Book Publicity - The New York Myth
MYTH No.1
“To be a great publicist you need to work out of New York.”
Please do not be deceived. Regardless of location, when it comes to running a national
publicity campaign all book
the entire country via telephone, email, post and fax. Book and literary publicity is one of
the rare business endeavors unaffected by the location, location, location factor.
Overall, a pricey upper east side address is good for a publicists business, not necessarily
an authors. Sharing zip-codes with large publishing houses makes it easier for a book or
literary publicist to acquire a continuous flow of new authors for themselves.
While there are some exceptional book and literary publicists working straight out of The
Big Apple, it should be noted that having a publicist located in New York does not
automatically guarantee an author that their writing will reach readers.
Instead of focusing on a publicists location, it is beneficial for an author, to instead, focus
on a publicists overall work ethic and understanding of the business. When interviewing a potential publicist, an authors questions should, at the very least, incorporate general
campaign topics. For example, discussing media kits is a great way to begin a dialog
with a potential publicist.
Publicists across the nation, from New York to California all
seem to agree:
The most effective media kits include a table of contents, personalized pitch letter, short
author bio/photo, book cover, brief excerpt, as well as press releases, articles, mentions, reviews, frequently asked questions, contact information and a sell or fact sheet which
outlines information on the title, isbn, publisher, page count and release date.
Just remember, as a book can not always be judged by its cover, a publicist cannot
always be sized up by their city.
Melissa Sandford is the founder of Flutterby Effect, LLC - http://www.flutterbyeffectllc.com - an elite literary agency dedicated to promoting book and author alike.
Tags: book publicist, book publicity, new york
