Don't Piss Off Your Publicist | Pro Tips for Working with Your Publicist

[@alaskau9175]

Shortly after I signed my contract I met my publisher's marketing director and we hit it off. Throughout writing the book and editing/revising it I talked more with her than my editor. Once the book was released until this day (a year later) the marketing director drops me emails and comes up with creative ways to keep drawing attention to my book, so much so that it wound up on several bestseller lists. If you get the chance to get to know your publisher's marketing director and build some chemistry and history with them, your book will hugely benefit from it. (And you can wind up with a wonderful friend.) But yes, like Alexa said here, don't be over the top pushy and demanding, let them "drive the car," and be considerate of their time and aware of the stresses of their job.

[@avabookbean6472]

What book did you write?

[@citizenothegalaxy]

can you suggest any good agents?

[@therealannataylor]

I seriously love the etiquette tips. I'm not trad pub, but I still see a lot of these as applicable to indie pub.

[@oddeyes9413]

Same

[@chrissyd4241]

I learned (from working weird hours) that you can schedule an email to be scheduled for a different/more reasonable time - gmail specifically but I am sure other emails allow this too. This helped me feel productive even at 3am :)

[@platoniczombie]

As someone who is deep into their first draft. My questions are more: What should I want from a publicist? What should and shouldn't I ask for? What should and shouldn't I expect? (As someone who worked in sales, and HATED it, I deeply dread this aspect of publishing if/when I ever get that far in traditional publishing)

[@oddeyes9413]

Advice: before you sign a contract, send it to a lawyer. Have them ensure your getting the best out of it. Don't just read and sign or trust what any trad pub says, including the publicist. *I warn you from personal experience.*

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

@@oddeyes9413 Yes, but that's also what agents are for too. Good agents. Who cost less than a lawyer. Also, publishing contracts are a special thing. A general lawyer would probably not be the best to look at it (tho it wouldn't hurt.)

[@jasonyntig717]

@@alwaysapirateroninace443 by the way... I’ve got a question. I don’t have a problem with a lawyer since my Uncle is a lawyer. My only problem is I’m from the Philippines and would want to publish a. Book in the US. How do you promote things? Held book signings? Or doing the contract thing overseas?

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

@@jasonyntig717 I'm not sure, but far as I know that sounds like stuff an agent does. And you can get 1 even if they don't live in the same country you do. Does that help?

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

@@jasonyntig717 also that's what your publishing company should do if you get traditionally published.

[@MargaretPinard]

💖💜💖your energy, Alexa! Intensity is VALID!

[@claireelliot3135]

Love how long your videos are! I'm sure for you to plan/record/edit, but there's so much good info here, and I really feel like you're being comprehensive. Thanks!

[@thebookbelle]

as a book publicist... yep all of these tips are so great and so accurate! 😂 loved this video Alexa!

[@MargaretPinard]

"being really intense" *finger-guns herself* 🤣

[@MeredithPhillipsWrites]

I feel like anyone in any industry needs to listen to the email etiquette section 😂 Be kind and understand you are not the center of anyone else's universe!

[@elenavasquez8315]

I'm new to this channel, and I'm getting a lot of useful information. Love tips on writing thrillers backwards, beats, and insolation tropes.

[@EweOlive]

I always find these videos insightful, even as someone that likes the theory of writing more than the risk of execution. I'd actually be interested in the editing/support/admin side more than sharing my own work. Thanks for making these. Also, in my head, "positive stewing" is considered "percolating." It's like coffee brewing, gives me optimism and energizes me for its conclusion.

[@joanderson4860]

"Go into any given situation with the confidence of a mediocre white man." Words to live by.

[@Mr1048Nascar]

Not first but ready to enjoy! 😃

[@ameenoahmad]

Thank you for this video

[@DaisyXMachina]

Just curious how helpful booktube/bookblog tours actually are...

[@AlexaDonne]

Me too! I don't know if publicists have metrics, but I can say anecdotally... blog tours it REALLY varies. There was one blog in one of my earlier tours who just... lowkey forgot to include their review in the blog post. I checked it periodically over the course of a year... not a single comment of anyone noticing they never updated the post to include it (it literally had a line like "here is my review!" and placeholder text). Sooooo clearly if a blog has little to no traffic, I don't think it does much. But of course if a blog has a really loyal following, and then if that person also cross posts a review to places like Goodreads? Might help. Booktube... I think it depends on who the publisher partners with? I don't think paying the biggest channels to do generic promo (book haul features, etc.) does much b/c most consumers no longer make purchasing decisions based on the big channels--they look to smaller channels who express their actual opinions? I do have a booktube tour scheduled by my publisher (with a blog tour component as well) for The Ivies so we'll see :)

[@DaisyXMachina]

@@AlexaDonne Part of the reason I was asking is because I signed up for your book tour! 😋

[@AlexaDonne]

@@DaisyXMachina Oh yay!!! I just got an email from the tour organizer and responded back with my availability! So I'm sure we will be formally connected soon :) (I don't know if I told them but I'll tell you: I'm very open to different ideas!)

[@dropslemon]

For the late night emails, please always remember that if you MUST write an email at some weird time, email clients like Gmail have options to schedule the send, so you can always schedule it to send at a reasonable hour the next morning!

[@solarsailer4166]

Hey Alexa, I'm at the querying phase and know very little about publicity and marketing, but could you tell us what sort of things publicists might ask an author to do? What is pretty standard or perhaps less common? Are book tours common (in normal times!)? I feel it would be good to know what they might ask me to do, if (hopefully) I ever get to that phase! Thanks!

[@AlexaDonne]

It really runs the gamut, but some examples: blog tours are semi-common, and in those cases you'll often be asked to answer questions about your book, or sometimes write cutesy blog posts (5 Easter Eggs in BOOK, What inspired me to write BOOK, etc.)... and in fact those "cutesy" blog post things will often come up separate from a blog tour. Your publicist may ask you to create that kind of content for an online outlet. You may be asked to do a phone interview with a media outlet. To write book club/educator's "questions" guide for the book (that's a school & library request usually but may funnel through your publicist). With my current book, part of the booktube tour is my doing collabs w/ KZbinrs (I agreed to do this). A few things that straddle lines with marketing: they may ask you to sign tip-in sheets (to sign first run copies of the book, though typically this is just leads), to sign book plates for a book box or book store promo, if you are selected for a book box you may be asked to write a letter to go in the box or annotate your book. Book tours are very rare nowadays--typically only leads get them, and even them, some pubs don't do tours for their leads (I was a lead on my first title and there was no book tour). It's a tick better now that things are virtual, so you may be asked to do a series of virtual events. Speaking of events, if you are one of their "event" authors (ie: they decide to pitch you/prioritize you for events), you may be asked to attend events either in person or virtually. More often they'll limit it to local events so they don't have to pay for travel, but sometimes if you're lead you will be pitched for events you'd travel to (and typically if THEY pitch you, they pay--definitely make sure your agent is on top of that). This is one of the important things to let them know up front: whether you are comfortable doing events, if you have any connections, etc. I LOVE events and so I always let my publishers know I'm 100% comfortable/confident being pitched/attending.

[@solarsailer4166]

@@AlexaDonne Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!

[@oddeyes9413]

Some advice: make sure to let a lawyer look at your contract with a publisher. Especially if they're a smaller press. I'm speaking from personal experience, just be cautious and have someone check it over when the time comes.

[@solarsailer4166]

@@oddeyes9413 Thanks, good advice. Yes, I'm bit worried about contracts and such without a second pair of eyes looking at them because I have ZERO experience with such things! My day job is in a completely unrelated field.

[@ChelseyFuredi]

Hi Alexa! I would love to request topics from you if you are interested/knowledgeable in any of these. You have a lot of videos on how to chose agents, and red flags with agencies, but I would love to know more about choosing publishers and red flags there. Say, if you have any advice to authors going on auction and how to choose what will be best for their book. (Alternatively, if these already exist, please let me know where! I checked all your playlists and couldn't find it!)

[@rosalynransawbooks]

How much of an impact do you think your professional marketing background has had on your publishing journey? (and congrats on your silver play button!)

[@AlexaDonne]

I don't think it made a marked or huge difference in terms of like... being given all the things, if anything my own willingness/ability to handle things on my own has meant often I've fallen into the trap of the publisher going "oh great you're doing things so we don't have to." But I do think it's been helpful in terms of my having the confidence, re: what's worth ROI (return on investment), having basic copywriting/promotional skills, and being able to read/understand my marketing plans (so I know what's a strong/sensible tactic and I'm not freaking out if I don't see a national print campaign haha). I'm able to be pretty chill/circumspect about marketing b/c I understand some of the ins & outs (especially, re: where not to waste money). But that said/bearing in mind... I don't even think I'm the best at marketing as an author-there are people I see who are SO GOOD at it and I admire them, which is partly a) my personality and b) personal bandwidth (ie: there's a lot... I'm just not willing/able to do).

[@shamusobi2748]

it's easier to speak and listen than to write and read, so.... phone calls to ask questions work out issues, emails to have a paper trail, documentation, evidence, and a timeline.

[@raza2594]

This was a nice video and I haven't even finished any books and this doesn't really relate to me. Your videos are just that good. Thank you for the helpful video~

[@pierreluc]

AMAZING video! My book will come on shelves in a few months, mais I would like to share an experience a lesson: Be specific about what you can and cannot share! It was not clear to me when they allowed me to talk that I signed a deal with them about the publishing timeline. So I included an "if everything goes in the perfect direction" in my description and they were not happy about it...! My post in question: instagram.com/p/CIENu3inUIz/ In my mind, it doesn't matter since nobody made an X on their calendar, but for them, it was a big deal. So yeah, discuss with them! Thank you again for your video!

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

I've been catching up on Alexa's videos & saw the one about how much trad authors actually make. I also want to point out according to my research, self pub. does better upfront, but gets slammed by taxes & marketing, which can take 50% of what you make. See Brandon Sanderson's talk here on KZbin about publishing. So it's rough either way.

[@WilliamBilsters]

Regarding the authors who are considered "bottom tier" in the marketing push, if the author considers taking things into their own hands like looking for reviewers. Let's say for example these reviewers are only considering physical books before they accept, would it be alright if you ask your publicist to coordinate with them so they could be given those physical arcs? Or is it really on the author's part? Is there a limit on how many the publisher would be willing to give you arcs (even when the author took the initiative) when they consider you bottom tier in the first place? It's the one thing I've been meaning to know.

[@AlexaDonne]

It's pretty essential not to steamroll your publisher/publicist, re: making promises of copies to reviewers without checking with them first, because supplies are indeed limited and you don't want to interfere with their supply/strategy. Also if you're truly low tier, physical ARCs will be severely limited. So it's best to use your own ARC stock (which can be as low as 5 copies), thus you should be VERY circumspect, re: sending copies to people. I would only bend over backwards for a physical copies only person if they had a massive reach. Generally you will come across as overly pushy/stepping on their toes if you come in with a ton of names/having down outreach/made promises. Be circumspect.

[@WilliamBilsters]

@@AlexaDonne I see. Good to know and thank you for the advice!

[@tzoneo8029]

Hello Alexa Dinner, I recently got a traditional book publishing deal. The publisher's name is Eurobooks. But I was asked to pay for the initial 200 books at about $3000. What is your honest advice. Is Eurobooks a good publishing house in your opinion? Thanks, looking forward to your response.

[@karissahammond4587]

You shouldn't have to pay to be published. As far as I know that's a really big red flag saying that publisher is predatory.

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

But I also want to say, regarding what authors really make, especially in comparison to what we actually spend hour wise & mentally & physically writing a book - Could authors trad & self, fight for more? Because we truly believe it? I'm thinking if we really shout about this, all of us, & especially established authors with clout - If the general public becomes more aware of how much authors screwed over in terms of payment - Maybe we could get paid better? #NoMoreStarvingArtists Authors should be about to survive on what we write. And most don't.

[@prophetessoftroy]

Random, but I think related: do publicists contribute to/write the bio that appears on your dust jacket/cover copy, or is that all on you? Just wondering if that draws from the Monster Questionnaire or if it’s usually author-generated.

[@AlexaDonne]

It is author generated--they'll ask you for your final bio shortly before the jacket goes to print.

[@beatriceanobah6388]

“Go into this with the confidence of mediocre white man” 😂😂😂 love it!

[@tomaszmazurek64]

For the second half of the video I was like "good thing I'm not an author, cause I would've been such an asshole". Like you said "don't passively aggressively CC your editor" and I'm like "of course not, that's what BCC is for" and after hearing your answer "whaaat?". I guess averagely competent white men communicate differently ;)

[@AlexaDonne]

Lolll. Well look I am NOT against the casual forward so they are made aware of something and can address it separately. I prefer to do that so I can add my own commentary rather than BCC.

[@tomaszmazurek64]

@@AlexaDonne Ah, a casual forward with personal remarks - an elegant method, truly an artist's choice!

[@bunbacheso]

Much respect to you! This is not an accusation AT ALL, but at 12:41, when you say "I can only speak as a woman", I think you mean "I can only speak as a white woman." This is because by mentioning the term "mediocre white man", you've brought up the axis of gender AND the axis of race. This would imply that "only a woman" means "a woman and not a POC", which means a white woman. If you don't state your own race in a conversation about race and use the lack of mentioning it as a way to imply whiteness, you're reinforcing the white default. It's kind of like if I said "I made a cake, and you made a lemon cake," and I expected you to assume that "cake" means "pound cake", which implies that lemon cake is outside the norm.

[@tracy-eire]

What would you consider a midnight fire drill?

[@AlexaDonne]

You're scheduled to fly to a book festival tomorrow and there's an emergency that means you can't go. Your book is being dragged on Twitter. There are probably more, but most things aren't "drop everything now things"--a fire drill is pretty rare!

[@ephanieblue]

What is an ark?

[@lindacobo1744]

What are examples of hard lines you tell your publisher you are uncomfortable with?

[@AlexaDonne]

It's different for every person but I can include: no on camera interviews (ie: don't pitch me for the Today Show lol... though man only relevant if you're a lead and a break out hit ha), no in person events/travel (ie: no book tour, no festivals), no content generation (writing a bunch of blog posts to be used in things like blog tours), etc. With that last one, you can specify: I will do interviews, but not writing free blog content. This is beyond publicity, but it can be yes or no to school & library visits.

[@lindacobo1744]

@@AlexaDonne Thanks so much for clarifying😁

[@MeVsTheWorld01]

What is your opinion and advice on plagiarism?

[@MargaretPinard]

'the confidence of a mediocre white man' 🤣so true it hurts!