When I read Elizabeth Royte’s “Publish and Perish” on the back page of yesterday’s NYT Book Review, something about its tone struck me as a little off. It could be that Royte’s “insights” about the “self-induced misery” authors put themselves through when their book comes to market were just old hat, but sometimes the NYTBR back page almost seems designed for that sort of tired truism, so the clichés shouldn’t be that striking. What nagged at me the most, I think, was this passage, about halfway through the described spin cycle:
“Denial: Author speed-dials publicist to ask, ‘Are you sure there aren’t any other reviews?’ Hires private publicist.”
Now, as an about-to-be published author myself, I’m generally sympathetic to in-house publicists and the great work they can do (hi, Claire!) for their books. But this whole idea (elaborated at other points in the story) that authors are clingy annnoyances to the publicist is somewhat offensive. And it’s especially worth noting that authors hire outside publicists for reasons other than desperation to keep their book alive.
“Publishers do a usually serviceable and occasionally wonderful job of engaging booksellers and ‘book page’ editors at print publications (and perhaps selected television and radio),” says independent publicist Lauren Cerand, “but it is a disservice to authors to suggest that is enough in our contemporary era.” In fact, says Pearl Abraham, it was her publisher at Riverhead who recommended that she hire an outside firm to promote her most recent novel, The Seventh Beggar. “She gave me several arguments for spending the money,” Abraham recalls. “Left somewhat unsaid was the knowledge that her publicity department just couldn’t—or wouldn’t—handle this book, since the subject was too complex for sales, never mind publicity.”
This was no last minute decision: Abraham adds that the firm she hired asks for at least six months’ lead time to develop an effective campaign for their clients’ books. Meryl Zegarek, who’s been working in book PR for nearly 30 years and currently runs her own firm, agrees that the sooner an author starts thinking about publicity, the better. “I receive so many calls from authors too late in the game,” she says. “They have finished their book tour, or realize that after two or three months their publisher is finished working with them, their in-house publicist is burned out, or they are on to the next book on the publication list. But at this point, it becomes too late to help; most of the media is on to the next season’s books.”
“A savvy author should realize that just as they have their own lawyer and accountant, they would be wise to have their own publicist,” Zegarek recommends. “It as an investment not just for this book, but their future as a published writer.” Cerand concurs: “Independent publicists answer only to their client—the author. In-house publicists juggle the priorities of their respective employer as well as, is often the case, several titles at once.” As she sees it, any author who cares about finding an audience would take proactive steps towards achieving that goal as early as possible:
“I find it hard to believe that savvy authors would wait until several weeks or months into the post-publication stage of the life of their book to consider hiring an independent publicist who can help balance their objectives and resources and map out a comprehensive, strategic campaign, but perhaps some do, and they’re the ones that will find solace in this insipid article. I can’t imagine any other reason for printing it.”
What do you think? Tell us, and we’ll run a follow-up with your comments. (Pearl has additional thoughts posted—disclosure ahead—on my personal blog, Beatrice, where she’s a recurring contributor.