Monthly Archives: June 2009

The Negative Effects of Social Networking

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Great article in BusinessWeek about how companies are trying to balance the important and effective efforts of social networking with the overwhelmingly public aspect of employees airing dirty laundry. This is certainly something that applies to authors, as well. Authors often question the importance of being present on social sites and weighing the pros and cons of blogging. Is it safe to turn one’s Facebook page or blog into public therapy? Is a blog absolutely necessary?

One author, Megan McCafferty, who has very successfully kept a public blog, decided to end it today so that she can channel her energy into her books. Hers is not an issue of saying too much or diluting her image, it is more about time management. But the BusinessWeek article still poses a good question, can there sometimes be too much of a good thing? Are we giving away too much information? Is an open conversation a good thing when it comes to marketing?  We are in unchartered territory here and we have yet to discern a way to navigate ourselves into the best light.  Only time will tell, so stay on top of the information and news that is out there because that is the best way to make the most informed and appropriate decisions for you.

The Job of a Book Publicist

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My day job is that I am a book publicist. By saying, “Day Job” that can be kind of misleading because it is actually an all day, all night, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week kind of job. I love what I do because I love working with authors, coming up with original, unique and authentic ways of marketing my favorite of all commodities…BOOKS! However, there are days when I don’t 100% love my job, when the frustrations outweigh the victories. Those are usually the days when nothing seems to be going right. No one is biting. There is bigger news going on in the world and editors and producers don’t seem to care a flying fig about a book…especially if that book happens to be fiction.

Fiction tends to have the wonderful ability to land like a lead balloon on the doorsteps of most editors and producers. They really don’t know what to do with it. And that’s where my incredible originality and overall ingenious ability to turn fiction into the most newsworthy of subjects comes in handy. I am not just trying to flatter myself, I  really am that good.

Who else can turn a book about a stay-at-home dad into a political platform? (Ad Hudler’s MAN OF THE HOUSE) or turn the promotion of a romance novel into a gender issue (Susan Mallery’s SUNSET BAY)? I brought a medical thriller writer into the Hollywood spotlight (Michael Palmer’s THE SECOND OPINION) and turned a columnist into a public promoter (Lisa Genova’s STILL ALICE).

This is why I love my job. I love finding the clever hook that is going to turn a book into a hot topic. I love making people become aware of an author or novel they may have overlooked. I love creating that one spark that can launch a career. (Lori Culwell and Brunonia Barry)

The Business Side of Books

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{photo courtesy of DailyCandy}

Let’s face it, writing is a business. More accurately, the selling of your written material is a business. Writers write for the love of the written word, or at least we hope that’s why they do it, but they also want to make enough money to be able to support this love. Forbes has a fantastic article on the business side of writing. Read the Forbes article and let me know what you think.

New York City: BEA and Backspace

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This was a very busy weekend for Kelley & Hall. We spent the past weekend in New York City attending both Book Expo America and Backspace Writers Conference. It was interesting to see both sides of the publishing industry. As we often say in our seminars, there are definitely two sides to writing; the creative and the business. This weekend was a great example of both. At Backspace we were able to meet a number of aspiring writers, fascinating people with interesting stories to tell, and we spoke to them about finding hooks, networking and media exposure. It is never too early to start marketing yourself and building a brand or platform.

At BEA, we met with everyone on the other side of publishing; the sales and marketing teams, the editors and agents, librarians and booksellers, authors, and, a reality star or two.

{Alex McCord and Simon van Kemp from The Real Housewives of New York}

{Jocelyn Kelley with Meg Cabot}

{David Meerman Scott}

{Olivia}

Typically, when booksellers attend the show, they grab galleys of some of the “hot” books for the Fall season. They then ship these galleys back to their stores. This is what the shipping room looks like; miles and miles of boxes as far as the eye can see. We found it interesting, and perhaps a sign of the changing times, that HarperCollins did not distribute any bound galleys and instead opted for postcards with access codes for people to download entire manuscripts to their computers or digital readers.

We will have to wait and see if this is a change that happens across the board.

For the most part, it was a more subdued BEA. There were fewer galleys and at times the show seemed to lack the typical excitement that it has shown in previous years. This is certainly a sign of the times, the current economic instability and the state of publishing houses.

It was still an entertaining and informative show, filled with interesting people and great books. And it was nice to be back in New York. Although, we were strangely captivated by what’s going on in Times Square. Apparently it is currently closed to cars and beach chairs have been provided by the city for people to sit back and relax and view New York in a way they never have before. Who knows how long this will last, or if the headache created by the traffic will cause it to end it’s run sooner than expected, but it was certainly a site to be seen.