Barb Burg, former SVP and Executive Director of Publicity and PR, Bantam Dell
Barb Burg, Ink
The Model
Publicity, public relations, media training and placement, publishing strategy, brand management consulting
The Background
“It’s often said that when one door closes, another opens. That’s what happened to me. When the door to Random House closed suddenly earlier this year, it afforded me the opportunity to see what else I could do after 24 years as an in-house publicity executive. Within days of leaving, authors and agents began calling me asking if they could hire me freelance.”
Burg’s advice for others in her situation is to “talk to as many people as you can and use every resource available to you. You will be surprised how kind and generous people can be. I was. The good thing about a lot of publishing work is that you don’t need a lot of space and equipment, so expenses are limited, and happily many of our skills are easily transferable. I’m working out of an office in my home and finding it surprisingly efficient.
