Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a book publicist is like? Thi Dinh, Publicity Director at Penguin Press, takes us behind the door to shed light on what a publicist does so you can know what to expect when working on the campaign for your non-fiction book.
The image of a publicist tends to leave a trail of out-dated stereotypes in its wake. But what does a publicist do, and in particular, a non-fiction book publicist?
Do we swan around fashionable parts of town, air-kissing and partying à la Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous? Is life one long Emily in Paris style social media stunt, or is a non-fiction publicist more interested in the dark arts of media manipulation – like a less scary, less sweary, publishing version of Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It?
To shed some light, and persuade you that there’s more to communications than simply ‘fannying around with a press release’ as Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones so charmingly put it, here are three things an author should know about a non-fiction publicist:
We engage deeply with you and your book
Our primary job is to secure good quality media coverage for your book, and the first step is critically engaging with your work. The very best publicists read, and read, and read again their author’s work so they can create a clear, compelling pitch for the media.
We’re in constant dialogue with our authors, talking to them about what’s new, original, and surprising about their work, so we can communicate this in a crisp, succinct way to increasingly time and resource poor journalists.
We delight in storytelling in all its forms
Publicists are storytelling creatures and love working with authors to hone key stories from the book so we can put our author’s voice at the heart of the campaign.
Your book is our first port of call, but we look for stories beyond the text – whether it’s strong author photography such as Paris Lees’ iconic photoshoot in a Nottingham nightclub for her coming-of-age memoir What It Feels Like for a Girl – or the story of Emma Dabiri’s hand-embroidered cover for What White People Can Do Next, which subverted expectations and challenged the anti-racism genre.
A brilliant campaign makes an impression on the reader by telling a story about the book – whether it’s via the cultural and critical influencers that have been engaged, or how creatively the media have related to the book – and at grassroots level, a kaleidoscopic author tour which embraces the core communities and demographics the author wants to reach, can be a story in itself.
We are obsessed with the media
At the risk of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, publicists are media-junkies. You can’t be a publicist and not consume an insane amount of media, not to mention interacting and communicating with journalists on a daily basis.
A publicist’s expertise lies in using their in-depth knowledge of the media to best effect for their authors. The media has an agenda – they want attractive and interesting stories for their reader/listener/viewer – and a non-fiction publicist’s job is to connect an author’s book with the current media agenda. There’s a particular thrill to be had in matching an author up successfully with the right media space, resulting in a happy author and a happy journalist.
When we get these things right, then The Rest is Publicity.
