Little
kids think their parents know everything. Then they get older and realize their
parents know a lot, but not everything. Eventually, children grow up and think
they know more than their parents, and if they were raised right, they
hopefully do know more. The same is true with book publicists and book
marketers.
A
lot of them know a lot or at least something, but they do not know everything,
or even nearly everything. Whether a seasoned professional or an up and coming
publicist, many lack so much that it is sometimes hard to compare one with
another.
Think
about it – the fields of book marketing and book publicity have changed greatly
over the years. Each publicist and marketer has only so much time to learn
certain skills, be aware of certain trends, and have a diversified level of
experiences. Some can do something really well, such as getting bloggers to
interview authors but can fall short on scheduling national TV shows. Others
may be great at cold-calling but their ability to write a press release is
lacking. Some can generate media coverage but have no idea how to generate
sales.
There
are many reasons for this, including the following:
·
Publicists
vary in their length of experience, knowledge, and interests
·
They
vary in training – some majored in PR, or English, or marketing, but not all
·
Each
publicist is only as good as those who mentored them
·
Some
only know a particular genre (romance), or format (e-books), or a certain
aspect of the process (creating mailing lists vs. scheduling tours)
·
Many
don’t read up on their craft or continually try to learn
·
Some
fail to experiment or vary how they do what they do
·
Some
have knowledge of an industry (non-profit, consumer, or faith), but don’t
really know much about books or the media
·
Research
skills, people skills, writing skills, speaking skills and natural intelligence
vary greatly
·
Publicists
don’t familiarize themselves enough with the outlets they pitch
The
truth is no one knows everything and no one is good at everything. Some are
better at doing and knowing things, but you can’t rely on any one person to do
everything you need when marketing and promoting your book. just as one's wealth
portfolio that is diversified and doesn’t put all of its eggs in one basket, a
marketing portfolio doesn’t rely on any one person or strategy or idea.
No
doubt, if you’re working with a book publicist, he or she knows something and
hopefully knows it well. But don’t be fooled into thinking this person can do
one-stop shopping for you when there are too many places to shop.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this
blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book
promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This blog is copyrighted material by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2013
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