Guide
A book publicist earns an author media coverage by pitching the author and book to editors, producers, journalists and bloggers, then following up until interviews, reviews and features run.
A book publicist is a public relations specialist who works only on books and authors. At C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists, the job spans a media kit, mailings, intensive follow-up, a stream of timely pitches tied to the news, and appearances coordinated with the author’s schedule.
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A book publicist is a specialist who gets authors and their books covered by the media: print and online publications, radio, television and podcasts. Unlike advertising, publicity is earned. The publicist persuades editors and producers that the author has something newsworthy to say. C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists, a small firm founded in 1994, focuses this work on positioning authors as experts in their field.
These are the five stages of a typical C.S. Lewis & Co. campaign.
Much of it is follow-up. Mailing a book is easy; getting a busy producer to open it, read it and book an interview takes calls, emails and fresh angles. On any given day a C.S. Lewis & Co. publicist might be scheduling radio interviews, following up by phone on press materials mailed the week before, pitching a story idea to a magazine editor, or emailing a new pitch to television and print in response to news that broke moments ago.
That last task is where publicity is won or lost. When a hot-button story breaks, the first credible expert offered to a producer often gets the slot. Daily contact with authors makes same-day pitching possible.
Publicity earns coverage the media chooses to run: interviews, reviews, features, op-eds and bylined articles. Marketing usually means channels you pay for or own, such as ads, your website and social media. The two work best together. C.S. Lewis & Co. leads with publicity and adds internet marketing support so online readers who hear about you can find you. See all book publicity services.
No publicist controls what the media publishes, so be wary of anyone who promises a specific outlet. What a good publicist controls is the quality of the strategy, the persistence of the follow-up and the speed of the pitching. Judge a firm by the coverage it has actually secured: C.S. Lewis & Co. links to real media pages from client campaigns. Ready to hire? Start with the book publicist overview or read about what a book publicist costs.
A book publicist is a public relations specialist who works only on book and author publicity. The job is to win coverage in print, radio, television, podcasts and online outlets so readers discover the author. C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists is a small firm that has done this work for authors and publishers since 1994.
Book publicity earns coverage: interviews, reviews, features and articles that the media chooses to run. Book marketing usually covers paid and owned channels such as ads, websites and social media. C.S. Lewis & Co. focuses on publicity and also offers internet marketing support, helping authors develop content for websites, blogs and social and business networks.
Coverage can include radio and television interviews, podcast appearances, reviews, feature stories, mentions, op-eds and bylined articles. C.S. Lewis & Co. clients have appeared in national newspapers, business publications, women’s magazines and online venues, and have become contributors at sites such as Forbes.com, Psychology Today, Inc.com, Huffington Post and Thrive Global.
Because the first credible expert to respond to a hot-button story is often the one who gets booked. C.S. Lewis & Co. stays in daily contact with its authors so it can develop pitches in real time as news unfolds and secure on-the-spot interviews, something large publisher publicity departments are rarely set up to do.
A media kit is the background package producers, journalists, editors and bloggers use to understand an author and a book. It typically holds story ideas, interview topics, reviews and biographical material. You can download real examples from past C.S. Lewis & Co. campaigns on the press kits page of this site.
No publicist controls what the media runs, because publicity is earned coverage that editors and producers choose. What C.S. Lewis & Co. commits to is a customized strategy, persistent follow-up and real-time pitching, and it shares links to real media hits from client campaigns so you can judge its results yourself.
Tell C.S. Lewis & Co. about your book, your expertise and your goals. The team will shape a campaign around them.