19 Things Authors Fear About Their Publicists

Authors fear their publicists act, feel, or think this way:

1.   They think your book is mediocre—at best.

2.   They think you are an arrogant jerk.

3.   They sent out an email blast to a zillion reporters and not one replied --not even a “no” or an   
      “unsubscribe”.

4.   They never read your entire book, or worse, they did and don’t really understand it.

5.   They were too tired, bored, or busy with other work to approach the media on your behalf
         today—or this week.

6.   The mailing of books that they said was sent a week ago had not yet gone out.

7.   They disagree with your views or ideas and would rather promote a roach than your book.

8.   That your expectations and demands are crazy.

9.    That the press release that was sent out had typos or errors.

10.  That even their media friends can’t see an angle they can use.

Maybe the author has some things he or she is thinking but won’t say, such as:

1.      Why does my publisher do little or nothing to promote me? This is not acceptable.

2.      How come I’m not on the Today Show? This is ridiculous!

3.      Why does my publicist look like she’s in high school? The kids are running things these days.

4.      Did they even read my book? How can they promote what they don’t know?

5.      Can’t they see my book is great? What is wrong with those idiots?

6.      How many books is my publicist working on? She is probably overloaded.

7.      My book should be a bestseller.  How do those other books of less importance or talent make the
         list and not mine?

8.      I wrote a great book—it should sell itself.

9.      Why should I blog or tweet or go on Facebook?  My publicist should do this.  It is a waste of my
         time.

Everyone in the book publishing and promotion chain will secretly second-guess all of those involved.  Why did they choose that cover?  What was the editor thinking on chapter six?  You call that a press release?  The author has credentials for what?

It’s only natural that a pool of creative talent will disagree on things, not understand the process from all sides, and to harbor certain prejudices or expectations that will get in the way of progress. But somehow we must all work together and respect the challenges of the roles we each have in the publishing ecosystem.

At the very least, authors and publicists should give each other the benefit of the doubt and rather than point fingers at each other, find ways to help one another.

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.