Discussion on marketing/publicity, part 3

Following up on the question of hiring a PR person, I shared this:

I tend to think that an independent publicist is of little value to most authors when it comes to getting reviews, profiles or feature pieces. Thinking back, I believe I've only reviewed one book as a result of a publicist's exhortations -- and that was because her pitch intrigued my editor. (And the author in question was a bestseller who had a cool off-the-book-page hook.)

Unless you're well known, a major newspaper is extremely unlikely to run a piece about you. However, your local paper is a decent shot, especially if you have some compelling hook. And you can contact them on your own. (A solicitation from you directly might even be more helpful than one from a publicist.)

As for reviews...The usual tactic by independent publicists is to send out mass emails to reviewers with a synopsis of the book, asking if the reviewer is interested in receiving a copy. But your in-house publicist is probably already doing that. And even if they're not, this approach has a very limited rate of success. (And you can always send out books yourself.)

I have also found that some publicists do more harm than good, mostly by being annoying or demanding. Sometimes the actions of a publicist will make me less likely to review a book, rather than more.

Getting reviews is mainly just a matter of sending books to the right reviewers and hoping for the best. A publicist will not increase your chances of success.

There are certain kinds of publicity -- radio & tv especially -- that only a publicist can help you with. But when it comes to the kinds that I've mentioned above, you can often do just as well with a little effort yourself.