The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry is currently number 7 on the New York Times best seller list but how did this originally self-published title that ended up selling to Morrow for 2.4 million make such a splash? Jocelyn Kelley from Kelley & Hall Book Publicity (Barry’s original publicist)has the inside scoop.
We want you to know that we are thrilled with the attention that The Lace Reader is getting. We are so happy that we were able to be a part of such an exciting and powerful discovery in the literary community. Our only regret is that we have received virtually no recognition for our significant part in these events.
We met Brunonia “Sandy” Barry and her husband, Gary Ward, one year before they self published “The Lace Reader”. We met through a mutual friend who worked at an independent bookstore. Sandy and Gary wanted help with publicity and had no real knowledge of the publishing industry. They were excited to hear that we had been in the publicity and publishing business for over five years and had much success under our belts.
They were contemplating hiring us but until that decision was made they wanted to see if we “connected with the work and had any constructive criticism regarding plot, characters, etc. We were given a manuscript and met with Gary and Sandy a number of times to discuss the story line as well as the ins and outs of publishing, publicity, etc. Gary, who expressed that he was a novice in publishing, had begun his own publishing company, Flapjacket Press, and wanted to learn as much as he could about the industry.
After eight months and numerous intense meetings, we were finally hired. We helped them get a distributor because they weren’t able to find someone who would take them on as a client with only one title. They were turned down by Midpoint and did not know who else to approach. We had a relationship with a distributor who agreed to handle the distribution for Flapjacket Press as a favor to us. Gary also asked our advice on the cover art – the initial book cover design was a teapot and closely resembled cozy paperback mysteries. We made a number of suggestions, emailed images to them and the end result was an attractive lace cover.
Continue reading about the “dirty little invisible secret” after the jump.
One of the major turning points of our promotional campaign involved Publishers Weekly. Sandy wanted to be listed under literary fiction and was initially rejected by Publishers Weekly under that category. We spoke directly with the managing editor and suggested that they review it under the mystery genre. The result was a starred review in Publishers Weekly which became the catalyst for attracting agents and editors.
When we suggested that we send out 500 galleys to independent bookstores, Gary thought we were out of our minds… a far cry from the 20,000 galleys that were sent out by William Morrow.
We were able to secure a number of favorable reviews, and even helped them with their decision when agents started knocking on their door.
When Sandy called to tell us about her deal, the sale of her book to William Morrow for $2.4 million dollars, she asked if we were sitting down. We were! She said “we love you guys” and told us about her amazing success. Unfortunately that did not include keeping us on as her publicists. She proceeded to hire Stephen King’s accountant, Nicholas Sparks’ attorney and placed all of her publicity needs in the hands of William Morrow. After a year of virtual silence and ignored requests for a quote about the great work we had done, we were invited to the “all the little people who helped us” party – alongside some high school friends, the owner of the local bookstore and her editor and publicity person from William Morrow. This was a far cry from the daily phone calls, unannounced visits and multiple daily emails we received from them during our time working on The Lace Reader.
We became the unsung heroes – and are mentioned rarely in interviews as “I hired a publicist”. You can see that without us, The Lace Reader would not have achieved the stratospheric success that it ultimately obtained. We expressed to Sandy and Gary that we are a small company who prides itself on our intense enthusiasm and passion for getting books into the media. We have received absolutely no recognition from Sandy, her husband Gary, William Morrow or any of the news outlets who have covered this extraordinary situation. Why are the publicists the “dirty little invisible secret” in a books’ success?
What do you think?