Target Marketers
Once
and Former Dilettantes, Book Publicists Find Their Niches
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (MARCH 2004)
It
may be a surprise to dyed-in-the-wool book publicists,
but increasingly in recent years, many of their free-wheeling,
generalist peers have been staking out a specific patch
of industry turf. Driven by big publishers’ dwindling
budgets for outside PR muscle, more and more publicity
shops are honing their skills in certain areas—everything
from cookbooks to the arts to African American interests,
interviews with about a dozen independent book publicists
suggest. And such strategies are paying off twofold:
publishers have more incentive to spend their limited
resources on outside experts, while many authors are
beating a path to PR firms that have clout in their
category.
Some in the field, however, are reluctant to call themselves
niche players. “Most publicists like to be generalists,”
states Lynn Goldberg, founder and CEO of Goldberg
McDuffie Communications. “We’re dilettantes. We
like to concentrate intensely on one thing for six to
eight months and then move on to something new.” Such
was the sentiment echoed by many—some of whom agreed
to be interviewed only if we guaranteed that they would
not be pigeonholed in a way that would dissuade potential
clients. Goldberg McDuffie started a business-focused
imprint three years ago, after noticing “that publishers
were coming to us increasingly with these things called
‘business books,’ ” she jokes, having since become viewed
as one of the leading PR firms for Fortune 500 leaders-cum-authors.
Now 25 to 30 percent of the company’s clients are business-related.
Lissa
Warren, author of the recently published The
Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity and Senior
Director of Publicity at Da Capo Press, said
that specializing might be the only way for freelance
publicists “to woo money away from the bigger publishing
houses,” who have cut spending on outside PR in recent
years. As for business directly from authors, Warren
said the writers are more likely to find a publicist
if she has established a reputation as being the go-to
person in a certain category. “If you’re freelance,
you might get more clients if you specialize. You really
want the authors to seek you out.”
Like Goldberg McDuffie, most firms’ specialties have
grown organically and are more a result of burgeoning
Rolodexes than of a conscious effort to narrow their
focus. Sandi Mendelson, President and COO of
Hilsinger-Mendelson, sees specializing as a natural
path for many PR professionals. “What happens when you’ve
been in the business over the years is, if you’ve been
successful in your campaigns, people whose goals are
the same come to you. You’ll have more and more campaigns
in that area, as you have successes in that area.” Though
the firm represents the broad spectrum of fiction and
nonfiction, it has gained a reputation for building
celebrities and brand names. Partially responsible (talent
must count for something) for the successes of British
domestic goddess Nigella Lawson and photographer
Anne Geddes, Mendelson views the book as a “platform
to build the brand.”
Carol
Fass of Carol Fass Publicity and Public Relations
is still amazed that she has become viewed as the person
to go to with Jewish interest books and authors. It
was only last June that she launched the Fass Speakers
Bureau, a new division of her company that sponsors
talks and events at mainly Jewish venues. Now, despite
being adamant about “maintaining a heterogeneous list”
that includes everything from general fiction to history
and politics to art, she is concerned about being classified.
“I have a very general approach. There are basic things
you do to create a PR campaign. The position and angles
and timing and follow-ups—all these things are important.
The way you understand the book and understand the author
are very important,” she explains.
Simone
Cooper started her own firm in 1990 and soon became
viewed as an expert in African American interests, which
now comprises about 25 percent of her business. “People
knew me in the industry, and they knew I was black,”
she explains. “It wasn’t that I decided to be a specialist,
but I did have a good sense of the audience and the
black media. I have had publishers ask me to read an
African American manuscript—especially if they feel
like they’re missing something about how viable a book
is.” Though specializing was a “really organic” process
for her, she originally immersed herself in the category
by attending such events as the Harlem Book Fair and
black writers conferences.
Conquering
a Category
There
are, however, publicists who left general-marketing
positions at publishing houses—which seems to be the
backstory of most independent book publicists—with the
intention to conquer a certain segment of the market
and strategically built the appropriate armamentarium
to do so.
Trained in general adult book promotion at large houses,
Susan Salzman Raab of Raab Associates
left in 1986 to start “the only agency specializing
exclusively in children’s book and parenting books.”
She admits that it took a while to establish her business,
because in the ’80s, publishing houses did not devote
large budgets to children’s literature. “All of a sudden,
there’s intrigue in the juvenile or young adult market.”
She attributes much of this to Harry Potter,
but not all. “People were baffled by the idea of putting
a children’s book author on tour. But [that] idea is
a regular part of the industry now,” she enthuses.
Raab says PR specialists must become so immersed in
the given topic that they can spot trends before others.
If done properly, before too long, word of mouth will
trigger more word of mouth—and eventually, the media
seeks out the publicist (now seen as “the expert”)—not
the other way around. For example, Raab, the Marketing
Adviser to the Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators, is called upon to lecture and
write on the nuances of her chosen field—whether about
how a children’s book gains “classic status” and how
“12-year-olds are now reading what used to be aimed
at 14-year-olds.”
Lisa
Ekus has a similar story. In 1983, she started Lisa
Ekus Public Relations with the intent to do general
book publicity. But, within two years, she realized
her true calling. “I loved the cookbooks I was promoting,
and at that time, nobody was paying very much attention
to cookbooks. Now, publishing is struggling, but cookbooks
are holding their own.” One sign of the times, she notes,
is in her early years, all of her work came from publishers,
but now about 40 percent of her work is for the authors
directly. Having established a reputation for launching
the careers of celebrity chefs, like Emeril Lagasse,
as well as promoting famous restaurants and food companies,
she now does more and more consulting, such as jacket-blurb
suggestions for publishers and lining up keynote speakers
at culinary events. How does she keep on the cutting-edge
of food? Ekus notes that she gathers more useful information
for her business by going to the big food and gourmet
trade shows than to book expos.
The
Red Envelope, Please
One
thing remains true across all lines of PR work: A successful
publicist must be able to brand him/herself. Most of
the publicists we spoke with revealed some signature
that set them apart from others, either in the media’s
quickly glancing eyes or those of potential clients.
Shannon Wilkinson’s Cultural Communications
promotes art, fashion, and photography books. She emphasizes
the importance that her press releases reflect the high-end
art books she’s publicizing. This means hiring designers
to construct visually stunning, four-color, illustrated
press kits that arrive in a red envelope. “I’ve been
dealing with all these journalists for years and I really
haven’t varied, so when they see the red envelope, they
know it’s from me,” she says. Having an arts background
also helps. “I have an understanding of the artistic
process. So, I not only get it, but I understand how
to translate [the artist’s] vision into words,” she
says.
Nancy
Berland, President of Nancy Berland Public Relations,
also knows her business from the inside out. Having
started as a romance novelist, she decided in 1995 to
leave the solitary life of a writer and began promoting
the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference,
and followed with romance and mystery writers. Because
of the loyal following these genres elicit, her work
is more one-on-one with the reader and depends less
on the media, Berland says. Websites such as Romantic
Times (www.romantictimes.com)
and NewandUsedBooks.com
are ways to instantly reach the target audiences of
most of her 20 current clients, she says. But, when
she does approach the mainstream media, Berland knows
“an author has to have a nonfiction hook. She has to
be interesting in herself and then, it’s like, by the
way, she also publishes these books.”
Heidi
Krupp, founder of Krupp Kommunications, can
boast partial responsibility for The South Beach
Diet’s near year on The New York Time’s best-seller
list. Krupp sets her company apart with the very definition
of its specialty. “We don’t specialize in diet and fitness
books, but we do specialize in ‘changing your life’
books.” How does maintain her status as an expert? She
reads every imaginable magazine and has staff members
probe the Web and chatrooms to keep their pulse on the
hottest in pop culture. Ultimately, though, she knows
her limitations. “You can’t be an expert in everything,”
Krupp says, adding cheerfully, “But, if you’re a publicist
and you have great instinct, then you can promote anything.”
©2004
Publishing Trends
