to get booked for major early childhood conferences in 2010 and 2011, and am wondering when do I need a publicist and how do I find one I can afford.

My answer is below but first:

I mean it when I say below to learn how to do a lot of your publicity yourself.  I've almost finished the materials for my first workshop on developing a marketing plan.  Do you have a marketing plan for your book project?  I believe they are vital to seeing a return on your publishing investment.  In 2010 I will do in-person events as well as online events teaching all the considerations you need to take into account when planning a book launch.  So far, the workbook has 50 pages.  Do you know all of the elements?  Join my mailing list and I'll send a note out when the seminars are ready.  I have on the calendar a plan for a seminar on how to approach different media and give them what they are looking for.  I also plan on teaching how to develop a platform as well as strategic partnering.

Also, I'll be offering 5 people on my mailing list the opportunity to do this session one-on-one for free to make sure I have all the data on paper.  Join my mailing list today!

Here is my answer:

As a publicist, I have mixed feelings about when to hire a publicist. of course, my bread and butter is getting people to hire me. On the other hand, I flat out turn down people simply because they will not make their money back on book sales.

First figure out what you can do yourself. This has been my main push lately with authors. There are programs, workshops and teleseminars which teach you tactics you can use yourself. I am developing a couple of those myself simply because new writers should not be investing thousands of dollars into hiring someone to do what they have time to do. Our economy simply can't handle tens of thousands of authors going into huge debt for this service. My advice: set aside half or 1/4 of what you would invest in a publicist and learn shameless self promotion. Learn marketing tactics. Learn how to develop a marketing plan. Learn how to contact media yourself and cut out the middle man.

I think that you should hire a publicist when you are so booked with meetings, presentations, chatting with event organizers, developing your content and traveling that you simply CANNOT find the time to do it yourself yet want publicity around your events and your message.

That said, you might need assistance like <the person who commented above me> in creating a professional press release and you might need help with a web site, social media, or other small projects. You can find companies who do those ala carte services.

If you decide you MUST have a publicist, decide what exactly you want that person to do and then find out how much time that requires. Decide how big of a name you want to hire to do your publicity. I know some good publicists who charge less than 40 an hour. I charge 40 an hour. Some publicists require a 6 month commitment and cost several thousand dollars a month. You can pay as much as $5,000/month if you want to. I know other publicists who charge per result so for example you can purchase radio interviews for $75 an interview. Publicists have a huge range of specialties as well so you might want one for online publicity and another for broadcast publicity.

I know this doesn't really whittle it down but you can pay whatever you want. The real question is what do you want them to do and how much do you want to pay?

An author who deals with romance topics asked for more guidance on setting up a newsletter.  I thought I'd share more details with everyone since it's a powerful publicity and social media tool.

First, you need to have your website designer set up some way of harvesting emails from visitors who want to sign up.

After you have a place to send people to sign up, go to your social media contacts and spread the word.

After you do that, prepare an article or two on romance then offer them to various publications.  Right now is a perfect time because magazines are shopping for Valentine's Day features.  To get in with newspapers, shop around a "Even When it's Cold Outside, You Can Make a Fire Burn Within Your Spouse This Holiday Season" to tie into the holidays.  Include in your short biography at the end of your article a message to sign up for your newsletter with romantic tips at your website.

I suggest that you begin now writing out as many romantic tips as you can think of.  Feel free to grab tips from your books.  Don't worry about making them long.  A couple lines is all you really need to keep in contact with your audience.  At the end of each email, add a line telling people to feel free to share the message and if someone shared the message with them, why not sign up for their own copy?

The biggest hurdle to overcome is developing consistant communication with your audience and as Paula Sansevieri said in our informative interview, educate, enlighten or entertain that audience.  Figure out today what information you can provide to your target market!