Every
writer believes he or she has cornered a truth, an idea, or a story that no one
else has told or can tell as well as them.
It’s not that the writer sees him or herself as the only one capable of
penning such a book, but deep down the writer feels his story must be told and
believes in it. This conviction,
confidence, and deep belief inspires the writer to keep on writing, to succeed
against the odds.
Book
publicists and marketers operate the same way.
They believe in themselves. They
are infused with confidence, passion, and a sense of determination. Even when they doubt the book or author that
they are promoting, they will their way to achieve. Sometimes they thrive on the challenge of
promoting something they feel is below a certain standard.
Merit
doesn’t always take you far, but operating under the frame of mind that you can
succeed and will not accept any other outcome will. When you have both – a meritorious book,
written by a credentialed writer from an established publisher on a timely
subject AND a confident, connected, and courageous book promoter working on
your behalf, you have the best of all worlds.
When
I take part in hiring decisions for the book publicity firm that I work for, I
often look for certain personality traits over what’s on a resume, and
certainly over whatever GPA they scored at college. You want someone who has certain skills and
training, some experience and a certain level of street savvy, but PR is best
served by someone who doesn’t intellectualize the process. You want someone to employ strategy but not
to second-guess everything. You want
them to think and act their way through an obstacle, but not to be crippled by
analysis, insecurity, or fear.
So,
just as the best-written book is not always the one that wins awards or becomes
a best-seller, the book publicist with the high I.Q. or 3.92 GPA is not always the
one who generates the biggest media hits or the highest volume of media placements.
This
may all sound counter to what should happen.
In a perfect world, the smartest person or the best writer should be the
one that by far becomes a publishing icon.
But the best books go nowhere without publicity or strategic book
marketing.
And
you don’t make a book famous or establish an author’s brand with a book marketer
or promoter who has that right blend of friendly personality, a bullshitter who
doesn’t come off as such, a disciplined but aggressive style, one who is
organized, methodical, and persevering, a person who can pitch ideas that are
off the page, an individual who feels validated only when he gets a ton of
great media coverage.
This
translates into other aspects in life. You don’t have to date the prettiest
girl to have the best sex. The muscular
guy doesn’t always become the best athlete.
The costliest car is not necessarily the best one and the biggest dog
doesn’t necessarily make the best guard dog.
The
best book promoter will combine a high level of the following:
· Great Communicator
·
Very Assertive
·
Excellent Researcher
·
Idealistic
·
Visionary
·
Optimistic
·
Competitive
·
Idea
Generator
·
Outgoing
·
Likes A Challenge
·
Experienced
·
Connected
·
Knowledgeable
About The Media
·
Passionate
About Your Subject Matter
When
you find the right fit, it’s amazing. A
writer can see her career soar when she lands the right book promoter. Having a great book publicist rules all.
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Brian Feinblum’s
views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of
his employer. 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 is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised
in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book
marketing blogs by Book Baby
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