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I have had tea and I am calmer now. Can we talk about hiring a freelance #promotion team? I welcome publicists & marketers to chime in because y'all are the experts. I can only speak to my personal experience and am happy to discuss. #thread https://twitter.com/jbakernyc/status/1352084355401850880
For one thing, as mentioned yesterday, there are NO guarantees. Sending books/press releases to someone doesn't guarantee that they'll (a) cover it and (b) see it in a timely manner when they get deluged. Especially now when we may not even receive copies.
What you should discuss with someone you're hiring to do #publicity for your book is what your needs & expectations are + what their connections/strengths are. Will this person do the bulk of your promo or supplement what your publisher is/isn't doing?
I've heard from others about publicity/marketing packages and I dunno about that, honestly. When I've interviewed freelance publicists I knew I would need help getting the word out and with in-person events. So that's what we focused on and my publicist and I had weekly updates.
She did A LOT of work in terms of updating contact lists that were outdated from my publisher, she shouldn't have had to do that, she went after targeted segments for literary audiences and connected me with libraries. The latter was important to me.
Because there was a BIG shake up at my publisher in 2018 she was also super kind to look out for me. And when your book doesn't have a lot of in-house buyin with a budget to have someone really focus energies on your work is a relief. We also had a good rapport.
Now, did she get me in a slew of major outlets? No, neither her or my publisher landed that and I didn't *expect* them to. What I was more focused on was reality which is: an anthology like mine will have more life in the educational realm than as a commercial property.
Again, I went in with very realistic expectations and during the T**mp years any given day you could compete with a very bad news cycle. You just have to be prepared. But I can say my freelance publicist did many things right even when not everything worked out:
1. She kept me updated regularly about the ups & downs.
2. She let me know who she was contacting and that she was using the publisher's press release.
3. When I told her about events she gave me sound advice on locations.
4. She never got upset when I had concerns/feedback.
2. She let me know who she was contacting and that she was using the publisher's press release.
3. When I told her about events she gave me sound advice on locations.
4. She never got upset when I had concerns/feedback.
And I spoke to a bunch of publicists and they all gave off different energy which may or may not vibe with you. There will be clear signs like how their website looks, staff, testimonials and always get references! But come in knowing what you want and knowing how they work.
An upcoming @MinoritiesinPub episode with @FauziaBurke is a really good one on the expectations and work that freelance promotion teams do. That #podcast episode will post in March so definitely tune in! #bookpromo
