At least once a week, an author asks me, “Should I hire a book publicist?”

Are you wondering about this, too?

Before offering advice, I need to know an author’s long-term goals, the book’s quality and publicity potential, and the individual’s financial situation.

I also want to make sure any author considering this investment understands:

• Why they’re considering hiring a book publicist — what do they hope a publicist will do for their career?
• What a publicist can and can’t accomplish for an author and their book.
• There are no guarantees with book publicity — a publicist can’t promise anything (and if they do, it means they’re using your money to pay the media outlet…we call that “advertising”).
• A publicist is a significant financial investment.

The financial investment

Authors accustomed to marketing emails proclaiming, “We’ll promote your book for $99!” are often surprised when they learn what experienced book publicists charge for their time, skill, and know-how.

So let’s start there. It will help to know if you can afford it before you think about the other specifics we’ll talk about here.

A good, experienced book publicist charges $3,000 to $5,000 a month and needs at least three or four months to work on your book — often six.

If you can’t afford that, stop reading now.

Yes, yes, you can probably hire somebody for less than that. But that’s the going rate for experienced specialists.

And before you pull out the calculator to figure out how many books you’ll need to sell to break even, understand that you probably won’t earn back your publicist fees in book royalties or sales alone.

Who should hire a book publicist?

So who can afford to take that kind of risk on behalf of their book? Someone who can afford to invest in their career.

Authors who can afford a publicist typically fall into nine categories.

1. Traditional publishing contract authors with a large enough advance against royalties to fund an outside publicist.

I coached a first-time author with a six-figure advance who invested some of it in media training and two publicists, each with a different specialty.

2. Successful, well-compensated entrepreneurs or executives.

These people often hire a ghostwriter for their book, too.

via GIPHY

3. Consultants, coaches, and professional speakers who wrote a book to help build their career, generate higher fees, or build a client base.

Publicity for a book that is essentially a large business card can help generate enough income to cover the publicist’s fee.

4. Career authors who know that the size of their next advance depends on how well their most recent book sold.

They want to make sure they sell enough copies of this one to get a solid advance for their next manuscript.

5. Self-published experts who have written books on trending topics and have invested in a quality book that rivals anything published by a traditional book publisher.

This means they’ve paid for professional cover design, editing, and proofreading; and have enlisted objective beta readers to provide constructive feedback on the manuscript. The result is a darned good book.

6. Individuals looking to build a platform for their first or subsequent books.

Publishers prefer authors with a solid platform. Media exposure is a platform component that can enhance the marketing section of the author’s book proposal and improve the odds of landing a publishing contract.

7. Authors who can afford to spend the money without worrying about whether they will earn the money back.

They’re investing in their career, but won’t suffer financially if the publicity campaign doesn’t meet the publicist’s expectations.

8. Authors with a top-quality, self-published book who want to leverage high-profile publicity to help get their books into bookstores and libraries.

Retailers and libraries look for reader demand. Publicity both generates and demonstrates interest.

9. People who are independently wealthy.

They often pay for an expensive publishing package and corresponding marketing because it’s the easiest path to a finished book … and because they can. These individuals often have high expectations for book publicity.

Publicity can generate an income boost

When a campaign is successful, savvy authors leverage the media exposure to secure:

• More and better paying speaking engagements
• Higher consulting fees
• More coaching and consulting clients
• A larger platform for related products that can include online courses, companion workbooks, and coaching programs
• A larger advance for their next book

This is a snapshot of the potential; it’s not a guarantee.

Who shouldn’t hire a book publicist?

If you don’t fall into one of those nine categories above, be very, very cautious if you still want to hire a publicist. Remember, there are no guarantees.

A good publicist will tell you what they think they can accomplish for your book, but they can’t promise any of that. That’s because there’s a gatekeeper between the publicist and the results you want, whether it’s an appearance on “The Daily Show” or an interview about your book’s topic in the Chicago Tribune.

The gatekeeper is a producer, editor, writer, or reporter. They are the people who decide which sources get interviews and which products get featured.

With that in mind, I don’t recommend contracting wtih a book publicist if:

• You think a publicist should work for a percentage of book sales. It doesn’t work that way. (And I’m not going to argue about why it should.)
• You have to borrow money for the fee.
• You can’t afford to spend the money without being certain that you will get tangible results. Because you might not.

Extra credit homework

If you think it makes sense to hire a publicist, please read two articles on this site first:

• “7 things you need to know about working with a book publicist” offers insights into how it works and what to expect (and not expect).
• “How one author got ripped off and how you can avoid it” gives you seven questions to ask as you work through the outside consultant selection process.

Ask authors who have hired a book publicist to talk to you about their experiences, too. What results did they get? Were they satisfied? Would they do it again?

Do it yourself instead

Because of the expense and risk associated with a publicist, many authors decide to do it themselves. If you’ve got more money than time, hire a pro. More time than money? Do it yourself.

But learn how first.

Be sure to read my article, “How to be your own book publicist.” Search online. Take a course. Read a book. (Consider looking outside the “for authors” book genre to publicity how-to books for small business owners and entrepreneurs, too.)

Whether you hire a book publicist or decide to do it yourself, do your homework first (I offer one-on-one book marketing coaching that can help). The more you know first, the more likely you are to be satisfied with your decision.

If you’re hired a book publicist, please tell us in a comment how you found the person you hired.

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2017. It has been updated and expanded.)

Because I know how powerful news media exposure is for books, products, and services, I’m constantly encouraging you to pursue publicity for your book.

My publishing experience is a great example of why it’s important. My first book contract was a direct result of publicity I generated for a subscription newsletter I created around the lighter side of gender differences. That book sold out, thanks to book publicity generated when my publisher’s in-house book publicist and I collaborated and worked together as a team.

My second book sold out three press runs on the strength of publicity alone. (It was published before social media was a thing.)

Because I think publicity is so important to your author career, I asked a veteran book publicist how she decides which authors and books to work with and how self-published authors can make their work more promotable. It’s an enlightening Q&A with important insights.

Introducing book publicist Karen Engler

I met Karen Engler after I used HARO to find sources for an article about how to turn your passion into a retirement project. I was so impressed with her pitch on behalf of her author client and our resulting conversation that I knew she’d provide thoughtful answers to questions I wanted to ask on your behalf.

Karen is a 30-year publicity veteran specializing in flexible author media tours. As a secret weapon on publicity teams, she has vast experience with nonfiction and children’s books.

Her hobbies include an obsession with animals – especially dogs – and tiny houses. She’s excited to hear about people’s passion projects that have led to their books. Feel free to reach out for a quick consultation; here’s her email address.

Q&A with book publicist Karen Engler

Whether you are a DIY marketer or are considering hiring a publicist, Karen’s insights will help you understand what you need to succeed.

I’ve noticed that not everybody understands what a book publicist does. What services do you provide?

Yes, part of that confusion is because publicity can be a broad category, but publicists are best known for lassoing media attention.

My focus is;

• To generate press materials like press releases, author Q & As, advise on videos, edit articles, and more. It’s different for everyone.
• To reach out to journalists; bloggers; newsrooms (where applicable); website content directors; producers; and radio, podcast, and TV hosts, to lasso media coverage of their books.
• To present the books and authors in the most concise and personalized way. This can vary depending on whom I’m approaching.
• To read the book!

What makes you decide whether to take on an author or book? What do you look for?

I have to be inspired by them and their story or their angle or approach to any given topic. One of the things I love about working primarily with nonfiction books is that most authors are doing an act of service. Whether it’s to inform or entertain, I like being part of bringing their efforts to more people.

I prefer to work with open-minded people. Though I always start by swinging for the fences, the most significant results often come after you redirect or regroup who and where you’re pitching. I’ve seen some amazing things come out of coverage from small media outlets.

What’s your biggest challenge when representing an author?

Finding the sweet spot, that is, the intersection of the author’s work/topic with the zeitgeist in our culture (and media) at any given moment. Then finding the best way for their work to jump off the page.

What’s the difference between promoting a self-published book and one that’s traditionally published?

Traditional publishers are ninjas at packaging books. Though I’m not a big fan of pitching solely with their general press release, they’re great at describing a book and its relevancy.

Self-published books tend to come from lesser-known authors. There’s much nuance to presenting someone who is new or has done little media. This takes a lot more time as well. It is also a big turn-off to people in the media when it’s obvious that authors haven’t worked with an editor on their book.

What can a self-published author do to help make hiring a publicist worthwhile, or to enhance their chance of success if they go the DIY route?

Let go of old-school expectations! It’s a long game now. There is some pre-pitching six months out. However, campaigns start later and go longer than they used to, about six to eight weeks before the publication date, and then continue three to four months after that.

If someone chooses the DIY route, they should be comfortable handling rejection and lack of response. I prototyped a consultancy with authors who wanted to save money and handle their press, and I took over. They were bummed out when they should have been writing! With a few exceptions, it’s taking on another job.

What’s the most important thing you’d like authors to know about working with a book publicist?

A cookie-cutter or formulaic approach to book publicity is short-sighted. Every book is unique. Some methods tend to work, but there’s no formula. Also, success isn’t guaranteed just because another author has written a massive bestseller about the same topic.

Big thanks to Karen for taking the time to answer these questions so thoughtfully!

What questions do you have for book publicist Karen Engler about working with a book publicist? Please ask them in a comment. 

Others are trying the latest tactic because they’ve heard that’s what everyone else is doing. (Remember Periscope?)

Still others are putting their trust and money into a book publicist or book promotion specialist rather than figuring it out for themselves. It’s a decent option when you have more money than time.

But can you do it yourself, instead?

Knowledge is power

Whether you can afford a book publicist or not, authors often suffer from a lack of information, information overload, or both. You might not know enough about what you should be doing, or you’ve read so much about book promotion that you can’t sort out what does and doesn’t apply to you.

What often results, the “tactic of the month” approach, comes from a lack of information about the best strategy to use – and every book deserves its own strategy.

The key to being your own book publicist is asking and answering the right questions.

DIY book publicist questions

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when starting the book publicity and promotion process.

• Who did I write the book for? Who is my target audience – my ideal reader?
• What do I know about them?
• Where do I need to be to reach them? What do they read, watch, or listen to? Are they online, offline, or both?
• If they’re online, what social networks do they use?
• What’s the best strategy for reaching them? Should I leverage my networks, tap into the research I did for the book, or focus on a specific tactic that I think will work best?
• How much time do I have for book promotion?
• What are the most cost-effective tactics, and will they help me get my book title in front of my target audience?
• What promotional activities do I enjoy the most, and are they the types of things that will help me reach the right people for this book? If not, what should I learn how to do?
• Is there anything I should outsource to someone who’s better suited for the task?
• What are the one or two things I have time for that will have an impact? What resources are available to teach me how to execute them effectively?

Finding the answers

It will take time to answer these questions, so pour yourself a cup of coffee and settle in.

Here are a few resources from this site that will help:

• The free Book Marketing Plan Template is a fill-in-the-blanks form with instructions and links to more how-to information online. It will help you get the focus you need while outlining some of the tactics you’ll want to consider.
• My affordable, one-hour video training program, “Who Will Buy Your Book: How to Figure and Find Your Target Audience,” walks you through that process. The premium version gives you the social media and book category demographics you need, too.
• Learn more about who will benefit from working with a book publicist in “Should you hire a book publicist?”
• Become informed about what you should and shouldn’t expect from a book publicist in “7 things you need to know about working with a book publicist.”
• Discover how to vet and hire an outside service in “How one author got ripped off and how you can avoid it.”
• Take my self-study course on using HARO to snag priceless author and book publicity. HARO is every book publicist’s secret weapon. Why pay a pro to use it for you when I can teach you how to do an even better job yourself?

Finally, don’t wait to take action. Your book deserves more attention than it’s getting.

What are you doing to market your books that’s working? Please tell us in a comment.

Authors often ask me, “Should I hire a book publicist?”

My first response is usually, “Can you afford to hire a book publicist?”

Authors are usually shocked when I tell them what an experienced book publicist charges (see below).

They’re surprised again when I tell them that the fees come with no guarantees. And yet, as a former publicist, I’m a big fan of them — the good ones, that is! (And there are lots of good ones out there.)

A good book publicist can take you places you’re afraid to go on your own.

Not everyone is clear on what they can and can’t expect from a book publicist, though. Here’s what you need to know about working with a book publicist.

What does a book publicist do?

Sandra Poirier Smith, president of Smith Publicity, Inc., says a publicist’s job is to help make a book and its author newsworthy.

“To do this, we start with in-depth conversations with the author about their goals, work, and ideal audiences. From here, we are able to create strategies to reach targeted media—magazine, newspaper, television, radio, podcast, digital, and/or blog outlets,” she says.

The end result is typically “book reviews, recommendations and excerpts, feature stories, Q&As, print and broadcast interviews, expert commentary, bylined articles, op-ed pieces, and so on,” she says.

What doesn’t a publicist do?

A publicist’s job is to get news media attention for the book and/or its author.

It’s not a book publicist’s job to:

• Manage advertising, on Amazon, Facebook, or anywhere else
• Identify, schedule, and coordinate speaking appearances
• Contribute to the publication process, whether that’s by finding an agent or publisher, editing the manuscript, or getting the book into distribution

Other types of consultants might provide these types of services, but a book publicist is focused on getting your book in the news.

Working with a book publicist

Now that you understand what a book publicist does and doesn’t do, it’s important to know what to expect before contacting one for help. Here are seven things you will want to know as you consider hiring a publicist for your book.

1. Experienced book publicists charge from $3,000 to $5,000 a month.

They also require at least a three-month commitment so that they can build momentum, then take advantage it. Ideally, you’ll begin working together before your book is released.

2. There are no guarantees when working with a book publicist.

If a publicist offers guarantees, walk away.

Advertising consultants can make promises that publicists can’t. With advertising, you control the message, what it looks like, and when it appears because you’re paying for that.

With publicity — that priceless news media exposure that you can’t buy — you are at the mercy of the media gatekeepers.

“While we wish we were the ones making decisions on which books to feature, that is the job of producers, editors, and reviewers at media outlets,” says Smith.

A good publicist, though, knows how and what to pitch, and how to get results.

3. Many book publicists don’t work with self-published authors.

This is partly because so many self-published books don’t meet traditional publishing standards. It’s the same reason why media outlets say they don’t review self-published books. (For more on that, read “How to get around the ‘we don’t review self-published books’ roadblock.”)

Yeah, yeah, Donny and Marie Osmond sang about how “one bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch, girl,” but with books, it’s often more than one piece of rotten fruit.

4. Publicists do not work on commission.

Nobody who is any good will work for a percentage of sales, so don’t even think about it.

Do the math. How much do you make in royalties on each book sold? How many books do you have to sell to generate $9,000 to $15,000 for three months of work? The royalties are too small to fund a publicist.

In addition, it’s difficult to link book sales to specific tactics.

Unless you’re a highly sophisticated marketer, you won’t know if sales were generated by smart email marketing or the article you were interviewed for in USA Today.

5. Publicists typically work within two business models.

There’s the traditional, fee-based, approach that I favor. The firm tells you what it will do and charges a fee based on the time involved to execute the plan.

The other approach uses a pay-for-performance model.

The firm charges a set-up fee to get things rolling, then you pay on a per-placement basis. High-prestige placements like an interview in Parents magazine cost more, for example, than an interview with a radio station in your hometown.

6. Many will collaborate with the author/client to save money by sharing the load.

Let your publicist provide the social media strategy that you execute while she focuses her efforts on getting national media attention.

Or, write the book announcement press release yourself so you aren’t paying him to do it. After all, who knows your book better than you?

7. A local publicist charged with generating just local publicity should cost less.

A lot less, for two reasons.

First, getting local publicity is much easier than getting national exposure. Second, there are fewer media outlets.

A few words on finding and hiring someone trustworthy

Just this week, I saw this image shared on social media by a book publicist (whose name is redacted).

This firm was promoting its services alongside it’s client’s book. Unless this firm gave the author a substantial discount for the right to co-promote — which is highly unlikely — this is wrong.

Stay away from companies that are more interested in promoting their businesses than your books.

To learn how to avoid making costly hiring mistakes, read, “How one author got ripped off and how you can avoid it.”

To decide if hiring a book publicist makes sense for you, read, “Should you hire a book publicist?“

And, for more on the publicist’s perspective, read, “How does a top book publicist think? Q&A with pro Karen Engler.”

Do it yourself instead of working with a book publicist

Can’t afford a pro? Learn how to do do it yourself.

I offer a very affordable home study course, “Book Marketing 101: How to Build Book Buzz” in two versions — one for fiction authors, the other for nonfiction writers. Each will help you learn how to publicize your book, and much, more more.

As with so much else, knowledge is power. The more you know about how this works, the better able you will be to spend your marketing dollars wisely.

If you’ve hired a publicist, please share your experience here. What worked . . . what didn’t?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2012. It has been updated and expanded.)