Author Publicity: Answering 3 Common Questions About Book Promotion Services

written by Julie Parise

We meet with a lot of authors who are new to the book publicity world. Either they are first-time authors, or they are hiring a book publicist for the first time. At Guide My Brand, we will do our best to get you the author publicity you deserve. We strive to offer honest and realistic opinions to our clients in terms of expectations. In doing so, there are some questions we get asked frequently by clients and potential clients.  

Here are 3 questions we get about our author publicity services: 

1. How long after I sign on for book publicity services before I start getting book reviews and interviews? 

The short answer is: It depends. As publicists, we can’t guarantee when your first media hit will happen or that you’ll get a certain amount of interview requests or book reviews. We can promise you that we will keep pitching you to outlets and brainstorm new angles as much as possible for the best chance at success.

A campaign builds over time. Your goals of getting national TV or impressive podcast interviews may very well be attainable, but if you don’t already have a presence online, we will work to build that before pitching you for top tier placements. We will work to get you published as a contributor on blogs or sites that will benefit your SEO profile. 

2. Should I care about “bookstagram” influencers? 

Many authors send their book to influencers with follower counts in the millions — hoping they get noticed and then mentioned in a post or story. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s important to strategically and realistically target the right accounts and audience. 

Bookstagram is unique in that you don’t often find influencers in the space with huge numbers. There may be a few super popular accounts with more than 20k followers, but even 5k is a decent follower number for the bookstagram space. If you can get mentioned even by a bookstagram account with less followers, it can still pay off handsomely. 

Having a “challenge hashtag” is often what makes your book take off on social media. Essentially, this means you have an influencer in this space post with the hashtag challenge and then tag other bookstagram friends. Then they do it and tag other bookstagram friends — and it blows up from there. It’s all about having a fun aesthetic or a specific prop or location that’s part of it.

Remember, an influencer can still be valuable if they don’t have huge number of followers. It’s also about how active and engaged their audience is (no matter how big). 

3. Which bloggers/reporters/influencers do you have connections with and how will they get me author publicity?

We’ve said it before and we will say it again: We do have connections, but that’s not what matters when it comes to author publicity. Our connections won’t guarantee you coverage. What gets you book publicity is your story and what you can share with the world, and it’s our job to help you craft your narrative to make it the most attractive to the media. 

What we tell our clients is: Yes we have “connections,” but what that really means is that our connections will read and respond to our pitches. We have gotten to know plenty of editors, writers and journalists who are always looking for new content. In fact, many of us are former journalists who remain good friends with people in the industry. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they will respond with a “yes” when we pitch them your story. 

If your story isn’t a fit, journalists won’t publish it just because they know us. If anyone promises you publicity based on a connection, consider that a red flag. And watch out for those paid publicity promises! 

Interested in what a complete book marketing campaign looks like? Check out our timeline here. 

Are you ready to hire a publicist for author publicity services in 2022? Schedule a call with us here to discuss your goals.