Keeping with the trend of our most recent entries, today’s blog post also offers publicity tips for authors.

Cynthia Leitich Smith runs a great blog called Cynsations that focuses on children’s and young adult literature and offers writing resources for her fellow authors. Her interview with publicist Julie Schoerke is in-depth and informative. Schoerke has worked in the public relations field for 20 years with a variety of clients. She launched her own company, JKSCommunications, in 2001 and began focusing solely on authors and books.

Schoerke encourages authors to actively participate in the publicity of their books. She says:

Here’s a secret that makes most writers’ skin crawl: generally a publisher only needs one out of every nine or ten books to be successful in order for the publisher to make money. It’s gambling with the highest stakes for the authors. The publishers throw the book out with two weeks allotted for the inside publicist to concentrate on it–they see which books get natural buzz and then they support those books.

Here are some of Schoerke’s publicity tips for authors:

Hire A Publicist
Some authors might feel that their publisher will be offended if they hire someone outside of the company to promote their book. Just the opposite. The average publishing house cannot commit its full resources to all of its books. Schoerke says, “Many in-house publicists have at least 50 titles a year to launch. They are overworked, young, and doing the best they can with limited resources. To have someone come along and help out with the “heavy lifting” […] is a plus.”

Use Your Advance Wisely
If you get an advance, spend a portion of it on marketing and publicity. “If you don’t want to be a one-book-wonder,” says Schoerke, “[Y]ou have to prove that your first book can sell through and you deserve a shot at having your second book published.” For her book Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, Shoerke’s client Susan Gregg Gilmore booked a 30+ city book and media tour, which she financed herself using part of her advance. The book is now in its fourth hard-cover printing and will be coming out this summer in soft cover.

Start Promoting Early
Most reviewers want to see advance reader copies (ARCs) of your book. They don’t want to get their review copy just as the book is hitting the shelves. Shoerke recommends approaching reviewers at least three months before your actual launch. You also want to have your publicity plan lined up and ready to go. Shoerke mentions a client she worked with who is a business book author. “He hired me nearly a year in advance of his next book to position him by getting him guest author columns in business and management publications and getting him on editorial boards of trade organizations and publications so that he’ll have a bigger fan base when his book is available.”

Use Your Book’s Hook
Susan Gregg Gilmore, Schoerke’s client mentioned above, developed a strategic partnership with Dairy Queen to help promote her book, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Another client that Schoerke worked with wrote a memoir of her experiences being a midwife. Schoerke and the author promoted the book, The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife’s Memoir, to the thousands of midwives and women who have delivered babies through midwives to start the buzz.

Have A Launch Party
Approach a local bookstore to host the event. Invite your friends and family. Alert the local media to include the event in their listings. Have photos taken and submit them to media outlets for their “out and about” pages and use them on your own websites.

Sign Copies Of Your Book
Ask local bookstores if you can sign the copies of your book in stock. If you are traveling, ask them same of the bookstores where you’ll be. This ensures better placement of your book in the store once they’re ordered, and also encourages the bookstores to order your books.

Photo by Ian Muttoo, used under its Creative Commons license