Sunday, October 28, 2018

What’s To Love & Loath About Books & Publicity




Nearly three decades ago I entered into the world of book publishing and book publicity.  I’m still at it today – and enjoying a career of working to help authors, promote great stories and ideas, and market terrific books.  But not all is fun and fame here.  This is my list of 10 things I love about the industry and 10 things I could do without:

10 Things I Love About The Book & PR Industries

1.      Working closely with intelligent, passionate and creative people – writers. To help them realize a dream is an honor and a fun challenge.

2.      Seeing the books that I market make a difference in people’s lives is quite fulfilling.

3.      Remembering to see each book like a person, to be treated with compassion and care, is a wonderful experience.

4.      Feeling like you make a difference in a writer’s life is a great feeling.

5.      Being able to exchange ideas with intellectually talented individuals is a pleasurable experience.

6.      Knowing that I helped land a big media booking for an author is always an adrenaline rush for me.

7.      Needing to be informed, news-savvy, and creative to do this job well are things that come naturally to me and never feel like work.

8.      I believe books make a difference in society and in our lives, and I’m so proud to be associated with them.

9.      Who can complain when they have to read books to earn a living?

10.  I like to see the powerful tool of public relations being used to promote not widgets and corporations but books, people, and ideas.

10 Things I Hate About The Book & PR Industries

1. I loathe seeing fake news stories put out by lying promoters who seek to manipulate the news media.

2. I feel depressed when I see books that are researched, written and edited poorly.

3. I wish that self-published authors had more access to bookstores and mainstream reviews, though it’s been improving. 

4. I fear Amazon is taking over the world, including the book world, unless others stand up to it.

5. I wish neighborhoods would show support for their bookstores and that more towns would open a bookstore.

6. I wish book publishers did more for their authors and that they would level with and encourage their writers to work with outside publicists.

7. I could do without ego-centric authors who expect to get publicity just because they think they’re great or that their book is amazing -- even though there’s lots of evidence to the contrary.

8. Authors need to understand that buying FB ads and Google clicks is not the same as executing a PR campaign – and that their social media, account activity needs to improve if they are to really advance their brand.

9. I wish authors who think they can’t afford to invest in book publicity could realize they can’t afford not to.

10. I would hope that Barnes & Noble figures out how to stop losing money.

There are plenty of good things going on in the book world and they far outweigh the bad. I hope that we can enjoy the many positives while doing something about some of the negatives.  Do your part and go buy a book, read a book, and talk about a book.  Then go write one.

Please feel free to join me on LinkedIn --https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/.


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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute Conference

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