Interview With Ted Olczak: BookCamp Founder, Book Awards Creator, & Former Publishers Weekly Advertising Director

 

1. Ted, I was so proud to be the first expert speaker at your very first BookCamp: 2024, a wonderful three-day book publishing conference in New Jersey. Tell us more of what your vision is for BookCamp: 2025 -- and when is the next one?

BookCAMP is designed to provide practical, useful information and strategies, and connect publishing professionals. No BS. Actually Brian, you were among the first individuals I considered when curating this event, as your expertise aligned perfectly with the profile I envisioned. This year’s event is already bringing more star power with ‘teeth’. Publishers will walk away educated and connected.  BookCAMP 2026 will be in April, I’ll be announcing details May 4th.   

2. Why did you see a need for BookCamp? 

Publishers and authors need more education, better direction, and more connections they can rely on for expertise to help them sell more books. BookCAMP accomplishes that: https://www.ipabookcamp.com/   

3. You used to sell advertising space at Publishers Weekly and worked later with IBPA. But the last number of years you have been running several book awards. Tell us about those. 

Yes, I began with Publishers Weekly in the early 90s, and then again for nearly a decade in the 2000s.  IBPA was my client then. I later worked with them and put together Publishing University for four years. To me, they weren’t delivering like I thought they could. Authors and publishers want results and to sell more books. Vendors want to help. Reviews and awards highlight key titles, but many authors do not leverage its potential.  The Independent Press Award, www.IndependentPressAward.com, is designed to help those struggling authors and publishers find a way to break through the clutter, THEN help them sell books.  NYC Big Book Award was created to include the Big 5 publishing houses who were excluded from the Independent Press Award. They saw the value of what I was doing, so we invited them to enter the fall NYC Big Book Award program.  

4. You also sell advertising for the New York Times Book Review and for Times Square billboards. How do those translate into book sales or author branding? 

Major exposure and bragging rights. You’re not going to sell enough books during the campaign, but over time it translates. You need to know how to apply compound marketing to drive sales and improve your visibility.  

5. You have been involved in book publishing for 30+ years. What changes have you seen over the decades?

It’s even easier for anyone to get published, and to be successful. In the 1990s, some fifty publishers controlled 80% of the industry, with very few channels to get books to readers. This is no longer the case. Now, anyone with a word doc can get a .epub and sell on Barnes & Noble within 48 hours, and be distributed globally more quickly than I have ever seen.  

6. What predictions or trends do you see for the book industry? 

More use of artificial intelligence; greater distribution channels with the disappearance of others, MORE books. BookCAMP as an industry leader. 

7. How do you encourage a new author to find his or her way into the publishing world? 

We all need help, best-selling authors to first-timers. Come to BookCAMP, and whatever industry or author event you can find. Learn from others and create networks that can help you in the future.  With a great idea and persistence to see it through, anyone can be successful. 

8. What’s next for you?

Printed Word Reviews will be taking over IPA BookCAMP formally and will create greater educational and networking opportunities. Printed Word Reviews currently reviews university press, independent authors, and small press books --  https://www.printedwordreviews.com/magazine and makes them available through the Independent Press Awards, https://www.independentpressaward.com/falconreviews. We will continue to push the boundaries of book advertising and marketing with creative and innovative methods to reach readers

About Ted Olczak: Ted Olczak is the president of Printed Word Reviews, and manages the marketing for the Independent Press Award and the NYC Big Book Award.  Under the same names, he is the magazine publisher of the awards, and recently launched a quarterly magazine BookCAMP, which addresses authors and publishers' challenges of book publishing. Olczak is a career-long publishing professional, Master's Degree in Marketing Management in Book and Magazine Publishing from New York University. Feel free to contact Ted at Ted@PrintedWordReviews.com.

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum